Page 64 of Intersect

She squeezes my hand. “I couldn’t lose you. I did the only thing I could think of.” She sounds tired, winded. “The brain tumor—I’d altered too much of your life and your brain couldn’t…keep up. You wouldn’t kill me if you knew who I was. So my brother agreed to raiseyou.”

She gave me away. And made me believe she was theenemy.

That bad thing I knew I was capable of, the thing I’ve dreaded my entire life—it wasn’t time travel, and it wasn’t causing Ryan’s death. It was what I’ve just done—I’ve killed my mother to save Nick andmyself.

“I’m so sorry,” I weep, clutching her hand. “I’m sosorry.”

Her eyes flutter open. “It all worked out the way it was supposed to. Just keep the twins safe, because this will changeeverything.”

The ice eases from my hips, and then outward. I try to sit up, but she clings to my hand. “Not yet,” shewhispers.

“I’ve got to get help,” I plead. “Tell me what todo.”

Tears roll down her face and she smiles up at me. “You just did everything I needed youto.”

“But—” My eyes squeeze shut. It’s too much. It’s happening too fast. “Why is it so hard for me to remember you? How could I not have known who you were? Just please…stay.” I feel so much inside me right now, all this love from another time, for her, and I have no place to pin it because the little I can remember of her is sodim.

“You shouldn’t have remembered anything at all, sweet girl. You just loved Nick too much to let him go, the same way I did your father.” Her palm rests against my cheek. “I have to tell him it all worked out. We both love you somuch.”

And then her eyes flutter closed for the lasttime.

* * *

“Quinn,”says Nick. The word comes out as a low, painedgasp.

He’s frozen, standing at the bottom of the stairs. I look down to see that I’m naked, covered in blood. “I’m okay,” I whisper but he’s already crossing the distance between us in two bounding steps. He drops to the ground, pulling me into his lap, and as he does, my mother starts to disappear. First feet, then limbs, then the rest of her. I lean my head against his chest andweep.

“Are you hurt?” he asks. He sounds desperate,panicked.

I shake my head, crying so hard it’s difficult to speak. “She saved me,” I finally whisper. “All she ever wanted was to saveme.”

* * *

We arein a private room in the hospital waiting for MRI results. It’s sterile and brightly lit, silent aside from the clamor in the hallway. It couldn’t be further from the place we left a few hoursago.

I remember very little about leaving the basement. Nick dressed me and carried me out. There was still no trace of my mother. I hope that means she got wherever she was trying togo.

In spite of witnessing the way her body disappeared with his own eyes, Nick still doesn’t entirely believe my version of events—my mother has been the villain in his mind for so long he can’t bring himself to see her otherwise. “But shedidtry to kill you,” he insists. “Remember the hospital?Andyou say she shot me. So something’s not addingup.”

I get it…my faith in her is absolute because I remember her—not everything, but enough to know she loved me more than anyone alive. He doesn’t have the benefit of those memories though. “We have no idea what she gave me in the hospital. And she shot you in the leg. If she really wanted to kill you, she couldhave.”

He frowns but doesn’t argue. “And you really time traveled? You’resure?”

I nod. It was all so fast I’m not even sure what happened myself. If Nick hadn’t found me naked I’d still be wondering if I hadn’t imagined the wholething.

There’ve been enough revelations in one day to last a lifetime. Not just about the twins, or that I can time travel, but that my parents were not actually my parents, and the man I thought was my father was actually my uncle. That we were related is something I’m sure my mother didn’t know. I understand why my father kept it to himself—if he was helping Sarah with her plan, he couldn’t risk anyone telling me the truth— but my mom won’t. She’d be so hurt if she learned it now. When I call later, I’ll thank her for raising me, for caring for me so well that I never knew I wasn’t hers. But the thing about my dad is a secret I will take to thegrave.

“I still can’t believe Sarah was your mother,” Nick says. “It’s weird you didn’t remember her atall.”

It hurts, the empty space where her memories should rest. There’s this ache inside me for her, even though the lives before this one are almost entirely a blank. “I shouldn’t even have been able to rememberyou,” I tell him. “She didn’t seem to know I could do it, until recently. But yes, if I’d remembered any more than I did it would have all been fornothing.”

“How did she know it was happening at all?” he asks. “It’s not like we told a lot of people. Was she spying onus?”

I know the answer to that question, but he definitely isn’t ready to hear it. “No, she wouldn’t do that.” I glance at the clock. “Why is this taking so long?” I ask. “I know I’m fine. Can’t we just leave and have them call us withresults?”

Stabbing my mother cured me, but like everything else, it’s harder for Nick to believe than it is for me. He pushes my hair back from my face, two frown lines between his brows. “Please don’t get your hopes up justyet.”

My hopes aren’t just up. I’mcertainthis worked. I have never felt better in my entire life than I do at this moment. There’s an energy coursing through my blood, like some combination of sugar and heat and excitement. I feelpowerful.

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