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MOM GRINNED at me as if I’d just graduated from an Ivy League university. Not that traditional schooling had been my style. I wondered what life would have been like had I attended an in-person high school or, weirder yet, trained with the TSTA.
“Hey, Mom,” I said, grabbing the nearest drink. Fizz burned my throat as I took a few gulps.
She swirled a glass of clear liquid topped with a wedge of lime, and then tilted her head toward me. “Are you enjoying the party?”
I bit my lip.
“I see.” Mom set down her glass. “What’s on your mind?”
“Lots, actually.” I exhaled through my nose as I thought about how to bring up a topic I was sure she wouldn’t like. “How much did you know about my father’s travel talent?”
Mom’s eyes darkened. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected. Suddenly, we were back to how our conversations about my father usually went, with me asking questions and her looking at me with the same disgust she had for my father. Maybe my idea wouldn’t work after all.
“Come on, Mom. This is more important now than ever. Did you suspect I might have the Remnant Transporter talent?”
She pressed her lips together, tightly. Interesting. She didn’t deny it.
“Then why not make sure I trained with the TSTA? You work there. You could have signed me up for classes, or whatever they do. I could have learned along with Ray. You trust Ray—you think he and his talent are so great.”
A glassy sheen filled her eyes. “It’s just that I—”
“I get it, that you were trying to protect me, give me a normal life. But, for what? I had to learn everything by myself. I even had to find my own father. We could have saved the Lost earlier; we could have prevented so much misery. And we could have done so before I became Lost and my father ended up in the arms of President Bree.”
Mom’s head snapped over to the dance floor. Her eyes narrowed.
I covered my lips to mask any suggestion of a grin. “She, um, seemed really interested in him when she was talking to me.” If she and Mom were friends, they certainly weren’t besties anymore.
Mom looked away, and then smoothed her dress. “Well, that’s none of my business. The president is free to dance with whomever she pleases.”
I looked up at her through my lashes. “Then I guess you won’t need to break them up before he changes his mind.”
“What?”
“If he starts looking at her the way he looks at you, it’s over, Mom. It’s a shame...”
She gave me the sternest look I’d seen in a long time. It wasn’t the response I’d been hoping for, but I wasn’t finished yet. “It’s just—all those years you spent protecting me and using your position with the TSTA to try to track down where my father was.” I shrugged. “Wasted.”
Mom’s lower lip twitched.
“You two belong together,” I said, more softly now that her guard was down. “I see it in his eyes. You can’t deny him now, not after all we’ve been through.”
She sucked in a breath and downed the rest of her drink. Then she turned from me and walked away.
Fortunately, she was headed toward the dance floor.
With that settled, I gulped down the rest of my fizzy drink and looked around for Valcas. He and I had catching up to do, and plans of our own. I had no doubt Ray and Lily had paid close attention to President Bree’s speech. I just hoped they knew what and where to begin their research.
I found Valcas speaking with an older couple seated at the table nearest the podium. He caught my eye and motioned for me to join them. The man and woman smiled at me as I approached. I didn’t feel like chatting, but I didn’t want to be rude either. Inwardly, I sighed.
“Calidora Winston,” Valcas said, introducing me.
“A pleasure,” said the man. He wore a sash with a medal over his tuxedo. His gray hair was long and curly like my father’s. Laugh lines edged his eyes.
I smiled and nodded politely. “Most people just call me Calla.” Before I could say anything else, his female companion stood from her chair and wrapped her arms around me. “It’s an honor to meet another of our lineage here at the TSTA.”
My shoulders stiffened at first, but then they relaxed as something about the woman gave off a familiar, comforting feeling. When she let go of me I soaked in everything about her—her loose dress, belted at the waist; dark hair, sprinkled with gray; olive complexion; and sharp cheekbones, all seemingly Mediterranean features. Did I know her from somewhere? She certainly was friendly.
“My wife, Andriana,” the man said, chuckling. “And I am Spyros Tagma.”
I blinked.
“The reigning leader of Chascadia,” Valcas filled in, grinning.
“Oh.” I blushed as it sunk in that the wife of the ruler of Chascadia had just hugged me.
Most people just call me Calla, I’d said. What an idiot. Valcas was in so much trouble for setting me up like this. I wanted to smack that grin right off his face. But Mr. and Mrs. Tagma were looking right at me with pride and admiration that I wasn’t sure I deserved. If Spyros was a Chascadian with gray hair, I imagined he was ancient. My father’s hair was still dark and he was free of wrinkles.
I lifted my chin. “I’m honored to meet you. My father’s the only other Chascadian I’ve ever met.”
“Plaka is well known as a great Healer. We are touched that you found him and that you and he were able to provide such a great service to the worlds.”
“I was happy to—there was so much suffering,” I said, my voice breaking. “It had to stop.” I blinked back memories of Susana.
Valcas stood and placed a hand on my arm. “If you’ll excuse us, sir, madam. I’d like to get some dancing in before Calla tires for the evening.”
Andriana’s eyes sparkled. “Of course. Have fun, young ones.”
“Before I tire?” I grumbled as Valcas dragged me to the dance floor. “You’re the one who’s covered in burn scars.”
“Do you have any idea how uncomfortable you looked back there?”
“Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know you were going to introduce me to royalty?”
“This is a high-profile party. There are many important people here.”
He put his arms around my waist and drew me closer. “I guess you’ll have to get used to more parties, Miss Guest of Honor.”
Okay, so he had a point. But this wasn’t my life. I wasn’t like Valcas. I hadn’t spent my time seeking out kingdoms to take over. I didn’t grow up at the White Tower, which as far as I was concerned, was also a fairy-tale palace.
I sulked, defeated.
“Calla, what’s wrong?” He jiggled me a little bit, as if that were supposed to revive me.
“We—our lives, they’re too different.” If I had any doubts, I only needed to think back on my time spent searching Valcas’ past. “Trust me, I’ve met more versions of you than I’d ever thought possible.”
He exhaled through his teeth. “My parents’ lives were also at odds, but that didn’t stop them from allowing their timelines to overlap just long enough to be happy.”
“But now your mother is alone. That means that someday I’d be leaving you—”
“Alone. I know.” He bent toward me. “At least we had a model before us; we know what to expect. The question is how we will spend the time we have left, together.”
And then, someday, Valcas’ life would also end. He was mortal, even though from my perspective it didn’t seem that way. I wrinkled my nose. “Promise me something.”
“Hmm?”
“If we—and I’m not saying we are—but if we were to get together, promise me that you won’t search for past versions of me.”
“Not even if Plaka prescribes that as part of my treatment?” He grinned. “It’s not good to ignore a doctor’s orders.”
I groaned. I hadn’t thought much about my father also outliving me. This was turning into a depressing evening. “No.” I gritted my teeth. “Not even if my father orders you. You can ask him to find some other silhouettes to soothe you. Or, you could ask some other Healer for a second opinion.”
Valcas chuckled. Our conversation had taken a dark turn. Humor was the only way I knew how to deal with it in that moment. But it seemed to work.
He spun me around the dance floor until I caught a glimpse of Ray and Lily. They danced together, but both were focused on opposite sides of the room. Despite their eerie ability to concentrate without blinking, they looked adorable circling the dance floor like porcelain figurines—the expensive kind purchased as gifts for special occasions, and then locked up behind glass-encased cabinets so they don’t collect dust.
Ray must have felt me staring. I was doing so purposefully, hoping he’d get that weird feeling of being watched and break his focus long enough to look at me. It worked. He turned and smiled.
I nudged Valcas, who turned to Ray and gave a slight nod.
Smoothly, and almost imperceptibly, Ray spun Lily toward the other end of the ballroom. I did my best to stop looking their way. I didn’t want to draw any attention to them as they glided toward an exit. They planned to conduct their research after the guests had plenty to drink and the party was in full swing. Now was the time. If they could return before the auctions and donation pledges began, no one—I hoped—would notice they’d ever left.
I let out a slow breath.
“Not to worry, dearest,” Valcas said. “Every moment brings us closer to the truth. In the meantime, enjoy the party.”
But he wasn’t all ease and relaxation either. I could feel the tension in his arms. His breathing was more labored than it had been when we first started dancing.
I rubbed my palms against his shoulders. “Are you in pain?”
“A little.”
I shook my head. “You’re supposed to tell me when you’re in pain. We are allowed to sit, you know.” I let go and placed my hand in the one that wasn’t bandaged. He looked sad.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was enjoying the dance.”
“Let’s go,” I said, dragging him to a table. Pain caused weakness, and the last thing I wanted was for him to suffer even more than he already had.
I tapped my fingers along the top of the table as we sat together, quietly watching the other guests. It wasn’t long before I couldn’t help gawking at one pair of guests in particular. I tried to look elsewhere, to find something that might help with our mini mission—something that could help us in case we needed a quick escape.
But it was impossible.
I’d never seen anything like it in my life. Mom and my father were talking. They smiled, like they enjoyed each other’s company. My skin tingled. I wondered whether Mom was acting her part out of loyalty to the TSTA, to help convince my father to go along with whatever their plans for him might be. Maybe she and President Bree were closer than I’d thought.
But then I caught a glimpse of Mom lowering her eyes and turning away before looking back up at my father. Her eyes blazed, but not with anger.
My mouth dropped open. She wasn’t humoring me. If I didn’t distrust the TSTA so much, I would have thought she was flirting.
Whatever reaction I had from that prompted Valcas to grip my hand. My mind raced as I wondered what it would have been like to grow up seeing my parents together like that. What life would have been like if we had been a family—if Mom had never joined the TSTA, and my father had taught me about time travel and healing as if it were the most normal life in the worlds.
I tilted my head, lightly resting my cheek on Valcas’ shoulder, and sniffed. The past was behind us, and there was no point in trying to change it.
But, at least for now, they were still dancing.