Shift

EIGHT.2

Kayden knew she was lucky that she had her phone with her. She often left it in miscellaneous locations around the house, and she mentally thanked her past self for storing it in her pajama pocket that morning. Despite the inter-dimensional travel, it looked no different than it had back in her room just an hour or so earlier. She could make out a dim reflection of herself in the black screen: a pale, nervous girl, slightly fuzzy from the smear of fingerprints, with a shock of green eyes. It was as if her reflection was trapped inside the phone, a piece of her that had somehow stumbled into a new realm and couldn't break free.

That's not too far from the truth, she thought dryly.

Helio was down the hall unpacking his things in one of the many spare bedrooms. She was thankful he was gone; he was almost unbearably attractive, but his personality was simply unbearable.

Blaze had locked the door to his room and told his father that he was checking up on his illusions to see if they had been affected at all by the warp; that way Mr. Merg wouldn't be suspicious if he heard the sound of Kayden's voice coming from the room. Normally she would have felt uncomfortable being locked in a room with a guy she hardly knew, let alone a wizard, but all she felt right now was an underlying sense of dread. Blaze and Helio had both said it: There was no way things were going to change overnight. She needed to call her mother and come up with some sort of excuse.

"Are you all right?"

Kayden flinched at the sound of Blaze's voice. She turned towards him; he was staring at her curiously. "What?" she asked, realizing that she hadn't heard his question.

"You look out of it."

The way he said it—so blandly—made her want to roll her eyes. "You must be some sort of genius," she said. She could hear the sarcasm in her voice, but she didn't bother to restrain it. "Of course I'm out of it. How would you feel if you were magically transported to a stranger's house and told that you couldn't leave?"

"I get it. I'm sorry." He stood up and began pacing the room, marching through piles of dirty clothes. "You have to understand that this week hasn't been the best for me either. First I blew up that building, which was not only all over the news, but ruined any chance I had of getting a job with the Congregation. Then I got you stuck in this mess which breaks God knows how many laws about non-er-potestas interactions. And then today at Sir Mallard's, I was serving out my punishment when Carlos—" He abruptly broke off. His mouth remained open for a moment before he shut it tight.

"Carlos?" Kayden repeated, but Blaze just shook his head mutely. Kayden frowned. Touchy subject, I guess.

"Let's just get this over with," she said finally, dialing her house number before she could stop herself. As the rings vibrated against her eardrum, she could also feel her pulse pressing against the side of the phone. Ba-dup. Ba-dup. Ba-dup. Almost immediately, someone answered.

"Hello?"

Kayden froze for a second. It was a female voice, but it sounded nothing like her mom. It was too chipper, too high-pitched. "Lexi? Is that you?"

"Kayden? Oh Kayden, thank God you called!" Lexi's voice sounded inordinately relieved on the other end of the line. "We were worried sick about you! Where are you? I stopped by your room to see if you had changed your mind about going shopping with me, but you weren't there. Your mom has been calling all over to see if anyone knew where you are!"

Kayden's stomach lurched. "I'm sorry, Lexi. I just had a bit of a... meltdown," she lied. "I just need some time to myself."

"Is it my fault?" Lexi's voice was a whimper.