“But what if he is Killian? Then that means . . .” Freya looked up at the ceiling, where the guy she thought was Killian was sleeping in her bed. She had woken up in his arms! Had they done anything more? She shuddered. “I’ll visit him as soon as possible.” She would recognize Killian in any form, she thought. She would recognize his soul. She was sure of it, so why hadn’t she done so this morning?
“Is it Killian up there?” Ingrid whispered, thinking that if he wasn’t, then it made sense, although she had never been attracted to Dash in their universe either. She really felt ill, and it wasn’t just the morning sickness.
“I—I don’t know, I’m not sure,” said Freya.
“I’m not done. Both of you need to be careful around town,” said Joanna. “I have terrible news. I’m sorry, there’s no way to say this but to just say it. Freddie’s dead.”
“Freddie!” Freya gasped.
“How? When?” Ingrid’s face went pale, and tears were beginning to fill her eyes.
“We found him murdered in the living room,” Joanna said. “And his killer had written ‘Death to Witches’ on the floor with his blood.”
“Someone knows our secret,” said Freya. “Poor Freddie.”
“In our universe, Freddie is in Bora-Bora, swimming with the sharks,” said Ingrid, to console them. “He’s only dead here.”
Joanna nodded, taking a shaky breath. She smiled through her tears. “Tell him to visit me here sometime.”
“I’m sure he’d love that,” said Ingrid. “Because—where we come from . . . um . . . never mind.”
“Where we come from, you’ve been dead for a while, Mom,” said Freya. “Don’t worry, Freddie won’t be the only one visiting.”
“So why did you bring us here, Mom?” asked Ingrid.
“Because only a mirror soul can see the truth of the matter. You are versions of Ingrid and Freya, you know them and their lives, but can be objective as well. When we get Wendy back and when Freya solves the Dash-Killian problem, you will return to your universe and my Freya and Ingrid will wake up here.”
Freya laughed. “So you mean we’re here and they’re there?”
“Well, I had to put them somewhere.”
“All right then, let’s make this happen quickly,” said Ingrid. “Someone else is with my husband! I’ve never been so jealous of myself.”
• • •
Freya tiptoed back into the bedroom. Killian—or whoever he was—was still sleeping. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she stood in front of her closet, figuring out what to wear, when she felt warm hands wrap around her torso.
“There you are, beautiful,” Killian said, kissing her neck, and sending butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
Freya stood stock-still, unsure of how to respond, even as her body seemed to know exactly how. She closed her eyes, lost to the sensation of his kisses. He turned her around, so that she was pressed against his chest, and she ran her hands over his back, drawing closer to him despite her doubts. He growled low in his throat, and led her to the bed. Call her crazy, but these were certainly Killian’s hands on her body and Killian’s mouth on her shoulder.
“I’ve missed you,” he murmured, as he tangled his fingers in her hair.
“Where have I been?” she teased.
“Not where you should be,” he replied.
“And where should I be?”
“Here,” he said. “You. Are. Mine.”
Freya stared deep into his eyes.
Saw the desire there.
The domination.
The madness.
The man who was kissing her was not Killian.
Of that, she was certain.
She pushed him away roughly. “Hello, Dash,” she said, and before he could move, she trapped him on the bed, holding him there with a spell of her own.
• • •
Wendy Beauchamp woke up in the River Styx, flames all around her. Oh man. She had given her last life to Tommy and now this. She didn’t regret it, if only it wasn’t so hot. Although she sort of loved how bronze she was getting. If anything, Hell gives you a killer tan.
The minute she arrived, she went to visit her sister Helda, who ran the place and kept the Book of the Dead. “Sorry, Wen,” Helda said, closing the book. “You can’t go back. You’ve used up all your lives.”
“So, what happens around here? Are there any good bars? Cute guys?”
Helda rolled her eyes. “It’s the Underworld, what do you expect? Welcome to an eternity of boredom.”
So it was terribly exciting when Joanna and Ingrid suddenly showed up with a familiar green necklace.
“What are you doing down here?” Wendy asked. “And, also, took you long enough!”
“We came to get you, what does it look like? Sorry we were delayed, we had trouble with the time door,” Joanna said in that big-sister way of hers. “Come on. Put this on.”
“My necklace! It’s green again!” Wendy said. As a cat with nine lives, her necklace glowed green as long as she had one extra.
“Technically it’s not your necklace,” said Ingrid. “Hi, Aunt Wendy.” She had a cool aunt—this other universe was really so much fun. She wondered how long she’d be able to stay. She did miss her kids, but it was nice not to have to run after them all the time.
Wendy held up the necklace for closer inspection. “Whose is it?”
“We found another universe where you existed. And we asked her if she would give you half the lives she had left, so you could get out of here,” Joanna explained.
“You did?” Wendy laughed.
Ingrid smiled. “It was my idea.”
“You are my favorite niece, you know that, right?” She shook out her long, dark hair. “And I actually said yes?”
“Yes.” Joanna’s mouth quirked.
“How generous of me! So really I’ve saved myself. How many lives are in here?” she asked, shaking the charm.
“Don’t tell, she’ll be too reckless with them,” Joanna warned Ingrid.
Wendy rolled her eyes. “I was just asking!” She put on the necklace, liking the familiar weight of her lives against her collarbone.
She was so ready to get out of Dodge.
• • •
The police station looked almost the same as it did back home: a bright, cheerful, charming place. When Freya asked to see Dash Gardiner, she was led to a small room. They brought him in, made him sit in a chair, and removed his handcuffs. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and was skinnier and paler than she remembered Bran looking.
He wouldn’t meet her eye, but when he finally did, her stomach fell. It wasn’t Dash in there. It was Killian. Her Killian. God, she’d missed him.
“Oh, honey,” she said, reaching for his cheek.
“Stop,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re not allowed to touch me.”
“But I have to. It’s the only way to fix it,” she said. “Killian.”
Dash’s eyebrows rose. “You know! Thank God! I thought I was going crazy!”
“Shush,” she said, turning to see whether the police officers were watching from the two-way mirror. When she was certain it was safe, she passed him a silver vial under the table.
“Drink it,” she whispered. “Hurry.”
He nodded. He emptied the contents of the small canister. He shuddered, choked, and almost fell off the table.
“Officer!” Freya cried. “Help!”
She would need their assistance for sure.
Because once the man across the table opened his eyes again, they were full of rage and fire. He was Dash again, back where he belonged, and would suffer the wheels of justice just like he deserved. Freya’s heart pounded, wishing she didn’t feel so guilty, especially since she’d kissed him just this morning . . .
Dash
didn’t seem to hold any affection for her regardless. “I hope you rot in Hell,” he sneered. “And tell Ingrid if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll testify on my behalf at the trial.”
“If you believe that, you don’t know my sister at all. Face it, Dash, you’re through. You’re going to be in here a long, long time.”
• • •
Ingrid was nervous. When they returned from saving Aunt Wendy, who really was a trip—she wished they had an Aunt Wendy in their world—she had gone through all of Ingrid’s journals and discovered the truth. The Ingrid who lived here had been seduced by a Mandragora, but that wasn’t all. She’d also been hopelessly in love with Dash.
Dash Gardiner, who knew? Ingrid felt her mirror soul ache even at the thought of his name.
But when she asked to visit him at the police station, they told her he had escaped. Knocked out two guards and ran.
Oh dear.
She fretted, putting her hands on her belly. That wasn’t good news. What would happen to this child?
Later that evening, when she was outside the house, tending to the garden, she felt a presence watching her. She shaded her eyes and looked up.
“Dash,” she whispered. “You can’t be here.” She straightened up and they were looking at each other.
He saw her stomach for the first time. “Oh my God. Is it mine?”
Ingrid nodded. “Your first, isn’t it?” Loki’s first child. His only. He had been in love with Freya forever, chasing a goddess who was meant for his brother.
Dash’s eyes softened. He put his hands on her belly. “I didn’t see—earlier—in the hallway. I’m sorry. I wanted to explain . . .”
She shook her head, tears coming to her eyes. It was too late.
“Ingrid, I love you,” said Dash. “Run away with me. I’ll change. I’ll be better. I promise.”
“You’re a wanted man.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
She wanted to believe him so badly. She saw the pain in his eyes, and the way he looked at her was the same way Matt looked at her back home. The Ingrid whom Dash loved, loved him back.
“Ingrid, please, I could have left hours ago—staying here to find you only puts me in more danger. But I couldn’t leave without you. Please, come with me, with our baby. I want to be with you both. I want us to be a family. Ingrid, please say yes.”
Back at home, Ingrid was married to an upstanding policeman, but in this universe, she ran away with a known criminal.
• • •
“Do you think our stars are still crossed?” Killian asked, as Freya lay in his arms. They had just finished making love, and he couldn’t help but notice how passionate she had been, pouring her heart and soul into every kiss.
The thought of Dash and Freya together sickened Killian, but he had a feeling he had more than erased the memory of his brother.
“Mmm?” she asked. “What do you mean? Crossed stars?”
“Don’t you remember? We discovered one of us always dies, in every lifetime we’ve had together.” He raised an eyebrow. Had she truly forgotten?
She stared at him. “We do?”
“Yeah,” he said. “We do.”
Freya tightened her embrace. She looked up at him. “Then we better make the most of this life.” She had returned to help straighten out his identity, to return his soul to his body. But there was nothing she could do about the stars. Even goddesses couldn’t control the heavens.
Killian smiled. “Sounds like a good idea.” He pulled the covers over the both of them and reminded her who he was once more.
• • •
When Freya woke up the next morning, she was back in her childhood bedroom. Oh no, it didn’t work. She was still trapped in the alternate universe. Then she heard the sounds of giggling and laughter coming from downstairs.
She walked into the kitchen to see Ingrid, blond, with her hair in a bun, feeding baby Henry, while Jo, her daughter, helped make pancakes with her father.
“Hey, Auntie Freya!” the children called.
“Hi, munchkins. Hey, Matt. Ingrid? Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked.
She pulled her sister aside. “So, we’re back now, right? We solved it?”
Ingrid removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I think so.”
“What happened while we were away? Have they said anything?”
“The children said I was much less strict the past few days, apparently many rules were broken.” Ingrid rolled her eyes.
“I’ll bet.”
Freya shrugged. “Well, it wasn’t like you didn’t—”
“Not at all!” Ingrid protested, making a properly horrified face.
But Freya knew better. She had seen the way Dash-as-Killian had smiled at Ingrid in the hallway. Back then, she had thought Killian was still Killian, and she had kissed him almost to prove a point. That he wanted her and not Ingrid. But then it turned out Killian was Dash and not himself. It was all too confusing. “Come on. Didn’t you kiss him? I know you did.”
Ingrid smiled at the memory. “Okay, fine, but it doesn’t count. Back in that universe, he was my true love,” she said, prim as ever.
Freya smirked.
“Do you think I made the right decision for her? Going away with him? I just thought—a family should stay together,” said Ingrid, fretting.
“We wouldn’t be back here if we didn’t make the right choices for them. Remember? Mom said once we solved it we’d be back in our own lives.”
“Right.”
“I miss Mom already,” said Freya.
“Me too. But I heard from Freddie. He’s coming back from Bora-Bora tomorrow. I told him we’d all go to the North Inn.”
Freya gave her sister an affectionate squeeze. “Good. And just so you know, I’m glad that in every iteration of the universe, you’re my sister.”
Ingrid smiled and returned the hug. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Together, the Beauchamp girls went back to the kitchen to make breakfast.
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