Ghostsnaps (Knead to Know Book 4) (16 page)

Still it was the closest we had gotten to an answer. There was a knock on the door. “Baker,” I said, standing up. “I’ll get it.”

I rushed to the door, careful not to look at the mirror in the hallway. Who knew how much Granville could see or hear from inside there. Just in case, I’d have to play along. “Baker,” I exclaimed, opening the door wide and throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him.

“I could get used to this,” he said, smiling even as his eyes questioned me.

I leaned in once more, brushing my lips against his ear. “Go with it.”

Baker listened to everything we told him, and by the end he was grinning from ear to ear. “I know exactly what he is. You’ve got yourself a cambion.”

“That wasn’t in the book,” Josephine said at the same time I asked what that was.

“You were close with the dream demon,” he said. “A cambion is the child of a demon and a mortal. If I had to place a guess, his dear ol’ mother was the dream demon. No witch trapped him in a mirror. Had a witch done that, he would be confined to a single mirror. Since he can move between them, that isn’t the case. She would have given birth to him in her realm and without a way out, he would be stuck there.”

“For how long?” Jeanette asked.

“For as long as he lives. But this fella is a smart one. He’s found himself a way out. He has already figured out how to possess you, but not for any length of time because being out here would drain the energy from his demon half, which was never meant to exist on our plane. While you get stronger as you recover from being in his realm, he would die.”

“What’s his plan?” I crossed my legs, bouncing my foot in the air.

“Search me,” Baker said. “I haven’t the first idea how he will get out. I just know that he has a plan and won’t look kindly on anyone who stands in his way. Looks like you were right, Maggie. He’s probably the one who takes Josephine. She’s obviously part of his plan.”

“Then all we have to do is never open the channel through the mirror again. He won’t be able to reach us or take Josephine,” Jeanette said. “Problem solved.”

Baker shook his head. “I’ve been thinking about this, even if it isn’t Josephine’s time to go, she can’t stay here. We don’t know what that would do to the future. Life must carry on without her.”

“We’re not letting her die, Baker.” I had already gone through too much to just let it go now.

“That’s not what I’m saying, but for the very same reasons you won’t stay here with me, Josephine cannot stay. If you want to save her, you have only one choice.” He looked at each of us, finally settling his gaze on Josephine. “If you want to live, you have to go back with Maggie. This isn’t your time anymore.”

“No,” Jeanette gasped. “I will not lose my sister over this. The world will be fine. It might change a bit, but that’s not our fault.”

“You lose her one way or another. I gotta think if she stays and we save her, fate will find a way to settle accounts and I seriously doubt she’d make it through 1923. But if you want her to have a longer life, let her go back with Maggie. At least there, her destiny isn’t foretold.”

Josephine finally looked up, eyes shining with fresh tears, but she had a smile on her face. “I have spent the last few weeks certain I was going to die. I told myself it was okay, that my time had come, but, Jetty, I’m not ready to give up on this life. Everything Baker says goes with everything I’ve ever read about time travel. This is a loophole. This is a way I can carry on. Maybe you will still be alive when I get there. We can see each other again.”

“She isn’t,” I said softly because they had a right to know.

Jeanette pressed her hand to her sister’s cheek. “I will make sure I leave everything to you.”

“Not the house,” Josephine said. “If you leave me the house, Maggie will never get the mirror.”

Jeanette wiped at her eyes. “I hate all of this.”

Baker looked at me. “When you go into the between world, you will have to find him and fight him in his own world. He probably already knows something is going on because you’re suddenly blocking his access to you all. All of this happens on the first, right?”

I nodded. I would finally be able to go home and it was our only chance to save Josephine.

“Good, we have some time. We’ll keep working on your ability to manipulate memories, Maggie—and we all need everything to stay as it was as much as possible, so Maggie’s visit changes very little. Girls, you need to get Floyd here, we need to start collecting blood from Josephine—a little each day will do—and there needs to be a gunshot, which I can take care of. Jeanette, it will be up to the two of us to pull this off. Can you do it?”

She nodded, composing her face. “Yes.”

“Okay. The night of the celebration you will need to be seen. I’m talking belle of the ball here. Everyone needs to see and hear you. Maggie, take us through the time line.”

I tried to recall the vision in detail, even though my brain was stuck on the idea that Josephine was going to have to leave her home and her life. “Um, the clock was chiming to ten. At five, I heard the gunshot. At the ninth, Floyd ran out of the room. That’s all I know, other than what was in the article. It said the party was over when Jeanette found the blood and called the police.”

“Good,” Baker said, patting my knee. “We need to make sure Floyd goes into the office and something scares him out at the right time. I will take care of the gunshot and frightening the professor. Jeanette, your job is to get him to me on time and to call the police after the party. I’m going to need your blood, Josephine.”

She nodded. “I can take a vial or two a day. Would that work? Is it really that easy to recreate my murder?”

“Absolutely, doll. The simpler the better, that’s what I always say. Too many details in the mix will trip ya up. Maggie and I will go over the crime scene in detail and I will recreate it. Make sure you say your goodbyes before the party, but don’t make them obvious. No one can suspect anything is amiss.”

“Surely, there’s another way,” I blurted. Watching another life knocked off course was too much. That wasn’t why I came back here. It wasn’t fair that Josephine had to give up her entire life just because something in the Abyss targeted her sister. I’d come to help her, and damn it, that’s what I was going to do. What if she hated my time? None of it was fair.

Josephine shook her head. “Not you too.” She gave a gentle laugh. “If my choice is this or dying, then I want this. I do not regret anything. In fact, it’s all quite a marvelous adventure. I don’t know how I will manage without my sister, but knowing that she will have a full life without me will make me brave. You kept asking why you were brought here, if not to save me. Perhaps you were brought here because I was always meant to return with you.” I started to shake my head, but she cut me off. “You yourself know angels, Maggie, and have travelled through time. How can you deny that there is a greater force or plan in action here? There is no other explanation. Didn’t you tell me that everything happens for a reason? You found the mirror for a reason. Just because you don’t care for the answer doesn’t make it any less true. You have told me of your life. Look no further than your own story, your own heart, to know that I speak the truth.”

“There is no proof. From my life and the people I know, the only lesson that I’ve learned is that you only have to follow destiny if you choose to do so.”

Baker smiled. “You’re right, baby, but are you willing to go back to an unknown future? This story has already been written. If you change it now, there’s no guarantee what will be waiting for you when you get home.”

My stomach sank.

“Maggie, I don’t want to change the future you described. I’m excited to see it.”

I looked back and forth between them. Either decision was bad, but ultimately it wasn’t mine to make. If Josephine wanted to do this, I couldn’t stop her—just like my friends couldn’t stop me when I wanted to become a vampire. She might hate it and be miserable or maybe she’d love it. Either way…

“If you hadn’t met Baker, how would your life be different? Would you honestly still want that life knowing what you can do now?”

I met Josephine’s eyes. “I can’t do anything. I make a mess out of everything I try to help with.”

She shook her head. “That may be, but you still change lives. You’ve changed mine already, just as Baker changed yours. Are you honestly telling me that hasn’t been positive?” She didn’t wait for me to reply. “Because of him you met your family, you have saved lives, and you met your love. None of that would have happened had Baker not taken you into his life.”

I could feel Baker’s gaze locked onto me. It was a question I had thought about often, mostly when I was feeling resentful. “I wouldn’t choose a different life.” I looked at Baker. “Not anymore. I am growing to like the Abyss.” And it was in no small part due to Phoenix.

Phoenix had told me that together we could change the world without starting a single war. I never believed him. I thought he wanted to use me and likely that was part of it, but removed from my time and my world, if I looked at it as destiny then it wasn’t a hard future to imagine. And in that case was it something I could continue to ignore? Was I ready to change the world? Did I even want to? Did I have a choice? So much about Phoenix frightened me. It was like closing my eyes and stepping off of a cliff with nothing but the mere promise that he would catch me.

Then I looked at Josephine. She was confronted with the same type of life changing event, and she wasn’t flinching from the unknown. She was doing exactly what I should have done, grabbing onto any chance at life rather than clinging to the past.

I swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll take you home with me if that’s what you want. It’s your decision.”

Her smile grew, though tears for the past were still falling from her eyes.

****

The rest of my time in 1923 was spent working on our plan and watching everything we said in the vicinity of any mirror, and then the night finally arrived. People filed through the door for the party in their best clothes. As far as going away celebrations, Josephine was going out with a bang—literally. The music was loud, the food was plentiful, and drinks were flowing. Baker and I moved through the throng of people, watching for human threats just to make sure all bases were covered.

Josephine’s cool hand landed on my arm as we moved past her. “Floyd Clifford isn’t coming tonight,” she whispered into my ear. “I just spoke with his colleague. Apparently, he’s home sick.” Her jaw clenched. “What are we going to do?”

“We’ll take care of it,” Baker said, his hand on my back as we moved toward the hallway, still packed with people.

I glanced at the clock for the fiftieth time and sighed. Time had apparently stopped. I tried not to fidget with impatience as Baker chatted with this guest and that. Then we were moving again, away from the clock and toward the mirror. The demon was in there, waiting for us to open the passage, ready to attack. “How are we going to do this with all of these people here?” I whispered in Baker’s ear.

He tilted his head down and pulled me a little closer. “You and Josephine just need to do what you always do. Jeanette and I will take care of the distraction.” His lips brushed against mine softly. “For the first time in longer than I can count, I wish my life was different. You did that, Maggie. Now be careful in there, and get home safely.”

“I will,” I said and I wasn’t worried. Killing those jinn had alleviated my hunger, but it didn’t last. It never did. “It’s just a matter of finding him. I will get Josephine through first, then I’ll go looking.”

Baker’s jaw tightened. “I’ve seen what you can do, Maggie, but this is different. I wish I could go with you...”

9:45 p.m. I released my breath, squeezing Baker’s hand. “It’s time.”

The crowd in the hallway had thinned. We went unnoticed up to the office door and knocked softly. Josephine opened it a crack, letting us in. “I can’t believe we’re really doing this,” she said in an excited whisper.

A few moments later, Jeanette slipped inside too. She threw her arms around her sister and held on tight. “I love you. Be careful. I won’t forget you,” she said.

Josephine hugged her back. “Be happy. Live for both of us in case I don’t make it.”

“Maggie, you know what to do,” Baker said gently.

Jeanette let go of Josephine and came over to me. I stared into her eyes and calmed my thoughts. All I had to do was remove her memory of me and plant an idea of how she was to leave her money to Josephine in the future. When I had everything straight and clear, I touched the side of her head and spoke in a monotone voice. “You never met me and the last month was exactly as it always was with Josephine. Everything has been normal. You will put your inheritance in your safety deposit box and then hide the key beneath the loose brick in the fireplace and forget where it is.”

Jeanette repeated my words in the exact same tone.

I pulled back my hand, clutching it in my other hand like my fingertips were now a weapon.

“My turn,” Baker said, taking Jeanette’s spot. “Just like we practiced.”

I went through the same thing with him, planting the ideas of what he needed to do and erasing all the damage I had done being here. Josephine and I hid before they came to.

“We need to go,” Baker said, suddenly looking exactly like Floyd Clifford. As he took Jeanette’s arm, he winked at her. “Hey, doll, you ready to create a distraction?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said with a smile as she let him pull her out of the door, not even questioning why they were creating a distraction.

Josephine picked up the small bag at her feet. She took one last look at her office, then straightened her shoulders. “I’m quite scared. I’m not sure I can move my legs.”