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CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

FRANKIE

Time travel was a hard pill to swallow.

Everyone told me I’d have time to prepare for it, time to brace myself for the quest, and yet here it was on my doorstep. That time I thought I’d have had come and gone, without a second glance back at me still waiting on the curb waving like a fool. I’d passed out last night. That fight with Soneillon had taken too much out of me. I woke with sunrise this morning, rested and ready to go. Anxious to go, actually. My stomach had been in knots since the moment I opened my eyes, and my gaze landed on Valathame’s message still on my arm. As if I’d forgotten.

But Everest’s arms around me were too perfect to disturb. I wanted to just let him hold me as long as I could. The sunlight streaming in through the glass balcony doors filled more and more of my room as time passed. With every extra inch of light my body grew more and more tense. The knots in my stomach were now in competition with the knots in my neck and shoulders from how tightly I held myself still. If I twitched or fidgeted Everest would wake, and I just wanted to hang on to this blissful moment for a few more seconds.

I needed to go.

I didn’t want to.

Everest had finally joined Heaven’s side of the war officially, he was finally standing at my side and sleeping in my bed. This was what I’d been waiting for, praying for. Fate was a cruel thing to choose now to make me leave. All the what ifs running through my mind were going to send me straight for a lobotomy.

I wanted to stay here and fight. My Coven-mates were outnumbered even if we were all healthy, they couldn’t afford to lose another soldier. Yet the worst part of all this was that I knew I had no choice, I knew I had to go. This fight would never end if we didn’t get the missing page of the tome. Or we’d all die. Without the page we had no hope for survival. And not for the first time, my Coven was counting on me.

If Valathame hadn’t sent me that message I would’ve convinced myself I had more time, that I could still be of use here and could wait. But her message had come. I was in no place to question the mother of our species. The mother of magic. A literal angel born in Heaven. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to try and summon the courage to do what I had to.

Come on, Frankie. You can do this. She chose you. There’s a reason for it.

One line of the prophecy ran through my mind. When in doubt head back to him. I rolled over and stared at my soulmate’s face as he slept. The him was him. It had to be. He was over a thousand years old. He was older than Sweyn and Avolire. If I had to return to Avolire in a point in the past, surely he was going to be there.

Maybe that’s why he’s been so secretive?

I brushed my fingertips over his cheek. “I have to go now.”

He did not wake. Perhaps that was for the better. It was hard enough climbing out of his arms it would be worse to look him in the eye as I did. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his quickly then pulled back before I gave myself a new reason to stay. With my heart pounding in my chest, I forced myself out of bed. Tegan had talked to me about time travel and what to expect. We had no idea which time period I was going to, but she’d given me a white peasant gown with long bell sleeves and a modest scooped neckline—-both to cover my soulmate mark if it came out and to hide my Coven Mark. Tegan insisted this gown would allow me to blend in enough anywhere I came out in history until I could adjust my clothing. To which, she’d given me a spell to recite to change my clothes.

She’d given me quite the cheat sheet of spells, actually. Written in a tiny little leather-bound notebook that could also blend in with history. She said she tried to think of everything I might need, including filling my bag with a couple wands, a pendulum, a chalice, and several weapons. The weapons excited me, the others terrified me. But I would take anything she thought to give me. ‘ If you need something, just stick your hand in the bag and think about it. If it’s there, it’ll come to you,’ she’d said. Prior to this moment I’d been rather excited about having a real-life Hermione bag of tricks. Now that I was about to use it, I felt the need to vomit.

I knew women mostly wore only dresses historically, so I threw on a pair of my stretchy shorts and a sports bra before I slid the peasant gown on. There were no pockets but that wasn’t a surprise, so I threw my phone into the bag. Then I cursed and dove for it again. I needed to send Mei-Ling a quick text, along with my aunt and uncle. Once I sent those, I shoved my phone back into the magic bag and fastened the rope around my waist the way Tegan had shown me. Myrtle had conjured me up a pair of brown leather boots to fit with past fashion styles, which I probably wasn’t supposed to wear with, but I ignored that. I wasn’t getting swamp feet and blisters.

Tegan also insisted I put my sais in the bag and not on my body. She said until I knew where I was going and the state of society it would not be safe to openly carry weapons. That note I did not ignore, even though I wanted to. It seemed counterintuitive to put my talisman weapon into the bag around my waist, but I’d trusted Tegan this far, so I couldn’t stop now when it counted the most.

When I turned, I half expected to find Everest silently watching me except he was still sound asleep. My heart sank. I did not want to leave him. It went against every fiber of my being and I couldn’t put my finger on why. He was going to be upset I left while he slept, I knew that. I knew it was a shitty thing to do . . . but I did not have the heart nor the strength to leave him otherwise.

Instead, though I knew it paled in comparison, I ran over to my desk and wrote him a note that said Forgive me. Please be alive when I get back.

There was so much more to say yet nothing would come. If I stalled any longer, I would lose my nerve. So I sat the note on the pillow beside him, gave him a quick kiss, then slipped out the door. I had no idea what had happened after I passed out last night, but we’d all taken to the classic vampire schedule and slept after sunrise. So the fact that the house was quiet and still, without a single person in sight was not a surprise. I hurried down the stairs to the infirmary and into Chutney’s room. A smile spread across my face when I found my dogs cuddled up to her with Olli. They lifted their heads and wagged their tails when I walked in but made no move to get up. That was good, it made this easier.

I crouched down beside them and gave them pets and forehead kisses. “I have to go on an adventure for a little while, so you have to stay here. Stay with Olli, keep Chutney safe. Mei- Ling, Tai, and Malik are around the corner. They’ll keep you safe.”

They each licked my face then curled back into Chutney’s body. I smiled and shook my head, then raced up the stairs. My stomach was churning worse than the ocean in a hurricane. My nerves were fraying with every step I took. Even as I stepped off the back porch and fresh air washed over me beads of sweat still rolled down my spine. My hands were shaking as I reached into my magic bag for the journal from Tegan. She said she included everything I might need so I had to assume that included how to get into the Seelie tunnels. Take the tunnel where Seelie dwell, that was the line in the prophecy.

I flipped through the pages of the notebook, searching for the words Seelie or tunnel when the scent of cinnamon swept over me. I gasped and straightened. Everest. He was behind me, I knew it. I felt it in the way the air pulsed and tingled against the nape of my neck. I knew it by the way every muscle in my body yearned for me to turn around and go towards that sensation. I licked my lips and took a deep breath . . . then slowly spun around.

Everest stood ten feet behind me and the sight of him robbed the air from my lungs. He was so beautiful. The golden rays of sunlight made his white hair look sandy blond like beach sand. His skin held a little more color in it. Those blue and white eyes sparkled like gemstones, I had the sudden urge to make a ring out of diamonds and sapphires to match them. The sight of him wearing Tenn’s hand-me-down black V-neck shirt and black ripped jeans unraveled me in ways I did not have words to express. There was just something in the casualness of it that made me swoon. Then I saw his bare feet in the dirt and a hot lump of emotion got stuck in my throat.

For a moment, or maybe an hour, we just stared at each other.

Then he sighed and shook his head, his voice was soft when he said, “you cannot start this journey without me.”

“ You cannot go with me ,” I whispered. God, I want you to. I wish you could. I don’t want to leave you. But I did not say those things, my mouth refused to form the words.

“ I’ll be there all the same ,” he whispered back, his eyes lowering to the notebook in my hand. “But also, you cannot open the Seelie tunnels yourself.”

“I thought Tegan would have instructions?—”

“Tegan cannot open the tunnels.” He shook his head, his face an unreadable mask. “Only a royal of Seelie can open the tunnels. Only Thorne, Sage, Saraphina, and I can. Or the angels tied to the realm. You are none of those things.”

“What about Saber?”

He arched one eyebrow. “She is not here either. Nor is she allowed, until her bloodline is revealed.”

I nodded. “So, no matter how I tried I was not going to start this quest without you?—”

“Why are you running like this? You had time still, time to prepare. Valathame’s message did not say to do this?—”

“I almost died last night.”

“I know,” he growled, emotion causing his cheeks to flush.

“You saved me.”

His face fell. “I will always try to save you.”

I took a step forward then stopped. If he was close enough to touch me, I would lose steam. “This is the part you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? The reason you can’t tell me anything . . . because it would mess up my time travel.”

He stared at me for a long moment before he nodded once.

My stomach tightened into knots. I knew it. Ask him the other question, Frankie. Ask him. “The prophecy says, ‘ When in doubt head back to him .’ That means you, doesn’t it?”

He nodded. His mouth was pressed in a firm line like he was trying to force himself not to say more. But his eyes were blazing with emotion.

I nodded and gripped the notebook harder to anchor myself in place. “I’m going to see you, past you , wherever I end up, aren’t I?”

He nodded.

I exhaled in a rush, and it rattled my bones. “But telling me anything risks changing the future.”

He nodded again though I saw words he wanted to say screaming through his eyes at me.

“Then you see, I don’t have time at all.” I shoved the notebook back into my magic back and tightened it, then I looked back up to him. “If I die, which your mother and Sweyn are hell bent on seeing through, then I can’t go back in time. I can’t find the missing page and we can’t win this war let alone the next one. All those people injured downstairs will die. Jackson and Mona will lose their soulmates forever. We cannot let any of this happen. I have to go. Now . I will never, ever be prepared enough for time travel. So, I’m going now before I lose my nerve. I’m sorry I tried to leave without waking you. I just . . . thought it would hurt less.”

He took a step forward then was suddenly right in front of me. He took my face in his hands then kissed me. It was tender and sweet, full of words left unspoken by both of us. He kissed me until the world was spinning and my lungs were screaming and lights flashed through my closed eyelids.

Then he pulled back but did not drop his hands. His thumbs brushed over my cheeks. “I love you.”

I gasped. My eyes widened as my heart did little flips in my chest.

He dropped his hands and took a step back. “Saber’s real name is Auryn.”

I opened my mouth to speak when he flicked his wrist and sent my body flying backwards. Darkness swept over me for a second then was replaced by a soft glowing green tunnel. My back crashed into the tunnel wall. My gaze locked on Everest through the opening, but it was already closing up. His eyes locked on mine.

I LOVE YOU.

I LOVE YOU.

I LOVE YOU.

I screamed with my mind, but my mouth wasn’t moving. Sounds weren’t coming out. Being in the tunnel ignited a fire in my nerves that had my body in a chokehold of panic. My bones instantly rattled within my body. My teeth chattered. This was it. Time travel was happening. I gasped for air, but it felt like breathing through a straw.

“ Everest—”

The floor opened up beneath my feet and I dropped.

My breath caught in my throat. my stomach lodged in my sternum. I was in a free fall. Wind swept up from my feet as I fell, forcing all of my hair into my face. I was too busy holding my dress down to un-strangle myself from my own hair. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. Everest did this. Everest wouldn’t hurt you.

My feet hit the ground but instead of pain it felt like jumping into one of those foam pits at the trampoline park back home. Sand exploded like a bomb all around me, splashing halfway up the skirt of my dress. My knees buckled from the pressure, yet I managed to stay upright. I threw my arms out to steady myself but the movement tripped gravity and sent me flying face-first toward the ground. My knees hit the sand a split second before my hands. Wet, sticky texture wrapped around my fingers. I spit my hair out of my mouth and lifted my hands — my heart stopped.

Blood.

It was blood drenched sand.

My pulse quickened. I looked down to find I was kneeling in it. That telltale scent of metal tinged the air, burning my nostrils. I leaned back on my heels, wiping my blood-soaked hands on my dress—my eyes widened. I had no idea where I was in time or on a map, but I knew I’d dropped into the middle of a war. Or perhaps the end of it. The air was thick with smoke and ash. Little glowing embers floated in the breeze. The sky was black but all I saw was the reflection of bright orange flames in every direction.

I pushed my hair out of my face with the backs of my hands and glanced around. I was in some kind of desert with small hills of sand all around. All of it blood stained. The splotches of black demon blood were not a surprise, I didn’t even register the scent of maple syrup. But the purple blood splattered made my heart pound. Unseelie blood was purple. Though what turned my stomach was all the red blood. There were bodies everywhere. All of them lying motionless in the blood-drenched sand. Some of them had wings and pointed ears sticking out beneath black hair. A few close to me had fangs sticking out from their mouths. The other bodies . . . I didn’t want to look too closely at those. I didn’t want to see this.

I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed through the nausea bubbling in my stomach threatening to push out all of the food I’d ever eaten. Why am I here? Why am I seeing this? Think, Frankie. What did the prophecy say? There was a line about first. Then it hit me, the words whispering through my ears.

But first a soul to seek in dire need,

Relieve the hole then take his lead.

That didn’t make sense to me, but I suspected it would in hindsight. A soul to seek in dire need. Okay, magic, what do you feel out there? Feel a soul who needs me. Electricity shot through my wrist, forcing my eyes open. The runes on my bracelet were glowing gold. I frowned. All right, Lassie, what do you see?

The flashing gold runes changed to pink and then that familiar pink arrow appeared in the air. Good, Lassie. Lead the way. I pushed to my feet then trudged forward through the sand. The blood made it thick like mud, so it took me a minute to hobble up and over a small hill. On the other side, down the bottom of the hill, I spotted the shoreline. There was no way of knowing if that was a lake or an ocean, not at night and not without knowing the geography, but the waves gently rolling onto the sand were soothing to my runaway pulse either way.

Just off the shore, there was some kind of structure made from long pieces of wood that held that raw roughness of a tree branch or trunk. The wood was stacked in rows alternating the direction they faced on each layer. All four corners held a single torch though they weren’t lit. On the right side, farthest from the water, there was a wooden ladder so a person could climb on top. I frowned and slowly made my way down the hill since the pink arrow still pointed that way. There was something oddly familiar about this structure, yet I couldn’t place it.

When I got down to the bottom of the hill, I realized a little ways back from the structure were ruins of what was probably once a stone wall. I glanced around, there wasn’t anything else around. Just chunks of stone left over from whatever stood here before. The pink arrow pointed straight down, which I’d learned to mean stop. So, I stopped behind a section of the wall and crouched down. All right, Lassie. What am I seeing here? The arrow changed to point to my right but when I started to move it pointed down again. I froze. It was strange to give emotions and thoughts to a magical arrow, but I had the strongest sensation to stay hidden behind this wall . . . so I did.

About ten seconds later a dark figure emerged from between pillars of smoke and fire. At first, I couldn’t tell what it was just that it was huge. I reached for my magic bag, fully prepared to dive for my weapons if that thing was a demon. My chest warmed like I sat in front of a bonfire. I gripped the wall and watched. A few seconds later, the figure got close enough for me to make out long white hair and pale skin. I lunged forward then ducked behind a different chunk of stone wall to get a better look.

My heart stopped.

Everest.

That figure stumbling toward me was Everest. For a moment, I thought I was back in that terrifying dream that nearly killed me. But this was different. This wasn’t a dream. This was the past. The Everest coming closer looked younger, though I couldn’t pinpoint how. He carried something large and though his vampire strength meant it wasn’t heavy he was clearly struggling carrying it. Every few feet he stumbled and staggered. His face was grimy and splattered with blood in various colors.

And then I saw it.

An arm flopping lifelessly with every step he took. My eyes widened. The flames to the right of him raged higher, casting an orange glow on him. My stomach turned. That was long hair bouncing over his arm and I could just barely make out the curved outline of a feminine figure. He carried a woman, and I knew there was not a chance she was still alive. There was a coldness in the air around her. Everest’s hands gripped her body so hard his knuckles were white even through the blood caked there. A long white cape dragged the ground from her shoulders, yet somehow he hadn’t tripped over it. There wasn’t enough light to see her face, and the smoke wasn’t helping. But I saw him.

His eyes were blazing with rage and pain. They seemed to be bloodshot and red.

I watched as Everest carried the woman up onto the structure and laid her down—- OH. It was a funeral pyre. That was why it looked familiar. He gently positioned the woman with her hands over her stomach, her hands clasped together, with the white cape lying around her small frame. Everest stood and waved his hand over the torch nearest him—-flames danced around it instantly. He lifted the torch then slowly moved over to light the other four.

“ NO! ” A high-pitched wail erupted from nearby. “NO!”

A woman I hadn’t seen emerged from out of nowhere. Screaming. She sprinted for the pyre, scrambling up onto the top in a panic. Everest’s face scrunched up. He looked away from the girl and I saw pain in his face. The girl sank to her knees at the woman’s side and sobbed. She had long pale hair that seemed to be thick with blood and dirt. Her hands were just as filthy. There were raw wounds on her arms, cheek, and across her forehead. Blood was caked in her knuckles. Rivers of tears ran down her dirty face creating little tracks.

“ Mother! ” She wailed then threw herself onto the woman’s chest, her whole body trembling. “ Mother, please. ”

My pulse skipped. My breaths grew short and ragged. My eyes watered. This was horrible.

Everest reached down for the girl. “You have to go?—”

“NO!” she swatted his arm away.

He pulled her by the arm gently. “I am sorry, but you must go?—”

“ No,” she screamed, gripping the deceased woman’s body.

Everest cringed then yanked the girl off the woman. “Auryn, you have to go, they’re coming.”

I gasped. Auryn? Auryn is Saber. That’s Saber. If that’s Saber’s mother, then that’s Everest’s wife. Oh my God. OH MY GOD. Oh no. No, no, no. Hindsight was slamming into me in real time. Everest was the soul in need.

“Auryn,” Everest pleaded. He held her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. “Your mother would want you safe.”

Auryn looked up at him with tears filling her blue and white eyes that were identical to Everest’s. “ Father, please ,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

“I cannot lose you both. Please—” his voice broke. He looked away from her and I saw the tears in his own eyes before he composed himself. “Please, Auryn. I need you to be safe. Your mother would want you safe. She’s gone now. there’s nothing you can do for her here.”

Auryn crashed into his chest and sobbed. His arms wrapped around her tight, his eyes squeezed closed. Behind her back, he wiggled his fingers, and a shadow draped over her. She gasped and pulled back—-and her face was changed. Gone was the pretty mini-Everest, in its place was a face I recognized instantly. That was Saber. The black hair was longer and there wasn’t a red ring around her hazel-gold eyes, but it looked just like her.

“Auryn must die now. From now on, you must be someone entirely new.” He tucked her black hair behind her ears. “Now run. As far as you can.”

She shook her head and gripped his silver sleeves. “I don’t want to leave you, Father?—”

“We have no choice. I promise I will find you. Just RUN?—”

“No.” She shook her head harder. “NO?—”

“She’s coming, Auryn?—”

“Father, no?—”

“I love you, but you have to run now.” He bent down to meet her eyes. “Cry later. Run now. Now, Auryn?—”

“ Tomorrow. You will find me tomorrow ? —”

“I promise, now please ? —”

She kissed his cheek then leapt off the pyre and bolted in the opposite direction. She was up and over the hill in the blink of an eye, completely out of sight as if she’d never been here at all. Her sobs echoed in the wind and the sound would haunt me.

Everest stood facing the water with his hand pressed to his stomach and his eyes closed. He looked a breath away from crumbling. He was going to break.

A cold chill slid down my spine. I frowned and looked around until I spotted several figures marching towards him. I crouched down, waiting to see if I needed to come to his aide or hide when a pair of red eyes shimmered in the night. My stomach turned. Sweyn. That was definitely Sweyn. Her white-blonde hair was braided back but there was no hiding the identity of that face. That beautiful, evil face. Behind her, a small army of about a dozen men in silver armor stood ready with their swords drawn. They weren’t Unseelie but the way they carried themselves told me they were vampires.

“Everest,” Sweyn snapped from still twenty feet away. “Where is she?”

He cringed then took a deep breath before turning to face her, a cold mask on his face. “She is here, my lady.”

“A pyre?” Sweyn snarled and raced up onto the pyre to stand beside Everest while her army remained on the ground. She looked down at the woman in disgust and rage. “On second thought, no. I like it. Let Heaven have her charred body. May her soul reek of smoke for eternity so they will never forget who robbed them of their soldier.”

Everest nodded.

“Light it,” Sweyn snapped. She pointed to the woman. “I want to watch her burn.”

Everest swallowed roughly though Sweyn missed it, she was too busy grinning down at the dead woman. He licked his lips and reached for the nearest torch with a hand that trembled. My heart broke for him. That was his wife. He’d told me Auryn’s mother had been his wife, and I’d heard Auryn call her her mother.

I gasped for air. My chest was tight. I gripped my chest. Everest. Soulmate or not, there was no doubt he loved that woman. I felt his pain as if it were my own. I felt his heart crumbling before me. How Sweyn missed this was beyond me, his pain was clear on his face and in the tightness of how he held himself. I couldn’t imagine how much this hurt especially as he lifted that fiery torch and pressed the flames to the brush beneath his wife’s body.

As the flames flickered all around her, Sweyn threw her head back and cackled.

Everest stared at his wife as the flames grew higher and higher.

Oh, Everest. I’m so sorry. I wanted to hold him. It didn’t matter that he’d given his heart to another woman before me, I could not handle seeing him hurt. Sure, when I’d first heard he’d once had a wife there’d been a moment of jealousy but that feeling had faded almost immediately even then. But if it hadn’t, if I’d harbored jealousy for a wife he’d had centuries before me, that would have died right here in this moment. I loved him, I just wanted to hold him and console him.

Sweyn’s maniacal laughter faded. “Heaven may have won this fight, but the victory of war will be ours . . . especially once we kill the rest of the soldiers like this one.”

My heart twisted. God, did Sweyn kill her? How could he stay by the side of the person who killed his wife? No, there must be another story.

“ The sun shall rise soon, let us retire.” Sweyn started to walk away then glanced back. “Everest, you remember what you’re to do?”

He nodded. “Of course, my lady.”

I leapt behind the wall and huddled down low so Sweyn wouldn’t see me. The last thing we needed was for her to find me here in the past. That would be overwhelmingly problematic. She and her army headed back in the direction they’d come from. Once they were out of sight, I crept back out from the shadow of the wall and looked to the pyre . . . just as Everest stumbled off the pyre. He made it about five feet before his body crumbled beneath him. He crashed down against that stone wall and fell apart.

I was moving before I even told myself to. But first a soul to seek in dire need, Relieve the hole then take his lead. I didn’t know exactly what that meant however I knew in my heart the soul in dire need was my soulmate. I needed to go to him, to hold him. But first I needed to see his wife. This was my only chance to see the first love of his life, the woman who gave him his daughter. Auryn’s mother. It was probably silly and a tad selfish, but I had to. I told myself if I wasn’t supposed to see who she was, to see her face with my own eyes, then the tunnel wouldn’t have dropped me in this exact moment to witness this whole heart-wrenching moment.

So I crept around the pyre and climbed up the ladder. Everest had his head in his hands as he sobbed. I would get to him in just a second. Once at the top, I pushed to my feet then carefully walked around the edge to avoid the flames. When I got to the far end where her head was perched almost as if on a pillow with her hair cascading around her shoulders. I flicked my wrists, pushing my magic into the fire. Go away, I silently willed them to part for me. Shockingly, they did. At least enough for me to crouch down to get a proper look.

This close, I realized her hair was strawberry blonde. Almost a pale pink, in fact. Despite everything, that made me smirk. I shook my head and reached out to press my hands to hers, her skin was soft but cold against mine. “ I guess our man has a type, eh, pretty lady? ” I whispered to her.

My gaze landed on a cluster of freckles on her right index finger. One big freckle that looked like Pac-man trying to eat the other freckles. It was the same as mine. I moved my right hand just over hers to line up our freckles—-they were identical. My pulse quickened.

I looked up at his wife’s face.

And found my own staring up at me.