by K. J. McPike
“I think I know a way.” He spoke so softly that I thought I’d misheard him at first. But then he nodded, as if he had just convinced himself of something. “Yeah, I know a way we can go back and warn ourselves in person.”
The rest of us sat up straighter all at once.
“How?” Oxanna asked, staring at Ulyxses like he was the answer to our prayers.
“Dix can use a transposer.” He ran a hand along the top of his buzzed hair. “Lali, you said that transposers switch astral forms into physical bodies, right?”
I moved my head up and down, trying to understand where he was going with this. Astralii used transposers to switch into their physical bodies after traveling in astral form. About a month ago, I had managed to find one of the devices hidden in this realm inside a tunnel below the San Francisco Bay. Thankfully, it had worked to switch me out of astral form even though I was a semmie. But I didn’t see how that would help us now.
“And the transposers should be there in the past, right?” Ulyxses continued, still staring blankly at the floor. “So theoretically, we could use them to get our bodies to there, too.”
“Lyx.” I couldn’t stop my eyes from spilling over as the pieces came together in my mind. The tempest of emotion swirling inside me was nothing compared to the stab of hope that came with my brother’s plan. “You’re a genius.”
Oxanna and Dixon looked between us, both questioning us with their eyes.
“If Dix projects us back in time and we go through a transposer in the past, then our physical bodies would appear in the past,” Ulyxses explained.
My mind was already racing with the possibilities. “So if Dix projects back to when I was in the tunnel with the transposer,” I said, “we could move through it and actually be at that point in time.”
“Then I can project us into the future and bring us to the moment when Lali and Kai were first talking outside Nelson’s house,” Ulyxses finished. “If Lali tells her past-self not to help Kai get Kala out of Alea, then that would prevent the attack so Sal never gets hurt.”
I clutched the edge of the sofa to steady myself. This could really work. It was going to work.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Oxanna sounded like she might hyperventilate. “Let’s go.”
“What does this transposer thing look like?” Dixon asked.
“It’s a big glowing ring inside a dark tunnel,” I told him. “If you go into my past, you can’t miss it.” I sucked in a breath, another realization dawning on me. We were going to need Kai’s help. The transposer was in San Francisco, which meant we would show up in the past in California. We would need Kai to project us back home to Virginia.
Oxanna eyed me as she fidgeted with a long piece of her dark hair. “What’s wrong?”
I slid my hands over my face. “We’re going to need Kai’s help to get from the transposer to our house.” I decided not to mention that Kala hadn’t been crazy about the idea of going back in time to undo the attack when I first mentioned it. I needed them to stay positive. Besides, just because she was against it didn’t mean Kai wouldn’t help us. He said he’d take it back if he could. Now we had a way for him to do just that.
“I forgot about that.” Ulyxses frowned. “Do you think he’ll do it?”
“Only one way to find out.” I jumped up from the couch and moved over to where my phone lay on the carpet.
“Wait a sec,” Dixon protested. “How many people do you want me to project back in time? I don’t know if I can carry all of you.”
Oh. He had a point. We hadn’t done any projecting as a group. None of us had carried more than two other people in astral form.
“Maybe you can just take Lyx and Kai,” I suggested. “Kai can take you to warn our past-selves, and Lyx can bring you guys back to this point in time when you’re done.”
Ulyxses shook his head. “We probably shouldn’t separate. We don’t know how moving through time will affect everything, and we don’t want to return to the right time and find out we’re missing someone.”
I sighed. Another solid point. I didn’t want to go back and save one family member only to lose another.
“Just see if you can take all of us, Dix,” Oxanna pleaded. “You have to try.”
“And you won’t need to carry us for long,” I added, squeezing my phone in my fist. “Just until we can all move through the transposer and switch into our bodies.”
Dixon chewed the inside of his cheek. “I’ll try.”
“Okay, let me call Kai,” I said. “Then we’ll give it a shot.” I tried to tell myself that Kai would agree to help us, but doubt tugged at me as I scrolled to his number in my contacts. What if he refused? Could we still pull this off?
Kai picked up on the second ring. “Hey. How are you holding up?”
“Still figuring that out.” I toyed with the hem of my burgundy shirt. “We need your help.”
“Anything.”
I forced down the lump in my throat. “We figured out a way to stop the attack from happening.”
“What? How?”
I explained our plan, and Kai let out a low whistle.
“Lali, I would do anything for you. But what happens to Kala after you warn your past-self not to help me save her? Then I’ll never have gotten her back.”
“We can always go after her again,” I said. “We’ll know better the next time.”
“I can’t risk losing her. I just got her back.” Kai’s words traveled through the phone and wrapped around me, squeezing until I could hardly breathe. My siblings shuffled across the room, their worried expressions telling me they were starting to give up. They didn’t need to hear me beg.
I turned into the narrow hallway, its flowery wallpaper reminding me of the last time I was here. That had been when Cade first planted the seeds of doubt in me about Kai’s intentions. Even after that, I’d helped him. Even after I found out the truth about everything Kai had done, I helped him. Now he wanted to say he wasn’t going to help me? After getting his sister back cost me mine? No way. He owed me.
“This is Salaxia’s life we’re talking about,” I hissed into the phone. “You don’t get to say no. You don’t get to whine about how you just got your sister back. Did you forget that the only reason Salaxia’s gone is because we helped you get Kala back?”
He heaved a sigh. “I know. I feel terrible about what happened. I just—isn’t there a way we can do this without risking Kala? Can’t we warn your past-self about the tracker so you’ll know not to bring her to your house? That will still prevent the attack, right?”
A surge of relief shot adrenaline through my veins. “It should.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do,” he said. “But I want to bring Kala with us.” I started to speak, but he kept going before I could. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving her alone right now. And they won’t be able to track her back in time.”
I huffed, but I wasn’t going to argue if he was going to help us. “Fine. Bring her, too.” Snapping my phone shut, I spun around and walked back into the living room.
“Is he going to do it?” Oxanna rasped.
“Yeah. He wants to bring Kala, though.” Before anyone could protest, I held up my hands. “They won’t know to track her in the past, so we’ll be okay with her around.” I turned to look at Dixon. “If it’s too much to take all of us, we’ll figure out another way.”
“I think I can do it.” He stood up as if to prove his statement. “Like you said, it won’t be that long.”
“This is going to work,” Ulyxses whispered. “I can feel it.”
My smile was weak, but hopeful.
Kai appeared with Kala then, and I strained to keep my nerves in check. I wasn’t going to ask what Kai had said to her to make her agree to projecting into the past after her earlier protests; I didn’t want to risk her changing her mind. Besides, it wasn’t like she had any facts about what would happen—only theories. And no theory was going to keep me from saving my sister.
Rubbing his palms together, he held out his hands. I took one, and Oxanna took the other. Ulyxses linked up with Oxanna and Kala, and Kai added himself on the end.
“Will it be easier if we make a circle?” Kai asked.
Dixon shrugged. “Can’t hurt, I guess.”
Reluctantly, I took Kai’s hand in mine to complete the circle.
“Wait,” Ulyxses said. “We should go to the transposer tunnel now. Then when we come to the future again, I’ll know exactly where to drop us off.”
“Good idea,” I agreed. Thank goodness he was smart enough to plan ahead with all this time travel stuff. “Kai, can you take all of us at once?”
“I can try.” Giving my hand a squeeze, he warned us all to close our eyes.
When I opened mine again, we were inside the darkened tunnel I hadn’t seen since the night we undid the energy sink. The giant glowing ring of the transposer provided the only light, bathing everyone in a golden sheen.
Kai pulled his hands free from the circle and grabbed his forehead, staggering into the dirt wall behind him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Head rush.” Rubbing at his temples, he shook his whole body like he could push away the moment of weakness. “Sorry. I’m not used to projecting with so many people.”
Doubt bubbled inside me. If such a quick projection had taken it out of Kai, would Dixon be able to travel into the past with the rest of us?
“I’m fine,” Kai promised, and I realized he’d misread my concern. It wasn’t that I didn’t care if he was okay; I just wanted to find a way for Salaxia to be okay, too.
“That’s the transposer?” Oxanna pointed at the luminous circle above us.
“Yeah.” I looked up at it too, feeling the desperation grow inside me. Just like the last time I’d been here, everything I wanted was hinging on this ring of light. “Dix, that’s what you’re aiming for in my past.”
“I can do that,” he replied.
“Kai, do you need a minute before we project into the past?” Ulyxses asked.
“Nah, I’m fine. Thanks, though.”
Kala eyed her brother skeptically before scanning the rest of us. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes.” I didn’t wither under her harsh stare. “And I don’t want to stay in this tunnel for long. With Solstice on the warpath, who knows who’s going to come through here.”
“Let’s do this then,” Dixon said. We all linked hands again, and my heart started doing acrobatics in my chest. It’s going to work. I willed the statement to be true. This was the reason we had been given these abilities. If they were going to create so many problems in our lives, they had to be able to fix them, too.
“Everybody, close your eyes,” Dixon instructed, making my breath hitch. “Here we go.”
Chapter 9
Warning
The images raced before my eyes with blinding speed. I tried to make sense of what I was seeing, but everything melted into a single blur. It was a wonder Dixon could distinguish anything, let alone know where to stop. Yet somehow, when the rush of pictures came to a halt, we were facing the transposer. The giant glowing ring shone overhead like a beacon in the darkness.
Behind me, I heard my own voice squeal, “I did it!” I spun around to see my past-self tackle past-Kai into a hug, and I recoiled from the sight.
“Whoa,” Oxanna said from somewhere to my left. Though my body appeared the same to me, I couldn’t see anyone I’d projected with, and I knew they couldn’t see me either. For once, I was glad that was the case. Even in this weird borrowed astral form that resulted from projecting with Dixon, I was surely blushing at this embarrassing display.
We were watching the moment just after I first found the transposer. At the time, I’d been so elated that I couldn’t help but throw myself into hugging Kai. That was before I realized he was lying to me about everything. I forced the thought away. We were here for a reason, and I needed to stay focused.
Past-Kai gushed about how he knew past-me would make it and how awesome it was, but I did my best to tune out their conversation.
“Sorry, Dix,” I said to my invisible co-traveler. “They’ll project out of here soon, and we can go through the transposer. Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah, for now.” His voice sounded like he was standing right next to me. “I’ll hold on as long as I can.”
“Lali and I didn’t stay in the tunnel much longer than this,” the Kai in astral form said. “As soon as our past-selves disappear, you can dive straight for the transposer.”
“That is not a good idea.” Of course, Kala was the dissenting voice. “If Dixon switches into his physical body, what will happen to the rest of us?”
Oh. That was actually a valid concern. Would the rest of us all switch with him, or would we bounce back into the physical bodies we’d left at Delta’s house in the future?
“Why don’t we all go at once?” Oxanna suggested.
“But there’s no way to know where everyone is,” Ulyxses pointed out. “Dix, you should go last, just in case you switching pulls us out of your projection.”
“Okay,” Dixon agreed. “I’ll stay back until you all switch. But you’ll have to do it fast; I’m starting to see black spots.”
Oh, no. If he was already running out of energy, he must have been pushing himself too hard carrying so many people at once.
“That is not good,” Kala stated in her matter-of-fact tone. It took everything I had not to snap at her. I didn’t need her discouraging my brother when our entire plan depended on him.
“Hang on, Dix.” I shot an urgent look toward my past-self, as if it would make a difference. She was still grinning stupidly at past-Kai as he told her that all she had to do next was find the portal. He said it like it was so easy. But things had spiraled even more out of control for me after I found that portal. I remembered the terror of being dragged off to the lab in Alea and the throbbing bite of betrayal that came with the realization that Kai was behind my mother’s disappearance. Thinking about it almost made me feel bad for my past-self. She was going to suffer through more than her fair share of pain.
The two of them vanished, and Kai shouted, “Okay, go!”
Without knowing where any of the others were, I started toward the glowing ring. I jumped back when I saw Ulyxses appear in its center. He dropped to the ground with a huge smile on his face.
“It worked,” he cried.
Oxanna showed up next, slamming into his chest. “Ow,” she groaned, though she had landed on top of him.
“Hurry up,” Dixon urged, and I dove through the transposer. The pinprick sensation crept up my body, and I’d never been so thrilled for tiny stabbing pains in my life.
I fell face-first with a grunt, hitting the packed dirt of the tunnel just as Oxanna scooted out of the way. I didn’t have time to move before Kala’s bony body landed on my thigh. A second later, Kai crashed to the ground beside us.
I had barely crawled out from under the transposer when Dixon burst into being and dropped to the tunnel floor.
“Yes!” He pumped his fist, and my body bowed with relief. I didn’t know what we would have done if he’d run out of energy.
“We’re really going to get Sal back,” Oxanna gushed. Everything still felt surreal to me, but I told myself she was right.
“You have not done it yet,” Kala said, earning glares from my siblings and me. What was her problem? Was tact not a thing in Alea?
Kai jumped in quickly. “What she means is, we should get to it.”
“No, I meant exactly what I said,” Kala stated. “One should not celebrate until the deed is done. How do you know that we are truly in the past?”
Dusting off the seat of my jeans, I stood up. “Fine. I’ll see if I can project to Salaxia.” Just speaking the words made knots form in my stomach. I wanted to see her alive again more than anything, but the thought of it not work
ing was more than I could take.
Kai reached out to touch my shoulder. “I can go if you want. If it’s too much, I mean.”
“No. I want to go.” I forced myself to stand up straighter, as if that could calm my nerves. “Thank you, though.” Before anyone could talk me out of it, I closed my eyes and pictured Salaxia’s face. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I managed to mimic fear enough to make the buzzing start in my head.
It felt like forever before the sound died away, and another lifetime passed as I waited for my vision to clear. When it finally did, Salaxia lay right in front of me, her little body curled up in bed and snoring beneath a leopard-print comforter.
“Sal!” Without thinking, I rushed over to hug her. My astral form launched backward, repelled by an invisible force. I cried out as I sailed across the bedroom, barely managing to turn in the air before hitting the wall. I balled my hands into fists. Why did my astral form have to repel everything? Why did it have to be invisible? All I wanted was to hug my baby sister, to apologize for failing her. I needed her to know how sorry I was.
Moving back over to where she slept, I stopped just before I reached the edge of her bed. Her small features had smoothed into a peaceful sleep, and I willed this image of Salaxia to replace the most recent one haunting my memory. I studied the way her eyelashes curled where they met her cheeks, the way her bangs never stayed straight just above her left eyebrow, the way her ears came to a slight point. This was how she was supposed to be.
“I’m so sorry, Sal,” I whispered, irrationally hoping that on some level she could hear me. “I never should have told Kai to come to our house. I never should have trusted him or helped him at all.” The words poured out of me, listing every wrongdoing, every way I could have—should have—prevented what happened to her. She deserved a much better big sister than me.
“Just please be okay,” I begged. “Just be okay when we get back to our time. I’ll never complain about the Salaxia Quiz ever again. I’ll never—”
Someone shook me out of my projection, and the image of Salaxia disappeared. “No!” I shouted, but it was too late. I was back in the tunnel with the others.
