“We never spoke of it again. I tried to tell myself that it wasn’t so bad, that his brother had been really horrible to Vince and maybe he deserved it. Vince could be so kind and gentle, it was easy to forget his streaks of anger and how vindictive he could be. Forgiveness had never been a virtue to him, only a weakness. It made no sense to forgive those who’d wronged you. But revenge? That made sense. People should get what they deserved.
“Later, when our search for the Aeternum intensified, Vince said if he had the power to change the past, he wouldn’t kill his brother, and for a moment I thought he truly regretted his actions. I felt such relief. He wasn’t a cold-blooded murderer. Just a man in pain. But then he explained further. I’ll never forget what he said. ‘Death doesn’t remove the stain of their existence. It still doesn’t give me what I want. When I have the Aeternum, I’ll make it so he was never born at all. I’ll make my own family, my own kingdom. The one I choose.’”
Mrs. Hudson shivered a little.
“What about Marius Quine?” Matt asked. “Do you think he’s on our side? Or Vincent’s?”
Mrs. Hudson shook her head. “I can’t say. His actions, his communications seem to contradict themselves. I don’t know if he’s changing his mind over time, or if he has some other kind of grand scheme I can’t comprehend, or if he’s just different people at different times.”
“What do you mean different people?”
“People change. I was a different person when I was Captain Bonnaire. That was me, but I’m not her anymore, you know? I went from Captain Belamie Bonnaire the time pirate to Belamie Hudson, the wife and mother who likes her swords and knives. The same and yet not. So I suppose Quine could be on our side at times and then not at other times. I don’t know.”
Matt shivered. He wanted to believe that he was on his family’s side always, but future evidence would suggest otherwise. What would happen between now and then? What kind of person would he become? Would there ever be a circumstance where he, Mateo, could decide that they were not his family?
He wanted to say no. Never! But the truth was, the discovery of who he really was, and this possible connection with Vincent, had turned him upside down, so he didn’t feel like he could definitively say anything. Nothing was certain. Nothing was so fixed that it could not be broken. His mom knew that better than anyone.
Matt felt dizzy. He started to tremble, almost like he was going to have a seizure, but then his mom placed her warm hand on his cheek, and it steadied him.
“Hey.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “I need you to know, to never forget, that you are my son. You will always be my son, no matter what happens to any of us. I’ve known it from the moment I set eyes on you. Past, present, or future, we are family. Do you understand?”
Matt nodded.
“I love you, Mateo.” She kissed his forehead.
“I love you, too, Mom.”
Matt rested his head against his mom’s shoulder. She started to hum a tune and then she opened her mouth and sung the words. It was a French lullaby, one she used to sing to him when he was little, when he had the same nightmare that woke him up tonight. She must have known then.
When you feel lost and all alone
Look to the sky and you’ll find home
The stars will guide you back to me
They shine for all eternity
His mother finished singing. She kissed the top of his head, and they sat in silence for a minute. Usually he would have felt comforted. The fears and dark thoughts would dissipate, but tonight’s nightmare made them extra potent. The fear clung to him, like wet clothing, cold and chafing to his soul.
13Changing Tides
1995
London, England
Matthew Hudson knew that the map he’d found in London was unique, but he had no idea it would change his life. Or more specifically, end it.
He found the map at a little flea market. He wasn’t much for flea markets, but when he saw a stand displaying old maps he stopped. Most of them were tourist trash, crude and inaccurate replicas of old maps of various parts of the world. And then he saw a map that was something else altogether. A world map on thick vellum. He couldn’t place what time period it came from. It seemed both at once old and new, and something about it called to him. When he touched it, the land lines shimmered and shifted. He wanted to study it, but not here.
“How much for this one?” he asked the seller, whom he couldn’t even see behind all the displays.
“Oh . . . uh . . . I don’t know. What do you think it’s worth?”
Matthew raised an eyebrow. It sounded like a kid. Maybe they were manning the stand for their mom or dad. He reached in his pocket. He was low on cash. He was low on everything. Money, energy, inspiration. His studies were sucking him dry. He only had a few coins in his pocket. “How about fifty pence?” he suggested.
“Sure, okay.” A small hand reached out.
He felt a little guilty. He was probably ripping this kid off, but he was broke, and it wasn’t his problem if the owners hadn’t properly instructed the child on how to sell to customers. He handed over the money and rolled up the map. “Thanks,” he said.
“Enjoy!” said the kid.
Matthew showed the map to his professor, who was almost as fascinated by the map as Matthew. The land lines seemed to shift to accommodate different eras. It also had a strange watermark stamped all over it in varying shades, a circle with a V at the center. Maybe it had something to do with Vikings? Or perhaps it was V for Victory. It could
