Well, shit.

I can't say that Adam didn't warn me. In fact, all of his calculations were due to the madness oozing off of Rex. He went out of his way to prevent this, and I stupidly made it so.

I stared at Rex with a sour expression. Adam clearly downplayed his past self's madness. Even as he sat across from me, confirming my conjunctures, I waited for him to smile and say it was a joke.

But he was dead serious. And I was officially freaked out. I nervously wet my lip and tried to make my expression more caring and gentle. "I understand how you felt with the world shifting around the way it did," I said. I barely experienced the thing, and I started to unravel mentally as well. I can't imagine going through two different lifetimes of that kind of daily life. "But this isn't love. It's like Stockholm syndrome due to no one else going through that madness with you."

"Wendy, you seem preoccupied with the notion that my affections for you are shallow." He said as he donned a hurt expression.

Because they have to be. I can't think otherwise for a second. I can't go down that line of thinking. I opened my mouth and tried to smile, "You don't love me; how could you in such a short amount of time?"

"Love doesn't have to be defined by time and space, Wendy. I, of all people, understand that it can burn as hot and fast as a comet and strike at random. Your appearance in this world was that comet." Rex the mad said.

I scrambled off the bed and moved to put it between the two of us. Distance was my best friend at this moment. "Love can happen suddenly like that. However, your destined soulmate in this world isn't me." My heart contrarily reacted to that, but it was true, and I needed to set Rex on the right path. Rex and Mordecai were wrong. Adam and Rex are not the same person.

"I already know who my soulmate is," Rex said, moving closer to me. I scooted as far away from him as possible. As if he didn't notice my avoidance, he relaxed and continued, "I've overheard your lessons with Cole, and you're wrong about some of your points. Love is watchful, not trusting. We would have encountered numerous dangers if I didn't watch over you or the group."

"I don't need to be looked after by you," I said, defiant to the core.

"You haven't encountered any danger because I've been looking after you, Wendy," Rex said.

I grew still and concerned as his words shook me to my core. In the book, Evie is always in danger, and there are often perils that Rex's group has to overcome. The writer is to blame for the drama and making Rex always save everyone. This Rex, though, no longer had the constraints of the world controlling him. Is that why things were moving differently? I kept waiting with snacks to see the drama unfold, but the group was peaceful. There was no opposition or conflict against them, just progress.

What should I do? Rex's dark gaze showed nothing but determination. His words were batshit crazy, but his focus on me was laser-calm. There was no way I could outargue him because he was refusing to see my logic.

It was time to run if I couldn't talk my way out of trouble. I didn't need to live with the group. I could live on the world's edges and eat off the land until I could escape. I shut my eyes and tapped into the baby's abilities, but unexpectedly, I didn't go anywhere. I opened my eyes to see Rex holding a hand for the international stop gesture.

There was only one way to read what had just happened, and I could feel my heart pounding violently in my chest. Oh shit, he stopped me from getting away.

"Our child has the same powers as me. I can sense when it's about to be used, has been, or will be. I can move the two of you around as I see fit and stop you from going anywhere. I realized I needed to anchor you two under my control to stop more trips to your relatives."

I waited for the patented blackouts that conveniently took me away from moments like this, but nothing happened. How often have I been saved by someone or something interrupting the moment. Why was nothing ending this horror?

Just how powerful was Rex?

"My relatives aren't normal. You can't keep me from them." I said this with far more bravado than I felt.

Rex's upper lip curled into a smirk. "Wendy, we're going to be together as a family. There's no stopping this."

"You're not the father," I said this with as fierce a glare as I could. It was the last weapon in my arsenal against this madness. I had no hope of him believing it, giving everything else.

"I am." He said this confidently as he got up and strode over to me. My back was to the wall, and I couldn't teleport away, so I froze like the prey I was. His hand was overtly warm as he laid his palm on my stomach. "This is our child. I knew who the two of you were to me the day we met."

The day we met? I met his dark, liquid eyes and gulped at the emotion that lay naked in them. Rex cared way more for me than I thought. The sight of it shocked me to my core. I can't acknowledge it. To do so is to betray Adam. I met his gaze with firm resolve and said, "I love Adam."

"I am Adam, but unlike him, I won't fail in protecting you. You will create new memories with me in time." He said as he lifted his other hand to cup my quivering chin. "Wendy, if you need to make this transition easier, we can. I can be more like him for you. If my becoming your Adam stops you from loving him, I will."

"That would never work. I grew up with Adam, and those memories can't be replicated or replaced." I said as I continued to meet his eyes with all the courage I had left.

My words fell on deaf ears. I could see that Rex wouldn't listen and that I was good and trapped.

I didn't get the blackout or interruption that I wanted. I managed to slip past Rex like an eel and say I needed sleep. I burrowed under the covers like an earthworm and stayed that way until he left.

Luckily, as the big kahuna, he was required elsewhere before long and had to leave. As soon as he left the room, I flipped the covers off and breathed fresh air with a desperate gasp.

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"Mordecai!" I whispered into the room. "Mordecai, I need to get out of here. Please help me leave this world!"

A dizzy spore of fire popped into the room, but the blasted creature flew as if it were drunk. I lost my patience as it failed to make its way to me. I reached for it, and it exploded in my hands in a pathetic puff of thready smoke. I grabbed the note and found only one word scrawled on it.

"Can't." It stated simply.

I turned the note over, hoping for more, with widened eyes of disbelief. There was nothing else on it...

"Can't what? Can't help me? Can't tell me what to do? Can't what?" I shouted. I didn't receive a reply after that.

There was no way that Rex was more powerful than a Phoenix Goddess of Destiny. Or was he? Mordecai suspiciously jumped ship when I got the dragon scale and was going out of his way to avoid me after I got here. He even said so himself that he was actively staying away from me.

Why?

If this Rex is Adam's second timeline, wouldn't Mordecai have known what Adam was capable of? Yet he constantly teased Adam and popped in and out of that timeline without worry.

So why can't Mordecai do something now?

What if I wasn't in the second timeline but an entirely different one altogether? What if I never see Adam again?

I got the blackout I desired because my brain just cracked under the stress, and I nosedived back into the bed.

"I am officially out of options," I said barely above a hoarse whimper as I lay sprawled in the bed. Instead of any grand ideas, when I woke up, I realized that my dreams had been filled with horrible attempts to escape this over-encompassing future. Rex had already trapped me, my relatives were ignoring my cries, and I had no way of getting in touch with Adam.

I gazed out the window with forlorn longing and spotted some birds flying into trees and bushes. One of them stopped right outside my window, and a smile cracked my chapped lips. There were twigs in its beak, and it was with bittersweet joy that I watched it fly away.

How nice it would be to be a bird who can take off. That bird was flying off to build a nest for her young. I wish I could do that.

"Wait, I can do that." I sat up before the words were out of me. He bound me by the baby so that I couldn't use their powers to escape, but I could hoof it. I wasted no time and took off right then and there.

I ran into no one on my way out but lingered by every door and corner.

My heart was pounding ten minutes later with sweaty palms and a dry throat. I was finally outside and several feet from Sakura Haven.

Fresh air never felt so good. I was soaked in fear and worry, but I was free. There was no Rex in sight. No one, in fact, was around suspiciously enough.

I took off into the woods, uncaring if this was a gift horse or a Trojan one.

As long as I reach the woods, I can eat and thrive. I could grow whatever I needed. Right now, I couldn't risk using my baby's power or accessing anything through my spacial ring. Either or both would alert Rex to my location.

The trees tickled my skin in greeting, and I felt my heart soothe itself and turn into a calm state. Their leaves covered me, and I closed my eyes as I connected with them. They were curious, seeking, and happy to see me. The energy I gave them was the equivalent of the sun but a lot closer to reach in scope.

I spent time pouring my energy into the plants, and in turn, they shielded me and gave it back. Time ticked on, but my mind was unaware of its passing. How simple it was to just exist. I eat when I need to. Slept when my body required it and nurtured the plants around me. The complicated emotions Rex brought out in me were wiped clean away. My heavy feelings for Adam became nonexistent as I selfishly buried away my brain to just hide in the trees.

I hadn't set up a plant network because there was no need to. I became one with the plant life around me as I lay in the dirt. Every breath I took was collected from every living leave, root bush, and more.

It was strangely healing and soothing to listen to the plants. They didn't communicate like humans, but they had their own way of speaking, and I became one with their vibes. Anytime a squirrel ate a berry or a bear pooped, I was aware of it.

What goes up must inevitably come down, so my good mood and burying myself into a bubble popped violently with the appearance of humans. I was instantly aware of their presence.

It was Gavin and Lucia.

Well, I technically ran into Lucia before I saw Gavin. If I were to be even more technical, I heard Lucia before I saw her. It didn't take much to disturb the peace of the forest I had made.

I could see the sweat on her brow and the fear in her eyes. The other human in my forest was chasing after Lucia. Although this wasn't my Lucia, my affection for her couldn't be buried, and so I appeared before her.

She startled at the sight of me and pointed a finger at me in shock and fear. "You just appeared from that tree!" She shouted.

Did I? I blinked and looked back at the tree, whose warm bark looked inviting. It was as if she was telling me to come back. She was a lovely old tree, and I had to pull away and fight the temptation to disappear again.

"I didn't know I could do that," I said with a simple shrug. The calm, steady mind I had achieved was slowly being replaced by emotions; fear and pain were the most rampant ones. This reality crashed into my veins, and I rocked on my heels at the impact.

My human flesh felt heavy and slow as I could feel my mortal senses return to me. I had somehow entered the forest and lost part of my humanity in the process...how much time passed? I thought I was just lazing about, but clearly, I had done far more than that. I glanced at my belly and noted that it had grown only a bit so it wasn't that long. However, there were more pressing things right now, and I turned to Lucia. "Enough about that; what are you doing, Lucia?" I asked her.

"I'm running. A strange man came after me. He says I broke his world globe or something."

"Where's Wyatt?" I said, mentally, making a note to punish him for allowing Lucia to go through this alone.

"I don't know. He disappeared a week ago."

I scrunched my nose and hiccuped in surprise. I don't know how much time has passed since I saw Wyatt, but could that be similar to when Lucia last saw him?

"I'll help you," I said, reaching for Lucia's hand. I was startled when she dodged it.

"No offense, but you…you look like a…like you need to…" Lucia had difficulty forming the words, so I looked at my body.

Oh. Yeah, I was filthy. It was not dirty like I had just rolled in some dirt. I was filthy as if I had bathed in dirt for a month. Exactly how much time had passed while I was in this forest? There was no time to dwell because Gavin was loudly barging closer.

"Let's worry about that later." I snapped, grabbing her wrist, she was still protesting, and dragging us through the trees. They covered our backside and gave us enough distance to keep us from Gavin.

"Whatever you do, don't let him touch your head." I attempted to whisper to Lucia, hoping the trees would muffle my words. "He can erase memories with a touch."

Lucia gasped but said nothing as we reached a clearing. It wasn't a good clearing, surrounded by trees on all sides. It had a cliff that looked precarious. With Gavin at our heels, we need time. I knew he could erase memories, but what else can he do? This was a man who had found a way to appear across timelines. He seemed intent on finding me on my timeline. Why was he chasing after Lucia?

"Lucia, do you have a power?" I said, trying to look over the cliffside. This cliff gave us a clear view of Green's Mountain, and I made a face. We could float down to the bottom if we had flying power.

I watched as her caramel hand lit up with gold threads of light. "I can't do much." She said with sadness in her eyes. "I use the light to sew or stitch people's wounds."

Lucia was putting herself down, but she clearly had a fantastic power. And it matched her name to boot. "The power of light is amazing. When we get out of this, promise me you'll work on that."

She gave a jerky nod as I double-checked my options. If I teleported Lucia and myself away, Rex would know where I was instantly. Was it possible he already didn't know, though? If he could just watch me from another dimension, there was no telling if he was just watching me veg out the past, however long I did.

"You gave me quite the run." Gavin's voice reached us before we could see him. I attempted to use the plants to grab onto him and trap him, but they slid through him like air.

"You!" His hoarse voice boomed, making us jump. "You are the problem with my perfect world!" Only he wasn't pointing at Lucia; he was pointing at me.