"The course of true love never did run smooth." ~ William Shakespeare
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Kailani Hummel, an innocent small-town genderfluid teenager, gets sucked into a world that seems like only they can navigate in an attempt to save everyone they love. Will Qu...
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The headlights of a blue Mini Cooper blinked as a young woman pressed the button on her keys. Its horn echoed across the close-to-empty parking garage, sending a gentle vibration through the wind, mixing with Juniper Bristols' soft humming.
The music flowing through her headphones allowed enough absence for Juniper to miss the woman who walked through the walls of one of the parking garage pillars with the help of the wind. There was no reason for her to turn around to notice such an odd formation when she had the music in her ears as sensory bliss. The same music that would switch over to her little car's radio once she settled inside the vehicle.
Quinn had focused on her daughter. There was something about meeting a version of her lover that made her feel a new sense of determination.
She had to find Juniper. Focus on the child she neglected in her time of need. Her wheel-loving science nerd of a daughter that smiled at her with so much admiration that Quinn usually felt sick to her stomach.
And there she was.
"Juniper," Quinn called out, watching Juniper walk toward her car with a backpack on her back.
Movement caught Quinn's attention out of the corner of her eyes. She frowned deeply when a car raced around the corner as Juniper crossed the parking lanes, barreling toward the unsuspecting woman.
"Juniper!"
Quinn raced across the parking lot as the large SUV plowed toward them. No sign of breaking offered even after Quinn wrapped her arms around the woman's waist and yanked her inches from the large tires.
The two tumbled to the concrete. Headphones bounced off Juniper's head, and the sound of something smacking around inside her backpack added to the surprise yelp from her daughter. Quinn sighed in relief when Juniper seemed relatively okay. However, that relief didn't last when she felt the fading of the world around her quicker than before.
As Juniper looked up, Quinn's heart screamed in hopeful desperation when Juniper's eyes were hazel-green.
Sage.
"Mom?" Juniper's words were distant, eyes wide in horror. "Oh, my gosh. Momma!"
Juniper tried to grab Quinn before she disappeared. It was seconds before her attention was pulled away from the Brookie necklace around her neck and Elizabeth's butterfly clip in her hair. A second of seeing the engagement ring on her finger and the freckles sprinted across her beautiful face.
She looked so much like Kailani, but there were little changes Quinn could see in a mirror when she brushed her teeth in the mornings. That had been her daughter. She had saved her daughter as Kailani had wanted her to, so where was this younger Dawns girl who was supposed to know everything about their situation in a letter that must've taken up only half a page.
