CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE.

I shook Thomas's hand off my arm the second I felt the ground underneath me.

"It's Times Square," Thomas said. "What do you think?"

The buildings I knew so well surrounded me, only they were painted in soft earth tones, reflecting perfectly the sun's rays.

And this version of New York had people everywhere. Their clothes matched the earth tones of the buildings. A woman walked by us and smiled, then said h.e.l.lo. My eyes dropped to the ground. It was covered in greenish brown brick that extended out everywhere. No dividing lines between sidewalk and street.

"Where are all the cars?" I asked.

"No cars. Just teleportation devices for traveling lengthy distances," Thomas said. "Notice the air. It's perfect-always clean, never too hot or too cold."

Not like the air in the destroyed New York Emily had taken me to. I wouldn't have lasted a day breathing that in. What was she trying to tell me? "Some people are fighting to keep this from happening and some people are going to make it happen."

"Is this where you're from?" I asked Thomas.

"Don't you mean when I'm from?" Thomas asked, then he laughed. "That's the wonderful thing about being one of us, you can call anywhere home ... anytime. Why not choose a world that makes the most logical sense?"

Okay, so obviously he isn't going to tell me what year he was born. Not that I expected him to.

Behind me there were kids playing on a playground. At least I think it was a playground. But they were almost silent. Nothing like the kids I had in my group at camp. All the equipment seemed to be moving or electronic. A beam ran in between two poles and shifted side to side and the kids walked the length of it while it swayed.

The small climbing wall leading up to the main structure revolved so kids just climbed in place. They all moved like little Spider-Men, practically leaping tall buildings.

"All solar-powered," Thomas said, turning to face the playground next to me. "Here, in the future, we don't do anything that damages the Earth."

But somebody did damage the Earth in the future. Or at least New York. I saw it with my own eyes. Or maybe that had already happened and they'd fixed it? Or ... it was just a different timeline?

He started walking closer to a light brown building and I followed.

"We've improved the quality of life beyond what anyone could have imagined. Eliminated obesity, improved vitamin supplements, increased brain function."

Vitamins that gave everyone superhuman strength? That would explain the amazing spider-children. "When does this happen?"

More important, what kind of drastic measures did it take to achieve this type of success?

"That I can't tell you." He spoke in this formal yet calm tone, like he was a guide giving me the four o'clock tour of the perfect future.

I continued to take in my surroundings, and it truly was beautiful. No trash anywhere, nothing out of place. The color schemes were brilliant. Like city and country blending together. Unbelievably perfect ... exactly why I didn't trust it. Emily had showed me the other future for a reason. I really wanted dates. For both worlds.

"Time's up," Thomas said, grasping my arm and pulling me back.

CHAPTER FORTY.

AUGUST 15, 2009, 5:00 P.M.

Thomas did have skill. We were exactly where we'd left. I bent over, panting and trying to orient myself. Obviously, time travel had a different effect when I went with another time traveler. Going two years in the past had weakened me quite a bit and the half-jump to 1992 had beaten the s.h.i.t out of me. But I felt fine now.

"So, were you impressed?" Thomas asked me.

"Yeah, it was ... incredible," I said.

He walked toward Holly, who must have been standing there for only a second or two, because she was still in the same place. He grabbed her by the elbow and tugged her closer to the edge.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, not sure if I should make a move yet.

"Your speech earlier about nonessential items was very convincing, knowing what you've been through recently. But unfortunately, I'm a little too smart to allow myself to be fooled."

"You don't believe me?" I asked, keeping my voice perfectly even.

"That is irrelevant. Facts. Tangible proof. That's what I rely on."

Thomas wrapped his arms around her, in a hold too tight for Holly to escape. I could see her face twisting with anger as she attempted to wiggle her way out.

I held on to my cover, waiting to see where Thomas was going with this little diversion.

"I've thought a lot about you, Jackson," Thomas said calmly while Holly tried to break free of his death grip. "I've recently learned the expression kill two birds with one stone. We don't say that where I'm from. There's a way I can find out if you're lying about dismissing emotional attachments, and learn just how valuable you may be to my team."

"What's that?" I asked, hearing the nerves leak into my voice.

"It's a well-thought-out plan, and as I said earlier, that's very important for people like us. The only problem is, if you do, in fact, show incredible talent, it will also prove you're lying to me. That you're not capable of dealing with the responsibilities that go along with this power you've been handed." His eyes met mine and I could almost see remorse in them. Or disappointment. "None of us want to hurt you ... or stop you from living your life ... but we might not have a choice. Not if you're too much of a risk. We can accept you being on the other side, but not you being flighty and impulsive. We may consider Tempest our opposition, but we don't dismiss how careful their leader is when dealing with time. Do you understand?"

I could feel the sweat trickling down the back of my neck. My heart thudded like a freight train. He was looking at me and reading it all. "What do you ... what are you talking about?"

He pinned Holly's arms to her sides and walked even closer to the edge. I finally let myself look at her face and I saw the panic creep into her eyes. She guessed the same thing I did.

Thomas moved his arms to her waist and lifted her from the ground, dangling her upper body over the ledge. I sucked in a breath as he leaned farther over the edge.

"Wait! Don't!" I shouted, but it didn't matter.

Thomas hoisted her up higher and, with incredible strength, tossed her over the edge. Her scream was deafening and my brain went into machine mode as I jumped. Not through time, but an actual jump.

Off the roof.

The very millisecond I felt some part of Holly between my fingers, I forced my mind to focus as we were free-falling. Think about where you want to be, I told myself. Beautiful. Wonderful. Solid places.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE.

A second ago, I had felt Holly's wrist between my fingers. Now I could feel her weight on top of me. Soft gra.s.s around us. Her heart pounding against mine.

"Holly?" I mumbled. My eyes were still squeezed shut.

Both of us were breathing so hard, panic flooding out.

"Oh, G.o.d, are we dead?"

I stared into her light blues eyes, seeing the sun reflected in them. Sun, not rain. "No, we're not dead ... d.a.m.n ... I don't know what I just did."

She looked at me for one more second and then she was kissing me, hard, tears flooding out of her eyes onto my face. I squeezed my arms around her so tight, I don't know how she kept breathing.

When I ran out of air, I released her and let my arms flop down into the gra.s.s. "Holly?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I really just jump off a freakin' roof?"

"Yes." She pressed her face into my shirt and started crying harder.

I rolled us both over sideways so I could see her face better. "It's okay, Hol. You're okay."

She finally lifted her head and wiped the tears from her face. "You can time-travel with regular people?"

"Apparently. But I had no idea. Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind ... I saw you falling and it was just ... instinct. I didn't even think." I touched my forehead to hers and closed my eyes. "I never should have let it get that close. I didn't know what he had planned, and..."

"It's okay ... I knew you were trying to stall ... I would have done the same thing." She rested her hands on my face and kissed me again. "Is this Central Park?"

I finally looked around for the first time, not even thinking about the fact that we had just magically appeared out of nowhere. n.o.body had screamed or anything ... definitely a good sign. I recognized the location within a few seconds. It was the Upper East Side of the Great Lawn, near one of the baseball diamonds. Two girls were sunbathing about fifty feet from us. They had shades on and looked oblivious to anyone around. Everyone else was even farther away.

"Yep, Central Park," I said to Holly before pulling her up off the gra.s.s. "The hard part for me is usually not where I am, but when."

"You don't know when we are?" Holly asked.

I smiled at the shock on her face. "We just have to find a source."

Before we started walking, I pulled her into my arms again, reluctant to let go. My face was buried in her hair and I took in a deep breath, trying to compose myself. "Once we figure out what the h.e.l.l we just did, I may have to drag you to some island a hundred years in the past."

"And I may have to let you," she mumbled.

We walked quickly toward a bench where a young woman sat reading the newspaper, while a little boy kicked a soccer ball around in front of her. I walked behind the lady and Holly and I both glanced at the newspaper over her shoulder.

August 12, 2009. "Three days in the past," I muttered to myself. "But what timeline?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"There he is!" someone shouted.

Both of us spun around at the same time. Raymond and Ca.s.sidy, the woman whose DNA was in me, stood about twenty feet away, guns pointed at us. I nearly fell over when I saw who was hiding behind Raymond.

Holly. Another Holly?

Like a different timeline Holly? Shouldn't my Holly make this Holly disappear?

I didn't have time to consider this. Not while my 009 Holly was staring at another version of herself.

"Holy s.h.i.t!" the Holly beside me said.

Both Hollys stared at each other, completely shocked.

"Jackson?" the other Holly said.

"We have to go back," I said to the Holly next to me. "Now."

"No kidding," she whispered before burying her face in my shirt.

"I'm aiming for the ground this time," I mumbled before pulling us back.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO.

AUGUST 15, 2009, 5:30 P.M.

Okay, so, maybe I don't have perfect aim.

"s.h.i.t," Holly said into my ear.

Holly was on top of me and I was sliding down the slanted part of the roof. Again. She grabbed on to the hunk of siding like I had before, then clutched my wrist. I turned over quickly and began climbing up.

"I thought climbing on ladders was bad ... but hanging on a slated roof ... eight stories high ... totally sucks." I could feel my chest tightening and knew pa.s.sing out here on the roof was a possibility.

Holly smacked my cheek lightly. "Jackson! Look at me."

I lifted my head and stared at her through the rain. "I can't do this. I just need..."

"You can, I know you can." She put a hand under my arm and tugged until I continued to climb.

"Sorry if I don't walk across swing sets like you. You're like a crazy circus performer," I mumbled, slightly annoyed that I needed her help with this.

"Wait, when did you see me climbing swing sets?"