Time & Truth (Tethered by Temptation #3)

Chapter 1

Quinn

The bright lights buzzed under the soft sound of “Let it Go” from Disney’s Frozen, playing on a small TV in the corner of my hospital room. My heart rate monitor steadily beeped while distant voices from the hall added yet another layer of noise; so much noise, so familiar yet horribly not.

I don’t know how long I sat with one hand on the thick dressing covering my head. It could have been seconds, hours, or days.

Doctor Oz had saved my life and freed me of my delusions, but instead of feeling better, my heart broke.

My hair. Oh, fuck me. I’d loved my sparkling locks. I’d loved a lot more than that… I closed my eyes. Tears streamed out of the sides once more. It hadn’t been real. None of it. Not Cayden and his calming touch, not Rowan’s protective arms, not even the drama with XanRa.

I had magic… except I didn’t.

‘Breathe,’ Ezra’s voice said in my head. ‘Stay with me.’

I forced my hand away from my head and scrubbed my eyes, willing the tears to stop. I wasn’t sick anymore. Doctor Oz cut Miss Q out, and I could live a normal life doing everything I had always wanted. This was good.

A hole opened in my chest, and what little energy I had drained out of me. It didn’t feel good. My old life had been so empty.

For months, I’d lived in a world of magic.

I had friends who loved me for who I was, and who needed me as much as I needed them.

I hadn’t existed to stay out of people's way, desperately trying to get better. I’d done what made me happy.

And despite everything, all the drama, all my failings, I’d loved it.

My memories contained frustration and doubt, but not a single one bordered on the despair engulfing me right now.

“Ahem,” a man cleared his voice.

I lifted my hands from my eyes and looked up to find Xan looking down at me.

No, not Xan. This man had a similar build and blue eyes, but his were darker.

The inky blue seemed so pure, it reminded me of bad contacts.

The color pulled at my memory, but I couldn’t place it.

Pitch-black hair curled at the top of his head and didn’t match his sharp, clean-shaven jaw.

A white doctor's coat covered slacks and a light blue button-down. He held a paper chart in his hands.

“Quinn. I’m here to give you a psych evaluation,” the man said. “Do you mind if I sit?”

I shook my head.

He vanished behind a curtain, only to return with a rolling chair in tow.

“My name is Alex,” he said. “How are you doing?”

I blinked at him. His name. He looked so much like Xan, short for Alexander—the Architect.

The genius I’d dreamed up, villainized, then befriended, before finding out he and his lover liked me as more than friends.

Instead of jumping into my fantasy sex dream, I pulled back.

Because I didn’t trust anything, I didn’t want to be a problem, and because when things were too good to be true, someone was selling something.

A tear dripped down my cheek. All that fucking drama, and they weren’t even real. A crazy laugh tried to bubble out of my chest, but I squashed it down.

Alex cleared his throat again.

I rubbed the tear off my cheek and controlled myself. “I’m sorry. What did you ask?”

“I asked how you’re doing.” He opened a notebook and clicked the end of a pen.

“Where’s my therapist?” I asked. “You’re not, Rachel.”

“Rachel’s a private practitioner,” Alex explained. “I work for the hospital.”

I took a deep breath. “Why hasn’t my dad come to see me?”

“We need to make sure you’re emotionally stable enough for visitors.” Alex pursed his lips, his gaze boring into me. “So, how are you doing, Quinn?”

The beeping of my heart rate monitor increased, and I clasped my hands together.

He wasn’t here to see if I was better. He was here to see if Doctor Oz had been successful, assess the results, and report any liability to my insurance.

This wasn’t my first lap around the pool.

If I didn’t say the right things, they could lock me away.

I physically sank into the bed as my emotions became too heavy to hold.

‘Breathe, I’m here. Just stay strong.’ Ezra’s voice sounded in my head again.

A tear prickled my cheek. Ezra wasn’t real. None of them were.

I sat up straighter. “Really, I’m fine.”

“’Fine’ has many definitions.” Alex tapped his notes. “How about we start from the beginning? You, unfortunately, passed out and had to be woken up to complete the surgery. Your nurse said you babbled about Edinburgh. Why is that, Quinn?”

I swallowed. Should I lie or tell the truth?

“I had a dream,” I finally settled on. “About living in the future…”

The bright lights buzzed under the soft sound of “Let it Go” from Disney’s Frozen, playing on a small TV in the corner of my hospital room. My heart rate monitor steadily beeped as distant voices from the hall added yet another layer of noise.

So much noise, so familiar yet horribly…

I froze; the gauze wrapping my head was soft under my fingers. The beige walls seemed to pulse and shrink around me. I’d done this already.

The door opened, and a man, so similar to Xan, shuffled in. The walls returned to their original size, and I yanked my hand away from my head.

My heart rate spiked, making the beeping increase with it.

‘Breathe, stay calm. We’re trying.’ Ezra said in my mind.

I shoved my palms over my ears. Ezra was gone. He’d never really been. I’d woken up from a dream and lost everything I never had.

“Quinn, are you hurt?” Alex asked, coming to my side. “Do I need to call a nurse?”

I rocked. The pain of my loss hit me in waves.

I didn’t remember the rest of my surgery.

I didn’t remember much at all. My friends, my magic, everything I’d come to love and accept, good or bad, was gone that fast. I hadn’t been useless or a drain on everyone around me.

I might still have been crazy, but people loved me for it.

Cayden and Ezra had come to save me, and I’d helped them.

Except… none of that really happened because they never existed.

‘Quinn, our girl, our light; breathe.’ Ezra’s voice mixed with my sorrow. Memories of him, of Xan, of all of them rushed in, and I clutched my heart.

The room faded to nothing. Alex, still trying to get my attention, vanished as heavy loss obliterated the present. Tears streamed down my face. I cried until there was no water left in me.

I didn’t hear Alex leave, but as awareness of my surroundings came back to me, I found myself alone.

Where was my dad? He should be here. We’d been attached at the hip, and he’d been watching my surgery.

I scrubbed my eyes and searched for him, or if not him, his coat or any sign he waited by my bed, because where else would he be?

We were each other's world. Nothing met my gaze: blank walls, a curtain, and a battered armchair under a window. That was it.

Alex cleared his throat from the doorway. I screamed in surprise. Suddenly, I was back in a room with Cayden’s grandfather. An image of him superimposed itself on Alex. The voices filled my head. I launched myself backward and off the bed. Before I could hit the ground, the world went dark.