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  Hope quickly changes back into her clothes, pausing to rub the stitches on the jeans leg. “Hey, Sister Yael fixed it for me…” She pulls her sneakers on and hurries out, again thrilled to be able to leave her bedroom at will. After catching up to the nuns, she thanks Sister Yael for repairing the rip in her jeans, then makes her way through the monastery to the garden, where she takes her usual seat on the carved stone bench next to the gurgling fountain at the center.

  Since Ky left her here with Sister Marie-Luce, she finds herself on that bench quite often. Mostly, she spends her time in the garden watching the birds flit about or the two red squirrels scurrying around in the trees chattering with each other, but at the moment, aside from waiting for lunch, she has a different objective in mind. She closes her eyes and draws upon another familiar she likes, the tiger moth. Hope suspects Ky used the hummingbird on purpose because she knows how much it means to her. Once the moth appears, she asks it to follow the hummingbird. Her moth zips off into the sky, a tiny comet of psychic energy leaving a glowing trail and pulling her consciousness along behind.

  A moment into the flight, she randomly thinks of John, the strange man she’d met when she returned from her time traveling to the past to get the scrolls. His mixed emotions of gentleness, fierceness and sadness confused her at first, but after he’d brought her safely back to Kylie, Ayden and Noah, she knew her sister would be safe with him.

  The way Kylie said his name when talking about his pretty green eyes means there is something special between the man and her sister. The love he has for her sister radiates clearly to Hope. Though, as much as she tried to convince him to stay and talk to her, the man was too afraid. After bringing her to the team, he had run away without speaking to them.

  Hope’s instincts tell her he possesses a special gift of great power. And thinking of him isn’t random; indeed, a flicker of light catches her eye at the corner of the garden, and for a second, a shimmering visage appears to be watching her. He appears to be watching over her. But no sooner does she try and look at him, he fades, leaving only a sense of peace behind.

  Ooookay…

  She turns from following Kylie’s hummingbird and sends the tiger moth in search of John Herrel. The sudden desire to search for John is confusing. She doesn’t know why, but the need to find him is strong.

  Hope wonders why he had run without even speaking to Kylie.

  ***

  The moth gains altitude.

  Below, the earth rushes by so fast it blurs. In under a minute, she flies through the window of an airplane.

  “Attention passengers,” says a woman’s voice. “We are now on our final approach to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport. Please remain in your seats until the pilot turns off the seatbelt sign. Thank you.”

  The moth darts to the right and settles upon the armrest where John sleeps in an aisle seat. Though she can’t enter his dream, somehow, she knows he dreams of Kylie. John’s smile fills her with warmth. Though he can’t see her, or even know she has visited, she smiles back at him.

  He looks so lonely.

  She wants to hug him, and maybe pester him a bit more about talking to Ky.

  Hope has been experimenting with time travel that takes her not only to different times, but also to different places. Simms had been trying to get her to do that, but she never let him see it work. If she could jump to a different physical location, she could’ve easily escaped the compound. Her experiments have sometimes moved her across her bedroom, but she never managed to get past the door. No doubt, Simms had put up some kind of psychic barrier to contain her, despite her never showing him she could teleport. He must know she has the potential to do it, or he wouldn’t have wasted the energy to block her in like that.

  She’d never been able to go much more than a couple dozen feet from where she started, but when Echidna latched onto her leg, terror and shock caused her to not only leap thousands of years back in time, but also a great distance to Khirbet Qumran in the Judean Desert. She’d always had the potential to do that, but Simms—or her own self-doubt—had limited her. In that moment of desperation, she’d broken down the barrier.

  Now, curiosity overtook her. Could she repeat that time-travel and teleportation feat?

  Hope fixates her thoughts on the seat beside him, concentrating on a desire to be at that spot. A sudden rush of air conditioning chases away the dry dustiness of the convent garden. Her body materializes within the airplane, plopping down in the empty seat beside him. She rests a hand on his arm.

  Holy cow! She grins to herself, extremely grateful that she changed into her usual clothes before attempting this. Being on an airplane in public wearing a nun’s under-dress would have been embarrassing.

  John awakens with a start, his left hand flying to her neck while his right hand goes out of sight, likely to a weapon. The look in his eyes for the first two seconds scares her. He might have ended her life had she been a threat. But within seconds, he recognizes her, and gentleness washes over his expression. He lets out a breath of relief and smiles.

  “Oh, hi, Hope. Sorry about that.”

  She nods. “It’s all right. I did kinda sneak up on you.”

  “Fancy seeing you here. Time traveling?”

  “Time and space traveling,” Hope says, proud of her accomplishment. She can’t hide the wonder in her face—and in her voice—that it actually worked. “You know, the usual.”

  “Impressive. No, quite amazing!”

  Warmth rushes to her cheeks. “It’s not that hard if you know what you’re doing.”

  “Um, it is kind of a big deal, kiddo. Where did you come here from?”

  “From Sister Marie-Luce’s. Kylie left me with her to keep me safe until she could come back for me.”

  “And yet, you’re off visiting me.” John chuckles.

  Hope fidgets, staring into her lap while mushing the hem of her T-shirt between her fingers. “I’m worried about Kylie.”

  “Me, too,” says John.

  “I want her to be safe, but I’m afraid that she’s not going to be.”

  “Yeah. I’m worried about that, too. In fact, I’m on my way to Rome right now to help her.”

  Hope looks up at him with wide eyes. Hearing him say that means everything to her. For the first time in a long time, Hope really does have just that—hope. She knows there is a reason why John’s name popped into her mind. He needs her help! “I can help find her and tell you what she’s doing and we can sort of work like a team, right?”

  “Wouldn’t using your special skills draw attention to where you are and maybe put you and Kylie in more danger?”

  Her heart sinks. He has a point. The more often she uses her gifts, the greater the risk becomes that someone bad could penetrate her shield. Simms once described it like walking around a dark room with a flashlight. If she turned on that light, she could see better, but anyone trying to find her would see the light, too. Then again, she can’t think of anyone powerful enough to break the shield over the monastery, especially after she’d helped reinforce it.

  “But I wanna help,” she says.

  John pats her shoulder, and the worry on his face softens into a smile. “I know, kiddo. But if it makes you feel any better, I already know where she’s going and where she’s going to be. I even have some connections who will help me get to where I need to be. I will protect her, and the whole team, even if they don’t want me to.”

  Having powers and not being able to use them to help Ky set off an explosion of frustration that leaves her stuck between bursting into tears like a child or screaming like an angry adult. Before either happens, John takes her hand. Hope sighs, and idly kicks at the empty seat in front of her while she makes a sour face.

  “I think Kylie will be distracted from doing what she needs to do if you are nearby or too involved. She cares so much about you; she doesn’t want you to get hurt. And you’re still a kid.”

  Hope smirks. She hates being called a child, e
specially after everything she survived. A “kid” will crawl under their bed and hide. She wants to do something, like an adult. However, he has a point. Kylie does love her. Their connection was instant and powerful. She doesn’t want to become the distraction that gets her big sister hurt. “All right. I guess I feel better since you’re gonna help her.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  “Can I put a bug in your ear?”

  John chuckles.

  “I mean a literal bug. Just a gnat totem. It’ll go with you so I can stay connected, look in on you, but it won’t trigger a shield. It’s really rare and only gifted people like us can share it.”

  He mulls that over for a moment, casting a furtive glance down the aisle. “Only if it doesn’t put you at risk. Kylie would be devastated if anything happened to you.”

  Hope nods. “I know. I promise I’ll be careful.”

  “Can you promise it won’t be itchy?” asks John.

  She grins and holds up her hand. “I promise.”

  “Hope!” says Sister Marie-Luce, her voice coming from everywhere and nowhere.

  “Eeep!” Her eyes shoot open wide. “I gotta go.” She stands and faces him, calling the gnat into existence. It zips around for a second before settling on the fold at the front of John’s ear. That done, she pictures the monastery garden in her mind and desires to send herself there. “Bye, John!”

  He opens his mouth, but before a word comes out of him, the airplane vanishes. In a blur of earth, city, and mountain, the convent garden reappears around her, along with a flustered Sister Marie-Luce rounding a corner of ancient stone wall, out of breath. Clearly, she has been searching the whole place.

  “There you are!” says Sister Marie-Luce, a touch shy of yelling. “You scared me to death.”

  “I’m sorry.” Hope looks down. “I just wanted to help.”

  Sister Marie-Luce sits on the bench nearby, fanning her face. “I know, child. But you must keep yourself safe—and not give me a heart attack. I thought something happened to you. And I checked this spot five times. Where were you?”

  “I was… um, looking for you, too. Maybe we kept missing each other.”

  “Hmm. Maybe.”

  “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

  “Never mind that. Our food is ready.” Sister Marie-Luce offers her hand.

  Glumness lifts away. Hope looks up with a hesitant smile and takes her hand.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sweet mama.

  What I just saw leaves me staring into space, my mind spinning for a good few minutes. It was a little distorted, but I have no doubt the mark on Hope’s neck is the Christogram.

  Finally, I force myself out of my stupor and walk back into the other room. “My sister is the Child of Good.”

  “The girl’s totes adorable,” says Noah without looking up, “but aren’t you taking that a little far?”

  “Totes?” asks Ayden.

  “Means totally or something. Don’t you watch TV?”

  “Totes, no.”

  “You’re using it wrong.”

  “Guys, I’m being serious. Hope has the Chi-Rho on the back of her neck; it’s a birthmark. She’s it, the Child of Good.”

  Ayden narrows his gaze. “And where the totes did all that come from?”

  “Still not using it right,” says Noah.

  “Sister Marie-Luce,” I say, ignoring them. “When I was working with one of my familiars, the hummingbird took me back to the monastery. In fact, I think she somehow managed to summon me, which by the way, I will be asking her about later. That’s a new one. Anyway, I got a vision of the room at the monastery. Sister Marie-Luce was brushing my sister’s hair. She looks right at me and pulls back Hope’s hair to show me the sign. Clear as day, I’m telling you. I have no idea. She’s got so much hair, and she wears it long on purpose to hide the birthmark because she thinks it’s ugly. How could I have known? My kid sister even knows what it was, but didn’t seem to know why she has it.”

  “She knows it’s a Christogram?” asks Noah.

  I nod. “She told Sister Marie-Luce that Simms asked her about it and explained the symbol, but she insisted that it wasn’t a big deal, only a birthmark.”

  “But there’s no way anyone would know the significance of it, not until this recent scroll was been deciphered, and only happened recently,” adds Ayden.

  “Still, someone like Simms will have recognized and researched it,” I say. “Whether or not he found anything is another story.”

  “All a moot point,” says Noah. “He now knows what it means. And he may know what Hope is, if this is all true.”

  “I dunno,” says Ayden. “It all kind of seems coincidental. I mean, we just found out about it. Are you sure you aren’t imaging things, Ky?”

  Grr. I calm down, breathe, and say, “Sure as I’m standing here looking at the two of you.”

  They watch me closely for several long seconds.

  I let off a heavy sigh. “Maybe it isn’t coincidental at all. Hear me out: Hope is twelve today, another thing about her that snuck up on me during my meditation. It’s her birthday today, too.” I wish I’d have known, since she makes it clear she never had a decent birthday. Then again, if we don’t stop this biblical Armageddon thing, none of us will have another birthday again.

  Noah’s head snaps up. “We might’ve made an error in the translation process. Maybe we got the numbers inverted. The child of good and the child of evil could both be twelve today. Not twenty-one.”

  “If so, that means we don’t need to break in and take the President’s daughter and possibly lose our lives in the process,” adds Ayden.

  Ayden holds up a finger. “Not so fast. The President’s daughter is connected to all of this. How, exactly, I don’t know, but I did get a read when I was off in my own psychic bubble.” Which is what we call our isolation sessions.

  I cross my arms. “Go on.”

  “I’m pretty sure that Julia Dennison is one of the GEPSI kids, probably one of the first generation lab babies who came right after us. I think we can determine that—”

  “Whoa!” says Noah. “You think that the daughter of the President of the United States is a GEPSI kid? Where the hell did you come up with that?”

  Ayden takes in some air. “Crazy, I know. Hear me out. I think we can determine that after the group who came to GEPSI as organically as possible—our group—Simms began working on a program to genetically engineer more children. I got a hit that Julia is part of the first set from that generation. Since Hope described a facility full of children, we know that they’re all young… her age, in fact. But Julia is going to be twenty-one, so that could sort of make her a guinea pig.”

  “The first test lab baby?” asks Noah.

  Ayden nods.

  “How clear of a hit did you get?” I ask.

  “Very clear,” says Ayden. “I had a vision of the president speaking with Simms. Looked to be about two decades ago, since Simms still had hair. Dennison appeared to be asking when he and his wife could take the baby home. Sims handed a file to the future president, who would have been a congressman at the time. I’m certain, considering his family connections, Dennison has been groomed for a position of power from early on. Maybe having a ‘special’ child has been part of some plan for him to have PSI in his personal arsenal.”

  Noah shakes his head. “You’re asking us to dismiss an awful lot of probability there. Who could’ve said with any degree of certainty that someone, in twenty years, would be elected president?”

  Ayden shrugs. “Conspiracy theories aside, if you take his family connections and influence into play, he has a far above-average trajectory for the Oval Office.”

  “I think there really might be some meat here,” I say. “Let’s consider that Julia Dennison is one of the first true GEPSI kids. Wonder what her ability is? Could you make out anything on the file Simms handed over to Dennison?”

  “Actually, I did, and you’re not going to like it.�
�� Ayden looks pointedly at me. “You’re not going to like it at all.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Ky, your mother’s photo was on the outside of the file. I know it’s her. She looks just like you and uh, well… her name was also on the outside of the file: Patty Cain.”

  I’m too much in shock to speak.

  Ayden fixes sad eyes on me. “I’m sorry, sweetie. It might explain some of the reason why your mother has been kept comatose and in a mental ward. Simms took you away from her when you were a little girl, right after your father was killed. Who knows what Simms did to your mother? It is possible, given this information, that your abilities never came from your father. The gift could have been passed down from your mother instead.”

  “They could still be mining her genetic material,” says Noah. “Can’t get sperm from a dead man.”

  Ayden rubs his hands on his legs, glancing at me. “If I was a betting man, I’d lay big money on something you’re probably also not going to like, Ky.”

  I lift my head, staring at him. “What do you mean?”

  “Julia Dennison is probably your sister.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The guys don’t say anything for a few minutes.

  I stand and pace around for a while, trying to make sense of everything. I feel anchorless, adrift, tossed about by wave after tumultuous wave. Being hit with knowledge that will once again change the course of my life crashes into me like an out-of-control bus. I flop into the kitchen chair, frustrated.

  Noah and Ayden approach, hovering in the kitchen doorway, watching me without speaking.

  “That bastard,” I hiss through clenched teeth. “I want to kill him. He’s controlled every facet of my life, from whether my parents lived or died, to my siblings… Who the fuck does he think he is?”

  “We’ll get him,” says Noah.

  My face contorts with equal parts rage and sadness. “I’ll bet you Simms was involved in murdering my father, along with Orlenda Kobach.”