The Next Chance

by Shannon Reber

  He held out his hand between them. “We need to hurry. Maddie said she doesn’t stay at the house for very long.”

  Ian scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed. “You’re right,” he admitted, standing up and taking the proffered hand. “Let’s save the world.”

  “Cool,” Noah answered, looking around the same yard he’d appeared in what was for him, earlier that day.

  The green grass and blue sky were still a marvel to him. He found it hard to focus on those things. His eyes simply felt dazzled by the light. He wasn’t sure he would have made it to the house at all if Ian hadn’t propelled him forward with a hand on his shoulder.

  They stumble/walked up the back steps and Ian took the keys from his pocket. He unlocked the back door, holding it open to allow Noah in before him.

  Noah was amused as he stepped into the kitchen, to find it was spotlessly clean. He had thought Ian must be a slob or something. It appeared that when Madison was shot, Ian had been so distraught, he had let everything go.

  Noah could understand that. Getting to know Madison showed him how difficult life without her would be. He felt bereft and he’d only known her for a few hours.

  He faltered a little when the front door began to open. He hadn’t expected to be faced by another explanation of who he was so soon. He felt out of sorts and a little afraid as he watched the front door swing open.

  Ian stepped forward to stand next to him, his hand rested on Noah’s shoulder. The two of them stood side by side, staring at the door. Neither of them breathed as they stood there.

  Noah’s eyes went wide at the sight of her. Madison had been pale and drawn in the hospital room, her body frail after her week in the coma. The woman who stepped into the house was neither pale or drawn.

  She wore a black tank top and black pants, her opalescent skin tone and the smattering of freckles making her look angelic to his mind. He was struck by how much Madison and Quinn resembled each other. She looked to be a younger version of Quinn.

  That made him feel far more comfortable than he normally would. The fact Ian was there and was clearly as nervous as he was, that made Noah feel even better. They were in this together.

  Madison stopped short when she saw them, her eyes moving from one to the other of them. She stared for a few seconds, then sprang forward to wrap her arms around Ian. Noah felt a little awkward watching the two hold onto each other. He simply stood his ground, waiting for them to break apart.

  It took longer than he expected. He remembered Madison talking about how Ian had been held hostage by the PSA for three weeks. So he didn’t comment as Ian lifted Madison off the ground and buried his face in the side of her neck.

  After a while, Ian finally set Madison down. He leaned in and pressed his lips to her brow. “Hey, babe,” he said in a slightly choked voice.

  Madison sniffled, wiping a few tears from her cheeks. “Where have you been? Are you okay? What happened? What are you doing here?” she rattled off, her eyes turning down to look at Noah. “And who’s this guy?” she finished, her tone a little softer.

  Ian rested his hand on Noah’s shoulder, his arm around Madison’s as he guided them both over to the couch. “This might take a while,” he said, easing them both down to explain.

  After he’d finished, Madison sat, shaking her head slowly. “So . . . you’re not MY Ian. You’re a version of Ian from a week in the future?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “So Ian, Spencer, Erkens, and a bunch of other people are still trapped in the PSA?”

  Ian nodded.

  “How do we get them out?”

  He considered for a moment before he spoke. “Bhesaj gave you some ash that was from Hestia’s fire. Spencer is about to free himself, so if we can get to him and ask him to talk to her, Hestia might give you that ash herself.”

  Madison swallowed hard, toying distractedly with the ends of her hair. “Why would I have been so stupid? Opening a portal to hell is an utter 404 move.”

  “No. It wasn’t,” a voice said from all around them and all of a sudden, a man appeared in front of them.

  Noah gaped at the being. It wasn’t a man at all. Or it was a man with wings and a sword. He’d spent enough time with Luken to be able to recognize an angel when he saw one. Luken wasn’t like that angel much at all, though.

  There was a grumpiness about Luken that made him seem human most of the time. The man in front of them appeared to be patience incarnate. Noah found that intimidating in the extreme.

  The angel kept his eyes only on Madison, his head tipped slightly to the side. “I am Erramun,” he told her, going on before she could speak. “What you did in the other timeline, was to do what you felt was necessary to protect those you love. You weren’t wrong. You made a human mistake that was and still is the essence of what is good about humanity. Your ability to love is what sets you apart.”

  Madison blinked several times like she wanted to clear something from her eyes. “I . . . I . . . okay,” she faltered out. “But the people I love are trapped inside the PSA. Do you know if going to a goddess who’s actually Spencer’s aunt is something that will help us free them?”

  Erramun gave her a small smile. “You must find that out for yourself. My duty is to protect you. Whatever choice you make, I will be there to help you.”

  Noah scowled. “Madison got shot in the other timeline. Where were you when that happened?” he demanded, folding his arms angrily.

  Erramun turned to look at Noah, shaking his head slightly. “I do not see the future. I follow the orders I am given. I was told to go with Madison into the Preternatural Science Agency and to save Azriel. I was not told that Madison would be hurt. If I had, I would have done all in my power to save her, as is my duty.”

  Ian raised his brows. “With the changes to the timeline we’ve already made, can you tell us if the future we came from has been altered?” he asked in a tense voice, his brows lowered.

  Erramun gazed at him for a few moments, lifting his shoulders a bit. “I neither know nor could I tell you if I did,” he said and gave an enigmatic smile before he vanished into thin air.

  Madison sat in silence for two seconds, then got to her feet and began to pace. “There has to be a way to keep all the things both of you have been through from happening,” she said, tapping her lip as she thought. “What if it’s fate? What if the world is supposed to end and--” she broke off, shaking her head vehemently. “No. No way. You two have already made changes to the timeline. A new future has been made. So now, we have to make sure the world ending isn’t part of that future.”

  Ian sat back, his arms folded as he watched her. “What are you thinking, Mads?” he asked, his eyes fixed on her face.

  Madison turned to look at him. “I’m thinking something needs to be done about the apostles. We know that Bhesaj and Sheenan are both key players in that group. All we know for sure about their plan is that they want to end the world. Why? What’s the purpose? How will that benefit them?”

  “There’s way more than one world,” Noah said with a shrug. “Maybe if they end this one, they’ll have more power in another one.”

  Madison’s lips tightened. “So the 7.5 billion lives in this world are nothing more than a means to more power? Holy blue screen of death.”

  “How can we stop them?” Noah asked, not understanding what made a dead computer holy.

  Madison smiled. “We know what’s going to happen in the next few hours. If we change things, we keep their plan from working.”

  Noah smiled in return, knowing his job was done. He could feel himself fading away. “I’ll see you later,” he said as he and Ian both disappeared from Madison’s timeline.

  TWENTY-ONE

  I blinked, staring at the couch where Ian and the little boy had just vanished. It was such a crazy, unbelievable story that I believed without question. Our eight-year-old son from twelve years in the future had come back in time to stop the apocalypse I had started.

  I was
n’t sure what to make of the whole situation. Had we stopped the demon-uprising? Was me choosing not to go to Bhesaj enough to keep it from happening?

  It must be enough since Noah and Ian were both gone. Their version of the future had ended. A new future was being written as I stood there thinking.

  Right. All I was doing was thinking. I needed to act and fast. When Sheenan found out we’d sabotaged their plan, he would come up with another plan that we’d have no heads up about.

  I rushed out of the house, dialing the number as I went. I brought the phone to my ear as I got into my car, eager to get things started. Fortunately, nobody questioned me about what was going on.

  I was surprised by that. I’d been such a jerk since Ian, Spencer, and Erkens had been taken by the PSA. If everyone had refused to talk to me, that would be understandable.

  No one refused, though. Simms, Daw, Dawson, and Gabe all agreed to meet me at Erkens’ office. Something told me that was the best location to start from.

  The usual twenty-minute drive took me twelve minutes that day. I was lucky not to be pulled over. There was a lot of luck although some of it had to be divine intervention.

  It startled me a little as I pulled into the parking lot at the office, to realize tears streamed down my cheeks. I hadn’t even realized I was crying. I didn’t remember starting but stopping seemed impossible.

  My son had vanished from right in front of me. I would have a son in the future. I had never planned on it. I’d always been afraid of the idea of having children.

  And Ian. I had seen him for the first time in three weeks only to find our future would be rather bleak. If Sheenan planned to shoot me with a poisoned bullet, he had another thing coming. He would go down. No question.

  I got out of the car and rushed up to the building, desperate to put my plan into play. We needed Spencer first and foremost, so that would be our first step.

  It startled me as I opened the door to the office, to find that all the guys were already there. Maybe they had planned another intervention. I had mostly ignored the first one. I wouldn’t ignore my friend’s advice anymore.

  Before any of them could speak, I spilled out all the details Ian had given me about future events. “I know it sounds crazy but it’s not. It IS true,” I told them, my mind showing me pictures of Noah’s adorable face and intelligent eyes.

  Daw leaned back against the wall, his arms folded as he studied me. “Quinn is our sister, Madison. Of course we believe time travel is possible,” he said with a wry grin. “So what’s your plan?”

  I smiled, relieved that they all seemed willing to do whatever it took to help. “Ian said that Spencer basically exiles himself in a little while. I was hoping we could go to perdition, help get Spencer out, and then ask his help in talking to Hestia. She’s Hades’ sister. The family bond might make her willing to help us.”

  Gabe nodded. “That’ll work,” he said, clearly liking the idea of having an active role in the plan.

  Simms gave me a hard look. “You said this all happens in a few hours, right?”

  I nodded.

  “And you were told there’s a mole in the FBI.”

  I nodded again.

  “That explains a lot,” he said, flopping down in one of the chairs. “Information has been deleted from a few files. Whoever it is, they’re good at covering their tracks.”

  I pulled out my phone and shook my head. “No, they’re not. The information that’s been deleted was deleted from Vox’s IP address. From what I was able to find in a quick search, the things he deleted were all about Sheenan. Any case that involved him, his name was erased. Vox is one of the apostles.”

  Daw scowled. “Is there a way to find if there’s others?” he asked, his raspy voice deeper than usual.

  I shrugged. “Maybe. I’d personally suggest making an example out of him. If you go into the FBI office and arrest Vox publicly, basically throw the book at him, the others might get scared off. If not, we’ll find another way. None of us is going to let these error codes start the apocalypse.”

  Simms stood up. “I’ll get that started. Do you want Roy to go with you into Purgatory?” he asked as he walked to the door.

  “No. Take him with you,” I said, leaning down to pick up Twitter as he rubbed himself across my legs.

  Simms lifted his hand in farewell, exiting the office before anything more could be said.

  I turned to look at Daw, Dawson, and Gabe. “You guys okay with our part of the plan?”

  All three of them inclined their heads as Gabe shoved his hands deep into his pockets. “You do know that Sam and I never would have suggested going to Bhesaj if we’d known the truth about what’s going on . . . right?” he asked in a weak voice.

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course I know that, Gabe. I never doubted either of you for even a second,” I said, turning my head to look at all three of them. “You guys are family to me. We’ve been through a lot in a short time. I trust you all without question.”

  Daw stepped over and put his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s get out of here, little sister. We can do a Turner family hug after we get Quinn and everybody else out of the PSA.”

  I hugged Twitter close to me for a moment before setting him down. “Okay. Let’s do this,” I said, turning to face the wall where Gabe had opened a portal to the Axis Mundi.

  TWENTY-TWO

  My skin quivered with a mix of terror and excitement as we stepped into Perdition. I had learned about Perdition as a child. Emma had told me it was the place where the unrepentant were sent to suffer for eternity.

  I hadn’t understood the difference between it and hell. Now that I did understand, I found it more frightening than hell. It was where the monsters were sent when they died. Not a place I wanted to have a summer home, by any means.

  Dawson shivered, his hands balled into tight fists. Daw looked utterly at ease, though. What struck me, was that someone else had come with us. It was no one I had ever met . . . or had I?

  He was a small, femininely pretty figure, with watchful eyes, and hands clasped loosely behind his back. It was strange. I felt like we’d met before . . . in regards to Spencer. How could that be, though?

  An image formed in my mind, of seeing that guy, Gabe, and Spencer entering the PSA, joining a happy group. Was it possible I was remembering the other timeline?

  As that question formed in my mind, I knew it was true. I did remember. The man who stepped forward was Aetos and he was Spencer’s guard. He had been unable to find Spencer because of the binding magic that had been used on him.

  Daw jerked in surprise at the sight of Aetos, his hand moving lightning fast toward one of the weapons we’d all loaded ourselves down with.

  “Daw, don’t,” I said, shaking my head to reiterate. “This is Aetos, Spencer’s bodyguard.”

  Aetos turned to look at me. “I did not realize we had met,” he said, confusion written all over his face.

  “In another life,” I said simply, nodding to Gabe. “Let’s get moving. The faster we get this done, the better.”

  He cleared his throat and moved to open a portal on the wall. “Sheenan will have contingency plans for his contingency plans. We’re . . . going to need to . . . take him out, I think.”

  I understood how difficult that must have been for him to say since Sheenan was his father. The fact he struggled to say it was one more proof of what a good man he was. Despite all the wrongs Sheenan had done, Gabe suffered at the idea of him being taken from the world.

  It was both admirable and heartbreaking. There were so many of us in the same basic boat. Neglected, abused, unloved children. Then there was Ian and Dawson.

  Ian’s family were the most stable, the most supportive people. They had loved their children, taught them right from wrong, and helped an unloved little girl understand what a family was supposed to look like.

  And the Turners had been the same. They had taken in Daw when he was fourteen, adopted him despite the fact he was already t
heir biological son. They had never made Dawson feel as though he wasn’t their son, despite the fact he wasn’t even human.

  I blinked as we stepped through the portal into the Axis Mundi. The long hallway of innumerable portals was as familiar as Aetos himself was, even though my memory was of something that hadn’t happened yet . . . or something like that.

  I shook my head, trying to clear my mind of the two different versions of reality. I needed to focus on where I was. I was in Perdition. That was a pretty notable experience in my life.

  Funnily enough, it looked the same way I’d imagined it. Dark. Desolate. Marshy. It was the quiver that moved its way up my spine that told the truth of the place.

  Spencer’s power to exile banished monsters out of the world . . . to here. It was like walking into a maximum security prison during a riot with a set of keys to a running car. Yeah. It was the tiniest bit nerve-wracking.

  My heart pounded as Gabe started walking. I knew he had a telepathic link to Spencer that could lead us right to him. Hopefully, nothing else had changed in the timeline.

  My hands shook a little as we neared a spindly tree. There was a small crowd around it, all of them making some kind of growling or hissing noise. Those monsters were attacking something.

  Gabe’s eyes glowed for a few seconds and one of the monsters fell to the ground. Then Dawson’s figure shimmered and changed into a ferocious, snarling wolf. He lunged at another and knocked it to the ground.

  Daw took a handful of one of the monster’s hair and yanked it back, punching it in the face as it turned its snarl on him. Daw and I had no power, so all we could do was cause them as much damage as possible. I punched and kicked, my eyes fixed only on whatever creature was in front of me.

  I knew Spencer was there. I had seen a glimpse of a figure leaned against the tree. There were so many monsters around him, though. We had to work fast.

  One of those creatures turned, baring its teeth at me. I raised my fists, ready for the fight until an arrow shot past me straight into the thing’s eye. It fell to the ground, its fangs still visible as death wrapped its arms around it.