Thinking about home, she looked at her watch and remembered that Wednesdays were when Todd had his mid-morning free period. She had completely forgotten about that and, excited to hear his voice, she swiped her tablet and called him. He answered on the second ring and appeared in front of himself in hologram form to salute her.

  Stephanie laughed and saluted him awkwardly in response. “I didn’t join the Federation. Why would you salute me?”

  Todd rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face. “Because it’s not all about you, butthead.”

  She looked at him, suddenly serious. “Did you? Already? You’re not even out of school yet.”

  He shook his head. “No, but I have found myself a certified navy recruiter. I barely even spoke to anyone before and she kind of found me. I guess through the Federation testing results or something. Anyway…” Todd wiggled his eyebrows. “She’s a female, cause I. Am. Hot.”

  Stephanie raised an eyebrow. “I’m not busting your model bubble or anything but remember the recruiters for the class before us. They basically sent either the doppelganger of the person they tried to recruit or the hot girl or guy for those less…intellectual.”

  “Are you calling me a dud?” He narrowed his eyes.

  Stephanie giggled and snorted. “No. But that’s great, dude. If that is what you want, not what the pretty girl is telling you to do. Signing up for the Federation is way longer term than going on some weird kale and celery diet for a few weeks.”

  Todd scoffed and gestured dismissively. “I got this. I’ve always known I would go in but I’m waiting to see where they put me. Hopefully, something cool and not merely a long drive out into the darkness to meet my maker. Oh, and there was a guy looking for you, but I told him you were gone, and that I had interest. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, I was looked up by a Petty Officer First Class ‘Wowzah’ Santino. She called these digits only one week later. Tanned skin, curvy, uniform fits just right. Red lipstick, smells like flowers, laughs at my jokes, and basically can’t live without me at this point.”

  She shook her head. “The Toddster has fallen in love.”

  In response, he rolled his eyes and pulled on the neckline of his T-shirt. “The ladies have fallen in love with the Toddster. It was bound to happen. They saw you disappear out of the picture and figured they could slide right in and not have to worry about you setting them on magical fire.”

  Stephanie pursed her lips. “Nope, they still need to worry about that one. So, when will you start everything?”

  Todd shrugged and sighed. “I’ll have my first tests done this weekend. I really hope I do well on them.”

  She gave him a reassuring look as if she were touching his shoulder through the video. “Dude, I know you will. I’m really happy for you. I know this is actually what you wanted.”

  He continued to talk and Stephanie’s thoughts drifted off for a moment. Would it be naïve to think that they might have done all of that for her?

  Stephanie shook her head and pulled her attention back to Todd. Or, Stephanie Morgana, am I now starting to believe everything is about me?

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  When Stephanie finally got off the phone with Todd, she felt better about being in her new position and her new life. She had a shit ton of questions that needed to be answered, but there was no elucidation that could be given to her at that time. The facts eluded her at every turn, but what did she really expect? She was a descendant or manifestation of what could potentially be a magical human from centuries before. Fair enough, she hadn’t actually found anything that would confirm the magical part of the equation, but given her experience, it seemed very likely. The only ancestor whom she could find any real information on was basically a war hero who had helped the Allies win the war. After that, she disappeared.

  Disappearing didn’t seem all that crazy, though, especially when people close to the government and people in her social circle knew about her abilities. From the little time Stephanie had spent in the spotlight, she could feel that pressure mounting. And from the way that Elizabeth, Burt, and the others attempted to protect her, she knew that harder times most likely lay ahead. Still, she would persist because the information she discovered had the ability to change everything. There was no doubt that for anyone below the middle-class line, and many above it, change was in the wind.

  Stephanie put her tablet on the dresser and pulled the drawers out to skim through her clothes. She grabbed a pair of ripped jeans, an old vintage Chicago Cubs T-shirt Todd had given her one year for her birthday, and a baseball cap. She needed to get out of there, to clear her mind and do something that didn’t involve magic, or research, or questioning every damn thing in her life. She simply wanted to be a normal old human for a while.

  Knowing how crazy they were about keeping her safe, though, Stephanie headed to the kitchen in the hope that Ms. E was still there. As she turned the corner, Elizabeth glanced up, her outfit beyond incongruous. She wore a chef’s apron with her business attire and six-inch heels. It didn’t really fit, but she seemed to be in a good mood, nonetheless.

  She glanced at the girl’s outfit and looked at the cutting board as she chopped celery. “Are you thinking of going out?”

  Stephanie leaned against the doorway and shoved her hands in her pockets. “Yeah. I really wanted some me time, I guess, but I thought I should check with you.”

  A smile pulled at the woman’s lips. “Remember, I am your boss on the clock, not your mom. But, now that you mention it, yes. I don’t mind you going out as long as you take a couple of the guys with you.”

  She nodded. “K. I’ll swing in and see who has the aches and who is reasonably functional. I’m sure you’ll know when I’m back.”

  Elizabeth chuckled. “I know most things, and if I miss something, the system will have logged it anyway.”

  Stephanie smirked as she headed off to the guard’s living quarters. She poked her head into the common area where Lars sat at the table and Frog sprawled on the couch. “Where is everyone?’

  Lars glanced up and smiled. “On duty. It’s me and Frog’s time off. Two of the subs took care of our shifts.”

  She pursed her lips and rocked back and forth on her feet. “Okay. Well, maybe you can point me in the right direction, then. I want to go into town and spend some ‘me’ time out there. Elizabeth wants me to take two guys with me. Who should I ask?”

  Frog glanced at the other man and shrugged. Lars looked at the notes he was taking and shut the book. “Give us ten and we’ll head out with you.”

  Stephanie grinned. “Thanks. I’ll go get a car to pull around.”

  The guys changed and traveled with Stephanie as she clung to the “oh shit” handle in the flying car. It docked three stories up and let them out into a docking terminal that led down into the city. It was the old Dupont Circle where statues that had been erected a short time before the 2094 riots for social justice and equality now crumbled in the center. That was one of the main events in their history that were studied because, like so many other social justice causes, nothing really ever changed. Maybe the wording of a law or two, but nothing significant.

  The streets were busy with tourists and business persons on their late lunches or errands. Although you could tell there had been historical periods of unrest in the area, the commemorated ideals of keeping the place as accurate as possible to the original architecture seemed to be upheld. It was pleasant, like walking through an old town filled with commerce and political accents.

  Stephanie wandered somewhat aimlessly, stopped for a pretzel, and window shopped most of the time. Lars and Frog followed without complaint. They gave her enough space to feel alone but still kept a watchful eye out. Stephanie meandered down the streets and gazed at the buildings and the flying cars zooming overhead.

  “Uh, Steph,” Lars said a short while later and jogged up beside her.

  She shook the daze from her head. “Yeah?”

  His gaze traced up the street. “Maybe we should head back toward the circle. We’ve wandered too far and there are a lot of places around here that can be dangerous and secluded.”

  Stephanie focused on her surroundings and realized that he was right. She had wandered off the beaten path to an area of town that mostly consisted of crumbling buildings, graffiti, and random places where scantily clad women stood on porches. The duo exchanged a nod and turned quickly but stopped in their tracks. Frog froze, put a hand around to his back, and gripped the laser pistol shoved into the back of his pants.

  Up ahead, four men with orange bandanas tied around their arms and sparkling gold teeth strolled toward them. The one in the front sucked on his front tooth with his tongue and an eerie smirk pulled at his lips. “Well lookie here, guys. If it isn’t our lucky day. We have the Earth Witch right in front of us.”

  One of the men behind him smiled, a twinkle in his eye. He flipped his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other and a hand slid into his jacket. “I heard there’s a nice reward for bringing her in. A lot of high profiles are looking to dig into that pretty little head of hers.”

  Frog moved his gun around slowly and backed up beside Stephanie and Lars. “I would suggest you guys keep moving. The only place she is going is back home.”

  The mustached man laughed and whistled. Lars, Stephanie, and Frog moved closer together as six more thugs appeared from the dark recesses of the alleys. The leader twisted his lips from a smile to a snarl. “It looks like you’ll have to make us.”

  The guy to the side of the gang leader drew faster than Frog could. A hail of bullets struck the guard and catapulted him back. Immediately, Lars grabbed Stephanie and shoved her in one direction as he dove in the other and blasted his weapon at the group. A barrage erupted as guns fired in all directions. Stephanie pressed her back against the wall, breathing heavily, and stared at Frog. He was still alive but hurt and seemed unable to stand. Rage began to rise within her and she slid her hand into her pocket and closed her fingers around her recharged battery.

  As soon as the magic built in her veins, she whirled out from behind the wall and released blasts of purple magic from her fingertips as if they were guns. The energy swirled to form a hailstorm of magical bullets that struck three of the men behind the leader to drop them almost instantaneously. She rolled across the hard ground and ignored Lars’s calls to her to get down.

  One of the gang members raced toward her from the side, ready to grab her. She flipped her hand in the air and narrowed her glowing eyes. A pipe launched from one of the reconstruction sites nearby into her hand. She pitched her arm and caught the man in the side of the head.

  Another immediately took his place. Her purple eyes shifted angrily to him and her top lip trembled like an angry dog showing its teeth. She bent slightly, vaulted upward, and spun her leg to kick him in the throat. He stumbled and grabbed at his neck as she landed. Stephanie stared at him for a moment and her eyes flickered to black. Her thoughts zeroed in on the man as rage and protectiveness lashed through her.

  Slowly, she walked toward him, her gaze fixed and hard. His eyes widened when he saw the black orbs where her eyes should have been. She snatched him by the hair and dragged his head back before she whaled the pipe into his ribs over and over. The man coughed and spattered her face with blood. She growled angrily and flung him violently into the side of a half-fallen brick wall.

  Lars continued the fight and fired relentlessly at any targets he could eliminate. All Stephanie could think about was revenge, her past, and her ancestor’s past that connected with her in the present, just like it had been when Earth had once understood magic.

  One thug remained. He stood in the street and tried desperately to replace the magazine in his gun. Stephanie threw the pipe down as she walked toward him and pushed up her sleeves. She pulled her palms together in front of her chest and turned them in a circular motion to form a ball of magic in her hands.

  She looked slowly at him, growled, and launched the energy ball into him like a basketball pass. It erupted in his chest, lifted him from the ground, and spun him horizontally until the crumbled old brownstone across the street stopped him. The sound of cops arriving shook her from her connection. Her eyes faded from black to normal and she took a deep breath and pushed the magic in her into the ground.

  “Stephanie,” Lars yelled.

  She turned and raced toward Frog, who lay motionless. Two of the gang members managed to make it to their feet. Stephanie knelt beside Frog and raised her hand up to stop their assailants. Lars grabbed her wrist and shook his head. “That’s enough. The cops will need to take it from here. It’s best you don’t use magic.”

  Stephanie swallowed and nodded in understanding. Her head swam slightly as she looked at Frog and placed her hand over a wound on his shoulder. Blood spewed down his chest and he groaned and writhed in pain. A cop ran up and looked at the downed gang members and then at Stephanie, whom he obviously recognized.

  He holstered his gun and knelt to feel Frog’s pulse. “I have an ambulance en route.”

  All she could do was hope that they could help her bodyguard before it was too late.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  The blue padded chair in the corner of Frog’s hospital room was horrendously uncomfortable. Stephanie sat with her feet pulled up and her knees to her chest. Her eyes remained fixed on the man in the bed while she waited and watched for him to become conscious again. The ambulance had been quick to get there, but he’d passed out on the way to the hospital. It was the downtown DC hospital but run by the Federation. Healthcare, at that point—unless you could afford a private doctor—was identical to that which the military received. Very surgical, emotionless, and understaffed.

  She couldn’t believe that something like that had happened. All she had wanted was a little time to be normal, but normal didn’t seem to be an option for her anymore. Not to mention the kind of blank rage she had somehow disappeared into while the battle raged. She was fairly sure one of those who received a wrench to the face was in a room across the hall, guarded by Federation cops.

  It was crazy. She’d known Frog for all of two days but had managed to bust his balls and get him shot. Apparently, being friends with her wasn’t all that it was made out to be. Unless you liked living in a constant state of worry, wonder, and not knowing if you would survive to the next day.

  Elizabeth walked through the door and paused to study Stephanie, who didn’t even look at her. She gritted her teeth and released a long, deep breath before she walked up and handed her a hot cup of coffee. “It’s not Brazilian roast but it will pass for coffee at this point.”

  Stephanie’s gaze drifted from Frog’s monitor to the coffee. Slowly, she took the cup and lowered her feet to the floor. “Thanks.”

  The older woman bit the inside of her cheek and sat down beside her. She had never been very good at helping those who needed comfort, but she knew it was part of her job. “What happened out there?”

  She didn’t answer at first but finally, she sniffled and shrugged. “We walked along a street, away from the circle. I didn’t pay much attention to where we were, and we ended up face to face with them. They recognized me immediately—something I was shocked by, to be honest. They said there was a price to bring me in alive. That they would have a good payday.”

  Elizabeth sipped her coffee and grimaced slightly. “From the stories we were told, you acted like a warrior out there. There was even something about you cracking one of them in the head with a pipe.”

  Stephanie didn’t laugh with her companion’s chuckle. “I simply wanted revenge. I put my hand up and it came to me.”

  The other woman raised an eyebrow. “Like what? Like Thor’s hammer?”

  She shook her head, her gaze fixed on nothing in particular. “Mjolnir was forged from the heat of a dying star. This was some metal pipe from one of the construction sites. I don’t know…it was the first thing I thought of when the guys tried to drag me away. I fought and it was like I zoned in like never before. Anyway, it’s not like it did a lot of good. Frog took a shot before we could even react.”

  Elizabeth looked at the man and studied the heartbeat monitor, which jigged and jagged at a regular pace. “It’s a hazard, but Frog knew that. He did his duty, and you should be proud of him for that.”

  Stephanie blinked for the first time since before the woman had walked in. “I am proud of him and thankful. But that doesn’t take away the fact that he was hurt protecting me. It isn’t right. Is Lars okay?”

  Her companion gave her a comforting look and pushed a piece of hair fallen from her ponytail over her shoulder. “He’s fine. A little bruised but that’s all. He’ll join us shortly. I made him get a brain scan to make sure everything was good. It probably came up empty.”

  Stephanie pressed her lips together but finally, she grunted and gave up the attempt. She giggled at the joke, then tilted her head back and rubbed her face. “God, this sucks. I know I asked for this, I know I did, but I’m starting to think I don’t want to be special anymore.”

  Elizabeth laughed, leaned back, and crossed her legs. She cradled her coffee and stared off into the corner of the room. “It’s funny how we all wished for something when life was simpler, and when we got it, everything became ten times more complicated. That’s when we hiccup, backtrack, and kick ourselves for thinking we wanted all these things.”

  “You are preaching to the choir here, girl.” Stephanie snorted as she sipped her coffee. “I should have wished for a spot at my parents’ company and a decent house in the subs. But then, if I got that, I wouldn’t have been satisfied.”

  The older woman nodded, slightly dazed. She blinked and drew in a deep breath to bring herself back to the present. “The thing is, though, no matter what you believe about the great beyond, fate, magic—any of it really—sometimes, what you want doesn’t matter. Sometimes, the things waiting in the wings for you will be bigger than you, bigger than all of us, and you have to take it with a sense of grace, compassion, and a stiff upper lip.”