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The flask filled with Glow feels overly large inside my pocket as I realize I already have the solution.
That blessed Empath princess. She didn’t mean to help me, but when she tricked me into drinking the Glow, I discovered the unknown depth to my power.
Time travel.
If I can travel back to the past, Vaeront won’t be able to find me there. I know this for a fact, because when I told him of my accidental jump to another era, Merina tried to replicate it. She couldn’t, probably because my original power was never meant to work that way.
Keeping Hannah cradled to my chest, I discreetly fish around in my pocket, silently slipping the flask out. With my hand concealed underneath Hannah’s thigh, I twist the cap off.
So engrossed about their conversation about what they plan to do with Hannah’s children, Vaeront and Gia aren’t even paying attention when I bring the container to my lips.
I down one large gulp, trying to gauge how much I’ll need.
I’m not even sure when or where I’m going yet. I just know I have to get away from here.
After putting the cap back in place, I slip the flask into my pocket once again and wait for the substance to kick in.
“Let’s get on with it, then.” Wrapping up the discussion, Vaeront sighs as though the entire situation has made him weary.
Gia hands him his little wooden box with his life-saving concoction in it, and he motions for me to stand.
As I push myself to my feet, he takes out the sharp dagger he’ll use to open the vein on the inside of my wrist to collect my blood mixed with Hannah’s.
Before he’s even gotten up from his seat, the Glow starts working. A prickle begins at the nape of my neck and the hairs on my arms stand. Just like the first time I drank this stuff, I feel different parts of my brain light up. But, unlike then, I’m not caught off-guard or frightened.
No, I’m victorious, and Vaeront doesn’t even know he’s been bested by me yet.
I can’t help but smile.
“You’ll need to put her down,” he drawls, sounding bored while pointing at the cold floor. “Just for a moment.”
“And after? When she wakes? How long will you let me stay with her?” I’m stalling, waiting for the moment when the Glow has fully peaked.
Thinking I’m being petulant about being separated from my mate, Vaeront rolls his eyes. “You know how this goes, Ellister. She’ll be monitored by someone—someone who’s not you—for a day or two so we can make sure she’s not too hysterical. Going forward, we’ll try to station you in different areas so you won’t run into each other. The less contact you have, the better.”
Suddenly, without any effort from me, the air starts moving behind my back. Even though I’m not commanding it to, the vortex is churning and waiting for me to form a location in my mind. Right now, it’s a directionless pit.
Vaeront’s attention goes to the swirl, then his gaze lands back on me.
“What are you doing?” His question holds a hint of exasperation like I’m a misbehaving child, but he doesn’t seem alarmed. “Merina will just come retrieve you.”
“Not this time.”
“Why?” Thinking he’s got my plan figured out, Vaeront names the one place he knows the witch is forbidden from entering. “Valora? Ellister, be smart. You’re an enemy of all the royals, and they won’t forgive you like I so graciously have. What’s done is done.”
What’s done is done. That’s the first thing Vaeront said to me after he took my soul. It seems to be his go-to motto, his way of stating the finality of any tragic situation.
The phrase gives me an idea, and hope flares within me.
Vaeront doesn’t realize it, but he just told me the answer to my problem.
With time travel at my disposal, what’s doneisn’tdone. Not when I can go back and redo it.
Since I’m already returning to the past, I might as well make the trip worthwhile.
What I need to do is travel to the night I made the deal with Waylon and convince my previous self to change the terms of the bargain. Instead of a life as payment, it has to be something else.
As the force of the vortex grows, I think of the maple farm, long ago. I think of the moment in time that started this mess, and the deal that solidified Hannah’s doom.
