“Relax, it’s not a shot.” Danny chuckled. “Though, now that you mention it, I should think about keeping a flask on me at all times for jobs like this. It’s a potion to protect me from the sun. I’m a vampire, remember?”
“Whatever you need to get the job done, I guess,” I replied. “Let’s get ourselves a key.”
A portal bloomed in front of us. We traveled through it, and my stomach flip-flopped the way it always did in response to Kallie’s time powers. The sounds around us changed as we were transported somewhere outside the palace. Chatter filled the air around us, and I heard the honk of a horn, but it was higher pitched than I was used to.
“We’re definitely in the past,” Ava noted. “All the men are wearing suits, and the women are dressed in day coats and flapper dresses. The cars here are accurate for the era, and so are the advertisements lining the buildings.”
I was born for the 1920s!Oberi cried.Look at all the hats!
“Can we stop it with the hats?” I demanded. “We’re here for the key.”
“We’re three blocks from the bank, outside the boundary of wards. We’ve arrived just a few minutes before Frank makes the deposit,” Kallie said. “He should be around here somewhere. Come on.”
We roamed through the streets until we were a block from the bank. We were careful to avoid other people, as to not interfere with anything in the past. It wasn’t easy maneuvering the old wheelchair through the streets, either— things had definitely improved in that area since our time.
“I shouldn’t have come. I’m attracting more attention than I should,” Ava said timidly.
“You’re fine, pidge.” I cringed as a man passed by us and gave us a warm greeting.
“There’s Frank, across the street,” Ava said. “I recognize him from the vision.”
Danny clapped me on the back. “Charlie, you’re up.”
I started across the street, keeping my head low.
He’s approaching the crossroads,Ava told me through the bond.On your left. You’re ten feet away. Keep going.
Her instructions helped me hone in on my target.On target… Three… two… one…
I expected to bump into him and make the transfer, but a soft breeze passed by me, then… nothing.
I lost him!I panicked.
What do you mean?Ava demanded.He was right there! Did you make the transfer?
I never touched him. Where’d he go?
He’s past you now.
I hurried back to my friends on the other side of the street. I grabbed them and pulled them into a quiet alleyway. “I don’t know what happened. I had him, and then…”
“It’s like you went straight through him,” Kallie finished for me.
“But I can touch all of you,” I said. “What’s going on? Are your powers slipping?”
“It’s not that,” Kallie replied. “My powers are working fine, but I’ve never gone back this far before. This is long before we were born, and we shouldn’t exist in this timeline. I’m not sure we can influence anything around us outside our own lifetimes. We can toucheach other, because we’re from the same time, but as for everything else… it’s like we’re ghosts.”
“That guy tipped his hat at us on the street,” Ava pointed out. “We must be able to be seen and heard, but we can’t touch anything. Hold on. Let me try something.”
Flames crackled in Ava’s palm, but she gave a thoughtful sigh. “My Fire doesn’t burn anything.”
“Oberi, why didn’t you tell us?” I asked.
I don’t know all the rules,he defended.Mutabeecha exist throughout all time and space. I’ve never had this issue before. Let me try to change something.
He skittered away. I heard acrash,like the sound of a garden pot falling from a windowsill. He came tottering back and said,I still appear to be solid, and I can influence things, but none of you can. It makes sense, as I am eternal. I was alive at this point on the timeline. Though where I was, I cannot say.
“If you exist everywhere, then you shouldn’t have this same problem,” Ava pointed out. “Let me try again.”
