Ari cracked a smile. She stepped out of Gwen’s reach and threw on one of Lam’s clean shirts. Gwen’s instant scowl was adorable. “You know we can’t. Not even for a few minutes.”
“I hate you.”
“I know.” Ari slid her arms around Gwen, and Gwen tucked her head beneath Ari’s chin. Something on Gwen buzzed but Gwen didn’t seem to care, so Ari ignored it as well. “She’s going to be okay,” Ari said, knowing that Gwen’s thoughts couldn’t be far from Jordan.
“What if no one found her fast enough?”
“She’s going to be okay.” Ari kissed Gwen’s forehead, and then they were staring into each other’s eyes, which was ever-so-much more dangerous than being topless. “Captain Mom was prowling about the night we left. She’ll find Jordan.”
“Promise?” Gwen murmured.
Ari leaned closer, tracing Gwen’s lips with her thumb. What had Nin called them? Magnets. Yes, they were magnetic, and she swore she could feel their bodies lining up in the way that pulled fast and forever. Ari was painfully aware that each breath like this was a gamble, but before she could pull away, Gwen buzzed again. “Lady, as much as I enjoy vibrating pleasures, did you sneak something from the future back with you?”
“It’s just my watch. I think it’s finally broken. It’s been trying to give me a news notification since last night.”
“Wow, news from a distant future. Mercer has really outdone itself this time.” Ari picked up Gwen’s wrist, eyeing the slim piece of tech she’d hidden beneath a jeweled bracelet. “You know this is my watch.”
“No. It’s mine. You gave it to me on Urite. Remember?”
Ari winced. “I remember. When we got torn apart… when Morgana…” A thunderclap of a thought pounded through Ari’s hangover. She pushed Gwen away, leaning over to support herself on her knees.
“Ari, what’s wrong?”
“Nin. She’s so motherfucking evil. I mean, she’s good.”
“Are you saying she’s good or evil? I’m not following.”
“She’s really good at being evil. She told me that you and I are like magnets to her. That she’s amused by pulling us apart. She’s the one who tore me from your side in the portal. And she acted like she’d done it before. Maybe she was behind our separation at Urite.”
“How? Wasn’t that Morgana?”
“Yes and no. Morgana took me to Ketch, but once we were there, she couldn’t make another portal to get us out again. She always acted weird about it. Weird because it hadn’t been her magic to begin with.” Gwen didn’t looked convinced, but Ari hadn’t wanted to trust Nin from the beginning, and now she really didn’t want to. “We have to get Val back.”
Gwen’s watch buzzed again, and this time Ari picked up her wrist to close out the notification. She clicked on it by accident and a small holographic news bulletin lit up the medieval stable. Both girls scrambled to mute it before someone heard, but then froze when they beheld the lines of bound people being marched onto Mercer police cruisers.
“That’s Ketch,” Ari murmured.
“Those are my people! Ari, what’s the date on this?”
Ari swiped the hologram to reveal its posted information. The year was the same as when they’d left, but it was an entire season later. And from the looks of it, Mercer had regained much of its power in their absence. “Gwen, is this the date we sent Jordan back to? We must’ve fucked up the portal. That’s not the night we left!”
Gwen was breathing so hard she’d become shiny and flushed. She started to teeter, and Ari held on to her, turning the watch off in a hurry. Ari pulled Gwen onto a pile of straw, fetched a wet rag, and used it to cool Gwen’s face and neck. Gwen was holding her stomach in a way that sent fear straight through Ari. Was the baby coming? Spurred on by Gwen’s panic?
“We’re okay,” Gwen said, interpreting Ari’s fear. “We still have a month at least.”
Ari pressed her lips to Gwen’s forehead. “You just scared the life out of me.”
“The watch must have updated when the portal was open.” Gwen’s red skin had paled down to a faintish milky color. “We sent Jordan back to the wrong day in the future. A future in which Mercer is back in power.”
“Whatever happened, we’ll fix it. We’ll find Merlin. We’ll… fix it.” Ari kissed her, relieved when Gwen kissed back. We’re together, she ached to say. It’s okay because we’re together… all because Gwen had refused to step into that portal after Jordan. Ari kissed her again, pulling Gwen close to her chest, holding her tight.
“Yikes. You know just about anyone could walk in on you two.”
Ari looked up to find Val. Glorious, perfect, unharmed Val. She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tight around his trim frame. Gwen pulled Ari off and hugged him, too. “Thank the stars you’re okay,” she said. “We were so worried.”
Val turned in a circle, showing off how alive he was. He’d been in Nin’s cave long enough that his usual buzzed-to-the-scalp hair had grown out into an afro that suited him just as well. “I’m damn fine, but only because this one saved me from certain death by drowning.”
Val stepped out of the way to reveal Merlin. At least, the slim young boy was what Merlin might’ve looked like if he’d grown several years younger overnight. Ari stared at Earth’s most famous mage, now swimming in his own clothes, freckles bright on round cheeks, red hair curling in the humidity as dawn finally broke.
The conference was sadly born in the trench of a peat bog, where Merlin had been sent by the older version of himself to do penance for disappearing during the party. The only saving grace in this smelly business was
