CHAPTER NINE Echoes of Destiny

Lily’s hands shook as she skimmed across the newly decoded words in the journal written by Alexander’s grandfather. Some odd light from their temporal hideout illuminated the room and cast spooky shadows on the stone walls and floors of this unique and magical house. ‘Alexander,’ Lily started, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible, ‘Your grandfather didn’t just foresee my coming. He made it happen.’ Alexander sat up and moved closer, frowning but also interested. “As it is said in these passages, he was aware of a temporal paradox—an area of space-time where two or more timelines exist simultaneously.” If managed skillfully, it is possible to mold the events around this paradox into a time loop able to erase a troubled future. “But why you, Lily?” Alexander asked suddenly. “Why bring you from your time to ours?” Lily drew a long, slow breath, her historian’s brain trying to file it away, connect the dots, and make sense of the situation. “It is as if I am some kind of