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They glance at each other, suddenly uncertain. “We wanted to see our mom,” the brunette says. “And to meet you.”

I am obviously not their mom, so they must mean...Quinn. And I can see her in their faces. For a moment I am thrilled, and then I remember something else...one of those things about my kind I’d nearly forgotten, something I never dreamed would be an issue: the rule of threes, which ensures that only three time travelers can exist in one family line.

It means one of us must die.

And I’m the one they’re here to meet, so I suppose I know who that is.

I press my hand to my heart, feeling an ache that is now familiar. Usually, it’s over the losses in my past. This time, it’s over the loss in my future. I wanted to be there for Quinn as her future unfolds and I won’t be. I won’t live to see her have these two little girls, or to become a part of their lives. I won’t be around to protect them all.

I force a smile. “I suppose we haven’t met before. What are your names?”

“I’m Amelie Rose Reilly,” says the brunette carefully, in that formal way small children sometimes do.

“We call her Milly,” adds the blonde. “And I’m Luna.”

I stare at them for a moment. It should have been obvious to me from the start, what I’ve been seeing in their faces, the thing I couldn’t identify. It’s Nick. In their smiles, in the blonde’s coloring. Three of the first families are accounted for—Reilly, Durand and Eber—and I’m sure the fourth is there too.

These two girls are the circle of light, from the prophecy. I don’t know what it means, but I know I’m in the presence of it.

Tears sting my eyes. “And how did you manage to land here together like this?”

They both shrug. “We can always find each other,” explains Luna.

Like Quinn and Nick’s ability to remember each other, no matter what I erase, I think.

I ask them about their lives, and they detail a perfectly normal childhood, aside from the time travel. They go to school and they play. There’s a pool in their yard and their father has taught them to swim. They tell me their favorite subjects, the teachers they like and the teachers they hate.

“And grandpa taught us jeu de barbichette,” offers Milly. “But he said you wouldn’t like that so we shouldn’t tell you.”

My mouth falls open. “Your grandfather?” I ask, my voice cracking. They must mean Henri. Who else would have taught them the game? Who else would have told them I hated it?

For a moment I merely envy them—what I wouldn’t give to a spend an hour in his company, something I never do since it could rewrite our past. Then I realize the danger they could be placing all of us in with those visits. Not simply because of the time they’re going to, but because any information they give him could change everything that takes place afterward. “Girls, does your mother know you’re going back that far? It could be very, very dangerous.”

“We don’t go backward to see grandpa,” says Milly. “Well, maybe we do?”

She turns to Luna, who shrugs. “We see him on the island. Time is different there.”

“You’ll see him there too,” adds Milly. “He told us you would.”

My skin feels stretched so tight over my bones that I’m worried I will split open entirely. “That’s not possible,” I whisper. “Your grandfather died in 1941.”

They look at each other again. “We should go,” says Luna.

Milly opens her mouth to argue and Luna yanks on her hand. They disappear before I can even open my mouth and I remain behind, staring in shock at the space where they just sat.

Is it possible? Could Henri actually still exist somewhere in the world, somewhere I could go without rewriting the past? It must be what Cecelia meant when she said our story wasn’t over.

I curl up on the floor, wanting it to be true so much I feel sick with hope, wanting it so much I think I’ll die a little if it winds up being false.

It’s late afternoon in France, Cecelia’s busiest time of the day, but she answers my call immediately.

“I met the twins,” I tell her. “You knew, right? This is what you meant when you said our story wasn’t over?”

“Yes,” she says. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you more. I just thought it should all happen as it was meant to.”

It was probably the right decision, but now that I know I can’t help but push for more. “Do you know anything else?” I ask, gripping the phone tight. “Do you know where the island is?” I could go there. I’ll go tonight and bring Quinn. I don’t care where we have to go or what we need to do to get there.

“I’ve spent a small fortune trying to find the island, to no avail,” she admits. “Which isn’t to say it doesn’t exist. There are thousands of undiscovered islands on the planet. It seems as if it’s a place you can only reach in their time. That’s what you’ll come to believe, after the twins visit you again.”