Page 3 of The Ember and the Emerald

We made it another half hour without incident.

Jasher groaned and slowed. “Something’s wrong. My joints are stiffening.”

I looked his way—and froze. “You’re glowing.” Stars shimmered across his skin, silver blazing against bronze. Beautiful. Wrong.

Brows knitted, he studied his arms in the light. “This has never happened before.”

I swallowed hard. “Let’s hustle.”

We started forward at a faster clip.

“Just stay calm,” I added. This world couldn’t handle one of his rages.

He was a monstra, able to shift into a ferocious beast. Half dragon, half hellspawn. When the transformation occurred, villages burned.

“I won’t shift.” Determination hardened his tone. “You have my word.”

“That’s great, wonderful, but you’re still glowing like a night light.”

“And we’ll figure out why.”

We picked up the pace again. For three miles, I debated possibilities. When we reached a small stretch with a video store, two drive-thrus and a car dealership—all ghosts of the future—I was no closer to an answer.

The glow hadn’t faded, but it hadn’t brightened, either.

After passing the cluster of businesses, we came to an open road. Nothing to conceal us.

“Tell me what you know of time travel,” he said, perhaps to distract us both.

I exhaled. “Stories warn against meeting other versions of yourself.”

“But you did meet yourself, in a way. Nothing bad happened.”

“True.” Not that I knew of, anyway.

“Perhaps you’re meant to change the future.”

There were things I’d longed to do for years.

Stop Dad’s smoking, preventing his cancer diagnosis.

Save Mom from whatever happened to her.

Keep the farm productive.

First, I’d have to convince my parents I was their daughter not yet born.

An old beater truck rumbled by. I stiffened. Then I recognized the vehicle. Then the driver. Then her. Mom perched beside Dad. She turned, looking at me rather than the otherworldly Jasher, as if trying to solve a puzzle.

Did some part of her recognize me?

“That’s them,” I whispered. They didn’t stop, and I was glad for it. Not ready. “That’s my parents.”

Jasher squeezed my hand.

Thunder cracked. Lightning forked the sky, and my breath hitched.

In Hakeldama, the monstra came with the storms.