Chrysoprase (The Chalcedony Chronicles) (7 page)

We had made it to the woods between east and west campus now. The bare trees were different than the fall foliage on the day Seth saved me, and it was too late to not fall for him. That day I had to admit the truth. Now, it was so different. All my new memories were different. I needed to get him back, but I couldn’t leave my mother there.

“The goddess took my mother back,” I finally told Ty.

“What?” Ty asked, grabbing my arms and turning me to face him. “She did what?”

“She took my mother back to the past,” I said a second time before the tears started.

Ty pulled me to his chest and hugged me as I cried. I didn’t mean to cry, and I thought I didn’t have any more tears left, but they still came pouring out. Of anyone I met at college, Ty would be the one to know how much my mother meant to me. We often talked about our parents. He missed his greatly as he had been parted from them since he was four. I only had a week to get used to my loss.

“I’m very sorry, Mari.” As my tears dried and I pulled back, Ty asked, “How could she just take your mother away?”

“It was part of their agreement. Once I could travel into the past on my own, my mother had to return,” I answered as we began to walk again. I sniffled a little. Ty kept his arm around my shoulder. “I need to go back and get her. She doesn’t belong to that time. She has spent most of her life here in the present. She belongs here.”

“Easy enough. We first bring her back, and then deal with Seth and Dee,” Ty said. He was certain saving my mom was the priority, I couldn’t doubt him. Ty was truly a best friend.

Ty led the
way into the library and to the fourth floor study area. I fished my keys out from my bag and unlocked an empty room. There were some perks of being a tutor, beyond meeting my best guy friend and my new boyfriend who currently resided in ancient history somewhere. There was the free access to quiet study rooms, which were perfect to discreetly use and plan an unbelievable journey. I wasn’t giving up on Seth yet for being my boyfriend. Heck, he had even asked me in the past to marry him, so maybe he’ll be even more than a boyfriend where he comes from.

“We first need to figure out the time travel, and then we need to make a plan,” I said as we closed the door. “I can’t go back knowing nothing of the time. I know my mother was a princess, but where? What were her people called? Where did she live? Who was in charge? What were the rules? How do I go about finding her? I have so many more questions. I needed to know more this time. I’m not going blindly into the past again. The more we know, the easier it will be to get everyone home.”

“I know you couldn’t use computers before, but I wonder without Seth here, can you do it now? I’m not of his people. Maybe it will work now,” Ty suggested.

That was something I didn’t think about. I wasn’t technically messing with the past when Seth wasn’t here. Even if Ty was from the past, he was not Egyptian, I could learn more without affecting his future, hopefully. Only Seth and Dee were actually Egyptian. I could learn more about Seth and his time, and there was no reason not to.

I took my coat and bag and placed them on the table. Ty did the same. First, I had to try the time travel back to the moment earlier in the day when I told him to come to the study rooms with me. I sat down across from him.

“How did we do it?” I asked, getting right to it. Time travel was easy when I was going back to Seth. There was something about him that drew me. All I had to do was follow that string, and
poof,
I was right there with him. I had no clue how to do anything else with the time travel.

“I don’t know. It wasn’t like we talked much. I was studying on the couch when suddenly you were standing in front of me. You told me to hurry up and come back with you so that we could do this,” Ty explained.
Great
. He wasn’t going to be much help.

I stood and began to pace around the small boxed room. There was a window to peek into the room on the wall beside the solid door, but it only allowed the person to see the study table. I stopped behind the door and out of view.

I was nervous to even try time travel this time. During my previous time travel experience, I didn’t think about it. I just went with my gut. It felt right. But now I had to think. I had to do this correctly to end up in the right place at the right time. It was reassuring to know I already did it, but I still didn’t know how. I tried to think of Ty like I had to travel to Seth. If I thought of him hard enough, maybe I’d end up with him in the past. I closed my eyes and waited a moment, but I didn’t go anywhere. There were no fuzzies, and I knew I was still in the present.

“I need something to go by,” I said to Ty. Ty paused for a moment and thought.

“I was sitting on the couch. The TV was on, but I wasn’t watching it. It was some basketball game for background noise. I had just finished my bio homework and was pulling out my math homework. It is due tomorrow. You know, one of those great profs that like to make you work over holidays. I got my book out.” Ty dug through his bag and grabbed the faded, navy blue book.

I pictured the Sangre house as he described it and could even picture Ty on the couch. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him sitting there over a dozen times in my multiple pasts. I felt the
fuzzies as he placed his book on the table. I didn’t have time to speak as I was instantly in the Sangre living room.

“Ty,” I said, surprised to see Ty sitting on the couch and not in the study room.

His mouth dropped in shock, and he didn’t reply. I had to stifle my laugh. Yep, he looked just like I felt not even ten minutes ago.

“Mari?” he asked, like it wasn’t me that had just popped into his house. Maybe he thought I was an alien.

“Yes. Me, Mari. You, Ty,” I replied in my best robot voice. Ty didn’t even smile. “Yes, Ty it’s me,” I said more normally.

“Why? How?” he stuttered.

“Well, in ten minutes you’ll walk back with me to school and the library to one of the study rooms. We’ll try it then and you’ll help me do this,” I replied, pointing to myself and then the room.

“You will time travel?” Ty replied, slowly catching on.

“Yes, with your help, and as long as you get your butt out there to walk back with me. Otherwise, I was just going back to my room,” I answered.

Ty stood and hastily grabbed his books to throw into his bag while he was sliding on his shoes. As he was putting his coat on, I saw a figure through the glass window on the kitchen door, Logan. I rushed back to the living room.

“Hurry up,” I told him as Ty zipped his coat and grabbed his bag. I looked down and saw the same navy book he pulled out in the library on the coffee table. “And don’t forget your math book. You have homework due tomorrow.”

Ty took his bag and grinned at me. “I knew we could do this.”

Ty was out the door, and I hung back as I watched myself walk by. It was strange to see myself, to say the least, but I did worry about all that science fiction stuff about being in the same place at the same time would cause some sort of damage. I watched as they walked to the road and knew exactly what was being said. I went back to the living room. It was as good a time as any to go back.

I thought of the study room and Ty’s face as he saw me fade. Closing my eyes, I pictured everything clearly and waited for the
fuzzies.
Nothing
. I pictured it in more vivid details, the bags strewn on the table, the book in his hand, the faded white walls pressed to my back. I waited.
Nothing again
. I wasn’t going anywhere. Now, this was a problem.

I flopped onto
the couch. What was I to do? I was stuck in the past and had no clue how to get back. This wasn’t a good idea after all. Sure I could go someplace, but it did no good if I couldn’t return. I laid my head back and sighed. This wasn’t as easy as we pictured it to be. I needed help, and only the person I could think of to help was the goddess. I wasn’t exactly happy with her after she took away the people I love, therefore I was more willing to just sit and wait. I had traveled into the future, now I just needed to find a way to go back.

“If you’re here and I saw you walk away with Ty, is it safe to assume that you’re not the current Mari that just yelled at me moments ago?” Logan asked from behind me. Again, I was startled since I hadn’t heard him enter the room.

I sat up and looked at him. I was still mad at him, and he didn’t deserve a reply. I shrugged and lay back against the couch. I closed my eyes and tried again to picture the study room. The sooner I left, the better. I really didn’t want to be in an empty house with Logan; especially a Logan who wasn’t accepting that I was in love with Seth.

“Looks like you could use some help,” Logan suggested. His voice was getting closer. He was walking over to the couch. I still didn’t open my eyes or reply. “How much of the stone did you use up to travel?” he asked.

I finally opened my eyes. I had to. I had no clue what he was even talking about. He knew more about how to time travel than I did, but I didn’t want his help. Even the little bits he was now giving me were, annoyingly, making me want to ask more. Logan laughed at my lack of response.

“Did the goddess tell you nothing? All the other ones she gave lessons to, and here she lets her last one be all alone. I have no idea what she’s playing at. Where did she place the stone in you? Can you see it?” Logan asked, sitting beside me. The things he was saying were a little confusing to me, but I had to answer his question. I wanted to go home, and it seemed like maybe if I talked to him, I could get away from him.

I pulled back my sleeve. I needed some help, and since he was offering I would have to take what I could get. Help from Logan always came at a price, though.

Logan’s eyes got big as he looked at my arm. “That’s the stone?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied, unsure why he was surprised. He was the one that knew the stone was within me. “And?” I prompted, looking for an answer.

Logan picked up my hand and turned it gently over to look at the lines that crisscrossed around my wrist. Except for the few lines that radiated from my wrist, it looked like a red bracelet.

“That sneaky devil.” Logan chuckled as he examined the lines closely.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Nothing.” Logan shook his head and continued to hold my arm. Since he was no longer inspecting it, I pulled it back out of his grasp. “Where do the lines normally go to?” he asked, smiling at my response of pulling away from him.

“Almost to my elbow and down to my fingers,” I replied, pointing to where one each ended. Logan nodded.

“Well, I’d have to guess that until they show up again, you won’t be going anywhere,” Logan replied.

“Have to guess?” I replied, somewhat in shock, and somewhat mocking him. He acted like he knew what was going on, and now he was guessing.

“Well, she’s never exactly put a stone in someone like that before,” Logan replied. “Most of the time she puts the whole stone just under the skin. It fades when used up, and grows darker when it’s ready to be used again. I’m guessing your lines are like that.”

“She’s never done this before?” I repeated what he already stated. I knew there were others like me, but I never considered who or where they were. “How many people like me have you run across?”

“A few dozen over the years,” Logan replied with a shrug.

Logan was my age, nineteen. How could he have seen a few dozen when they were born very rarely? Had he traveled that much? Yes, Logan wasn’t the person I knew two years ago.

“I can teach you how to use that stone,” Logan added again.

“For what price?” I asked. It had to be asked. Logan was turning out to have a much larger past that I ever imagined, and he wasn’t the person I remembered.

“I don’t have a price. How about we say, I teach you for a future favor?” he asked, mystery and seduction laced his voice. I didn’t like the sound of that.

I involuntarily shivered. My gut told me I had something he wanted, something he couldn’t name now, because he knew I would say no. He had gone to so much trouble to make himself central in my life again. I wasn’t sure if I could trust him now. Ty’s voice rang in my head. Ty, the warrior from the past, was wary of Logan. He wasn’t the same boy I dated two years ago. Then again, I don’t know if he ever was. My old and new memories were at odds.

I shook my head
no
. I couldn’t agree to that. There was no guarantee what his price would be. I had a feeling there were secrets in Logan Jones I didn’t want to know.

“Come on, Mari,” Logan pleaded, some of his old boyishness shining through his intense stare. “If I don’t teach you, who will? It will take forever to learn on your own. I can teach you, you can save your boy, and then all you will owe me is a small favor in the future.”

“I don’t trust you,” I replied honestly. Well, maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say to him now. If he did send me into the past, there was no way I could go anywhere.

Logan laughed. “What is there not to trust? I’m the same Logan you dated two years ago. You trusted me then, why not now?”

“I didn’t really know you then, did I?” I asked in reply.

“Didn’t know me? I knew you, and I have a feeling you still know me,” he replied seductively. I shook my head and shuffled over on the couch a few inches. I did remember our time together, but how could I not? He was the first boy I ever kissed. I would remember that forever.