Time Crossed: A Time Thief Novella (A Penguin Special from Signet) by MacAlister Katie

eternity.
    “That was an unusually detailed description, Gwen,” Mom Two said thoughtfully. “What is this golden man’s name?”
    I turned onto the road leading to the park drop-off zone. “Gregory Faa. Don’t call him Greg.”
    “Why not?”
    “He doesn’t like it. I’m almost there. Stay safe.”
    The three of them were waiting for me when I pulled up a minute later. I was nervous as hell as the moms assisted Mrs. Vanilla into the back of the car, scanning the people around the entrance until everyone was strapped in.
    “Right,” I said, jerking the wheel and slamming my foot on the accelerator. “Now we take you to Summerland.”
    “What?” My mother shrieked a little at the way I took the corner, clutching madly at the back of the driver’s seat. “Dear, you almost knocked Mrs. Vanilla to the floor, and she’s already been down there when your other mother was driving.”
    “Told you to strap her in,” Mom Two, who was riding shotgun, said complacently. “Not my fault if you didn’t do that.”
    “I did strap her in, but she must have unhooked it. No, dear, leave it on.” Mom was addressing Mrs. Vanilla, gently patting her hands. “Gwenny is a very . . . intrepid . . . driver, and you’ll need to be wearing that for safety’s sake. Gwenny, we cannot go to Summerland.”
    “You don’t have a choice now,” I said through my teeth, swearing under my breath at the red light. Every inch of my being urged me to flee the area, to take my mothers and hide them somewhere safe, out of the reach of the handsome Gregory and the organization he worked for. “The Watch is here. They’re still looking for you. And that damned man is too smart for my comfort. Why can’t you go to Summerland?”
    “The man you fancy?” Mom asked.
    I shot her a startled look in the rearview mirror. “Huh?”
    “Alice said you fancy him. I’m pleased for you, naturally, because you’ve been alone for a hundred and forty years, and you’re not getting any younger.”
    “I am only a hundred and twenty-four, thank you,” I said somewhat acidly. “And I’ve had boyfriends. Now, about Summerland—”
    “Pah,”
Mom Two said, gesturing them away. “Emphasis on the boy. Your mother has always said that what you need is a real man, not one of those manosexual flibbertigibbets who walk around with their messenger bags and manicured hands, and such. I believe you can’t go wrong with a woman, but that doesn’t seem to be something you wish to pursue.”
    Manosexual? It took me a few seconds to work that one out. “There’s nothing wrong with metrosexual men, Mom Two. They tend to like arty movies and visits to Starbucks. And no, I’m sorry, by now you know I prefer men for romantic relationships.”
    “Pah,”
she said again, then returned to the previous subject. “We can’t go to Summerland, and that’s that.”
    “You have to go!” I said, pounding the steering wheel when another light turned red. “Dammit, I don’t want either or both of you sent to the Akasha! You have to go somewhere to lie low until the Watch gives up trying to find you out. I’ll take Mrs. Vanilla back right now, and then we’re getting you two to safety. They won’t keep after you long once she’s back. You’ll only have to stay there for a few months. Six at the most.”
    “No,” my mother said, and I could see in the mirror that she was shaking her head. Worse, she had that stubborn look on her normally placid face that I knew boded ill for me.
    “Then where do you want to go? It has to be somewhere beyond the reach of the Watch.”
    She gave a little half shrug. “I suppose we could visit Anwyn, as you suggested.”
    I wanted to bang my head on the steering wheel, but knew that would do no good. Besides, the light just turned green. “I’d take you there in a heartbeat, but we don’t know how to get in.”
    “Mrs. Vanilla does,” Mom Two said.
    I shot her a startled look. “She does?”
    “Yes. That’s what