Page 33 of Langiappe & Lost Legends

I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache building. "So let me get this straight. We've got a self-writing prophecy telling us we're the crystal's destined guardians, a vampire traitor trying to steal its power, and a group of time-bending cultists who want to use one of us as a magical battery to potentially destroy the world?"

"Don't forget the Light Fae party we still have to host," Kota added.

"Or the fact that every wedding venue in the city is being used to find us," Dre chimed in.

"And the dimensional tears that keep popping up around the Quarter," Phi contributed.

"Thanks for those reminders," I said dryly. "Really helpful."

The prophecy book flared again, and more words appeared. Marie read them with growing concern. "Time grows short as the moon waxes full. The Lost seek to unmake what was woven, to break the bonds that bind reality's flow. Only through unitymay the six prevail, for their strength lies not in power alone, but in the bonds between."

"Our connection to each other is far more important than our connection to the crystal," Dea translated. “That’s why they will never pull this off. They don’t understand what it means to be a Twisted Sister.”

"More important," Cyran added as he studied the text. "The prophecy suggests your bond as sisters is what makes you true guardians, not just your bloodlines."

Something clicked in my mind. "I bet they've also been using wedding venues to better understand emotional bonds. If they’re smart, they're trying to understand our connection to each other."

"But they can't," Lia said with growing excitement. “Because you can't replicate or force something like that. It has to be real."

"Which means our trap at the plantation might actually work better than we thought," I added. "They're expecting to find six sisters with a magical connection they can corrupt. Instead..."

"They'll find six sisters ready to kick their temporally-displaced asses," Kota finished with a grin.

The prophecy book gave one final pulse of light before going dark. Marie closed it carefully. "The rest is up to you now. Whatever happens next will determine whether the Lost Legends succeed in their plans or fail in their attempt to control what was never meant to be controlled."

"No pressure or anything," I muttered.

Noah squeezed my hand. "You've got this, Sunshine. All of you do."

Looking around at my sisters, I knew he was right. "Right then," I said, straightening my shoulders. "We've got a party to prepare for, a trap to finish setting, and reality itself to save. Plus, I still need to figure out how to explain to the Light Fae why we can't use real starlight in the centerpieces."

"Just another day at the office," Lia quipped.

And really, that's what our lives had become. A constant balance of magical crisis management and event planning, with a healthy dose of sarcasm to keep us all sane. But looking at my family and our increasingly weird collection of allies, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, we just had to survive long enough to prove that prophecy right.

CHAPTER 12

DREYA

After leaving Marie's house with our shiny new prophecy and a growing sense of impending doom, we barely had time to breathe before the universe decided to have a complete nervous breakdown. I was in the middle of inventorying supplies with Kota when my phone erupted like it was auditioning for a dubstep concert. "This is Dre," I said as I answered on speaker. I set the phone down between us while simultaneously trying to organize jars of herbs that kept rearranging themselves by expiration date, including dates that hadn't happened yet.

"This is Chiara. Please tell me that you can help. Rosie was on the hotlines and gave me your number to call directly," the woman on the other end said in response. Her voice was shaking harder than a tourist after their first purple drink. "My coffee shop is stuck in some kind of time loop. I've lived the same day seven times now. I've served the same customers the same drinks over and over. I’ve tried to stop it with every spell I can think of but nothing works. I'm losing my mind."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling another nosebleed coming on. Perfect. "Stay calm. We'll send someone to—" Another call beeped through. Then another. And another. Myphone lit up like Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, having an electrical crisis.

"Problems?" Steve asked from the doorway of our magical kitchen. My husband's expression showed intense concern. But also that particular brand of amused resignation he'd developed since our lives diverged into magical chaos.

"Oh, you know," I said as I watched a jar of rosemary fade in and out of existence while Kota tried to catch dried lavender that was trying to un-dry itself. "Just reality having a complete meltdown. The usual stuff."

"Actually," Phi called from her corner of barely controlled scientific mayhem, "time's getting a bit..." she waved her hand vaguely, "squiggly."

"Squiggly," I repeated flatly. "The fundamental fabric of reality is getting squiggly. Fantastic."

That's when a woman materialized in the middle of our workshop. Like, literally materialized without warning. My shields went up instantly as Kota and I moved into defensive positions. Behind me, I heard Steve curse while the rest of my sisters shifted into attack mode.

The woman's outfit seemed to be a mash-up of multiple eras. What really caught my attention was the raw power rolling off her in waves that made my head hurt. "I mean you no harm," she said calmly as if she hadn't just bypassed every ward we had. "I am Madame Chronos, and you need my help with your temporal problem."

"Yeah, because that's not suspicious at all," Lia muttered. "How exactly did you get past our wards?"

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