A Witch in Time

in England, just outside of London—”
“That’s not so bad,” Elise interrupted.
“In 1820.”
“Where’s that exactly?” Julianna asked. “Is that a zip code?”
Elise’s head snapped toward Cross. “Excuse me?”
“We’re in England. In the year 1820.”
The silence between the three of them was deafening, and Elise thought she wasn’t understanding him correctly. “We’ve … we traveled through time?”
“That can’t be right!” Julianna said. “You can’t travel back in time.”
“I’m afraid we did.” Cross rubbed a hand down his face. “It took me a while to get back because I had to make sure. I traveled to London to this place I knew well and, uh, landed in the Thames.”
“The river?” Elise asked.
“Yes. Uncle Sebastian has an apartment there, he lets me and Dad use it when we need a safe place to transport to.” He shook his head in disbelief. “The building isn’t there and I dropped straight into the Thames. After I got out, I walked around. I was definitely in London, but …” He took something out of his pocket, unfolded it, and held it up. “See?”
It was the front page of a newspaper, and when Elise examined it closer, she let out a gasp. “Oh my God.” The date definitely said 1820.
“What the fuck?” Julianna snatched the paper from Cross’s hand. “What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!” Her mismatched eyes trained back on Cross. “Is this really happening?”
“It is.”
“Why? What did you do?” she railed. “Oh my God.”
“Julianna, calm down,” Elise said.
“Calm down! Calm down?” the younger woman exclaimed. “How can I be calm, Elise? We’re over two hundred years in the past!” She turned back to Cross. “There must be something we can do?”
“I have a few ideas.” Cross’s jaw hardened. “And I’ll tell you both everything. But first, we need to find some shelter. While I was going around London, I found an abandoned house at the edge of town. We could stay the night there.”
Elise looked at Julianna. “I don’t really think we have much of a choice.”
Julianna opened her mouth, but only a small squeak came out. She clamped her lips together then spoke. “Okay.”
Cross took their hands. “All right. Brace yourselves.”
Elise closed her eyes feeling the coldness grip her. It was similar to the way the mages had transported her, but not quite the same. Cross’s magic definitely felt more natural and familiar to her. When she opened her eyes, they were indoors in a dark room. The musty, damp smell reminded her of the attic in Gracie Manor, her parents’ home in San Francisco. She let out a shiver.
“Wait.” Cross waved his hand, and a fire began to blaze in the fireplace in the corner.
Julianna sucked in a breath. “I can’t believe this.” Surprisingly, her voice sounded much calmer. “We’re really here. This is happening.” Though she began to pace, she was no longer hysterical.
“I’m afraid so,” Cross said. “There’s no furniture around, but this place should be secure.” With another wave of his hand, three sleeping bags appeared on the floor around the fire. “It’s not much, but we can get some rest. I can make you guys some clothes, if you want.”
“Whoa.” Julianna froze. “What the—”
“Cross can change the form of matter,” Elise explained. “Transmogrification.” It was a powerful form of blessed magic, and as far as she knew, only Cross and Daric could perform it.
“Can you make anything?” Julianna asked.
“Not quite,” Cross said. “For me to change one thing to another, I need know how it works and what it’s composed of. For example, I had to study the composition of fire to create it”—he pointed to the fireplace—“and learn about fibers and sewing to make the sleeping bags. The more I make something, the easier it gets though.” He waved his hand, and in an instant, Elise’s black dress and Julianna’s pantsuit turned into pajamas.
“Wow!” Julianna ran her hands down her new outfit. “Lined with flannel too!”
“Thank you,” Elise nodded at Cross gratefully.
“Are you hungry?” With a wave of his hand, bread and cheese appeared on the floor as well as glasses with water. “It’s not much. Cooked food is really complicated to make, because aside from knowing the composition of ingredients, I would have to know the recipe. Meat is especially difficult.”
“I guess I won’t be able to order a cheeseburger then?” Julianna asked.
“Afraid not.”
“This is fine, Cross,” Elise said. “Though I’m not really very hungry.”
Julianna, on the other hand, was already stuffing half a loaf into her mouth. “Oh my God, I didn’t realize how starved I was,” she said through a mouthful of bread. She had already claimed one of the sleeping bags and was sitting cross-legged on top of it.
Elise, not knowing what to do, followed suit and sat on the sleeping bag on the farthest left. “Cross, why don’t you tell us what you know?”
Cross nodded, then took the last open sleeping bag, curling his gigantic body down. “I guess I should start from the beginning.” In the firelight, his ocean-colored eyes seemed to liquefy. “A year ago, my father felt a dark shimmer of power rising up. Then he began to have dreams of the future.”
Elise shivered, despite the warm fire. “I didn’t know he could do that.”
“Neither did he,” he said. “His premonitions only come when he touches someone. It’s usually my grandmother, Signe, who has active premonitions. And she was having the same ones.”
“What did they see?” Elise asked.
“That the mages would rise in power and finally defeat us.” Cross’s face turned grim. “So we went to the Alpha. Grant Anderson didn’t want to cause any panic, so he sent me on a mission to find out more.”
“The mages started attacking us a few weeks ago,” Julianna said. “First, at Blood Moon, then at the first ascension ceremony. They also tried to get other Lycans to turn against us.” She scratched her head. “Growing up, we didn’t really learn about mages, but since those attacks, I’ve been trying to learn more.”
“Mages are basically witches and warlocks who have gone