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It was annoying that she had to work around the restrictions of her powers. She’d been stretching the time-jumps longer and longer, but even she had limits.

”Okay.” Daphne jumped back to the past. From their viewpoint, she’d barely been gone a second. “Go ahead, Zakk. Explain to me how we should play by the rules and let poor Missy get beheaded.”

“Beheaded? How mundane.” Missy pouted in disappointment. “I thought there would at least be a tiger. That would be the only death I could accept. I think death-by-tiger has a very noble ring to it, don’t you?” She looked over at Raiden, as if he might have an opinion.

He grunted.

“My Match is not getting eaten by a tiger!” Zakkery roared, like Daphne had been the one to suggest it. “Or beheaded. I just don’t see why I can’t save her in some other, saner, un-kidnapped way.

“Missy is a Fire Phase. They hold each other prisoner all the time. It’s how they flirt.” Daphne wasn’t even lying about that part. “Missy’s not going to hold a grudge about being locked in one little cell.” …At least not against Zakk. Daphne would no doubt be feeling her wrath into the next millennium.

“She’s going to hate me.”

“Oh, she’ll get over it.”

That part was going to be easy. Zakkery was broodingly gorgeous, with dark hair and a lavender streak at his temple designating his House. What girl could stay mad at him for long, even in his bizarre clothes?

Perpetually dressed in Union Jack high-tops, shredded denim, and his favorite bicycle chain bracelet, his fashion sense was interesting, even for this time period. Mostly he seemed to like the punk-rock style because it allowed him to wear his hair long, so it covered his too-pretty face.

His smoke-colored eyes met hers. “If I go with you on this, I’m risking everything I’ve ever wanted.” He said quietly. “You want to save the future? Well, that girl is my future.”

“I understand.” Daphne knew what she was asking. She also knew what would happen if he didn’t listen. “That’s why you need to trust me. If you don’t, you’ll lose everything you’ve ever wanted. Your ‘future’ will play out in a lonely shack on a hill. I’ve seen it.” Daphne didn’t even try to sugarcoat the stakes. “I swear on my life, it’s true. Missy will die, Zakk.”

Zakkery looked up at the ceiling, searching for answers up there. “Fuck.” He whispered and Daphne knew she was winning him over.

“A couple of days locked in a cell is a small price to pay for thousands of years of life together.” Daphne persisted. “She’d lock you up too, if the situations were reversed. She looked at Missy. “Wouldn’t you lock him up?”

“I still might.”

“See?” Daphne waved a triumphant hand. “Any Phase would do what we’re doing.”

“I wouldn’t.” Raiden intoned. “It’s immoral, dangerous, and wrong.”

Daphne ground her teeth together and rose above his negativity, her attention staying on Zakkery. “You have to protect your Match. It’s your job. Do not let her out of there.”

Zakkery’s gaze flicked over to Missy, who smiled like the winner of a serial killer beauty pageant. He took a deep breath. “Okay.” He looked back at Daphne and gave a jerky nod. “You’d better be right, though.”

“I’m always right. I have it all under control.”

That was a lie. Things were spinning so far beyond her control that Daphne had no idea how she was ever going to fix them.

Against her will, she found her gaze cutting over to Raiden. She’d had her taciturn Match locked up for weeks, keeping him safely out of the fray. Not that he was thanking her for her efforts. So far he’d been a colossal dick about this whole abduction thing, truth be told. Worse, he knew her plan was in trouble. She could see it every time he looked at her with those gamma-ray green eyes.

Raiden leaned against the Plexiglas wall of his cell, watching her like he could read every thought in her head. Maybe he could. “What’s gone wrong?” He asked quietly.

Everything.

“Nothing.” She tried to sound confident. “The future is safe.”

“I feel very safe.” It was impossible to know if Missy was being facetious or not.

Daphne sent her a suspicious frown, not willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. “We are on the same side. Try to believe that, even if you don’t believe the rest.”

Missy’s eyes narrowed, studying Daphne’s face for a long moment. “Alright.” She finally said. “I won’t kill you, yet.”

Wasn’t that all kinds of reassuring?

“Missy.” Raiden said quietly. “Don’t threaten my Match.”