The Edge of Forever (35 page)

“How is she?”

“She’s alive, but she’s unconscious. We need to get her to the doctor.”

Alora stands, hugging her arms tight around her torso. “Why did this happen, Bridger? Why did that girl keep saying I was supposed to die?”

I don’t want to tell her, but I’m done lying. It’s caused too much pain. “Because you
are
supposed to die today. That’s why I shifted back here in the first place. Your mom found your obituary and sent my dad back to save you.” I stop, feeling a lump in my throat. “But he appeared to me on one of my time trips and told me to save you instead. So here I am.”

“Oh no, Bridger, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.” Her face crumples.

I feel like a jerk. I cross the distance and pull her against me. I know how she feels. It seems like everything is my fault. I hold her tight like she’s the only thing keeping me anchored to the here and now.

“Well, isn’t that sweet.”

We jump apart. I spin around, more shocked than I ever thought I could be.

It’s my dad. Alive.

57

BRIDGER

JULY 4, 2013

I
don’t know who’s more stunned—Alora or me. I wonder if she thinks she’s looking at a ghost. I get the feeling. There are two versions of my dad here with us.

Alive Dad appears different. He doesn’t have any wrinkles. No streaks of gray hair. And he’s dressed in a gray jumpsuit.

He laughs. “You should see the looks on your faces.”

Alora swipes at her tearstained cheeks. “After what I’ve seen today, I’d believe anything.”

“Well I’m most certainly not a ghost.” Dad steps forward and holds out his arm. “Go ahead, feel it.”

I don’t move. I can’t believe it. My eyes dance between Dad’s body lying on the ground and the version standing before me. I don’t know how many times I’ve wished to have him back. But I’m not sure about this.

“You’re a clone,” I hear myself say.

I don’t get it. Why would anyone do that?

Dad lowers his arm, his smile disappearing. “I know what you’re thinking, son. I’m not going to wild out on you.”

“You say that, but how can I know for sure?” I wave my arm toward Vika’s body. “She tried to kill Alora. She
did
kill you!”

He sighs. “I wish I could tell you more. I really do. But what I can say is that I’m not from 2146.” He pauses to let that sentence sink in.

I think of the cloaked Time Bender hovering over Dad’s and Vika’s bodies. Obviously uploading their consciousnesses. That means Clone Dad and Clone Vika are from
my
future. Holy fure. “What year are you from?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you everything. There are some things that you just can’t know yet. I have to let things play out as they’re supposed to.”

“That doesn’t make sense!” I shout. “You’re here now. Obviously you shouldn’t be doing that.”

“You’re right. I’m not supposed to be here, but I can say there are things I have to do to set certain events in motion.”

Understanding dawns on me. “
You
followed me to the Foster Assassination?”

“Yes. And I also left the DataDisk and money in my desk. All because you told me that’s where you found them.” He smiles like he pulled some kind of prank. “Now, you need to listen to me. You have to take my body back to the date it was discovered in 2146, okay? I didn’t use a regulation Chronoband, so my body won’t automatically shift on its own. Let Alora take my body to just outside of New Denver. Show her how to send a distress signal from my DataLink to Telfair. He’ll take care of the rest. Just don’t let him find out who sent the message.”

I relax. Professor March really was trying to help us. He must have been stalling Anderson to keep them from following us to Georgia after we stole the transport.

“What about her?” Alora asks, glancing toward Vika’s body.

“Throw her in the burning house.” Dad says. I look sharply at him. “What? Alora’s body is supposed to be found in there. Nobody will question that it’s not really her.”

“Will I see you again?” I’m scared of his answer. Despite the fact that he’s a clone, he’s still my dad. And he’s also not of my time anymore.

Dad’s mouth tightens. “Not anytime soon.”

My throat constricts. “At least I know you’re alive.”

“I know, son. You’re safe and that’s all that matters. Now go. You’ve got work to do before the authorities get here.”

“I know you said you can’t tell us anything, but I have to know. What’s going to happen to me when we get back?” Alora asks.

Dad doesn’t say anything for several long seconds. “I’m really not at liberty to tell you anything that could change what’s supposed to happen. But I can say be careful about completely trusting the DTA.”

I nod. That makes sense, especially knowing that General Anderson wasn’t truthful with them, either.

Alora throws her hands up. “But why? And what about my father?”

“I’ll just say the DTA isn’t looking out for the best interest of Dual Talents.” Before Alora can say something else, Dad smiles and firmly says, “That’s all the info I can give you. Tell Adalyn I said hello when you get home.”

He steps away and holds his finger over his Chronoband. “One more thing,” he says before activating it. “Even though you have to send the distress to Telfair, don’t
ever
trust him again.”

58

ALORA

JULY 4, 2013

W
e watch the burning house for a few minutes after throwing Vika’s body inside. The flames have completely devoured the building, eating away at the frame in a cancerous inferno. We’re so close that the fire is uncomfortably hot against my skin, and yet I feel dead on the inside.

Like I’m supposed to be.

It’s weird, knowing that when the fire dies, everyone will think it’s me in there. I look over at Aunt Grace. She’s standing by me, hand clutched over her wound, breathing hard. She’s lost too much blood, but she insisted on going with us to dispose of Vika’s body. Explaining that was hard enough. Having to fill her in on everything else was worse. She didn’t believe us at first, so I shifted for her a few times.

Now she’s a believer.

“We should go,” Bridger says, still staring at the flames. He’s been quiet. What he learned about his father and Telfair, whoever that is, was a huge blow to him.

“We need to make sure Aunt Grace gets back to the house first. I don’t want Palmer to hurt her,” I say. I know Bridger said Palmer was unconscious when he left, but I don’t want to take any chances. Especially knowing that he’s a killer.

“No, it’s fine. I can make it back on my own,” she says. She sways a bit.

“No, you can’t,” I say. “You could pass out.”

She doesn’t protest as Bridger wraps his arm around her waist and helps her walk. My heart breaks. She’s been a surrogate mother to me for most of my life. It hurts knowing I have to leave her behind. I wish there was some way to bring her to my time.

At the house, we’re shocked to find that Palmer is gone. Aunt Grace is upset, but Bridger shares that he wiped his memories from the past few hours. Palmer probably woke up, not even remembering what he did to me, and fled. Still, he would have to remember what he was planning to do to me. I’m not worried for myself anymore. I just hope somehow he’s caught before he kills again.

Bridger guides Aunt Grace to the sofa in the front parlor. I get a towel to press against her wound.

“Do you have your phone? I need to call 9-1-1 for you.” Then I remember I’m supposed to be dead. “Wait, I can’t. You’ll have to make the call.”

I feel horrible, watching Aunt Grace extract her phone from her pocket. Her brow scrunches up with the effort.

“What should I say?” she asks. “I can’t exactly tell them the truth.”

Bridger has been quiet until now. “Stick to the truth up until you got here. You realized Alora had gone missing and went home. Someone shot you outside, but you never saw who it was. According to the article, Alora’s body isn’t found until tomorrow morning.”

“Why can’t I tell them that Dave was the one to shoot me?” Grace asks.

Bridger hesitates before saying, “You can’t because Palmer isn’t supposed to be caught now. In my time, the article said Alora’s murder was unsolved. It has to stay that way.”

Grace frowns, and I don’t blame her. But I get it. The timeline has to be preserved.

After a few moments, Aunt Grace shakes her head. “I don’t know if I can do this. How can I pretend to be so upset if I know it’s not really you?”

Bridger’s eyes meet mine for a split second. I know what he’s thinking. It would be better to erase her memories. But I can’t do that to her. I can’t leave her behind, thinking her family is dead. Even though Dad and I can’t live here anymore, it would at least be comforting to her to know we’re alive in the future.

“I know you’ll be sad,” I whisper. “You know I’m not really dead, but you also know I can’t be here with you anymore.”

Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. “This is so hard, sweetie. Why can’t you just stay? We could move away and start over. Change our names. Nobody would have to know.”

I sit next to her and gingerly hug her. “I wish we could, Aunt Grace. But I have to do this. I need to find my mom, and I have to find out what happened to Dad. And if I can, I’ll come back to visit. Okay?”

She sniffs. “Okay. And if you find Nate, tell him he better come see me too. I miss him.”

I pull away and blink back my own tears. “Yes, ma’am. That’s the first thing I’ll say to him.”

She lets out a shaky puff of air. “I better make that phone call. I’m starting to feel kind of light-headed.”

“Yeah, you need to do that. You’ve got to get better.” When she’s finished, I stand and glance at Bridger. “I guess we need to go.”

As we walk out, Aunt Grace says, “Hey, Bridger.”

He turns back. “Ma’am?”

“You do anything to hurt my girl, and I’ll find a way to get you. Even if I have to haunt you.”

Bridger gives her an almost-smile. “I’ll remember that.”

It’s funny. As we head back to the river, the heavy feeling I had back at the house begins to fade. I try to figure out why. I could go back an hour and try to change things, but like Bridger said, the past has to remain intact. I have to accept it.

“Are you okay?” Bridger asks.

“I guess. How about you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do when I get back. And I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

When we emerge from the forest at the clearing by the river, where Bridger has to retrieve his father’s body, it finally hits me. I don’t belong here. I’m a part of this time since Aunt Grace is here, but it’s not
my
time. That’s why I’ve never fully felt like I fit in.

I won’t have to listen to Trevor complaining about not being able to play football anymore, which I’m pretty sure he will, or wonder if he’ll continue to harass me. And it’s a relief to know that the psychotic Palmer will never be able to hurt me again. Maybe I’ll even be able to forget about how Palmer murdered Naomi, or at least put it behind me. It’s something time will tell.

I’ll miss Aunt Grace like crazy, but I’m ready to see my mom again. It’s what I’ve wanted for so long. And I’ve got to find out what happened to my dad. I have to figure out what being a Dual Talent means. What the DTA wants with me.

I have my whole future to look forward to.

It’s time to go home.

The End

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

F
irst, I’d like to thank my wonderful agent, Suzie Townsend. Thank you for finding that early version of my query letter at WriteOnCon and for believing in me and my book. Also, I want to thank the rest of the team at New Leaf Literary & Media. I’m so honored to be a part of the New Leaf family, and I look forward to many more years of working together.

I am eternally grateful to my editor, Kelsie Besaw, for loving my book from the beginning. And of course, I can’t forget Julie Matysik and Adrienne Szpyrka for all your patience with answering my questions and for helping me make this book shine.

This book would have never existed without the help of my fabulous critique partners. To Christina Ferko, thank you for being there from the very beginning with this book. Thank you for not running away after reading that horrible first draft and for helping me whip this book into shape. I couldn’t have done this without you! To Kimberly Chase, I’m so grateful that you helped me make this book even better and for all your encouragement. Also, I want to thank Melissa Blanco and Melissa King for reading early versions and giving me valuable feedback. You ladies rock! And I also want to give a shout out to The WrAHM girls (love you!) and the Fearless Fifteeners.
*
waves
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Finally, I want to mention my family. Thank you for your support over the years. It means the world to me. I love you!