Timespell (25 page)

Ethan cleared his throat. “Sorry. I think I’m getting sick or something.” He sat in the chair opposite them. “Brian, you never—” he flushed noticeably, and Julia was surprised to find him looking directly at her. “Brian didn’t talk about you much.”

Brian paused in dunking a chip in some salsa, his brown eyes flitting up to Ethan’s in accusation before turning his attention to Julia. “I talked about you. I did.”

A muscle in Ethan’s jaw clenched. “You didn’t tell me about her. What she looked like ... her name ....”

“You were never around. This whole past month, you didn’t even come home on weekends.” He shook his head. “You never talked about that girl you ran with all last month, either. What was her name?”

Ethan made a noise and leaned forward, his face in his hands.

Brian’s gaze narrowed on his brother. “Wow, you really
are
getting sick. A few minutes ago you wouldn’t stop calling me ‘punk’ and throwing chips in my face.” He aimed a spoonful of avocado dip at Ethan. “Are you going to lighten up, or am I going to turn your face into guacamole?”

Ethan glanced up, but he turned away without words.

Brian laughed and faked at letting the guacamole fly. “You’re lucky she’s here. I would not hesitate to annihilate you.”

Ethan stood and walked over to a window. He braced his hands against the sill.

Brian’s gaze trailed after his brother. His lashes lowered as he met her eyes again, tracing her cheek with a gentle finger. “Sorry,” he finally whispered, pulling her deeper into the sofa cushion. “My brother’s not usually this weird.” His eyes returned to hers before lingering on her lips.

She glanced around the room. The adults had gone to the bar, and Brian’s mom was nowhere in sight. If she knew the look on Brian’s face, he had kissing in mind, and there was no way she could let him kiss her in front of Ethan.

“I’m really glad you came,” he murmured, his face near hers.

Her heart sped up at the way he looked at her. She prayed that Ethan was still looking out that window.

Brian’s hand lifted to brush aside a lock of her hair.

She tried and failed to swallow past the brick in her throat. “Not here,” she whispered.

“No, of course not,” he murmured, but the way he said it made her think he meant the exact opposite.

“Dinner is ready, everyone,” Mrs. Tristanson called. Julia jumped several inches away from Brian, her heart hammering against her ribcage.

“You’re blushing,” Brian said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before pulling her to her feet. Even though she struggled against it, her eyes were drawn to Ethan. He had his back to the room, still looking out the window.

She swallowed, noticing Ethan’s death-grip on the window sill. Her eyes locked with his in the window’s reflection and her heart stilled.

He had been watching them the whole time.

E
than excused himself from dinner, saying he didn’t feel well before heading upstairs. Brian served her a plate of chicken and moist yellow rice, topped with fried plantains that smelled like caramel. She ate, but her eyes kept returning to the arched doorway. Halfway through the meal she couldn’t taste her food anymore.

“Come on, I’ll show you the game room,” Brian said as the adults drifted off to another part of the house.

“I should get going,” she said.

His face dimmed. “Already?”

“I’m just tired,” she said.
And I feel like a total jerk.
“I’m sorry.”

“At least can I show you the garden? It would make my mom really happy.”

“Sure,” she said. She didn’t know what else to say. At some point she would have to go back to the task, and Ethan would have to be the Guardian of Time. He had no choice. For whatever reason, their lives were connected. Unless ... unless she didn’t summon him anymore.

Outside, the cool evening air smelled like damp earth and sweet, night-blooming flowers. “It’s beautiful out here,” she said. The house wrapped around the garden, forming a courtyard. Lanterns hung at each archway, and paths cut neatly through the garden squares, leading to the fountain in the center. She shook her head in amazement. “Really, it’s incredible. I have to tell your mom.”

Brian hugged her as they walked. “I knew you’d like it.”

He led her to the fountain and they sat beside the water’s soothing flow. Julia had never gardened. She could barely tell the difference between a rose and a carnation, but she did enjoy the beauty of it all.

“Your mom must love flowers,” she said, letting her fingers trail in the rippling water.

Brian dipped his hand in the water too. Below the surface their fingers touched.

Julia drew in a breath. Brian’s lips parted.

A deep sense of pressure filled her chest. He most likely wanted to kiss her. The garden, the fountain, everything screamed romance. She took her hand out of the water. It felt good to kiss Brian. She cared about him. But that didn’t change the fact that she had feelings for Ethan.

He took her hand and pulled her close.

“Wait,” she said, turning her head so his lips grazed her cheek. Whatever his response was, she had no idea. Across the garden walk, a shadow moved, and not in any way she had seen a shadow move before.

Her blood turned to ice. “We have to get inside.”

“You don’t want to stay out here with me?” he asked.

Julia’s heart leapt into her throat as the shadow slithered closer. “Please, Brian! Hurry!”

“What’s wrong? What do you see out there?”

A definite hissing sound reached her ears. “A snake! It’s huge!”

Julia looked behind her as the shadow stepped into the light. It was a woman, the most beautiful and horrifying woman she had ever seen, with pale, dead-looking skin and hair that moved on its own. “Holy crap.” Her stomach knotted with fear. The woman’s hair was made of
snakes.

The snakes hissed in unison.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Brian said, turning halfway around. “That does sound huge.”

“Move, Brian!
Move!”
She practically shoved him inside the enclosed back patio, shutting the door behind them. What the hell was that thing? She stared out of the large-paned windows. Nevine’s words came back to her. She tasted something metallic on her tongue and realized she had bitten her lip hard enough to draw blood.

A crashing sound behind her made her scream.

“Ethan, whoa. Are you okay?” Brian asked.

Ethan scrambled to his feet. He picked up the picture frame he had knocked over. “What’s happening?”

Julia hardly knew. She could barely get the words out to say, “I—I saw something.”

“A snake,” Brian said, turning to his brother, but behind him Julia met Ethan’s eyes. She shook her head from side to side.

“Why don’t you get Julia some water,” Ethan said. “She looks freaked out.”

“Right,” Brian said, heading for the kitchen.

As soon as Brian was out of sight Julia said, “We have to get out of here.” She pulled him after Brian. “There’s a monster out there. A real one.”

“What do you mean?”

“One of the creatures of Mythos, I don’t know which. I never paid attention.”

“What does it look like?”

She described the thing, remembering the terrible, serpentlike eyes and head full of slithering snakes. “It looked like that thing my English teacher talked about.” She shuddered.

“You’re probably thinking of a gorgon. Medusa was one.” He steered her upstairs. “Get a hold of the other Daughters. You have to freeze time and return to your task and seal that portal. If you don’t, worse creatures will slip through the rift.”

“Why did you tell us to return to our own time if this could happen?”

“There’s a lot of ancient magic at work here. I’m still learning it too. But I do know one thing.” He gripped her arms. “These creatures will stop at nothing until you are dead. With a rift open, if you die, there will be nothing to stop them from pouring into the world. Do you understand?”

“I do. But we have to tell your family to get out of the house.”

“I can handle the gorgon.” His tone softened. “But we don’t have much time. If you’re seeing a gorgon, the other Daughters are probably in serious danger. Call them. Now.”

Julia nodded, her hands shaking as she scrolled the contact list on her phone. “How did you know something was wrong?”

“We’re connected, remember? I feel you. Right now. Your heartbeat echoes in my chest. Your emotions rush through my soul. If anything happens to you, it’s like it’s happening to me, and when you were out in the garden,” his voice became rough and raw, “I almost didn’t notice when your emotions turned to fear. I was trying to block you out.”

Brian walked into the room. Ethan took a step back.

“Here’s some water,” Brian said. “My uncles went out back to find the snake. Don’t worry, Julia.”

“Oh no,” she whispered.

“It’s okay,” Ethan said. “I’ll take care of it.”

His gaze remained hard below his mop of black hair. He didn’t look at her as he headed out into the garden.

“You’ve
barely said two words to me since we left my house,” Brian said, his hand on the steering wheel. “I thought we were okay.”

Julia’s lips parted. Her mind couldn’t move forward, stuck in the middle of the ten thousand problems going on. Angie and Kaitlyn were waiting at the Santa Monica pier, possibly being attacked by a vicious snake-lady. Ethan had to fight off a monster in his own house. Ethan was Brian’s brother. It was too much. She couldn’t fake small talk at a time like this.

He rattled the gear shift. His gaze darted down to her hands. “Why do you keep checking your phone every two seconds?”

She set it down.

“And why am I taking you to Santa Monica? Half an hour ago you were too tired to hang out with my family.”

“I told you. It’s Angie’s birthday. She texted me about a last-minute girls’ night.”

He glared at the road.

Julia slunk down in her seat. Anything she said seemed to
make things worse, so she stared out her window instead. The lights of the Ferris wheel stood out against the black night sky. Ethan should be there by now, shouldn’t he? Her stomach twisted with worry. If Ethan hadn’t been able to kill that gorgon ....

She closed her eyes.

Come on
...
come on
....

And there he was in her mind, tearing off his helmet and leaving his motorcycle parked under a pool of lamplight. She exhaled, her teeth releasing her lower lip. He didn’t look hurt. The gorgon must be dead.

He paused abruptly.
Julia. Stop it.

She still hadn’t mastered answering him without talking out loud, so she didn’t say anything.

Don’t do this.
He continued walking, his jaw set.
Not when you’re with Brian.

Her eyes stung at his tone, immediately fluttering open to break their connection.

Brian pulled up to the curb at the mouth of the pier. Julia barely waited for the car to stop before reaching for the door handle.

“Bye,” he said, his defeated tone tugging at her heart.

“Good night,” she said. He watched her through eyes that shone with confusion, and she gave him a quick kiss. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

His face lost some of its dimness. “Don’t apologize. After yesterday, tonight just ended quicker than I hoped it would.” He let out a long breath. “Have fun.”

She watched him drive off, red lights dimming and brightening as he moved through traffic. Geez, what was she doing? Kaitlyn and Angie needed her. She ran across the pavement toward the pier. The Ferris wheel was in the middle of the carnival rides. The carousel was so much closer. Why hadn’t they agreed to meet there?

She pushed past the crowd in the food court, spotting Ethan and Angie by a ticket booth.

“Angie,” she yelled, but the sound of hissing stopped her dead in her tracks.

Ethan’s head flipped up, his eyes locking with hers. He wove through the crowd until he was by her side. “What’s wrong?”

She looked behind her. People played games on the midway, while others stood in line for rides or ate popcorn. Everyone on the pier seemed normal. “I thought I heard hissing.”

He scanned the pier as Angie rushed up to them, a blur of white-blonde hair. “I lost Kaitlyn. She saw some guy she knew. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“Which way?” Ethan asked.

Angie raced to the place on the pier where wooden steps led down to the sand. Why was Kaitlyn always making things harder for them? All they had to do was Voyage back in time and seal the stupid portal.

“There she is,” Angie said, rushing down the stairs.

Kaitlyn was locking lips with someone. The frayed edge of her micro-mini dangled above thigh-high black leather boots.

Angie skidded to a halt on the pavement at the base of the stairs.

“Um, Kaitlyn?” Julia asked. “Did you forget we have work to do?”

She tugged the guy’s long hair. “You’d better go. My keepers are here.”

“Call me?”

She slapped his cheek and kissed him again. “Don’t count on it.”

“Kait, you don’t know what you do to me, girl,” he said, passing them as he climbed back up the steps.

She turned away. “Yes. I do.”

A wave crashed on the shore, its boom louder than normal. Julia jumped at the sound, unable to calm her heart. Everywhere she looked, shadows seemed to move.

“He’s one of my favorites,” Kaitlyn said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “What the hell?”

“Something’s coming,” Julia said, a wave of panic cresting over her as hissing sliced through her words. Angie said something. Kaitlyn’s face continued its mutinous glare, but Julia couldn’t move. She couldn’t make a sound. Her heart hammered out of control as the hissing grew louder in her ear.

“Yesss, Daughter. Be ssstill.”

Her vision blurred.

“Ssshe must gaze upon usss, yessss.”

She couldn’t smell the thick, salty air or hear the waves in the distance. There was only one sound now. The low, rustling words found their way deeper into her skull.