Page 111 of Once a Villain
Joan was the first to recognize who it was. “It’s you,” she said to Aaron.
Of the three of them, Aaron was most recognizable, his clothes the same sharp cut, his elfin beauty unchanged. Only his hair was different: short and neat, and almost military in style.
A shiver of recognition hit Joan.It’s always about Nick with you, isn’t it?Eleanor had said to her once.And that blond boy.
In the tear, Nick poured water into tall glasses and brought one over to Aaron, who took it with a grateful look.
You’re worried, Nick said to him softly.
Aaron drank the water, hand shaking slightly.My uncle Lucien is still resisting, but they’ll all do as I say.My cousin Geoffrey has been calming nerves.He tried to drink again, but his hand wasn’t behaving.
Joan’s other self came over and put a hand on Aaron’s arm, steadying him. The gesture was casually intimate, and so was Aaron’s small smile at her.
“You were the head of the Oliver family in the original timeline,” Mum explained to Aaron now. “Joan and Nick came toyoufirst—even before they spoke to the Graves. You brought the powerful Oliver family to the table.”
“I agreed to stop taking human life?” Aaron said. It was quiet, though, as if he were asking himself.
Inside the tear, their original selves sat, Joan at the head of the table, and Aaron and Nick on either side of her. They made an unexpectedly imposing team.
A few moments later, they were joined by a fourth person. Joan recognized her at once.
Eleanor lookedexactlyas she had in the stadium. A fairy-tale princess with luminous eyes and ripples of golden hair.
To Joan’s surprise, her original self went straight to Eleanor and threw her arms around her.I didn’t think you’d be here!
I’mbeggingyou not to go through with this, Eleanor said in return.
Joan’s original self pulled back.I know you don’t agree, but we took a vote—the whole family.
I don’t care about the vote! You’re talking about ending time travel, forever! Ending our birthright!Eleanor’s voice was hoarse with emotion.It’s not like we’re killing people—we’re just taking a few days here and there.
A few days oflife. Of humanlife. Imagine it wasmylife being taken.
Obviously, I’d never take life fromyou,Eleanor said.God, Joan.It was her turn to hug Joan, anger and love warring on her face.
Outside the tear, Joan was surprised anew. The emotions in the scene were raw, but it was clear to her that Eleanor had loved Joan once upon a time. And her other self had loved Eleanor back—fiercely. They really had been sisters.
As the thought occurred, Joan almost felt it—just for a moment. A sharp tug in her chest. An echo of love for a sister she didn’t remember.
Mum’s expression now was heavy. She leaned up and closed the tear—as easily as zipping up a tent. When she was done, there was no evidence of it.
Joan stared at the space where they’d all been, her heart beating too fast. She’d taken a few steps toward the tear, she realized now. As if she could have walked in there and stopped what was coming.
Maybe she couldn’t have, though. She had a feeling that Eleanor would have stuck to her beliefs—love or not. Maybe everything that had unfolded had been inevitable.
And it struck Joan now, with sick dismay, that Aaron had also been part of Eleanor’s revenge. Eleanor had pitted him against Joan and Nick, just like she’d pitted them against each other. Maybe she’d done more than that.... Aaron had been the head of the Oliver family in the original timeline, and not his father. His downfall in the subsequent timelines had to have been Eleanor’s doing too.
Joan closed her eyes. She felt utterly shaken by everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. She’d lost Nick; she’d realized she loved Aaron; she’d slept with him; and Nick had returned to her, alive. And now she’d found Mum, and learned that her own power wasn’t the abomination she’d imagined. She’d seen herself and Nick and Aaron in the original timeline.Together,impossibly intertwined.
It was too much. She felt overwhelmed. “What are we going to do?” she heard herself say.
Mum took a step toward her, put her arms around her. “You don’t have to do anything, my love. There’s nothing to be done. You just need to stay alive.”
Joan felt exhausted. She and Aaron had barely slept, and Nick... God, Nick had been in that stasis. He’d essentially just come out of the arena, still banged up and bruised.
But Mum’s words made her realize that they couldn’t just rest. Joan pulled back. “We need to talk about how to fix the timeline. We need another way to get to Eleanor.” The stadium gambit hadn’t worked.
“Joan...” Mum’s expression flared with something between sorrow and sympathy, and Joan felt a sick swoop of doubt. “I was in the stands,” Mum said. “I felt the damage to the timeline being sealed away. Eleanor locked the timeline. There’s no way to change it now.”
