Anna set up Frankie and Levi in their only spare bedroom. William wasn’t very happy about the unexpected overnight guests—especially two that he had never met before, and never had the chance to get to know. Frankie wasn’t sure exactly what Anna had told him to convince him that it was okay, but he was glad to have a safe place to spend the night.
“I’m sorry that the two of you have to share,” she said as she brought an extra set of pillows and blankets into the room and set them on one of the beds. “But we have the other room set up for the baby.”
“I’m just glad that we each have our own bed,” Frankie said. Even though it was a twin-size, it was better than nothing.
“If you need anything, William and I are just next door. Good night.” She disappeared into the hall, closing the door behind her.
Levi kicked off his shoes by his bed and climbed under the covers.
Frankie did the same and laid back against the pillows. “Never did I think that I’d be in my forties and having a sleepover at a friend’s house.”
“Would you consider it a friend’s house if it’s the house you live in?” Levi asked.
The witch chuckled. “True.”
The two of them were quiet as they unwound from the day’s events. Frankie studied the shadows on the ceiling, cast there by the lamp sitting on the table between the two beds.
“What room is this?” Levi asked quietly. “In your time?”
“My daughter Samantha’s,” he said. “The smaller room next door was my other daughter’s. Kathy.”
“So the one over there is yours?” Levi pointed in the direction of William and Anna’s room.
“In 1984,” Frankie said. “But actually, at some point or another in my life, I’ve lived in each of these rooms up here. The small room was mine up until my grandfather moved out.”
“William?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you moved into this one?” Levi asked.
“Yeah. My family has always had multiple generations living under one roof, so the oldest generation always had the biggest room because they were usually the ones who lived in this house the longest. So after my grandfather moved out, my parents took over that room and I took this one. Then when they left, I took that room and my girls each got their own room. At least, until my parents moved back in. Then they just took this room.”
“Oh, I see. That’s kind of cool that you’ve had so many family members living under one room.
“Yeah,” Frankie muttered. In truth, he felt like he was breaking a tradition. The multi-generational home ended with him. When he and Marie had first gotten married and were only thinking about kids, he and his parents got into a huge argument about living arrangements. It all was sparked over Frankie’s own insecurity that he was not maturing in the way that he had imagined. The way the rest of his friends were.
Eventually, his parents had agreed to find their own home, and they did, which made raising the girls a little easier without parenting input from Grandma and Grandpa. Still, it was nice when his parents had suggested that they move back in with him after Marie had died.
The room fell into silence again. Frankie considered turning out the light after a few minutes, but Levi asked another question.
“How are we going to find Evelyn?”
Frankie took a deep breath and felt his body relax into the pillows. “I don’t know. Hecate is the only one who knows where she is and if we take away her powers, we might never be able to find her.”
Levi turned in his bed to face Frankie’s. “So maybe you can cast a spell or something. Maybe you can even ask Anna and William to help boost it.”
“A spell to do what?”
“To find Evelyn.”
“No. I don’t think it would work. Besides, Anna is pregnant with my father. If anything happens to her, we’d be pulled into a time paradox, where I’ve never been born, but she wouldn’t have gotten hurt if she hadn’t met me. It’d be an impossible loop.”
“Then maybe William can help.”
“He doesn’t know who I am. And I don’t think he’d even be willing to help us.”
“Then tell him who you are.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” There was an edge to Levi’s voice.
“Because he was a big part of my life growing up,” Frankie said. “And if I’m ever going to get back to my time, then I need to preserve as much of my history as possible.”
“Then why can’t you cast a spell on your own? You know Evelyn. You’re friends with her. The call would be strong enough, wouldn’t it?”
“Sure it would. Except for one problem.”
“What’s that?”
Frankie nodded to the corner. “My wife is standing over there looking at me.”
Levi followed Frankie’s gaze and saw nothing.
“I’m trying to ignore her,” Frankie went on, “but she’s right there. Tempting me. I can’t shake her from my mind.”
“It’s just a phantom. It’s not really her.”
“I know that. But she looks so real. I can’t get her out of my mind. Obviously, Hecate’s magic is still affecting me.”
Levi flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He let out a long, exasperated sigh.
In the hall, they heard the creak of the floorboards as Anna or William shuffled across toward the bathroom. The sound of the door closing confirmed the activity.
“I want to thank you,” Frankie said quietly.
“For what?”
“For watching out for me. Guiding me through the phantom’s manipulation. I definitely would’ve traded my soul by now if it wasn’t for you.”
Levi smiled. “You’re welcome. But we’re not out of the woods yet.”
“Not by a long shot.”
“If anything, our problems are worse than before.”