“But how?”
I startle from Cat’s sudden appearance in the bathroom’s doorway and look up to meet her troubled gaze.
“I mean, Austin, this isn’t politics. You can’t just argue your point here. This is fate. Destiny.” She wiggles her fingers in the air. “Magic.” She shrugs. “It’s kinda hard to fight.”
“No, Austin’s right.” Lucas glides past her and sits in the rolling desk chair. “The two of you aren’t alone this time. There’s four of us now and only one of her. We’ll start with that ancestry search Cat was talking about; maybe we can find something there. That was Reyna’s big argument, right?” he asks me. “That you’d change history if you stayed?” I nod, and he grins. “Then there you go. Let’s find out who’s in your lineage and what great things we’d be changing if you stayed. There has to be a loophole.”
Austin clasps his arms around my waist from behind. “I’m great at finding loopholes.”
It is tempting to let go and be swept away by their excitement, but the boys do not understand the magic we are dealing with. I look at Cat, who gives me a gentle smile but voices the question we’re both thinking. “And if we don’t? If there’s not a loose thread to pick, or a flaw in her logic?”
Austin’s fingers sink into my skin. “Then I’ll go back with her.”
I must have heard that wrong.
I twist my head around, certain there’s no way he would be willing to give up this world that I desperately want to stay in, all for a girl he just met. But the emotion in his eyes tells me that he is, and that my ears are working just fine.
Austin resettles me on his lap, clasping his arms around my back so I will not fall, and once he is sure I am comfortable, asks, “What does this century have for me that yours won’t? Electricity? My dear devoted dad? My superior academic record?” He gives me a droll look, and even with the trauma of the day, I find my smile.
“And Jamie?” I ask, knowing how close the two siblings are.
As anticipated, sadness rolls across his face, but it is quickly replaced by resolve. “Yeah, you’re right. If I leave—and I don’t think I’ll have to, but if I do—I’ll miss her. But my sister’s a fighter, Princess. And she’s all grown up. More importantly, she’s not
I hear the bathroom door creak behind me, and I picture my cousin’s mouth hanging ajar. But nothing, not even Reyna, could get me to look away. Austin bends his head so close to mine and lowers his voice to just above a whisper as he says, “I don’t think you’re getting it. I told you I’m not letting them take you away, so you better get used to this face. One way or another, Alessandra, I’m yours until you get rid of me.”
My heart swells, and I cling to his words like the lifeline they are. “Well, you better get used to mine,” I tell him, “because I’m
Chapter Twenty-six
The ancestry search had to wait until morning. Shortly after absorbing Austin’s words, Jenna arrived home from touring potential sweet sixteen venues with Lucas’s mom and sister in tow, and as eager as we all were to fight fate, we decided it best we start fresh in the morning. So at nine o’clock in the morning on the day before I am to leave the twenty-first century forever, I join my boyfriend, cousin, and friend at the Beverly Hills public library to research their past—and my future—in an attempt to find a fatal flaw in Reyna’s divine logic.
To admit my hopes are pinned on a very slim chance would not be an overstatement.
“Slumming it with the rest of us lowlife, school ditchers, huh?” Austin teases Cat, grabbing the seat across from her. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
She lifts her head out of a book. “What can I say? My early ancestors set a horrible example.”
I jab her in the ribs with my elbow, and she winks, though the gesture seems a tad…strange.
I knew last night that she was worried, feeling guilty for keeping my marriage a secret for so long, but I told her I understood. I can’t imagine what it must have been like, knowing what my future held and watching me fall more and more for Austin. No wonder she fought against us so much. But I thought that we had moved past that.
Frowning, I shake off the lingering sense of unease. I’ve been overly anxious all morning, imagining conflict where there is none. I guess fighting fate will do that to a girl.
The library is deserted and quiet, and we’ve received more than a few inquisitive looks, wondering why we are not in school. Austin, a professional at making excuses for such things, explains we are gathering research for a class project. Luckily, the woman behind the desk seems to accept his explanation without question. After all, as he told me when I expressed my disbelief earlier, “Why would anyone believe we’d skip
I take a thick volume I found on Lorenzo’s life from the top of my stack of books, hoping it will contain a clue about the painting he did of me. It is still strange to think about how well-known he has become in the last five hundred years. If things do not go the way I wish and Reyna sends me home tomorrow night, I’m unsure if I should ever tell him the extent of his fame…he could grow quite insufferable. I smile, thinking of my friend, and crack the spine of the tome.
A half hour and no huge discovery later, I glance up, eyes weary from strain. Austin does the same and shifts his gaze between Cat and me. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice how much you two look alike.”
“You didn’t know to look for it,” I suggest, sitting straighter in my chair.
I’ve long thought Cat and I shared certain attributes—it is one of the reasons I so easily believed she was my father’s niece, Patience, when she first arrived two years ago—but I have yet to hear anyone else say the same. Turning in my seat, I beam at my cousin and observe the deep etches on her forehead.
She nods. “Yeah, I see it, too.”
The difference between my thoughts and her statement is that Cat’s voice catches with sadness as she says it, and instead of smiling at me with equal delight, her gaze flits back to her open book.
Realizing my previous concern was not paranoia, I ask, more than a little hurt by her disappointment in resembling me, “Cousin, are you all right?”
She closes her eyes tight and snaps, “I’m fine.”
Obviously not, but I dare not say so and risk her ire again.
When Cat opens her eyes, she tosses me a quick smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to jump on you. I guess I’m just a little stressed that we’re not gonna find anything, but that’s all it is.” Then she looks back at her book, effectively shutting me out.
I have not known my cousin long—nine days during her journey, fifteen now for mine—but during that time she has never lied to me. Well, if not counting the numerous times she claimed to be Patience, but even then, she was never very good at it. Cat never needed to lie about anything important because I have always accepted and loved her unconditionally…which makes her insincerity now even more surprising. And disconcerting. Call it intuition, a familial bond, or just keen observation, but something is definitely bothering her. And it is something she doesn’t want
Lucas looks at me over Cat’s bowed head and shrugs, then reaches for his chirping cell phone. He’s been calling and e-mailing his contacts back in Milan all morning for assistance. He gets up from our table and rushes down the aisle, past the frowning librarian, to accept the call outside. Austin lifts his chin in Cat’s direction, urging me on.
I close my hand around the wooden seat of my chair and scoot closer. The screech of the legs against the floor brings another scowl from the woman behind the desk. Despite Austin’s assurances, I am beginning to think she has her doubts about our alibi.
“Cat?” I ask, wincing at the slight waver in my voice.
“Yeah?”
She turns another page and lifts the book up. What she doesn’t lift is her eyes.
I shove my hair behind my ear, then rub my hands along the rough denim of my jeans. In all the questions I assumed I’d be asking today—and I imagined a lot—I never expected I’d have to ask this…or that I’d ever dread the answer.
