Eden's Playground: Graystone Academy Book One, BE Kelly [good short books .TXT] 📗

it all to be over and before she opened her eyes again, she could feel Duff’s big hand stroke down her cheek.

“Open your eyes, Baby,” he ordered. She did as he asked and found that they were standing in her dorm room in Graystone Hall. This time, her stuff was laying on the old dresser and she quickly looked around to make sure that everything else was in place.

“Are we back?” she asked.

“Looks like it,” Anson said.

“Duff, your leg,” she breathed, reaching for him.

“It’s healing,” Duff said. “Shifters heal faster than other supernaturals. I’ll be fine, thank you, Honey.”

“I was so worried,” she whispered. “About both of you.”

“Well, we really didn’t do anything,” Anson said. “Our kick-ass girlfriend saved us.”

“And Glory,” Eden said. “Don’t forget she was there too. We should make sure that she’s all right. What if things didn’t go as planned with the authorities in the past?” Eden asked.

“Give me a few more minutes to finish healing and then we can drive back to the house to check on Glory,” Duff said. Eden was anxious to check on her, but Duff was right. They could all use a few minutes to catch their breath. Then, they’d venture out to see what traveling to the past had cost them. Hopefully, not everything in their future was changed.

The trip across town felt as if it took forever. Eden kept looking out the window for things that had changed but found nothing to speak of. She worried that their time in the past would have screwed up their futures, but so far, she couldn’t see any physical changes.

“Glory is standing on the front porch,” Eden said, pointing to where she stood watching them. “She looks—um, the same.”

“What did you expect?” Anson asked. “A three-headed monster in her place?” he teased.

“No,” Eden said. “I’m just excited to see her, that’s all,” she lied. She was surprised that more of their time hadn’t changed. But seeing Glory only drove home the fact that they had done what they needed to do and made it to the other side. They were all safe and that was all that mattered.

Glory waved to them and met them in the driveway. “It’s good to see the three of you. I’m glad that I was glad to send you home safely.”

“Do you remember what happened?” Anson asked.

“Of course I do. I also remember how things were before you showed up in the past—let’s call the time before you three left for the past the ‘real one’,” she said. “And this new future that we’ve created can be ‘reality two’.”

“Wait, we’ve created another reality?” Eden breathed. She knew things seemed too good to be true—too quiet almost.

“We did,” Glory said.

“But how do you know that it’s different? If things changed, wouldn’t you be out of the loop like everyone else?” Duff asked.

“If I hadn’t put a spell around myself when I sent you back here, I’d have no idea about the changes. You see, I might not have returned to the future with you, but I was part of the spell. Think of it as a bubble—everyone inside of that bubble would remember how things were before you went to the past and how things have changed since. You three were in that bubble and I just tweaked it a little to include myself. I made myself part of that bubble,” Glory said.

“I’m glad you did,” Anson said. “Now, you can fill us in on what’s changed.”

“Come on in,” Glory offered. “You’ll want to get comfortable for this. I’ve got a lot to catch you three up on.” They followed her into the kitchen and sat around the big table, just as they had the day before. It felt like a lifetime ago that the four of them sat there, hatching a plan on how to time travel.

“Not a lot has changed to the naked eye,” Glory began. “But you’ll all see subtle changes.”

“For example?” Duff asked.

“Well, your father was never accused by Theo, or anyone else, for Bianca’s murder. The authorities showed up just after you disappeared from the past and I told them the story about how Professor Simmons attacked Bianca and killed her. I told him that I caught him in the act of covering her body, and he attacked me, and I had no choice but to defend myself with a spell. They confirmed that my spell killed him and ruled it an accident.”

“That’s great,” Anson said. “Did they exhume the other witches and faes from the forest?”

“They did, but there’s more,” Glory warned. “The murders didn’t stop. I’m sorry to say that your friend, Geneve was still killed in the woods and you still found her, Anson.”

“Shit,” he breathed. “Simmons warned that killing him wouldn’t stop the witches and fae from dying. He must have been part of something bigger. Does anyone have any clue as to who killed Gen?” he asked.

“No,” Glory said. “Her murder has gone cold, according to the authorities. All I can tell you is that someone is still killing witches and the only clue they have to go on is that the person is probably a shifter.”

“That’s not much more information than we had before we left for the past,” Eden said.

“It’s not. I’m sorry—I wish I had better news on that front. I too was hoping that killing Simmons would solve the problem in the future, but it didn’t,” Glory said.

“What else has changed?” Duff asked.

“Um, well, your father’s changed,” Glory said. “Both of your fathers have, actually.”

“Both of them?” Anson asked. Eden wasn’t sure how her father might have changed. His sister still died, but he never accused an innocent man of murder.

“Yes—they’re friends. Remember when I told you that your fathers were once friends, back in their academy days?” The guys nodded and Eden barked out her laugh.

“You mean to tell me that our fathers—two men who hated each other so passionately just a day ago, are now friends?” Eden asked.

“Yes, but they