"So how are we going to get the Ellimist to help us out?" Marco asked me, strolling with his hands in his pockets, crunching the dew-heavy leaves on the moist forest floor with his shoes. (How should I know?) I snapped at him, plummeting up and down in the air just to blow off steam. Truth is, I had thought of this about midnight last night and couldn't come up with a suitable solution. So I was sleep deprived and grumpy, and to make matters worse, Rachel hadn't shown up yet. Needless to say, I was majorly ticked.

Marco looked up at me with that innocent expression on his face, which did nothing to help my mood. "Ellimist?" he called into the air. "Ellimist? Come forth!"

I glared down at him—well, not like I ever didn't glare at anybody—but I glared down at him. He gave a little pout and I sighed loudly in his head.

(Just come on.)

"Where are we going?"

(How should I know?)

"You know, this mission was really well planned," Marco grumbled under his breath. If I had been human, I would have rolled my eyes. I guess you could consider Marco one of my best friends—I mean, he had saved my life a dozen times over—but he still got irritating when nobody had a plan and he had partied too late the night before.

A laugh pierced the air. (You boys sound like you're biting each other's heads off,) Rachel commented, twirling into sight, her huge bald eagle doing gymnastics gracelessly in the sky.

(Thank God!) Marco laughed, taking the words right out of my mouth—er, beak…head? Anyway…

(Hey Ellimist?) Rachel called out. (Ellimist? We need you! We're actually beseeching you!)

Another laugh filled my conciousness.

BESEECHING ME, THEN?

(Um, yeah,) Rachel said, but even she couldn't pretend that the booming voice didn't intimidate her.

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU REQUIRE?

(Marco?)

I watched as Marco fidgeted a little before saying. "Um yeah. We wanted you to create us a fake crisis."

PARDON?

"A fake crisis," Marco repeated. "So that we can go on a mission and get Cassie and Jake together."

YOU ARE ASKING ME TO CREATE AN EMERGENCY SO THAT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS WILL HAVE TO SOLVE IT?

"Yeah." SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE YOUR FRIENDS—WHAT IS THE PHRASE—

(Pretty much,) I said casually, cutting him off. We all got the basic idea. VERY WELL THEN. I WILL. THIS SEEMS AS THOUGH IT SHOULD BE VERY ENTERTAINING. BUT REMEMBER THAT, BY THE RULES OF THE GAME, THERE ARE SOME CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH I CANNOT INTERPHERE.

"Got it." Marco was grinning widely; his plan was working, so far. There was a loud ringing sound and we knew that the Ellimist had gone, and Marco's grin got even bigger. "Oh yeah!"

We were in the barn again. I was perched in the rafters, and Rachel and Marco sat on the hay-strewn floor. "So what's the mission?"

I dropped it on the floor of the barn, and watched as it landed between the two of them. It was a faded old envelope, and the paper fell out of it as it floated downward. With my hawk's eyes, I could see every detail of the yellowing paper: the creases, the corner that had been torn, the coffee stain.

"What is it?" Marco demanded. The handwriting on the page was slanted, loopy and hard to read, and he stared at it in obvious frustration.

"It's a letter." Rachel was looking at it, transfixed, as if she knew that it would lead her down a very dark path. She gazed blankly at the handwriting that had been smeared by water at the two words that stood out clearly, as if they were leaping off the paper and into your ear: time matrix.