But the thought that I have yet to achieve the goal in my vision and may never see Austin’s face again crushes any shred of bravery I have in me.
Swift, purposeful footsteps behind me let me know I’m no longer alone with our visitor. Cat’s rose scent envelops me as she wraps a supportive arm around my waist and squeezes me tight. Her shoulders stiffen with the confidence I wish I had in this moment.
“Reyna, I’m surprised to see you so soon.”
Cat’s tone is confused as she looks to me, perhaps wondering too when we missed the third sign. Wrongly, we had both thought I would at least have until after the performance; maybe that is why I grew so lazy in my watch. But unlike when Reyna appeared to bring Cat home to her own time, the gypsy’s arrival tonight should not have come as a shock to either of us—if only I had kept searching for the markers.
Reyna hitches a dark eyebrow. “Alessandra knew that I would return when the third sign was revealed.”
I release a shaky breath and look to my cousin. “And Alessandra failed to pay attention.”
More footsteps approach. Cat glances back at Lucas, then meets my eye. In her misty brown depths, I can read the message almost as if she spoke the words aloud: the show is over. Alessandra Forlani is no longer. Lucas is about to meet Alessandra D’Angeli, time traveler. And how he will react to the true me is anybody’s guess. Reyna may be filled with gypsy mojo, but short of erasing Lucas’s memory, there is no way he can unhear or unsee what is about to occur. I would know, for the memories of the first time I saw Reyna, and of when Cat disappeared, have haunted me for the last two years.
I squeeze my cousin’s hand for encouragement—about as much communication as I can offer in my speechless state—and give a faint smile. I do not envy the explaining she will have to do when I’m gone.
Cat doesn’t appear too eager for the conversation, either. She takes a deep breath and turns back to Reyna. “When did life imitate art?” she asks. “I figured that wouldn’t happen until she was on stage. Opening night isn’t for another two days.”
I didn’t think the iron vise around my chest could tighten any more, but I was wrong. Hearing aloud how close I came to recreating my vision from the tent brings me to the point of agony, and another moan escapes.
Reyna pins me in place with the knowing look in her eye. “At rehearsal today, Alessandra, did you not connect with your role of Juliet? Find in her a kindred spirit? Understand her better because of your own emotions?”
I nod, remembering that rush I felt once I’d made the connection—and how much I looked forward to experiencing that again in front of a spellbound crowd. My lifelong dream was just within my reach, so close that today the wispy tendrils actually brushed my fingertips. I could feel the heat of the spotlight, hear the packed audience’s thundering silence as they hung on my every word. I came so close to experiencing the surge of their applause. Cat and I had been sure that this was why Reyna sent me here, that the theater is where my real strength lies.
Wasn’t that the point of her cryptic message?
As if I she can read my thoughts, Reyna asks, “Alessandra, your time was spent living adventures and experiencing the world of possibility, was it not?”
The fullness of her prophecy whispers in my mind—the adventure that you seek is full of possibilities, but always remember where your real strength lies—and I suck in a breath.
I may have been wrong about the second part of the message, which, if I’m to leave now will forever remain shrouded in mystery, but thanks to Austin, I more than fulfilled the first half of it.
Scenes from the last week chase the haunting words: my arms wrapped around Austin as we flew through the water on his Jet Ski, the sting of salt water biting into my cheeks. Holding his hand at Rush as the roller coaster slowly made its upward trek, and the security I felt as we plunged back to the earth, knowing I was safe as long as Austin was by my side. The way the waves pounded my board as he taught me to surf, and earlier, the scorching heat of his legs as he straddled my hips on the shore. And eclipsing each of the memories, though they all tug at my heart, is the exhilarating rightness of my very first kiss.
Cat’s brow creases as she watches me, no doubt seeing the emotions roll across my face. “Adventures? Less, what is she talking about?”
I shake my head, now not being the time to tell her about Austin’s challenge. She huffs a breath and steps closer to our unexpected visitor. “That doesn’t matter. Reyna, you said in your letter that you were leaving her in capable hands, and you trusted that I’d know what to do. And I do. Give her forty-eight more hours. Let her do her dress rehearsal tomorrow, and experience opening night, and then take her back.”
My eyes widen at my cousin’s bold request. Reyna purses her lips, and Cat, perhaps sensing her tentative acquiescence, moves even closer. “She’s got this.”
I just stand there, a passive observer in my own fate as they discuss my future. Where is the brave girl I claimed to be, the girl I’ve become the last week? The girl who stood up for Austin with his father and defied Kendal by auditioning? Apparently the thought of returning home has scared her away, for all I can do now is watch silently and pray that Reyna will say yes to Cat’s request. I doubt I’ll ever have enough time with Austin or in this world, but right now two more days feel as though they are a lifetime.
Lucas shuffles his feet behind me, reminding me of his presence. I can’t even begin to wonder what he must be thinking. But I do not turn around and ask because Reyna suddenly bows her head. My breath catches, and Cat clutches my hand.
“As you wish,” she tells Cat, her eyes trained on me. “She may remain until after the performance. I shall be waiting for her at the portal at midnight.”
She doesn’t need to explain. A flash of the chaotic theater of etched handprints and stars leaps to mind. TCL Chinese Theatre, the location where I first arrived.
Relief fills me to bursting as her words and their meaning sink in…and maybe a touch of something else, too, for as Reyna turns and walks away, I finally find my voice.
“Can I stay…forever?”
The words are out before I can even think about what I’m proposing, what it’ll mean. Cat stares at me as if I have lost my mind, and perhaps I have, but I can’t take back the request. Nothing in my entire life has ever felt as right as staying here.
My heart aches with the admission. It feels like a betrayal to my parents—to Mama—to wish to stay where they aren’t. But what is truly waiting for me at home? A family whom I love with every piece of my breaking heart and whom I miss more than anything in the world, yes, but also a brother who lives in another city and parents who are growing older with each passing day, currently on the marriage hunt for me. Once I return, it will not be long until they make me a match, a suitor who at best will not be Austin, and at worse will be cold and indifferent. And after leaving the shelter of my familial home, I will be thrust into a life filled with propriety and rules, expectations and limitations.
I have become too comfortable with the ways of this world. The freedom I am granted, the choices that I have. Here is where I’ve come to be the woman I always wanted to be, and can have the life I always dreamed of. Here is where I can create my own destiny.