Chrysoprase (The Chalcedony Chronicles) (15 page)

“Just let him explain his plan,” Ty replied. “If you don’t like it, then we start over and figure our own way on it. It can’t hurt to listen.” Ty was being too persuasive. He had to already know Logan’s plan.

“Fine, but I refuse to do anything alone with Logan. If Logan comes with me, he follows behind me where I don’t see him, or have to interact with him,” I replied. It was a bad idea to involve Logan, but maybe that was just me trying to avoid the confusing feelings between us.

“I can do that,” Logan said as he reappeared. I was beginning to hate how he could come and go as he pleased.

“What is your plan?” I asked.

I had to humor Ty even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to work with Logan on anything. Logan grinned at my question.
Nope, I really didn’t want to work with him
. It was a bad idea to trust him.

“You travel to your mother. Once you find her, call for me. I’ll be around, but not alone with you as per your request. I can go instantly to Seth and Dee. I’ll have Ty’s stone with me so that I can bring them both. It will only take me a moment to bring them back here with me and then I’ll return to help you take your mother back. You will only be left alone one moment with your mother, who knows the time period exactly,” Logan explained.

Ty looked at me hopefully. Logan’s plan met all of Ty requirements, and if he was willing to just follow me, and not touch me, then it met mine, too. I didn’t have an argument against it.

“I go in and find my mom, and then we just leave?” I asked. That sounded a bit too simple. When I traveled I needed time to recover. Logan had to know that much.

“I’ll take you to the past to your mother, and then I’ll take each person back, including you if needed,” Logan replied, seeing my dilemma.

“And when would we do all this?” I asked.

“Today works for me,” Logan replied. Ty nodded. Easy for him, he would just sit here and wait for us to come back.

“Meet us back here in one hour,” Ty suggested, seeing that I wasn’t completely ready. It wouldn’t take an hour for me to be ready, but the less time with Logan, the better. Logan nodded and was gone again.

“Why one hour?” I asked Ty after Logan left.

“Because we need to plan a little more,” Ty replied, the conclusion was obvious to him, not me.

“Plan? I thought you approved of the Logan plan.” I eyed him over. What game was he playing? Either Ty was with Logan or not. Couldn’t he make up his mind?

“Oh, I trust Logan to keep you safe. Like I said, he looks at you just like
Seti does. I just don’t trust him to care if he gets Dee or Seti back here, too,” Ty replied. I breathed a sigh of relief. Ty wasn’t completely fooled by the angel Logan was pretending to be.

“Then what is your back-up plan?” I asked, knowing by the look on Ty’s face that he already had one.

Ty stood and went to my nightstand drawer.

“This,” he said, pulling out the green chrysoprase stone. I did wonder why Logan said he’d take Ty’s stone and not the extra stone. I hadn’t told Logan about Dee’s stone, but I figured that Ty had mentioned it to him in all their planning. I must have been wrong. “I’m not about to let him have it. You should have seen how his eyes lit up when I told him he could use the stone I used to get here, since I never wanted to go back. He didn’t snatch it out of my hand, but he looked like he was going to. I don’t think the gatekeepers are supposed to use the stones, but because he can, I think Logan likes having them in his possession.”

“Then I’ll take the extra stone. It still doesn’t help me get everyone back here,” I replied, looking at the stone in Ty’s hand.

“But it gives you an out if you need it. And more so, once you find your mother, you can send her home. We will figure out how to get
Seti and Dee once you’re back, if everything falls apart. I just figured by including Logan we stood a chance to get everyone here at once. Without him, it was bound to end badly. I don’t exactly want to work with him, either. I don’t trust him. But I know he will protect you,” Ty said, explaining his reasoning and making me feel a bit better about everything.

I stood up and moved over to the bed next to Ty to hug him.

“I’d take you with me if I knew you would be safe, but we know it’s dangerous for you there. You need to stay here. You need to stay free,” I said as I hugged him. He patted my back.

“You know I’m meant to be the one to protect you,” Ty replied. “Not the other way around.”

“Ty, you’re my best friend. I’ll do anything to keep you safe, just like my mother, Seth, and Dee. You are all family in this weird time travel world. I’ll get everyone back, and I will be safe.” I sat back and looked at him to make sure he understood. Ty shook his head with a laugh.

“I know you will.” Ty handed me the apple green stone in his hand. “I’d feel a lot better if this stone was permanently on your arm like the other one.”

A wind blew through the air and the papers on my desk scattered. I looked around for an open door or window, but knew there would be none. It was winter in Chicago. Yes, it was the windy city, but I was pretty sure you had to be outside to feel it. This was a different type of breeze, and one I was getting used to by now.

“And so would I,” a ghostly female voice came into the room.

Ty immediately bowed his head to the dusty form appearing in front of us. I stared up at her. It may be rude to stare, but I couldn’t help it. I had talked to the goddess after Thanksgiving, but there was something about seeing her again. Her form was just as awe-inspiring as the first time I saw her, but her ghostly figure just was not as bright as I remembered. Her body was made of floating sparkles that caught the light in the room just right. She looked like a glittery human ghost, yet somehow more beautiful and not as scary.

“You would what?” I asked. I wasn’t going to bow to her like Ty. She took away my family, and I wanted them back.

She smiled at me and held out her hand. “The chrysoprase.”

I handed the stone over to her. She took it and took hold of the arm that already had the carnelian on it. Soon dust poured from her hand. She swirled a new pattern on my arm with the green powder. It burned momentarily, and then it was embedded into my arm like the first stone.

“But…” I tried to argue. With her perfect timing, she had to know what I was up to. She told me I had to accept the past, and here I was going against it.

“I believe you will do what is right. You will see I’m not the bad guy,” the goddess said in her musical voice. Ty peeked up at her, but instantly lowered his head again. “Even you,
Taraq, have a role to play in this time and the past. Don’t give up on your father. Sometimes parents must make the most heart-wrenching decisions.”

“Yes, goddess,” Ty replied, his voice a bit stiff. Her words had made him think more.

“I still don’t understand,” I replied, looking at the new light green lines. They were intertwined with the brownish red lines, but formed their own pattern.

“You will, in time,” the goddess replied before vanishing as quickly as she came.

Ty looked up at me, and I looked at him. I had no idea what it all meant, but I didn’t have time to wonder. Logan was fading back into the room. It wasn’t safe to talk around him. Our planning time was over. It was time to go back to get my mother.

Logan stood near
me. I refused to take his arm. He placed a hand on my shoulder like he did when he traveled with Ty. This time I didn’t need to know exactly where I was traveling, since Logan was going to direct us to the spot, and I needed to save my stone for my escape from the past. I was going along with him, but I refused to hold onto him. He promised to drop me off with my mother before going to get Seth and Dee.

We began our travels, and I got to see how he went through what he taught me. Our connection brought me into his time travel world. We floated above the earth as the globe spun to the Middle East. Zooming in and going back in time simultaneously, which I had yet to master, we came upon a large city. Brown
and white mud brick homes spanned miles, each not much bigger than my bedroom, and all connected. They opened to curved streets that wove around the city in odd shapes. Far in the distance, yet surrounded by all the squat buildings, was a large, walled-off palace. The stone walls stood stories above the city, whether from being on a hill or just being larger, it was difficult to tell. Logan moved us toward the palace, and my nerves set in. I hadn’t seen my mom in a long time, and I was worried what she would think of me coming back to get her. I was even more worried to find her okay and happy in the past. Then I’d have to leave and go home without her.

I watched our approach to the palace and felt sick from all the mixed feelings. I wanted to see my mother badly, but now I wasn’t sure we planned enough. Would I get her home? Would she even want to go home? Could I do this?

My hand began to tingle in the familiar rush that took over my body. I knew exactly what it meant. Logan wasn’t lying about bringing us back, because Seth was in the city and close by. Seth was actually here. The person I had been waiting months to see was somewhere down below in the masses of people. I couldn’t help but pull away from Logan. I recognized exactly where I where I wanted to go. I knew precisely what would make me feel better. I needed Seth.

Without Logan behind me, I looked at the buildings beneath me. I hovered over each, seeing how the carnelian lines reacted. There was one in particular that drew me, and I knew Seth was inside. I found a dark side street next to the building without anyone around and let myself appear. I was in the past, and Seth was only feet away.

It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I couldn’t help myself. When I felt the tingles, and knew Seth was near, I needed to be with him. I had been missing him for months after my short visit into the past, and just knowing he was there made me change my course. Our plans to rescue my mother would have to change again, but I was fine with that if I was able to be with him. I still didn’t know how much I could trust Logan, but I trusted Seth completely, and wanted to see him, even if I still needed to go get my mom. I was sure he and I could figure that out together.

I felt the heat instantly as I appeared in the shadows. It had to be summertime now, and I wasn’t ready for it coming from winter. He was inside the building I was hiding by. The small alleyway wasn’t much, but it was at least shaded from the sun and passing people, and there were lots of passing people. The noise alone was surprising, not to mention the colors. I wasn’t expecting so much color since I thought I’d be in a desert again. It was a visual feast for my eyes, not to mention
a cacophony to my ears. The building I was standing by had to be some sort of eatery judging by the smells that wafted out of it. I peered around the corner of the building. The cloth hanging as a door was pushed back, and I ducked back into the shadows. I couldn’t see who exited, but I couldn’t show my face the way I was. I had no idea where my mother was at this point. The fact that I looked like her could be either bad or good. I screwed up everything by letting go of Logan. I had once again changed our plans. I had to learn to concentrate better with this time travel ability. At least Seth was nearby. I could feel the tingles shoot down my arm. My stomach flip-flopped knowing that he was just around the corner.

Chapter 7

Finding Home

“
What are you
doing here?” a rich voice that brought back many memories asked me. I looked up into Seth’s chocolate brown eyes. He was concerned, but just as happy to see me as I was him.

“I love you,” I blurted out immediately. I needed him to know that. I didn’t tell him before when I was in the past with him, and who knew when I’d disappear from him again.

His hands wrapped around me and ushered me to the wall as he didn’t respond, but greeted me with his lips upon mine. He pressed me against the building and deepened the kiss. His hands held me tight, pressing the abundant cloth I was wearing to my sweating body. As a few more people left the eatery and passed by us. I hear some sort of words exchanged with Seth, yet his lips never left mine. He gestured to them, and they laughed, and kept walking. When he finally pulled back, he stayed only inches from my face, staring into my eyes.

“It’s been too long,” he said huskily, staring at my lips again. He tasted of something sweet and fermented, but I was sure he wasn’t drunk.

“How long has it been for you?” I asked. The passage of time wasn’t the same for the both of us. I looked to his lips and wanted them back also.

“Six months,” he replied. I was distracted by his perfect mouth as he talked. He had gone without me longer, but I missed him just as much. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” He sounded hurt. It had been too long.

I leaned forward and pulled his head down to meet mine. I kissed him again. I needed to. I needed to feel that he was real. Each time he went away, and my memories changed, it felt like I lost a part of him. In losing him, I was losing part of me. He was everything I ever wanted. It was scary to feel that way about one person, but it was true. Even Logan and our past couldn’t compare with the feelings floating around inside me at just the touch of Seth’s lips to mine. He was everything I needed.