She steered her time machine toward downtown New Seattle, her heart thudding steadily in her throat. It had taken her and Roman months to plan this ball, but it had been so worth it, in the end. The night had turned out beautifully, one of the best of her life. A small smile twitched at her lips, as she thought of it now. There was a part of her that wanted to experience the night all over again. Was there time?

She glanced at the clock on the ship’s dashboard. At this exact moment, her past self would be putting the final touches on her outfit for the evening. The floaty blue dress, her hair in intricate braids. Soon, she would stand in front of the Fairmont ballroom, Roman beside her, and the two of them would reveal their great plan to save the city. She could still remember how it had felt to look out on all those excited faces, the whole of New Seattle staring up at her with rapt attention, trusting her.

And then she would see Ash in the crowd. And—

Heat rose in her face. Ash had followed her to the hotel bathroom that night. They’d argued, and then they’d kissed. . . .

She blinked, surprised to find tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She would give anything to live that night all over again, but she couldn’t see how she could risk it just now. She hadn’t seen any sign of her future self wandering around the ball. In fact, it would probably be best if she avoided the Fairmont ballroom entirely. So she must spend her evening elsewhere . . .

She flew the Black Crow on autopilot, muscle memory taking her to the Fairmont parking garage, where she brought the time machine to land beside an identical Black Crow, this one from the past. It unnerved her, a little, to see two versions of the same ship parked side by side.

She flipped off the machine’s engine and sat in the gathering chill of the cockpit.

Where to go?

It had been clear when Ash approached her in the bathroom that evening that it had been his first time seeing her as Quinn Fox. So she must not speak to him again until after that confrontation.

She climbed out of the time machine and made her way outside, around the side of the hotel, to the back docks that led just below the bathrooms where she’d met Ash. It was cool but not unpleasantly so, and the shadows hid her well. She waited.

A few moments passed. And then the bathroom window slid open and a man’s torso appeared in the darkness.

Dorothy stood in silence, a hand pressed to her mouth as Ash’s dusty-blond head exited the window, followed by his shoulders, his torso.