I send Bandit a pleading look. Whether or not he forgives me, I know that in this instance, he’s on my side.

Nodding, he drops his hands to her shoulders, massaging. “Please, Cristela. It would mean a lot to us. Could you try?”

She knocks his hands off her back. “I’ve been trying. What do you think I was doing for the last year? The world’s scientific conundrums don’t get solved just because Bandit Sakda turns up the charm!” She sinks back against her chair, expelling a breath. “Actually, that feels good, so keep massaging.”

His lips quirking, he resumes kneading her muscles.

I sit in the chair next to hers. My heart and thoughts race, trying to outpace one another, but I have to stay calm. I need to convince her if I want to uncover the truth. “You haven’t had me for the last year. I don’t know much about the science, but I’ve actually traveled to the future. My experience should give you valuable insight.”

Cristela purses her lips. “You, keep massaging,” she says to Bandit and then points to me. “You, keep talking.”

I recount everything I can remember about my trip to the future, from zipping up my consciousness with my older self’s to residing inside her physical body. I describe the movie reel that flashes through my mind when I take an action that diverges from the original time stream. I even tell her about entering the black void and dipping into the original Alice’s life.

As I talk, Cristela closes her eyes, and Bandit moves his long, capable fingers along her shoulders. I try not to stare. I can’t be distracted by imagining those hands on my shoulders. On my cheeks. On my bare waist.

“I got it!” Cristela announces. She leaps to her feet, away from Bandit’s hands, away from me, as though she needs the extra room for her brilliance.

“When your older self traveled to the past, she opened a portal in your brain.” She traces the same path I took across her kitchen. Before the sun sets, we’ll wear a rut right into the hardwood. “And when she took you to the future, she wrenched this portal open even wider. Wide enough that you were able to slip into it accidentally while you slept. All you have to do is find this portal. And presto! You’ll be back in the black void, on your way to the future.”

“But I’ve been trying to return to the void,” I protest. “I haven’t come close to finding this portal again.”