Quiet nights in Dragon Tower were some of my favorite things. The darkness outside turned the stained-glass window into a mirror. I never imagined seeing my own reflection would make me feel like this. Nervous, maybe a bit intimidated, but most powerful of all was the anger. All of it keeping my fists clenched.

It was probably the fact there was a second version of me that I didn't want to talk to.

She was just sitting there. Like I wouldn't be furious with her. There was no way she didn't know that. She was me, after all.

"Hey," she greeted.

"You." It was an accusation and a demand for answers at the same time.

"Someone sounds mad."

She knew. I couldn't tell who I was more mad at, her or me for not figuring it out. But she was me, so taking it out on her was justified.

"Let me see if I can remember…just found out?"

"I haven't seen you in a month and yeah, I know."

"I won't apologize. No regrets, right?"

"Maybe one or two, I think."

"Maybe. But staying home would have been a bigger one."

"I know who you are, does that mean you can tell me what's going on now?"

"I can't. You'll try but it won't work. M only kinda understands how this works."

"Anything I should be looking for? In regards to that?"

"Jantres' magic isn't like the curse. It wants to leave. But it can't, the curse is trapping it in. Like covering the lid of a bottle with cling film."

"So you haven't broken the curse. That's what I'm hearing."

Red was quiet for a moment. I turned from the window to look up at her. She was sitting with her back to the glass. Gloved hands in her lap, shoulders slumped, she was staring down at the floor. Not that it mattered, I already knew what her face looked like.

She took a deep breath before speaking, "Not yet, no."

Which meant I probably wasn't going to break it before it was too late. Before the wraith. "You know who has Death's Echo, don't you?"

"I do."

"But you're not going to tell me?"

"If I thought there was something I could tell you that would give us a better outcome, I would."

"What does that even mean?"

"I've thought about what happened with Death's Echo every day since. Ran through every possibility I could think of, and all of them end in more people dead."

More people.

The implications were pretty clear.

"Something terrible is going to happen, isn't it?" I already knew the answer to that. It was what I'd been pushing myself so hard for. But…

"Your real enemy isn't someone you can out-maneuver. Not yet. Hope getting caught would get you all killed. You're right in thinking secrecy is keeping you safe."

"Real enemy? You can't mean Merripen, right?"

He was still in prison. He couldn't be behind this. There was no way.

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"No. Not him. Someone worse."

"There's worse?"

"There's always worse."

"And you won't tell me who?"

"If I did, I'd be putting everyone I care about in even more danger."

"Us going after them is that bad?"

"None of you are ready. Even if the curse never existed, we'd still be in a lot of trouble. We were never going to be ready for this. Any of it. Makes me think about something Angelina once said. You probably remember it better."

"Something about the gods and a plan?"

"She still thinks the fates have plans. Ones we can't do anything about and that's why we're allowed glimpses of the wider picture. I don't know how much of that to believe though."

"I believe in her." Her visions hadn't let me down yet. Even if I didn't fully know how it worked or what the things she saw fully meant. They'd all come true so far.

"She's the best thing about Pixie Tower."

That wasn't exactly comforting. "So we're doomed?"

"Not completely. But it's going to be even harder than you thought."

Not helpful. But if that was the truth….

"What am I going to tell the others?"

"Something. You'll figure it out."

"That's not reassuring."

"I wish I had something more to tell you."

"What's the point of being able to talk to my future self if she's not going to be helpful?"

"We do the best we can with what we have. Just remember what I said. You know what I want."

"Everyone safe and sound."

"Always."

"And that's what all of this is for?"

"We're the closest thing to a leader around here. That means it's our job to look after everyone."

"I know. I'm doing my best here."

"That doesn't mean they won't worry about you too. Unfortunately. I think they've been getting more observant."

"Or Jarec's been telling on us," I mumbled.

"Possible. He does that. I think they're mad at me on this side."

"Did something happen?"

"Something's always happening. But I refuse to apologize for what they're mad about. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

She didn't look hurt. If anything…she seemed more tired than usual.

"Are you okay? No need to pretend for my sake." I rubbed at the curse as I spoke. It was more painful today. I would put it at an eight on a scale of how it always felt. I still hadn't told the others about it. No point when they couldn't do anything but worry.

"I don't know yet. I think I'm still processing what happened. It's been…a long couple of weeks."

"After everything else, I'm terrified to ask."

"I wouldn't tell you anyway. It's…a bit complicated."

"Everything's complicated with us."

"It's a lot complicated. And…" She was hesitating. What? What could be worse than what she'd already told me? "Just…don't blame yourself, okay?"

"For something specific?"

"For…what happens with Death's Echo. Remember what Dad told us after the expulsion?"

"That we're not at fault for other people's choices?"

"That's the one."

"You're not filling me with confidence here."

"It wouldn't help. I don't know if anything can help now. But we can't go back."

"You're literally talking to your past self."

"And how much do you think I can change?"

"I'm starting to think it's less than I want to."

"Not out of time or options yet. But your odds look pretty dire from my perspective."

"It shouldn't have to be this way."

"No, it shouldn't. But there's not much you can do about it now. Unless you agree with Jarec and decide to take over the Hearth coven. Then who knows what rewrites you could do."

"That's too much power. And responsibility. I think I'm the last person who should have it."

"Worried about what you would do with all that power?"

"Always."

"But you're going to need all the power you can get to do anything about…well the person who has Death's Echo."

She was avoiding the name. Only reason would be if I knew it, right? So we were right to not trust anyone else. Going to anyone for help would a roll of the dice.

"Can…can I trust the people I think I can?"

"Dragons, Angelina, Vivian, and the rest of the outer circle. I don't know for sure if my enemy has allies in the school in your time. But Angelina's a good judge of character. Part of the Pixie thing."

"I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse for not telling them."

"Angelina will want to go straight to an adult. Who might be involved. And you still don't exactly have proof."

"Damn it."

"I know."

She would. There was nothing I knew that she didn't.

I wanted to ask more questions, but I didn't know which she could/would give me answers for. "Anything else you think I should know? Or be looking into?"

"Not really. Not yet. It wouldn't make sense to you yet. Just…don't blame yourself. Okay?"

For what was going to happen. With Death's Echo. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good luck, we're going to need all of it."

And then she was gone. Though probably still sitting there in her time. Just inaccessible to me. At least until I became her. Whenever that would be.

After apparently some more tribulations that I didn't even know about yet. An enemy I didn't know about who was worse than the guy willing to curse an infant and mutilate a teenager. I gripped my left wrist tightly.

There was too much for me to think about. She'd given me more pieces, but the puzzle was still incomplete.

Real enemy. Not Merripen, but someone else. Okay. What did that mean? Merripen was probably not the person behind the plot with Death's Echo. At least from what she'd implied. But then, how much of what she told me was her channeling Mom? And did that throw out anything else she'd told me?

She wasn't above lying. She'd said her favorite song was Master of Puppets but that was just a hint to her identity. So what else was potentially a lie to point me in a direction?

Should I be worried about Merripen breaking out of prison or not? Did he really have nothing to do with what was happening? Or did she mean that he was less of a threat than someone else in her time?

Someone so bad that the curse barely made a difference. How was that possible? For one, we had no idea how powerful my magic would be now without it.

I still needed to break it.

The cold was numbing the grip I had on it. The tension was hurting my right hand but my left couldn't feel it at all. I was running out of time.

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