Without a cell phone or GPS, I had no idea where I really was or where I needed to go from here. Brooke and I quickly searched the house for an old-school map, but we couldn’t find one.

“Where exactly are you going?” Brooke asked.

“Downtown Chicago,” I said. “I have no idea when this club was first started, but I’m praying he’s there. Rend is my best shot at getting a message to Jackson without messing up the timeline. Also, I’m hoping he might be able to help us with the girls and their memories. He’s the most talented alchemist in the world. If anyone can help us, it’s Rend.”

“Are you sure you can trust him?” Brooke said.

“I would trust him with my life,” I said.

At least I would trust the Rend I knew with my life. The Rend of 1951? That was a wildcard for me. I knew he had come by his reputation as a terrifying vampire honestly. I knew that there was a time in the past when any witch who got near him was bound to get her throat ripped out and her blood drained from her body.

I just had to hope that 1950’s Rend was the more controlled, non-blood-drinking Rend that I knew and loved from the future.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous about seeking him out. I had no idea what year he started Venom and what year he’d given up witch’s blood as his main source of sustenance.

There was no one else, though.

Most of the people I knew and trusted from my life weren’t even born yet, and everyone else would risk altering the future in ways I couldn’t begin to predict.

Jackson hadn’t come through from the Shadow World yet, so trying to give him the warning myself was not an option. Seeing him now and trying to warn him in person would be too dangerous, anyway.

Lea, Mordecai, and the others definitely weren’t in the human world yet, and going to the Shadow World would be way too difficult and dangerous. Without my father’s portal through the roses, I wouldn’t have a clue how to get there and back safely.

My father.

I stopped cold at the thought of him. It hadn’t sunk in until that very moment that he was still alive right now. He was in the Shadow World, but he was alive and strong.

If I could get to him, I could warn him about the battle against the sapphire priestess.

I could save his life.

My heart ached at the thought of all the things I could change. All the deaths I could prevent if I just had the chance. Was there any version of a future where I could have both my mother and father in my life?

I shook my head. It was impossible to know what messing with the past would do, and as much as it broke my heart that they were both gone, I had to stay focused on saving those who were still alive now.

Rend was my only hope.

“What should I do here in the meantime? Or do you want me to come with you?” Brooke asked. “What if the ruby priestess comes back?”

“I don’t want you to come with me. I can’t be sure Rend is done with witch’s blood at this point in his life, and it’s just too dangerous,” I said. “But while I’m gone, you could search for the portal home. I can’t imagine it’s too far from here if the priestess was travelling back and forth all the time.”

Brooke nodded. “I hope you’re right. If we can just find it before it closes, we’ll be saved,” she said. “Do you think I should keep up with Melody’s appearance?”

“Only when someone from the hospital or the police department comes by,” I said. “Otherwise, I think it’s probably better to just try to blend in and not bring too much attention to yourself. They know a girl named Brooke apparently died in the fire, but the cops have no idea what you look like.”

“Got it,” Brooke said. “When do you think you’ll be back?”

“I have no idea,” I said, sliding into a wool coat I found in the closet. “Only that I’ll be back as soon as I possibly can.”

“Oh, here. I found this and thought you might need it.” She handed me a stack of bills. The cash, mostly five and ten-dollar-bills, looked so different from the money I was used to, but as long as it spent the same way, I was happy to have it. At least ten dollars would go a lot further now than it did in the twenty-first century.

She also reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys with an emerald scarab beetle charm dangling from it.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“There’s a Cadillac parked behind the house. The keys were inside,” she said with a laugh. “I guess no one around here is worried about theft these days.”

“It’s a different world for sure,” I said with a nervous laugh.

I was so used to modern conveniences that I had no idea what to expect once I stepped outside the house.

Just before I left, Brooke handed me a small piece of paper with a set of numbers scribbled on it.

“This is the phone number for this house,” she said. “Call and give me an update if you can, okay?”

“I’ll try,” I said.

“Harper, please be careful,” she said, taking my hand.

“I will,” I said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She nodded and held the back door open for me as I stepped out into the cool, April air with a small overnight bag packed with essentials and a change of clothes. The only other thing I brought with me was the emerald master stone, strapped against my thigh, just in case.

I had considered shifting into my demon form to fly to Chicago. It would certainly be much faster, but it would also take a toll on my power. Plus, I didn’t need to leave a clear, traceable trail of where I was going.

And magic always left a trail.

So, it was a road-trip for me. With no cell phone or power steering.

Luckily, the Cadillac did have an automatic transmission. I’d never learned to drive a stick shift, and I really didn’t want to start learning now.

I left the house and drove around until I caught sight of a five-and-dime on the corner. I parked on the street and ran inside.

“Do you have a roadmap of the United States?” I asked.

He studied me for a moment. “I have a travelog,” he said, pulling a thick booklet from behind the counter. He was an older man with a receding hairline and thick, black glasses. “Where are you headed?”

“Chicago.” I placed a five-dollar-bill on the counter.

“Vacation?” he asked, taking his time with the change.

“Something like that,” I said with a smile.

He leaned across the counter. “Not all alone, I hope,” he said. “A nice young woman shouldn’t be on the road by herself.”

I stared at him for a moment until I remembered where I was.

“Oh, of course not,” I said. “My father asked me to pick up the map before we left.”

He smiled at that, obviously relieved that a young woman wasn’t heading out onto the dangerous streets all by herself.

I barely turned around before I rolled my eyes. I definitely couldn't get stuck here in this time and place.

I would never survive it.