Shadow Boxer: NA Fantasy/Time Travel (Tesla Time Travelers Book 2) (22 page)

I look away. I don’t want to even read a word of that part. Never mind that arcing is my way back to Constantine. I could never give up my lightning. Even with the hassle and confusion and risk, they’re still the best days of my life.

Clasping his hands together over the words, Papi turns to me. “This is not a guarantee that I’m going with you again. I’m doing this to heal.”

“Penya told you it wouldn’t be a disaster again. That was because Ilif was purposely screwing things up.”

“Without her, I won’t know what to change. When you find her, I’ll try it again. Not until.”

With the bandages and burns, his young boxer face is even harder to read. Stern and unmovable are the only emotions projected. Since I know that’s not all he’s capable of, I choose to ignore them and nod, giving him whatever answer he needs to push onward.

Tiana scoots toward the far end of the couch. “Is there a big flash or anything?”

“Probably not,” I say.

“Most likely,” Papi says at the same time, begrudgingly.

Tiana looks between us.

“Papi’s not very good at this yet,” I say.

He huffs.

“But he’s going to get very good with practice.”

“Oh.” She brightens. “Like the dancing.”

I laugh. That’s the excuse he used to convince me in the beginning. “Yeah, Papi,” I tease. “Like the dancing.”

The corner of his mouth lifts in a slight smile. “What was I thinking, letting you two team up on me?”

“Just do it.”

He reads the short paragraph and I bite my lip. Nothing happens.

Tiana and I exchange glances over his head.

He closes the book and hands it to Tiana. “Nothing happened when I turned it off either.” He stands and tosses the blanket on the ground. Tiana’s eyes widen. I shake my head.

With sure, swift movements, he crosses the room and jogs up the steps. Not until I hear the bathroom door close, do I exhale.

“It really works that fast?” Tiana asks, breathless.

I look back at the empty doorway Papi passed through. “Apparently.”

Barely a minute passes before he’s back, standing breathless in the doorway. His face is pristine, no scar tissue, no scabs. He holds up his hands and hops over the four steps, landing deftly on the carpet. “I feel like nothing even happened.”

Beside me, Tiana preens. Even if she doesn’t have the gift of riding, her intuition is priceless. I pat her shoulder. “Good going, sis.”

“Do not tell your mother what we did.”

“No secrets, daddy.”

He groans.

“She’s right,” I say. “The only way this is going to work is if we’re all in it together. Besides, don’t you think she’s going to wonder how you got miraculously better?”

“Speaking of which,” he says, sitting between us and sliding the book into his lap, “I think it’s time we change up the bedtime stories around here.”

“Ugh.” Tiana flops back against the couch. I roll my eyes. Fourteen, what an awesome age.

He smoothes the cover. “Oh, I think you’re going to like these ones.”

I jut my chin toward the book. “Did you ever find anything in there about at what age it starts?”

Tiana sits up. “Fourteen, I’m sure it’s fourteen.”

“There aren’t any girl riders, Ti,” I say.

“What about you?”

Papi leans back on the couch. “I wonder.”

“Surely not,” I say. “Ilif swore I was an anomaly.”

He shrugs. “Since when do you believe anything Ilif tells you?“

“Like you’d let me do something like that,” she says. “I can barely get you to let me practice driving.”

“Driving wasn’t a birthright.”

She scrunches her face. I wonder what Tiana would be like as a rider. She’s so much softer than me. No cavalier attitude. Good at following directions. Doubtful that her alterations would get as convoluted as mine.

“She’d be the first rider to start with someone guiding her.”

“Same rule goes for her. Not until you find Penya.”

“Then you’ll let me?” She’s nearly levitating off the couch.

“We’ll see.”

She claps her hands together. “Okay, so how do we find this Penya?”

At her question, I stand and pace. Bimni whines and scratches at the door. I slide it open, breathing in the cool wintery air. “There has to be a way to follow Ilif and get to Penya, I just haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Residue is out of the question,” Papi says, running a hand over his forearm.

“So what else?” I raise my hands and drum them against the glass.

“Do you know anything about where she is?” Tiana asks.

“No, she’s always too busy telling me what new thing she’s found in Ilif’s lab.”

“Then why in the world do you want her to leave?” Tiana asks. “Sounds like she’s doing more good there than she would on the outside. Obviously he doesn’t realize she’s going through all his stuff. How else would you ever get to look inside his lab?”

Shock me speechless. I stare at her until Bimni pads back into the room.

“I’ve been searching for a way to get her out.”

“Well, stop.”

“Tiana’s right,” Papi says. “If he’s using Penya to travel he won’t harm her.”

I don’t have an answer to their logic. On the way back to my seat, I rub the back of my neck and pull my braid forward, brushing the frayed end against my palm.

“What of your Constantine,” Papi asks as I sit.

On the side table, a small figurine catches my attention, and I rub my thumb across the top, until I blink away the tears. I clear my throat and lower myself to the chair, searching for a plausible answer.

“That bad?” he says.

I press my lips together. “It’s complicated.”

“I’m sure.”

Tiana’s scrambles out of her chair and into mine. Perched on the arm like a bird, she rubs my back and whispers in my ear. “You didn’t tell me there were boys.”

I laugh and my chest loosens. “There are boys.”

“When’s my first lesson?”

C
HAPTER
24

L
ED
BY
AN
orchestra of noise, Mami and my other little sisters arrive home. She ushers them into the room and gasps. “Evy!”

When she sees Papi, she drops the groceries, and her hands fly to her mouth. “Oh… Oh!”

He rushes to her side and hugs her tight then swings her around. Desiree and Sophia dance in a circle, singing and laughing. Getting caught up in the joy isn’t hard, and Tiana and I join in.

“Put me down.” Mami playfully slaps at his arms, but she’s doing a terrible job of hiding her relief. After another rotation, he lowers her into a dip and plants a smacking kiss on her lips. She rebuffs him, but only for a second, and then her hand slides around his neck and she kisses him back in earnest. We all make gross-out noises.
 

Mine are fake. Finally, one part of my life is righting.

I sigh and Ti squeezes me. I hug her back and whisper in her ear, “I need to take off.”

She shakes her head. Behind her, Papi puts Mami on her feet and she pats his cheek. “Bring these groceries.”

He grabs the bag and circles behind us on the way to the kitchen. He shifts the groceries to one hand and curls his rejuvenated fingers around my wrist. “Stay.”

My attention darts around the room. Desiree and Sophia now lie half beneath the Christmas tree, playing with new dolls. Tiana takes the groceries from Papi and leaves us alone.

“We need more family,” he says. “You need a home base. I know you’re grown and have your own place, but”—he clears his throat—“since you missed Christmas dinner, maybe you could stay for tonight’s.”

I bite my lip and think about the things I still need to sort out. I’m boxing shadows. Since the moment I got my power, I’ve been going nonstop. I’ve barely eaten, let alone paused long enough for a real meal. Arcing might be great for the body, but my emotions and mind need downtime. In the kitchen, Mami’s chatter and clatter of pans is balm for my soul.

I raise my hand to my neck and pull my braid forward, rubbing the end across my lips. Papi leaves me to the decision and scoops Desiree and Sophia around the waist, swinging them until they squeal. He shoos them in the dining room and tells them to set the table. After carefully placing their dolls in toy high chairs, they disappear behind the wall and add plates and silverware to the symphony.

Yeah, I’m a time traveler, so spending an hour or two here costs me nothing, but I need it. Penya needs rescuing, Ilif needs stopping, Nikola needs saving, but I need a moment to recharge. Just an hour.

Before I can change my mind, I jog up the short steps into the kitchen and help the little girls. Desiree smiles up at me and Sophia clings to my leg while I remind her which side the forks go on. Papi’s in the front family room, talking on his phone, but even that lends itself to the rich melody. Loaded scents of chili powder and ground beef crowd the room, and Tiana sets a steaming bowl of green beans and a salad on the table. Back and forth we cross the room until we fill the tablecloth, leaving hardly a square inch visible. Emotion swells my chest and I sniff.

Desiree pushes a stool across the floor, the legs squealing and honking in protest. Once it’s situated below the cabinet door, she climbs on and rifles through the shelves until she unearths a bin of taco shells. I take them from her and help her down. Papi finishes his call as Mami nestles the pan of splattering meat between the bowls of tomatoes and shredded lettuce.

I take my place against the wall between Papi and Tiana. After the little girls clamber into their chairs, we hold hands and Papi prays over the meal.

“Amen,” we say in chorus and dig in, passing plates and bowls to the left. My mouth waters and I mentally tally the meals I’ve had in the last few days, coming up with a calorie count far less than this meal alone. I assume that somehow arcing keeps my body sustained.

The girls chatter and squeak, but we’re all peacefully silent during the meal, happy to fill our bellies. After four tacos, I push my plate away and lean back in my chair. The little girls ask to be excused, and Tiana stacks our empty plates while Papi makes another taco.

“So, Mami,” Tiana says on her way to the sink.

“Mmm?” Mami fusses over Sophia’s dirty face.

“Evy taught me something interesting today.”

My gaze collides with Papi’s. He shrugs and takes a bite, dripping cheese bits and homemade salsa onto his plate.

“Oh, what’s that?”

I fist my hands in my lap and hope Tiana isn’t about to do what I think she’s going to do.

“Time travel.”

I’ll give Mami credit, she takes it better than I thought she would. First, she finishes with Sophia’s face, turns her, and sends her from the room with a pat on her butt. She wipes her hands and raises her face to mine. “Is that so?”

I bite my lip.

“Imelda, stop teasing her,” Papi says around a mouthful. “Look at her. She’s about to take flight.”

Mami cranes her neck around the table, assessing my tight posture. She relaxes and smiles. “All right, then.”

I look from one to the other and Papi shrugs. “What? You told me to tell her.”

I raise my eyebrows and blink, struggling for what to say. While I flutter, Mami reaches across the table and pats my shoulder. “He had to explain. Look at that face.”

He bounces an eyebrow and I laugh, relieved.

Tiana balances the pitcher of water and three bowls of taco filling and turns back to the kitchen. “You know, Papi, I was thinking maybe Evy could—”

“No,” he chokes.

“Come on, can’t Evy teach me about the lightning?”

“I
would
like to see it,” Mami says.

Papi rolls his eyes heavenward. “Save me.”

I watch him for a second while his eyes water, and he chews the last bite of his taco. After he brushes cheese and lettuce from his shirt, he twists his lips then studies me. At last, he says, “No arcing.”

Tiana squeals and hugs him then bolts outside. Mami leans back in her chair, satisfied as a hen. I’m not sure why she’s so supportive of this, but then again, we never picked a hobby that she was against—except the year we tried making our own candles and soaps—but only because we used the main bathtub for a month straight.

I scoot my chair back and kiss Papi on the cheek and hug Mami on my way by. “I’ve missed your cooking.”

She grunts and swats my bottom like I’m eight.

Desiree and Sophia hover inside the middle of the living room, cradling dolls against their chests. I rub their heads on the way by, following as the rest of the family flows into the yard. In our backyard, half a dozen old oak trees line the perimeter, their overhanging branches stretching toward each other like ancient dance partners. Evergreens make up the back wall, and the neighbor’s high fences on either side make it a nicely secluded place to sunbathe. Or throw a few lightning bolts.

The evening is calm and the setting sun paints the sky above the mountains a wintery canvas of pink and orange. Tiana waits for me at the edge of the concrete patio, wiggling and shifting from foot to foot.

Papi pulls the covers off our patio furniture and sets out a chair for Mami. She tucks a small blanket around her lap and calls to the little girls, patting her lap. “Come. Put your dolls down and sit here. I’ll keep you warm.”

Desiree makes a face, but Sophia drops her naked baby and races to the chair. With a gentle hand, Papi ushers Desiree out of the house and slides the door closed. I scoot Tiana over a few feet and she reluctantly complies.

“Watch first,” I say.

Papi stands behind Mami’s chair, arms crossed. I shake my arms out and inhale. Since I’ve never performed before, this feels awkward. Five expectant faces lean closer. I start with a small ball, the same one Papi and Tiana know. Mami’s eyes widen and my nerve slips. It’s one thing to show off in front of a warrior who’s used to weapons, another when it’s the woman who changed your diapers.

Desiree and Sophia make
oohing
noises and slip off Mami’s lap for a closer look. Papi strokes their hair. “Not so close.”

Splaying my fingers, I pull my hands apart, drawing the ball into thin strands of light. When they’re three feet apart, I flick my wrists and whips dangle toward the ground. Tiana bounces up and down on her toes.