“Yes. I think so.” She blinks our tears away. “It took some…convincing. But young Alice did it. She told him she loved him. You can bet they’re aware of each other now.”

“And you’re absolutely sure she’s not going to fall in love with him?” He clears his throat. “Young Bandit is awfully irresistible.”

If I controlled our ears, they would perk. As it is, I’m listening as hard as I can, straining against the edge of my consciousness. This is it. The reason why I traveled to the future. If I’m going to get my answers, it will be now.

“Trust me,” my older self says, her voice harder. A concrete so inflexible that it makes my consciousness shiver. “At that age, I was absolutely welded to my no-dating rule. She won’t fall for him. She thinks he’s an arrogant jerk.”

“I hope so,” he says gravely. “This is our last chance. And it all comes down to your choices as a teenage girl.”

Come on. I grit my metaphorical teeth. I know this already. Get to the good stuff. Explain why.

“It will work,” she insists. “She’ll have no problem killing him. She doesn’t have any ties to him. No history, complicated or otherwise. She’ll do it.”

“She’d better. The future depends on it.”

My older self wiggles on the plank, almost rolling off the narrow surface. “Get me out of here. I’m ready.”

A noise fills our ears, a soft whir coming from underneath us, rising above the hum of the metal coils. The narrow plank begins to slide out. My older self rocks back and forth, as though to hurry the motion.

I, too, am about to jump out of my consciousness. I’m finally going to meet the older Zeke. The man who can comfort me without a word. The one who understands me, through and through. He loves me so much that I feel the depth of his affection even when I have no body.

We exit the tube entirely, and my older self blinks up at the bright light. A man steps into our peripheral vision, and she snaps her head in his direction, as though she can’t delay seeing him a moment longer.

My consciousness freezes. Time, however you define it, comes to a complete stop.

I can’t…I can’t understand this. The man before me is older now. His shoulders are broader, although he’s maintained his lean, strong build. There are lines creasing his features, but the eyes, oh, the eyes are unmistakable.

It’s not Zeke after all.

I’m looking into the face of Bandit Sakda, ten years in the future.

Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Does not compute. Does not compute. Does. Not. Compute.