My knuckles tighten on the steering wheel. Oh, please. Not that. I have to believe he’s still alive. I have to believe that he needs time to digest his older self’s orders, that he wouldn’t jeopardize anyone’s life hastily, much less his own.

I swipe at the sweat on my forehead. At least I have a car. Cristela wasn’t too keen on parting with her Mini Cooper, especially because I didn’t know where I was taking it or when I could bring it back.

“But this is a matter of life and death!” I shouted. She agreed, although whose death, we weren’t sure.

I urge the car faster, hoping there are no cops on the road. Wishing that for once, Fate is on my side.

Oh, please, I plead again. It’s a refrain with no specifics, and I don’t know what it is I want. I’m not sure to whom, exactly, I’m begging.

Do I want Bandit to live? Of course I do. But not at the expense of my brother. Does that mean I would choose Archie over him, this kind, strong-willed boy who will be…might be…my everything?

I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!

A conversation flits through my memory. Funny. I don’t remember experiencing it, but I must’ve absorbed it during the hops I took through the original time stream. One more thing for Cristela to figure out and explain to me.

“I’m going first,” Bandit says, his tone arrogant, his jaw chiseled rock. If I weren’t so irritated, I might marvel at how I married such a handsome man. We’re in Cristela’s unit, and the time tube emits a low, constant hum as it warms up. “The younger me will be easier to convince. He already believes time travel is possible. He’ll accept more quickly that the Voice is his older self, and he’ll question less.”

My temper flares. “Oh, because my younger self is an annoying brat who won’t listen to reason?”

“You said it, not me.” His mouth quirks. After five years, I’ve finally learned that means he’s teasing me. He pulls me against him for a hard kiss and then leaves the room for his final prep.

Huffing, I join Cristela at the computer, where she’s inputting the coordinates for Bandit’s trip to the past.

“You’re a lucky woman,” she says, her eyes soft.

“Why? Because I’m married to the most exasperating man on the planet?”

“No. Because every thought that man has is to protect you,” she says simply.