Marguerite was stunned by how rational Wren's mother sounded while speaking on the phone. It was hard to believe this was the woman tearing the house down only a few heartbeats before.
His poor father for having to tolerate such a volatile beast. Marguerite was just grateful that Wren hadn't inherited his mother's personality.
There was a brief pause. "Yes, I know where that is. Three o'clock. I'll see you then."
Then Marguerite heard Karina hang up the phone and leave the room.
Marguerite turned to Wren, unable to believe what had happened over the last few minutes. "I think your mother and my father should have married each other."
There was no trace of amusement on Wren's face.
"I'm sorry, Wren," Marguerite said, feeling instantly contrite. How could he find humor in the fact that his mother was a vicious cur who was about to murder his father? A cur who had practically ruined his life. "But at least you know your father did love you."
"That's what hurts," Wren said in a low whisper. "I keep thinking that if only he'd lived... My life would have been so different."
She hugged him as she felt for his pain. "I know. I spent a long time hating my mother because she left me. At least your dad didn't go by choice."
Wren's eyes flared at that. "No, he didn't." He gave her a harsh stare. "Thank you."
She was completely baffled by his words. "For what?"
"For making me come back here." There was a grim determination that burned brightly in his eyes. "I was happy to let them get away with what they did to me and my parents. You were right. There is more human in me than I thought. 'Cause right now I want revenge, and I'm not leaving here until I get it."
"So what do we do?"
He glanced away as an angry tic beat furiously in his jaw. "First thing, we have to make sure that we don't alter anything here in this time period. We need to try and stay away from anyone who might remember us in the future. Second, we have to make sure I don't run into myself."
She nodded in understanding. "It'll cause a paradox."
"Yes, and it would cause me to drop completely out of existence-really not a good thing for either me now or me then. But luckily, at this time and place, I'm pretty much confined to a bedroom down the hall."
He opened the closet door and peeked outside, into the bedroom. "It's clear."
She followed him back into the bedroom. "Any game plan?"
"Follow my mother. Grayson is my uncle, and since they're meeting, my money says that this is when they planned my father's murder."
That made complete sense to Marguerite. "Okay, but how do we do that?"
Marguerite gasped as her clothing changed into a bright red, ruffled shirt and a beige prairie skirt. It was an outfit very similar to some of the ones she'd seen her mother wearing in old pictures taken around the time she'd been born.
Wren grinned at her confusion as his own clothes changed to a black Izod and dark jeans. "We need to look like we belong in this time period."
"How do you do that?"
His grin widened. "It's magic."
Yeah, but his magic was starting to creep her out. It was one thing to travel through time, quite another to find herself wearing outdated clothing that was actually the height of fashion right now.
A woman could really lose her mind thinking about these things... Then again, maybe she had. Maybe all of this was nothing more than a grand hallucination...
It was certainly a possibility.
As Wren took a step toward the door, it swung open.
Time seemed to hang still as they both faced a man who was an exact, only older, copy of Wren. Dressed in an elegant black suit, the man had blond hair cropped short. His blue eyes were electrifying as he narrowed his gaze threateningly on them.
Wren wasn't sure what he should do. He could flash him and Maggie out of the room, into another part of the house, or even outside, but his father would be able to trace them and follow.
Damn, they were caught and they were screwed.
His father sniffed the air, then frowned in obvious disbelief. "Wren?"
Wren swallowed as he met Maggie's wide brown eyes. Repressed emotions tore through him. Grief, rage, but at the bottom was the part of him that had wanted to love his father.
The part of him that had wanted his father to love him.
His father moved closer to Wren with a deep scowl marking his brow. "It is you, isn't it... from the future?"
There was no need to lie. His father was far from a stupid man, and there was no other explanation for the two of them being in his house.
Double damn. This was against every rule Wren knew of time traveling... not that he knew many. Since he didn't practice jumping, he wasn't all that familiar with the laws of it.
He took a deep breath before he answered his father's question. "Yes."
"Why are you here now?" His father frowned as he looked back and forth between them. "You're not supposed to be, are you?"
As every second ticked by and nothing odd happened-like he didn't cease to exist-Wren began to wonder about that. "No... Yes... Maybe? Since I'm not dead now, I'm not sure anymore. If I wasn't supposed to be here, wouldn't I have died when you came through the door?"
His father let out an exasperated sigh. "You still haven't mastered your powers?"
Anger flashed deep inside him. How dare his father judge him lacking? He wasn't a callow cub anymore. He was an adult who was more than able to take care of himself, and he resented his father thinking otherwise. "I could take you down, old man, and not blink or flinch."
His father looked at him with pride in his eyes. A slow smile curved his lips. "But you don't time jump?"
"No," he answered honestly. "I was told a long time ago that it wasn't in my best interest to learn it."
"Why?"
"He was raised in Sanctuary," Maggie said. "There are a lot of people who want Wren dead."
Wren narrowed his eyes on his father in case he misunderstood Maggie's words. "Not that I've ever feared a fight or backed down from one-"
"That's the truth," Maggie inserted. "I swear he's half beta fish. He'd fight his own reflection to prove a point."
Wren ignored her interruption. "But likewise, I'm not stupid and I've never wanted to make it easy on anyone. Especially not my enemies."
There was no mistaking the pride on his father's face. "Good, boy. I'm glad to know they haven't killed you yet."
"And they're not going to."
His father looked at Maggie. "Is she your mate?"
Wren took her hand into his and squeezed it as Maggie watched him expectantly for that answer. "Not exactly... but we're working on it."
His father laughed until he sniffed the air again. He cocked his head curiously. "She's human."