What else can I do? Isira asked herself. So even though she needed Pax to return with Ginny, she had daily chores and details to handle, and duty was something she understood.

  Still, before going to the village, she walked to the tree that stood taller than the clouds. The tree that had been there from the beginning of their world. She leaned into it until the peace it contained flowed into her.

  "You can do it, Pax," she whispered, hoping the winds of her world would carry her words to where he was and bring him whatever he needed.

  TWENTY FIVE

  Koda worried. He had watched and waited all these years, and the person who came to make everything right again was this boy, Pax?

  "Are you sure Akotas is right, and Pax is the one?" He asked Ceya more than once. She always responded the same way. Pax would be fine. He was just different.

  Koda would nod and smile while clenching his teeth in an effort to agree.

  To Koda, teaching Pax was like dealing with a spoiled child, and he didn't like it at all. He couldn't see what Ceya or Akotas had seen in him. Koda understood Ceya had observed Pax his entire life and was used to his independent and stubborn nature, but that was back in Crann. Now, they didn't have time for Pax to question everything and decide if it was what he wanted to do.

  What made it even harder was Koda actually liked Pax. He understood the boy tried to do what they asked of him, learn the ways of this world, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it, and his resistance to being told what to do made it worse. Plus, the noise and all the people made Pax even more timid than he had been in Crann.

  Privately Ceya also worried. Pax was taking too long to adjust. She often reminded herself how many times Akotas threw up his hands at Pax's determination to do things his way or his withdrawal into himself when he didn't understand or like what was happening.

  But, as she told Koda, Pax possessed a good and kind heart. He wanted to do the right thing, he wanted to be part of this solution, but it went against his nature to fight. At first, even crossing the street was an ordeal for him. He didn't want to fight for his place in the crowd or dodge cars. He would wait and wait until she or Koda would push him forward. At one point, Ceya, frustrated with him, whispered to him to use his gift of invisibility and simply walk through the crowd.

  He looked at her with such determination that she had stepped back as he said, "No, that is the wrong way to use it."

  However, she took heart from his determination to do the right thing. All they needed to do was get him moving in the right direction, so he could exist in this world without flinching every time something he didn't understand happened around him.

  The underlying tension of the people around him and the constant threat of violence, whether it was a car coming at him, or people screaming at each other, kept him in a state of continued upset.

  "He's a peacemaker," Ceya kept telling Koda. "That's what he's here to do. Bring peace."

  "I doubt it, Ceya," Koda finally said, after hearing the excuse one time too many.

  "Yes, he is here for a reason, but stopping Dradon? I don't think so. We are going to need help."

  "You're right," Ceya finally acknowledged.

  Pax had been there a week and was barely functioning in the world. They asked him to learn to be a warrior, and he wasn't, at least not that kind. They needed to admit that although Pax was there to help Ginny and Maya, he, by himself, could not stop Dradon.

  "Where will we get help?" Ceya asked Koda.

  At that moment, Pax opened the shack's door, having returned from a walk in the park and a sit with the trees. Seeing their faces, he smiled and said, "What have you figured out?"

  "That we will need help," Ceya said.

  Pax smiled again, opened the door of the shack, and let Maya into the room.

  Ceya and Koda gasped and stood as she came towards them with her hands outstretched.

  "Thank you for coming, Ceya. And Koda, thank you for watching over me all these years. But now that Pax is here, I want to help."

  Ceya paused, ready to lash out, and then realized that Pax had done the right thing. They were the ones who had been dragging their feet, not wanting to approach Maya until he was ready. Well, he was obviously ready in his own way.

  Stepping towards Maya, Ceya reached out and pulled her in her arms, feeling how thin she had become.

  "Shall we get started?" Pax said. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be and Maya has waited long enough for our help."

  Maya smiled at Pax, and Koda understood why Akotas said Pax was the one. Maya immediately trusted him.

  "Something is going on with Ginny," Maya said. "She has been seeing someone and not telling me. Of course, that’s probably my fault. I have tried so hard to protect her, I have also made it impossible for her to talk to me. But this doesn't feel right."

  "Do you know who?" Koda asked.

  "No, just that she goes out now when she used to stay home, and she dresses differently."

  "Maybe that's a good thing?" Pax said.

  "It's not. Ginny can't get involved with someone."

  "Why not? What if it makes her happy? Isn't that what you want for her?" Ceya asked.

  Maya looked at Ceya and dropped her head.

  "She doesn’t know who she is, does she?"

  Maya shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "No. I never told her. How could I explain Akotas, another world, and her part in it? Especially since I didn't know when, or if, someone would come to help, and Dradon's threats have ruled my life. I shouldn't even be here with you. If he finds out, he'll hurt her."

  "Why? Why does he bother with you? Why not leave you alone?" Pax asked.

  "Because he knows Ginny would be the next High Priestess of Crann. If she ever gets there," Koda said.

  "And why would he care about that? He has the power he wants here."

  "You don't know Dradon," Maya whispered. "He has always planned to return to Crann and turn it into a world like this one. Dradon knows that even if he gets rid of Isira and Akotas, if the people find out about Ginny, they won't accept him. Although he might enjoy the war it would cause, it would be much easier to get rid of everyone else in his family. Ginny is in his way. However, if she doesn't know who she is, I thought she would be safe."

  Pax leaned back in his chair, thinking about what Maya had said. There had to be a reason Dradon kept Ginny and Maya around. It would have been easier to just get rid of them. Probably Maya knew why but didn’t feel safe telling them yet.

  But first, they had to make sure Ginny was safe, so he asked, "How does Dradon track what you do and know? What powers does he have?"

  TWENTY SIX

  The subject of their discussion was enjoying himself as he admired the view from the penthouse of one of the many buildings he owned. Dradon Good stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out over the world he loved spread below him. He loved it all.

  Streets and highways threaded their way through buildings of all shapes and sizes. Lights from cars, streetlights, and buildings blazed brighter than any star in the sky. In the distance, he could see the glint of the three rivers as the sun rose. They were the same three rivers in his old world. The boring one. The one he would change when he went back to it. It was time. He was ready.

  There were only a few details to manage first. He needed to make sure Akotas' offspring never made it to Crann to claim the role of High Priestess.

  He made his mark in this world, ruling over people the same way he would rule over the people of Crann. But no matter how successful he became, he would never rule the entire world. There were far too many other people like him in this world. He had observed with grudging respect how they built their businesses, took what they wanted for themselves, and fooled others into thinking they cared.

  He even merged his business with some of them. Then, when they weren't looking, he took over what they’d built. Their greed blinded them. But not everyone succumbed to his tactics. Some were smart enough to see what he was doing, and others didn't need him.

  No matter how ruthless he became, he remained the newcomer. They were born into families that had ruled for many generations, just as his family had in Crann. But in this world, they were called the titans of industry, not caretakers. Many of them ruled behind the scenes, and only a selected few were aware of what they did.

  They might have allowed Dradon into some of their circles, but he would never be one of them. As much as Dradon wanted to ruin them, he realized he didn't stand a chance. If he’d been born in one of those families, then perhaps it would have worked. But Dradon realized that as successful as he had become in the relatively short time he had been in this world, he was nearing the limit of how much of the world he could control.

  It was time to return to Crann and do what he always intended to do. Change it to fit himself and the life he loved. And that was why he kept Maya and her brat, Ginny, alive. Not because he made them some promise. Only fools made promises, and even greater fools believed them. They only fooled themselves, like Maya.

  That Maya believed him gave him great pleasure as he watched her shut down her life to keep her daughter safe. No, he had kept them alive, not because he promised her but for himself, as he did everything. Now that he was ready to return to Crann, the time had come to deal with them. Maya for what she knew, and Ginny because of what she was and didn't know.

  Dradon checked his watch, so fancy he still hadn't yet figured out how to use many of its functions. He expected Fred to check in soon. Fred told him Ginny knew nothing about her heritage or her dual citizenship and the power it gave her. She knew nothing about Crann or her father. She did not know that she was the only one who belonged to both worlds.

  Maya had kept her promise not to tell. She was a fool. It wouldn't save either of them. But first, he needed Maya's secret. Then, now that he was ready, he would return to Crann and take over.

  It would be more manageable now. He wouldn't need to fight like a savage. He was so much more aware of how to find the thread of fear and selfishness that ran through everyone and pull on it until people did his bidding. Even Maya, who should have known better. He had pulled her thread of fear, and she had effectively been his prisoner all these years.

  Yes, it was time to go home. He only had one minor problem. Even though he searched for it, he had not found the cliff he, Akotas, and Isira fell from. Until he found the cliff or portal back to Crann, he couldn't return. And that was the only reason he had allowed Maya to live. She had to know how to go through the portal without climbing a cliff. That was something he could not do. Climb the cliff? No, he would never make it. As far as he knew, only one person ever made the journey that way. The cliff climber. The one who brought peace to Crann.

  Dradon knew there must be another way to return. Akotas had taken Maya to Crann. They couldn't have climbed the cliff. Isira must also know how to return to Crann. How did they both know and not him? He dared not think of how angry that made him. It clouded his thinking. It didn't matter anyway. Once he got Maya to reveal the secret she kept, he would return and make his version of peace.

  When he first fell off the cliff and found a world full of cities and noise, he never wanted to go back. Isira tried to get the two of them to return with her before the two months ran out. But neither of them wanted to. He wanted to stay and conquer the world he found himself in, and Akotas wished to remain because he had found love.

  Love, Dradon snorted. What use was that? He could buy all the love he wanted. He could have any pleasures of this world at any time. And once he was back in Crann, he would have the pleasures of both worlds.

  But first, he had to get Maya to show him the way. That would be easy. He controlled her daughter now. After that, he would need to get rid of them both. Maya, because she knew the secret, and Ginny, before she found out.

  TWENTY SEVEN

  Ginny thought Fred's smile was charming. In fact, she had to admit to herself that she thought all of Fred was charming. He was soft-spoken, kind, and thoughtful. It was as if he was filling up a hole in her that had existed all her life, the need to be seen and then cared about. It was what she tried to do for her children. Give them what they were missing. Some of them only needed a little attention or encouragement. But others needed to be reminded every day that they were loved and cared for, at least by her.

  She gave them what her mother didn't seem capable of giving to her. She recognized her mother loved her, but it wasn't enough. The touch of a hand, an interesting conversation, a level gaze that looked straight at her and saw her, that's what she was missing. And Fred was doing all of that for her.

  Yes, she knew it had only been a week since he had come to the school to check it out for his little girl. Since then, they'd gone to dinner together almost every evening. She dressed carefully every morning, knowing she'd see him later, avoiding her mother's questions about where she was going after school.

  So far, it had just been dinner and conversation, which was fine with her. That was enough to make her happy, and a romance with all the attachments didn't interest her. She hoped it didn't interest Fred. At least not for a little while.

  Ginny wanted to meet his daughter, Rose. But Fred said she was finishing up school where they had been living and staying with his mother and father.

  He showed her a picture of his daughter, and she said she looked exactly like him. He said no, Rose had her mother's eyes. It broke Ginny's heart when Fred told the story of how his wife died of complications from the birth, and he’d been a single parent ever since, with the help of his parents, of course, for whom he was very grateful.

  Today he was taking her to his favorite restaurant. The excitement fueled her day with the children, and even they asked her why she looked different. She wanted to say it was because she felt seen, but she didn't. Not because they wouldn't understand. Because one thing she knew about children is that they understood much more than people expected they did. No, it was because somewhere inside her it felt wrong to be important to someone, maybe even loved. It was easier to believe that she wasn't deserving, which is why her mother avoided her.

  Maybe her father was a wicked man, and every time her mother looked at her, she saw that person. She wouldn't know, since her mother told her nothing about her father. She must have loved him, though. After all, she kept his cracked mirror in the hallway.

  No, Ginny told herself. She didn't believe it was because her mother didn't love her father. It was for some other reason that she avoided Ginny. It didn't matter, anyway. She was thinking too much about this. She and Fred were friends. That was enough for now. But eventually, she would have to tell her mother because it was the right thing to do. She was not looking forward to it.

  On the other hand, her mother had been acting differently for the past few days. More prolonged glances, a pause before she went out the door as if she wanted to say something. Perhaps she already knew Ginny was seeing someone?

  Ginny sighed as she turned to help one of her students tuck in his shirt. Patting him on the top of his head, she scooted him into the room so she could begin the day. Yes, it was probably time to tell her mom about Fred. It probably wouldn't go well, but she was tired of being a nobody and not standing up for herself. Fred was the first step to independence. It was time to live her life.

  It hadn't taken long for Fred to see precisely how to gain Ginny's trust. His make-believe daughter was the key, along with quietly listening and making Ginny feel heard and cared for. Adjusting his more abrasive, although quiet personality, to what would make Ginny feel safe was easy for him. He had always either blended in or completely disappeared within groups, just as he intended.

  The problem was, he was making up more and more of a story as Ginny continued to ask about his daughter. He had to invent loving parents along with a beautiful daughter. He finally wrote out an entire story about his make-believe life for himself to make sure he didn't deviate from it when he talked to Ginny.

  He had to admit to himself that Ginny was a nice girl. It was her downfall, and it suited his purposes. He wanted to stay close to her, and he would not ruin it by turning it into a romantic relationship that could so quickly go wrong. His mission was all that counted—get rid of Dradon and take over his business. Although he didn't understand why he knew somehow Ginny was the key.

  Dradon wanted Fred to watch her, but he was going to do more than that. He would find out what was behind Dradon's power and use that against him. Sticking close to Ginny would reveal that secret to him. It didn't hurt that he enjoyed being with her, and he ignored the part of himself that reminded him she might not survive his plan.

  TWENTY EIGHT

  To Johnny’s deep disappointment, Evie decided not to return to Doveland for Mother’s Day. Instead, her grandfather and James were coming to spend the weekend with her and Owen.

  He understood. Evie had a new life to make for herself, and although both of them believed they would eventually make a life together, she wasn’t ready. At first, Johnny said he would come to Evie, but when he felt her silence over the phone, he knew that was the wrong thing for both of them.

  She wanted alone time with her newly found family, and he had to return to Doveland. It was not only to be with his mother on Mother’s Day but also because whoever was coming their way was much closer. Despite having not remote-viewed anyone, he was positive that something was happening. To make sure he would be in Doveland when it did, he arranged with his professors to do the rest of his classes online. There were only a few weeks left in the semester anyway.