Saving Yesterday (TimeShifters Book 1) (7 page)

Darnell steps back in front of me. “You’re clear to shift, if that’s your concern. As for anything else, you’ll have to ask The Elders.”

If there is someone bigger than Darnell, I’m not sure I want to meet them. I gulp. “What was that contraption you used? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“That’s because it’s from after your time. From my time.”

I rub my palms back and forth against the fabric of my shorts. The movement serves to ground me. I’m here. I’m real. “The future?”

He scratches his neck. “To us, isn’t everything the future? It’s all relative.”

“Could I be sent there? To your time?”

“In theory, yes, but I don’t think you will be.”

“Why not?”

Darnell tilts his head. “It’s the same reason why you won’t shift to another country’s history.”

Okay. Seriously. He may be a doctor and all, but getting an answer out of him is about as easy as explaining algebra to a toddler.

“Which is?” I bite my tongue before tacking a rude comment on after the question.

“Because Nicholas won’t shift you into a situation you can’t handle. He’s not like that.”

“I don’t understand how this whole time thing works.” I shrug.

 “You have to forget thinking about time in a chronological sense. That’s the pure human way of seeing things. You’re no longer a Norm. See, for us, there is no before and after. There is only a start and a beginning.”

“Not tracking.”

Darnell tugs a pen from his pocket. “Okay. There is the tip of a pen and the clicker.” Holding the pen a foot before my eyes, he taps each side as he speaks. “But say you are some of the ink, well then that’s the only part of the pen you know exists. Ink doesn’t know what the outside of the pen looks like. It only knows that it’s surrounded by more ink. But for me, holding this pen, I can see all of it at the same time. Every inch of the pen. I can look at it from every angle and see each part together. That’s how it is for us with time. A Norm is ink—their time
is
reality. It’s all they know exists. They can’t comprehend the big picture.”

My head starts to throb again. Maybe I should ask him for aspirin. “But we can.”

“No.”

I glower. “You just said—”

“We can’t, but Nicholas can. He’s outside of time. He sees the big picture.”

“That doesn’t seem fair. Why him? What makes him so special?”

He folds his arms across his chest. “Nicholas has always been outside of time. We trust him.”

“That seems like a bit much to risk your life on.”

Darnell sighs. “I do what he tells me to.”

I cross my arms. “Yeah? And what does Nicholas tell you to do?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Stay in Keleusma and heal people.”

I decide to push my luck. Hopefully muscle-man won’t clock me in front of so many witnesses. “How convenient. You get to live at the Ritz while people like Michael are out there risking their lives. Do you know how hard it is for him? He gets tossed somewhere and he has to figure out what to do, and who to save. You’re telling me there are Shifters that don’t have to do that? Who get off easy?”

“Watch your attitude, Gabriella.” He captures me in a fierce stare. “Each of us has a calling to fulfill. Not one is greater than the other. Some of us spend our entire existence in Keleusma. Others shift through time. You need to respect each Shifter’s path.” Darnell jams his hands into his pockets. “Stay here until someone comes for you.”

When he leaves, my gaze instinctively travels back Michael-way. They have him back in a shirt. He’s sitting in a chair, drinking something. He willingly holds out his arm. A member of the medical team puts a white remote to his forearm. Michael doesn’t even flinch.

“He was the youngest person to ever shift, you know.” Lark’s voice makes me jolt. “Not even on the right day.”

I face her. Has she seen me studying Michael? Playing dumb might be my best option. “Who?”

“Oh, the coy act won’t work on me.” She beams. “Michael Pace, of course. He first shifted here when he was eleven. Can you imagine?”

“Is that not normal?”

“Not at all. Most people shift between their fifteenth and eighteenth birthdays, but not eleven. That’s unheard of.”

I peek at Michael, and he’s looking at me. I look down, suddenly nervous. “He must have been terrified.”

“Who knows?” She flips honey-colored hair over her shoulder.  “I can’t imagine Michael afraid, but then, I’ve only known him for two years.”

“When did you shift?”

“When I turned sixteen.”

I scoot forward on the table, licking my lips. “How did you make it happen?”

“You mean the first time? Don’t you know?”

I shake my head.

“You have a chance to shift on each of your birthdays. When someone acknowledges your birthday, then it either happens or it doesn’t. I was so disappointed on my fifteenth birthday when I wasn’t pulled.”

“So you knew it would happen?”

“Of course!” She leans closer. “You didn’t?”

“No,” I whisper.

Lark rocks back on the edge of her feet. “Wait, your dad didn’t tell you?”

I don’t answer, and Lark whistles long and low.

Every birthday washes through my mind. Dad makes pancakes, but never says happy birthday. I cried myself to sleep each year, hating the day that marked my birth. The truth hits my gut like a sucker punch. He ignored my birthday because he loved me. He knew, and didn’t want this for me. Dad was protecting me.

My throat feels itchy, tight. My vision starts to blur. “What would happen if no one acknowledged your birthday and you passed eighteen?”

Lark twirls a piece of flaxen hair around her finger. “I don’t think you’d ever become a Shifter. But that’s nonsense, it would never happen.”

I work my bottom lip between my teeth. “I guess not.”   

She hands me a small bag. “I brought you clothes. Go ahead and put them on.”

“In front of everyone? No way.”

“You’re funny.” Lark laughs, pointing at a door to my right. “Bathroom’s right there.”

Closed away from everyone, I grab the cool edge of the sink and let the chill seep into my bones. “This is real,” I whisper to my reflection. “Just play their game, follow their rules, and find a loophole home.” I change out of my old clothes and pull on the set Lark gave me. Close-fitting, dark jeans and a black V-neck shirt. I examine the fabric under the light. It feels like the same cotton blends we wear in my time.

With a fortifying gulp of air, I open the door.

Lark’s there. “Looks like a good fit.”

“Sure.” At least I’ll blend with everyone else. No more Where’s Waldo for me.

She nudges my side. “Michael’s watching you like a hawk.”

Without thinking, I glance back at him. Sure enough, he’s looking at me. He lifts his glass in a salute, smiles, and downs it.

My cheeks blaze as I remember thinking he was calling me honey. “Will he be okay? The burn was awful.”

“It’s probably only a scar now. If you got him here fast enough, it’s healed. One more adventure story for him to add to his list.” Lark winks at me. “He’s cute, isn’t he?”

“I guess so.” My fingers bite the fabric on the exam table.

“Too bad he’s off limits.”

“Off limits?” I hate the squeak in my voice.

She shrugs. “Sometimes I really do hate the Pairing. But hey, rules are rules. Besides, I have Eddie waiting back home, so I have nothing to be upset about.” Lark hides a giggle behind her hand.

Pairing? Something cold fists around my heart and squeezes. I glance over to Michael. He meets my eyes, holds up a finger, mouths “
one minute
,” and turns to talk to a doctor.

Lark pokes me. “You do have a Pairing, don’t you? I wouldn’t ask since everyone has one, but you’re so strange. It makes me wonder.”

If these people don’t start speaking English…. I swing my feet, drumming them against the table. “Um, sure.”

Lark seizes my shoulders and looks me dead in the eye. “You’ve got to be kidding me. How
green
are you?” She gives me a little shake.

I roll my eyes and wiggle out of her hold. “Well, considering I just learned what a Shifter is less than a day ago, I don’t know why you would assume I know everything else.”

“Okay! We can solve this.” Lark claps once. “Back in your time, is there a boy who has been your friend your whole life? Someone you do everything with. He’d be a guy you have a natural, easy friendship with.”

No! No! No!
Not here too. A recording plays in my mind. It clicks through every person who has every told me Porter and I will end up together. Shooing the thoughts away, I swallow hard and nod once. “Porter Jensen.”

“Ah-ha! Porter is your Pairing.”

“Meaning?” But it’s obvious. Marriage? To Porter? I inwardly cringe. That would be like marrying a favorite dog or a comfy pair of socks. I can’t. I won’t.

Lark laughs, her blue eyes sparkling. “You two will get married, of course.”

I sit up straighter, not because of the Pairing, but because of what Porter means. He’s in my time and it sounds like Lark’s saying I get to go back. “Then there’s a way home?”

“Sure. You always go to where you’re most needed, so as long as there’s something to pull you back home, you will. A Pairing guarantees that. You’re meant to be together. It’s been destined since before you were born.”

“I don’t believe in stuff like that.” I catch Michael’s gaze, and he sends a wink my way. For some reason, it makes me feel off-balance and dizzy, like the beginning of the flu. Does he have a Pairing?

“It doesn’t matter what you believe. That’s how it works. It’s the only way for a Shifter to be born. One Shifter plus one human—together make a new Shifter.” She shrugs. “Those are the rules.”

I slide off the table, landing with a thump on the ground. “Wait. Then is my dad a Shifter too?”

“No, fully human, has to be since we know your mother was a Shifter. The only humans who know about Shifters are the ones we end up marrying, but they are promised by the Seal, which makes them physically unable to tell anyone but their offspring.”

The information shudders through me. My gut twists in a knot, and acid burns at the back of my throat. I take a step back. “You’re wrong. My mother wasn’t a Shifter. She died. There’s no way—”

Lark arches an eyebrow, advancing toward me. “What’d she die of? Did you see it happen?”

I thrust out my hands to block her progress. “You’re sick! She died in a plane crash. She was so mangled it had to be closed casket. Satisfied?” 

“Closed casket?” She taps her foot. “Convenient. Listen, Gabby, your mom was a Shifter. For you to be a Shifter, she had to be one.”

“Have you ... did you ever meet her?” My hands shake. I try to hide them behind me. “Is she here?” My gaze instinctively darts to the health center’s doors. What if I snatch a glimpse of her? Rosa Maria Creed. Long raven hair bobbing as she fast-walks past. Despite all the years, I’d recognize her from all of Dad’s photos.

I raise my chin. I’d grab her, yell at her, and yank her back to Dad.

Maybe hug her too, somewhere in there.

“No. I’m sorry.” Lark frowns like she really regrets telling me. “But she was a Shifter. I can promise you that.”

 “I was just a baby at her funeral, but I’ve been to her grave.”

“All a hoax. I can’t believe your dad did it, though.” Lark shakes her head. “He should have told you. He’s supposed to have trained you in combat, history, debate, horseback riding.” She massages her temples. “He’s supposed to tell you all about shifting and have you prepared by your fourteenth birthday. It’s part of the deal, when someone falls in love with a Shifter.”

“Are you saying I’m not human?”

“No, you are. You’re just a Shifter and your dad, we call him a Norm. The Norms of each time just go through their appointed lifespan and do whatever it is they need to accomplish. The Shifters, we get pulled through time to wherever we’re needed. Norms don’t have that power—most don’t even know it exists.”

I’m about to say something, but my voice sticks because two gigantic men in teal uniforms burst through the health center’s main doors. They march toward me. Both look bulldog-mad. My gaze scours the room, trying to find a route of escape. Who are they? What could they possibly want? I glare at Lark. Has she been stalling me this whole time? Note to self, stop trusting people.

The uniformed man with the better tan nods at me. “Gabriella Creed.”

I could pretend not to speak the language, but Lark-the-super-rat would most likely blow my cover.

“That’s me.” I shuffle to get away. My back slams into the high counter, sending medical equipment crashing to the ground. Green liquid pools from a shattered glass bowl, and a metal instrument rattles against the tile. Everyone in the room stills, turns. One of the Teal Team grabs my arm, his fingers digging clear to my bones. I wince and attempt to wiggle free.

“Hey!” Michael jostles away from his nurses and crosses the room. “Let go of her!”

“Not your fight, Pace. Back down.” Number two of the Teal Team pushes Michael away.

I thrash against my captor. “Leave Michael alone! He’s hurt.”

Michael pries the man’s hand from the neck of his shirt. His face is red. He takes two deep breaths. “Since I’m her trainer, this is my fight.”