Hana Kim

Halfway up the slope, Wren heard the queen's riders crashing through the brush behind him. He ducked into a crack in the rocks and held the egg still …

The egg hatched in his hands as he reached the boulder. A small dragon wriggled free and gripped his thumb tight. Wren smiled, ashamed he had ever tho…

Wren decided the dragon needed a real home, not a runaway boy. He carried it to a far village known for taking in strays and lost things. The villager…

Wren stuffed the egg under his coat and pretended to be a lost traveler. The riders patted him down but felt only a lump they took for bread. They rod…

Wren knew he couldn't save it alone. He remembered an old healer who lived in a hut at the foot of the mountain. He bundled the dragon close and hurri…

The dragon healed completely. It grew strong and bright, and the wing that had been hurt now beat as hard as the other. Wren and his dragon climbed to…

The queen heard Wren out, then smiled coldly and reached for the dragon. But the little dragon snapped at her hand and shrieked. In the chaos, Wren sc…

Wren chose to hide instead of run. He led Ash into a deep cave and rolled a stone across the mouth. They waited in the dark while the hunters' torches…

Vesna handed the money back. "I don't carry blind cargo. Not anymore." Doru's friendly smile dropped. Two men stepped out of the dark behind the sled,…

Inside the crate, packed in sawdust, lay stacks of forged passports and bundles of foreign cash. People-smuggling papers. Vesna swore under her breath…

The wind picked up and the snow started falling sideways. Vesna knew the signs at once: the same heavy, brittle snowpack that had buried her clients. …

Vesna doused her lantern and pushed the sled off the trail behind a boulder. The followers passed close, four of them, whispering Doru's name and a pr…

Dana handed the case to a colleague named Marcus, who had no history with it. Marcus found Eli within the week, and what he learned surprised everyone…

Dana brought that exact line to Eli herself. He read it twice. "He's right that he was my dad," Eli said quietly. "That's the part I could never figur…

"You're right," Dana said. "I'll go." She turned to leave. Then Eli's voice came from inside the house. "Wait," he called. He'd heard everything throu…

Eli and Priya came together. She held his hand the whole time. Frank looked at the two of them and finally understood that his son had built a whole l…

Eli's tone changed. "Did he send money? Did he put me in the will to clear his conscience?" Dana said no, it was only a visit. Eli's jaw tightened. "T…

Eli came, but he didn't sit. Frank reached for his hand. Eli let him hold it for exactly five seconds, then pulled away. "That's all I have," Eli said…

I surfaced early to tell our boss, Dunmore, about the table. He stood on the cracked lakebed staring at the water, not at me. "The Hesper records list…

At the top of the stairs I found four bedroom doors, all shut. Three had handprints pressed on them from the inside, small and large. The fourth door …

Reyes tapped my shoulder and pointed. Through the kitchen doorway, deeper in the house, a light was moving. Not lamp-light, softer and yellow, like a …

I bolted for the door. Behind me I heard chairs scraping, four of them dragging across the floor, following. I made it to open water and kicked hard f…

Eli doesn't believe a word of it. He laughs and reaches for the glowing threads to prove they're fake. 'Don't touch that!' Mara yells, but it's too la…

Mara breaks the drawer open. Inside is a single photo of a girl she's never seen, and a note in Dad's writing: 'I cut her out to save Eli. Don't make …

Instead of cutting, Mara tries something new. She pinches the red strand and gently pulls it sideways, away from the river. The screen shows Saturday …

Mara can't reach the past, but she can warn the present. She charges upstairs and blocks Eli's phone before it buzzes. When 3:14 comes and no text arr…

Eli shoves past her, annoyed, and gets in the car anyway. Mara jumps into the passenger seat at the last second. On the highway, near the river bend, …

Vesna does nothing at all. She just watches the clock and waits for 2:15, the moment they always die. This time she wants to see what actually happens…

Both devices fire at the very same instant. The two timelines slam together and cancel out. For one heartbeat there is no future at all, just a white,…

Calder's hand whips up with a device of his own. Vesna grabs his wrist across the table. The two machines press together and start to whine, both tryi…