I couldn’t help but feel the same. I’d seen amazing things in the magical world, but time travel?
“Yes.” Seraphia nodded. “You’ll arrive in this very library, but in the past.”
“Likely in the time of Rasla,” I said, suddenly feeling Beatrix’s confusion. I turned to her. “Around 1642. He was a bastard, but it’s a very long story.”
“I can tell you over breakfast,” Mac said.
I looked at Seraphia. “So I can take this book and go back to get my answers?”
She nodded. “Yes. But I don’t know what you’ll find. And it will be dangerous.”
I’d seen enough movies to know that. Time travel was no joke. “Once I’m there, how do I know what I’m looking for?”
Seraphia frowned slightly. “From what I understand, certain scenes or people might glow with magic. A golden sparkle or faint aura. Those are the things that are written about in the book. Theoretically, at least. You’re going to have to wing it, for the most part. Your magic should help, though.”
I thought of the dress the book had been wrapped in and the image of the woman I’d seen when I’d touched it. We needed to find her. “When it’s all done, how do I come home?”
“Return to the portal. It will remember you and send you here.”
“What if the library is destroyed?” I asked, mind racing.
She grimaced. “You may be stuck. I’m not sure.”
I looked at Grey. “Worth the risk, don’t you think?”
“Of course. I will accompany you.”
“More people might be more dangerous,” Seraphia said.
“I lived in Guild City in the mid-seventeenth century,” he said. “She’ll need my help.”
“That’s true,” I said. “I have no idea how to get along back then. And who knows what we’ll find? We’re doing this to fix our situation, so it’s better if we stay together.”
“Fair enough,” Seraphia said. “And it’s not my place to tell you what to do. But it is my place to warn you. Do not change anything. Just observe. Blend in. People will be able to see you.”
I nodded. “I know the drill. I mean, I learned it from TV and movies, but I assume all the same rules apply?”
Seraphia nodded. “From what I know, yes.”
“We’ll need a good plan,” Grey said. “I shouldn’t see my former self. But it would be good to make use of my resources in the past.”
I nodded, liking the idea of having a place to stay.
“Don’t forget about clothes,” Beatrix said. “You’d stick out like a sore thumb in those.”
We’d need potions too, certainly. Things to help us along when things got sticky. I looked at my friends. “All right. Let’s get moving.”
Hours later, we were ready. Grey and I had come up with a plan with the help of the others, and then Beatrix and Mac had gone to Eve to get the potions we would need. Grey and I had headed over to the Fae dress shop. The proprietor had connections with the antique costuming community, and we’d found proper attire for the seventeenth century.
I pulled at the bodice of my heavy black dress. We’d gone as simple as possible, as far as fashion was concerned, but the skirt was still wide and the three-quarter-length sleeves full. The dress exposed much of my shoulders, though we’d topped it with a cape. It was enchanted like my other dresses had been, giving me a bit of extra strength and protection.
The plan was for me to blend in as a possible acquaintance of Grey’s. He was meant to be himself, though we’d have to deal with the past version of him, which would take some doing.
We stood in the library, just the two of us in the small waiting room at the side. Seraphia was off doing something else, and Mac and Beatrix hadn’t arrived yet. I looked over at him, attired in all black—breeches, tall boots, and a doublet that looked a bit like a stiff, formal jacket. He held a wide-brimmed hat that he would put on when we arrived. It wasn’t his usual look, but it wasn’t bad, either. “I can’t believe you ever got rid of your old clothes.”
He gave me a perplexed look. “I’m hardly the sentimental type. And we’re lucky that ruffs had gone out of fashion by the time that book was written.”
I laughed at the idea of him in a tall, fancy collar. He didn’t wear a wig, though they had been popular then. He never had, apparently.
The door to the library creaked open, and I looked out, spotting Max and Beatrix. Max held up a leather bag. “Got your potions.”
“Thank you.” I stepped out of the small waiting room and saw Beatrix more fully.
Her eyes were wide and sparkling as they met mine. “This place is phenomenal.”
“Glad you like it, because you need to live here now that all of London thinks you’re dead. I have no idea how you’d get along back there.”
“That’s fine with me.” She looked down at her hands, her brow furrowed as if she expected to see something there. “I just wish I knew if I had magic.”
“You do,” Mac said. “You turned into a raven, for fates’ sake.”
“That could have been Carrow,” Beatrix said.
“Nah.” Mac shook her head. “Her magic did something to you when you died, that’s for sure. But I doubt it turned you into a raven.”
I nodded. “That’s my bet, too.”
Seraphia appeared from the back of the library, her hair a bit messy from whatever she’d been getting into. “Ready?”
I cut my eyes to Grey, who nodded. “Looks like it.”
“Good.” She gestured for us to follow, then turned around. “You’re going to want to be as quick as possible. The longer you stay, the more dangerous it will be. And whatever you do, don’t lose that book.”
I nodded, clutching it tightly. The Fae seamstress had sewn a special pocket into my heavy skirts for it, and I tucked it in, buttoning the pocket closed. I also had Rasla’s seal, though I had no idea what to do with it.
The library grew darker and quieter the deeper back we went, until finally, we stood in front of the empty aisle. The air sparkled with pale golden light, beckoning.
“Be careful,” Beatrix said. “Being dead sucks.”
I cracked a smile and looked at Grey.
He held out a hand.
I took it, unable to help the faint shiver that ran up my arm, filling me with heat. Together, we stepped toward the light. Magic pulled at me, sparking against my skin. Nerves fluttered in my stomach, my breath growing short.
The magic tugged harder the deeper we went. I pulled the book from my pocket, hoping that the portal could tell where we wanted to go.
“Open the book,” Seraphia said from behind us.
Carefully, I flipped it open with one hand, choosing a page at random. I couldn’t read any of the pages, so I figured it didn’t matter which one I opened to.
The lights around us glowed more brightly, the magic pulsing. It yanked at me, pulling me into the ether and spinning me through space. I gripped Grey’s hand tightly, terrified of losing him.
My head whirled and my stomach pitched as we traveled, my vision going dark. Finally, hard ground appeared beneath my feet, and I stumbled. Grey caught me, pulling me against him.