Return to the Darkness - Ripley Proserpina Page 0,17

phantom pain. I didn’t have any marks on me from that time. It was a decade ago. That was what I had to keep remembering. I was ten years older than that girl.

Was it possible to get stuck in a time and never really leave it? Was this why Mr. Chee was doing what he was doing? Trying to mess with the timeline because even though a decade had passed, we were all sort of stuck in a time loop?

The never-ending pain of Erdirg.

The scars that don’t ever heal. The way that a single day could determine the rest of my life.

“You’re amazing. We’ve all told you that from day one.” Aaron kissed my cheek. “The girl we never forgot, who became this strong woman we can’t get enough of. Who has the kind of love that it’s okay to share.”

I smirked at him. “Or I’m just fucked up so much that it takes four of you to walk that minefield of loving Lacey.”

“You’ll always find a way to put yourself down. Two seconds of conversation and you’ll find a way.” Oliver raised a dark eyebrow at me. “Mark my words, a decade from now when Aaron gives you a compliment, you’ll do a novel thing and say thank you.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’ll see.”

I turned my attention back to what I was doing—trying to remember what had happened here.

I couldn’t even remember how I’d gotten to Alaska. That was some heavy-duty power involved in that. I’d learned from fighting Mara and her nightmares that power could take many forms, even amnesia, if it wanted.

“So… we’ve got to try to figure out if Dad is here.” Aaron sighed. “Any suggestions on that, brother?”

Oliver shook his head. “Not so far. I was sort of hoping a portal would open up and we’d just walk into it or something.”

Aaron laughed. “Lots of portals opening in your life?”

“You might be surprised.”

He scratched his head. “I would be, because I’ve known you my whole life and I don’t remember there ever being a portal before. I think you are full of shit.”

“Aaron—”

I held out my hand, interrupting them. I’d never had a sibling, and despite living with my cousin, we hadn’t had this kind of vibe. “Don’t fight. You’re both badasses. So we have no portal opening. Now what?”

The day was beautiful as we sat there in silence. It was winter. The air was warm for me because I was used to Alaska, but no one would call it hot, exactly. Still, this had been stifling to me as a child, more because of who and what was happening, not because of the actual temperatures.

I pointed at the ground. They didn’t have answers. Maybe I did. “We need to dig.”

“How do you know?”

I didn’t. It was an instinct, but given that we didn’t have a lot of answers or options, I thought it was a good one to follow. “I saw your father standing over a hole in the ground. If I tried to use logic, I’d say we should do this down by the riverbed, but here just feels right.”

“I don’t suppose anyone brought shovels?”

In the distance, dust kicked up as a car approached. “Must be Colton,” Aaron said.

He slowed and came to a stop right behind our car. “Hi.” He jogged over to us, then wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my temple. “How are you?”

“Fine,” I replied.

He made a noise of disbelief. “What’s the plan?”

“Our girl says we should dig, so we dig,” Oliver answered.

“I have shovels in my car.” Colt stepped toward the car and opened his back seat. Sure enough, there were two shovels in back. “I thought I’d need them, just didn’t know when.”

“Well, when is now.” At least, I hoped this was the right thing to do. “We could be digging for nothing.”

“You’re so full of doubt,” Oliver said. “Stop it. Listen to your instincts. We will.”

“If your instincts are saying to dig, then I think we should dig.” Colt handed one shovel off to Aaron, who had held out his hand. “Where?”

“Right here.” We stood in front of a rectangle of cinder blocks, the place where a trailer had been placed long ago.

“Was this yours?” he asked me as he walked by. He stuck the shovel in the dirt, then removed it and began to walk the perimeter. Every so often he stuck the shovel in as if testing to see what was beneath the surface of sand.

“My house?” I searched the area for