A tower of flames consumed the building across the street. Smoke billowed through the air around me like dark clouds descending through the darkness.

I clutched the large emerald stone in my hand and stared at the chaos, my heart racing. Breaking.

This couldn’t really be happening.

I’d managed to wake myself up from a nightmare only to find myself in a brand new one, even more hopeless than the last.

I didn’t want to believe it could be true. I wanted to close my eyes and wake up at Jackson’s side, his hand on mine, reassuring me that it was all just one long, terrible dream.

But I knew this was no dream.

It wasn’t enough that the emerald priestess had taken me from my friends and repeatedly tried to wipe my memories. It wasn’t enough that she’d spent months trying to brainwash me and turn me to her side.

No, she’d also dragged me into the past, the one place no one would ever think to look for me.

The one place where I would be trapped with no hope of escape.

Priestess Evers was the one person with the power to take me home to my family, and I had killed her with my own bare hands.

My heart broke all over again, realizing just how far away I was from the people I loved most.

I stood and took a deep breath, pushing my fear and heartache deep down into my stomach.

I had to figure out how to fix this mess, and I wasn’t going to do it by standing on some old lady’s front porch with my mouth hanging open.

The first of the firetrucks had already arrived, but the fire still blazed out of control. More sirens wailed in the distance, drawing closer with every passing moment.

The front lawn of the Evers Institute for Troubled Girls was covered in young patients, their white nightgowns billowing around them like ghosts.

These girls were my responsibility now. Just like me, they were all witches who had been stolen from their lives and brought here to the past where they could be held prisoner until the priestess and her daughter, Dr. Evers, were able to turn them into allies or zombies.

As soon as the chaos of the moment died down, the police would start asking questions. Questions I’d better have answers to.

I had to think.

I shook my head, as if shaking off the realization of truth that still held me in its grasp. From the look of the cars, the old television inside the couple’s home, and the fact that lobotomies were being performed here without question, I could only guess that we were trapped somewhere in the forties or early fifties.

I had no idea what policies existed back then for girls like us who’d been committed to private institutions, but I couldn’t just sit back and let the police handle this. What would they do with all of us once they realized we had no family or home to go back to? No real identity here in this place?

I had to think of something fast.

There was no way to save those who had already been lobotomized or killed, but right now, there was still hope for the eighty or so girls who stood on that lawn. Most of them had no memory of who they truly were, but I was living proof that those memories were not lost forever. They were simply hidden deep inside them.

I took a deep breath, forcing my mind to focus. I had to come up with a plan. I was running out of time, and if I made any mistakes, I could put everyone here in danger of being locked away forever.

Whatever records Dr. Evers had on all of us girls, they were currently turning to ash inside that building. There wouldn’t be computers or digital records of any kind this far in the past, so unless she’d had backup files stored somewhere in the priestess’s home, there would be no way for me to know who all these girls were or where they truly belonged.

I needed to buy us all some time.

As the first police car rounded the corner, I did the only thing I could think of that might help. I ran down the steps of the couple’s home and ducked into the shadows between their house and the one Priestess Evers had called home.

I closed my eyes and pictured the face of the doctor who had told me so many lies and tried to convince me that I’d lost my mind and murdered my own family in a fire just like this one. I took a deep breath and planted my feet firmly on the ground, pushing aside the panic and fatigue that threatened to destroy my focus.

I tapped into the well of power deep inside my core and pulled energy from the earth around me.

My body changed as the power flowed through me. My dress transformed from a loose white nightgown into a pencil skirt and white blouse, Dr. Evers’s typical daily uniform. My hair arranged itself into a perfect bun pulled tightly against my head. Even the glasses were perfect, though a glamour this complex would be tough to maintain.

I straightened my shoulders and opened my eyes, nervous as hell, but determined to find a way to make this work.

I quickly hid the emerald stone under the shrubbery beside the priestess’s house, whispering a quick shielding spell so that no one would be able to feel its power or see the stone without knowing where to look. Then, I made my way across the street to the cluster of patients and nurses who had survived the fire.

They were all being arranged into straight lines at the edge of the property, out of the way of the fireman who rushed to save what was left of the institute.

Two more police cars arrived on the scene, sirens blaring as all the nearby residents opened their doors and poured into the street to see what was going on.

My heels clicked against the pavement as I started toward the patients who stood just outside the gate of the Evers Institute.

Before I got five steps away, though, a hand clasped my wrist and spun me around.

A cop who appeared to be in his mid-forties met my eyes and yanked me closer. He wore a wrinkled brown suit instead of a police uniform, and judging by the way he gripped my arm, he obviously knew who I was.

Or at least the woman I pretended to be.

I jerked my wrist away and lifted my chin.

“Excuse me, Detective, I need to check on my patients.”

“Monica,” he said, moving to block me with his bulky frame. “What the hell is going on here?”

I blinked, not understanding the question. He could obviously see the building was on fire. What exactly was he confused about? And just how well did he know Monica Evers?

She hadn’t seemed like the type of woman who was on a first-name basis with very many people.

When I didn’t answer, he took my wrist again and pulled me further from the group of officers who had gathered there in the street.

“What happened?” he asked in a tense whisper. “Why is this happening now?”

I shook my head, trying all at once to figure out just how much this man knew about the Evers family and what I should say in response.

“Is this really the right time to be talking to me about this?” I asked, mimicking the harsh tone Dr. Evers often got when I wasn’t cooperating with her. “We can talk after we’ve figured out what’s happening to the girls and if they’re safe.”

His eyebrows scrunched together, and he shook his head. “That’s exactly why we need to talk about this now,” he said. “Since when have you cared about their safety? And why are they even still alive? Why did you change the plan?”

“The plan?” I asked.

His questions chilled me to the core. What kind of plan did this cop have with Dr. Evers and her mother? Had they planned to kill us all?

“It’s too early,” he said, running a hand through his dark blond hair. “You’re three months early, and the girls have never survived. What the hell am I supposed to do with them all? Where’s your mother? We need to figure this out or there are going to be questions.”

Three months early? I shook my head. What the hell was he talking about?

I was obviously several steps behind him, but asking questions would only prove I wasn’t really Monica Evers. Instead, I decided to take charge, really dedicating myself to this role I had stepped into.

“How dare you question me,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “Don’t ever pull me aside and question my decisions again. I’ll let you in on my plan if and when I feel it’s appropriate. If you’ll excuse me, I have to see to my patients and clean up this mess.”

“Monica,” he said, stepping in front of me again before I could walk away. “I’m sorry to question you, but I need to know what’s going on. How many times have we done this together? Five times? Six? Not once have the two of you made a move like this and not told me about it. Does this mean I can finally go home?”

Six times?

My mouth went so dry, I couldn’t force myself to swallow. I turned to stare at the burning building, chills running along my arms despite the heat coming off the flames.

You’re three months early, and the girls have never survived.

His words echoed in my head.

I wanted to sit down.

I kind of wanted to throw up.

There was this ringing in my ears, and my vision blurred. I stumbled backward, but the cop quickly put his arm around my shoulders to steady me.

“I’m fine,” I said, pulling away. I didn’t want him touching me.

I stepped back to take it all in, catching my first glimpse of a horrifying cycle that must have replayed itself over and over. The girls dressed all in white. The flames rising into the night sky. The detective. A priestess who had the power to manipulate time.

I brought a trembling hand to my lips.

They’ve done this before.