“That’s why I’m destroying it.” Red crouched, setting the box at the marble feet. The rock vibrated like a low hum. A charge like a live wire made the hair stand up on her arms.
Nadine shuffled to the side.
Red held out her ring. She visualized a rope around the woman’s neck and yanked her down. Air molecules scurried to her will.
If she hadn’t wanted to question Nadine, she would have already knocked her unconscious. Or maybe off the cliff. See how she liked it.
A dreadful thought froze Red. She’d killed the woman before, left her forehead a crater. Her first murder was lost in a splintered timeline. The memories stayed in this one, lingering like stubborn marks on a chalkboard.
Gagging, Nadine rubbed her throat. “You’ve never had something you wanted to change? Something in your past that would have worked out if you had just made the right decision? This can do it. If you just know how to use it. There has to be someone you could have saved.”
Her mother. If Brooke Peters had been warned out of the house before the fire, she’d still be alive. How would her life have changed if they had decided to go to the movies that night? Red steeled herself at Nadine’s self-satisfied smile. “I doubt you do. You’re just the clean-up crew for when one of its keepers went rogue.”
“My boss does. Let me call my people for the extraction, and he’ll give you a wish. I promise.”
“You’ll bring him here? Make it happen?” Red asked.
If Mr. Gabriel were in Charm, she had a crew strong enough to take him out. She wouldn’t have to pretend to be dead. The biggest threat to her new life would be gone. She’d know why he had targeted her. Would that lead to the truth of who she’d been and why she’d lost eight years of her life?
She marveled at Chronos’s stone face and what he could reveal to her. All she wanted to know was where she came from. That was her real prayer to the Gods.
Vertigo spun her.
The cave transformed into pure light.
It was too bright. Red blinked, wiggling against a soft blanket. Her limbs felt fat and sluggish. A snuggly hat warmed her head. Where was her hair?
A ceiling painted with puffy clouds came into focus as her squinting eyes adjusted. She reached up to touch the white woven plastic walls that contained her. The hand in her vision was too tiny to be her own. She brought it close to her face.
When was she?
Startled, an unseen masculine voice said, “Abigail, I didn’t notice you there.”
Was that her father? Red tried to sit up, but her mushy little body wouldn’t obey. She was swaddled too tight, even if she’d had the core strength as an infant.
“You wouldn’t, Russell,” a woman—Abigail?—smoothly said. Her regal voice oozed East Coast money. “I have something for you, but first I wish to see my granddaughter.”
A dignified matron in a classic Chanel suit leaned over the bassinet. Coral lipstick frosted her mouth. Stern green eyes glittered. Her features were too big to take in it at first glance. She could have been a giantess.
Was this really her grandmother?
The icy demeanor melted as she cooed, stroking Red’s cheek. A tickle of magic passed through her touch. Warmth spread through the chubby baby. “You made a beautiful girl, I will say that.”
“Thank you,” Russell said, resigned. “I’ll consider that the highest praise that I’ll get from you.”
Abigail removed a large purse from her shoulder. Pulling out a manila folder, she thrust it at him. “You still need to sign these documents. Adela did before she fell asleep.”
Adela? Red knew that Brooke Peters had been an alias, but could that be her mother’s real first name?
Russell demurred, “The midwife barely left. Can’t that wait until morning?”
“All I need is your signature,” the older woman said. “I’m here to keep this house in order until my daughter is back on her feet.”
“We only need help with the baby,” he said wearily.
“This is help.”
A big hand came into Red’s view as her father took the folder and opened it. A beat of silence followed. “This isn’t her name.”
“It certainly is. You both agreed that the first name was to be—”
“No. The last. It’s not Goldberg. It’s yours.” He demanded, “Why doesn’t she have my last name?”
“This is our tradition.”
“Adela never cared about tradition.” Frustration and fear threaded his restrained voice. Red wished she could see him. How much did he know about this stern matriarch? It was enough to tread lightly around her. “How did you get her to sign this?”
“Because she wants her daughter to receive her full inheritance. A rare act of prudence.” Abigail’s words sharpened. “I’ve supplemented your university salaries enough to know how far they stretch.”
“You’d really deny your grandchild?”
“It’s tradition.”
Russell looked down on Red. Fatigue slackened his face. He was older than his university staff photo, but the curly brown hair and intelligent, sensitive eyes were the same. Adoration for his child melted his ire.
He adjusted the knitted cap on her head. “Fine. I’ll do it.” He ducked away to sign the paper quickly. “I’d like a moment alone with her.”
“This is for the best.” Abigail collected the documents and closed the door behind her.
“Oh, my little Junebug,” Russell said as he picked Red up, revealing the rest of the home nursery. “Your mother is a witch, and your grandmother is a real…I won’t teach you that rhyme yet.” He cradled her to his chest and returned to the rocking chair.
She fell asleep to her father’s heartbeat. The paternal security faded in a second as the cave reappeared around her.
Red gaped up at Chronos. Was that her granted prayer?
Nadine ran toward her with a rock.
Red ripped open the reliquary box. Her magic disappeared. She dodged Nadine as reality slowed, stretching like taffy.
When time sped up again, she was on the cliff top. A heavy breeze whistled through the trees. Tripping on her feet, she rolled away from her attacker.
Nadine shook as she dropped her rock. “What’s happening?”
“You woke the divine.” Red wiped her dirty face quickly to be presentable, trying to mimic what Vic called church manners. “Didn’t your bosses tell you?”
Elianna approached like a silent herald, glowing in the moonlight, with her arms raised to the heavens. Fog rolled in from the sea, obscuring the demigoddess to only a shining silhouette. Antonio and his clan bellowed, unseen, from the forest. The Sasquatch cacophony crested to an earth-shaking volume.
Both mortal women dropped to their knees, protecting their ears.
Red peeked up at the sudden silence. Not even the waves broke on the beach below as if time halted.
An orb, brighter than the moon, drifted over them. A wispy ouroboros danced on its surface like shadowy veins in marble. Two more heads grew on the serpent as it slithered. A lion’s mane crowned one while the other had bull horns. The orb transformed into the figure of a man, solidifying into perfect dark flesh in the prime of youth. Back bending, he morphed into wizened age. The metamorphosis cycled again as he approached. His face was too brilliant to look upon.
It was a fraction of his being. Light dimmed for her to bear it.
He crouched by Red, holding out a hand.
Like staring into an eclipse, her eyes burned when she met his. She accepted his help, standing on trembling legs. Somehow, she knew he’d been with her the whole time. “Th-thank you.”
Chronos smiled as reality dilated, and he spoke without moving his lips.
---
“Red!” Vic yelled in her ear, shaking her shoulder.
She awoke on a bed of thick moss. Where did that come from? She patted the soft, spongy ground as she sat up.
A small, rounded edge poked her hip. She fished a small coin out of her pocket, bronze with a s
quare cut in the center. Ancient symbols marked the edges. This wasn’t spare change. She palmed it, looking up at the stars. Thank you, she thought, knowing that Chronos would feel her gratitude.
“What happened?” Vic asked.
“I think—” Red looked around. “Where are Elianna or Antonio? His whole family was here.”
“I only found you two sleeping.” He waved his thumb at Nadine. Bound in duct tape, she glared at the hunters. “I doubt this one would have spooned you when she woke up.”
“It must have worked.” Red flopped back, giggling as her muscles sagged into the moss. Lightheaded, she pinched herself. “What if it did?”
Was it all a dream? Everything after she opened the reliquary and appeared on the clifftop felt like one. The memories were already dulling, as if her mortal mind didn’t have the storage capacity.
She asked, “Is it really over?”
Vic pouted under his trucker hat. “Why didn’t you bring me along?”
“Sorry.” She rolled onto her elbow, propping herself up, as her manic joy faded to manageable levels. “I had to make a decision. The time was right.”
“You’re lucky I figured as much and left Zach to his Bigfoot hunt. Prepare for some manly brooding when he realizes his new pet is gone.” He sighed. “I’ll miss Antonio. He was a cool dude despite not being a dude.”
“The feeling was mutual, if somewhat lost in translation.”
Vic asked, “What do we do with her?”
Red stood over Nadine and ripped the duct tape off her lips. “You work for Mr. Gabriel, and now you know who he pissed off.”
Nadine licked her dry lips, staring at the spot where Chronos had appeared. Her tough shell cracked. “I’m a fixer. It’s just a paycheck. What do you need to know to let me go?”
“Who is he?”
“Trades creepy shit like this.” Nadine shivered. “I thought this thing was half hokum. I didn’t know…I’m happy to get out. My ears are still ringing from the warning.”
“Have you told him about us?” Red asked.
Nadine shook her head. “Look, I don’t even know who you people are. I was supposed to find it. I’ll report that the thing exploded or something. Whatever you want.”
“I want Mr. Gabriel.” Red gritted her teeth to control herself until she could ask calmly, “What does he look like?”
“You don’t want him.” Hiding a flinch, Nadine shook her head. “You guys don’t scare me as much as he does.”
“We are the least scary ones here.” Red crouched to eye level. “This guy is now on a God’s hit list. Do you really want to cover for him now? Or do you want to earn some grace with above?”
Desperation brought out every line in Nadine’s face. “Fine. He’s a white guy, older. In a European time zone. His people give me untraceable burner phones with encrypted preprogrammed phone numbers to check in. I’ve never met him in person. He uses aliases. I accidentally found out his real one. It’s—”
Her jaw locked, and bloody foam bubbled on her lips. The fixer collapsed on her side, jerking in a seizure.
Red rushed to lift her, heart pounding as she watched her best lead to Mr. Gabriel go still in her arms. She felt for a pulse. “Fuck. She’s dead. That was a secrecy curse. I’ve read about them.”
“So, she couldn’t say his name?” Vic asked. “That’s specific. Is it part of the contract?”
Red closed Nadine’s eyes, setting her on the ground. Her ears might have been stuffed with cotton balls for how much she heard him phone for Callaway.
This was it. The last shot. There were no more resets. She’d lost her chance to pry this dead woman’s secrets from beyond the grave.
Red wiped her hands as she rose and stared at the stars. A life with consequences began again.
18
July 4, Morning, Charm, Oregon
Red stretched after the best sleep of her life.
Sunshine beamed through her open curtains. Her exercise clothes weren’t laid out on her bedroom chair. The days weren’t marked on her calendar. It was the Fourth of July, but it wasn’t the same one. She laughed.
It descended into happy sobs.
She dressed in jeans and a gray blouse, relishing in the novelty of a permanent decision, and trotted downstairs. The Bigfoot smell from the living room made her question herself until she saw that the cartoon on TV was different even if the paperboy was still late.
Antonio was gone, leaving only his unique fragrance to remember him by.
Zach munched on cereal beside Vic. “It’s a new day. What are you going to do with it, Red?”
Vic checked her out, confused by her state of dress. “I figured you’d sleep in.”
The empath grinned. “He has a point. Take a break, grab some Cheerios.”
Red thumbed at the suitcase by the front door. “I want to check in on my girl. I assume that Stace walked in and walked out.”
“I was ranting about how Antonio left in the middle of the night to find you, and she didn’t listen after the first sentence about adopting a Bigfoot. Shackleford is telling anyone who listens about his encounter too,” Zach said, sulking over his cereal. “I just wanted to thaw out some venison for the little guy before he went back to his folks.”
“I know,” she said. The rugged archer had teared up when she told him about Antonio’s heartfelt goodbye. “I’ll triage the situation at the diner.”
Red biked into the sleepy small-town morning. She took a different route, moseying along like she had all the time in the world.
Habit made her check the ladies’ bathroom when she reached Lili’s Diner. Looking up at the ceiling, she muttered to the empty stalls, “Wish we had a proper goodbye, Elianna.”
Hopefully, her divine superiors weren’t punishing her for a job well done.
After buying a coffee and chatting with Maudette at the restaurant counter, Red entered the back room. The mood had shifted from the original timeline, more thoughtful—perhaps due to her revealed adventures—but tension still coiled under the surface.
Stace, Olivia, and Callaway hunched over the break table. The blonde dominated the discussion. “Where are the bok choy, brussels sprouts, seasonal anything? And then the pantry boxes themselves.” She swiped through the detailed and decorated pages of Callaway’s binder. “I want to fight for a balanced diet.”
“I agree, but boxed milk—” Callaway folded her arms over her sheriff’s uniform, patience fraying in her dark eyes.
Red interrupted the brewing debate that she hoped wasn’t inevitable. “Hey, guys.”
“We’ll take five.” Stace stood eagerly, striding to the doorway. “How are you, Red?”
“Peachy keen, jellybean. I’m free.” She wrapped an arm around the half-fae’s shoulders and drew her away into the dining area. “What about you? You didn’t have a good trip either, without any do-overs. Then this morning…”
“I’m still in the thick of my morning. They’re going over everything with the finest of toothed combs. It’s making me want to pull my hair out. That isn’t counting everything that Jackson’s grandma said replaying in my head. I need more coffee to get into that drama.”
“I bet.” Red rubbed her chin, lost in the data of nearly a hundred impossible days. “I have the benefit of a lot of hindsight. Can’t do anything about the Gonzales pack, but I’ve interrupted this meeting a few times. You know what I noticed?”
“That Callaway is into scrapbooking? Wouldn’t have expected a sheriff to have a sticker collection either.”
“No,” Red said, biting back her shared amusement. “She’s trying to impress you, and so is Olivia. That’s why they’re trying so hard at this committee.”
Stace furrowed her delicate brow, lips tugging down. “Nah, that can’t be it.”
“Did you see how big that Benston Foundation grant is? And Callaway’s binder? She did a SWOT analysis of similar local charities. Now she’s taking by-the-minute notes.” Red gestured toward the back room. “I don’t
think they want to be frenemies. Just friends.”
“Huh. You really think so?” Stace’s skepticism dissolved into puzzled acceptance. “Fine, but you’re staying with me while I get friendly. At least vote with me.”
“This seems more like a locals thing.” Red stuck her hands in her pockets. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but what did she have to offer?
“And that’s you. You belong here as much as anyone.” Stace linked their arms and led her back to the committee. She announced, “Red is going to sit in today.”
Callaway and Olivia chimed in their agreement.
Stace shot Red a look that said I told you so. “Ladies, I thought over what you said, and I think you’re both right. We can box the nonperishables and alternate with green grocery giveaways. These are great ideas. I mean it.”
Olivia smiled primly, adjusting her blazer, while Callaway grinned. “Thank you,” they said at the same time.
“Jinx.” Stace kidded, “Now, you owe each other a Coke. Or maybe we should have gotten mimosas?”
Before Red knew it, the women chattered and laughed through the rest of the meeting. The earlier tension faded as the sun climbed in the sky.
She rode back to the house with Stace. The half-fae disappeared to her room for a nap with a careless wave at the hunters.
Zach grinned, sagging into the cushions as if he’d been bracing for a scolding since he’d heard them pull into the driveway. “You worked some kind of magic at that diner.”
“No,” Red said, thinking of the committee. “They would have found their groove in a week or so.”
“I mean with her. I can feel it. Thank you.”
“I’d still light another scented candle in here,” she suggested, wrinkling her nose. “I’m going to head off to check out those used cars at Dale’s.”
Vic’s head popped up. “I’m coming with you. Make sure you don’t pick a car because of the color.”
She rolled her eyes. “You can kick the tires for me.”
The Millennium Falcon waited for them in the driveway. Red almost felt like she was cheating as they drove to the mechanic shop where a few used cars hunkered down in the back. It was a decision that she had dreaded for weeks yet accomplished in less than an hour.
Witch in Time: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Red Witch Chronicles 6) Page 23
