Timepiece

“He didn’t.” Did Dr. Turner have a special ability, too?

Teague conceded with a slight nod of her head. “Did he know about me? What about Chronos? … Gerald?”

“He didn’t … there wasn’t …” The way he fumbled around for an answer suggested Dr. Turner hadn’t anticipated that line of questioning, or prepared an adequate story. And that he was afraid of Teague. “They didn’t know much.”

“They?”

“There was a girl with him. Emerson.”

“What did you tell them?” Teague’s voice had gone deadly cool. She knew who Emerson was.

“Very little,” he said, pulling at his bow tie, loosening it. “Gave them some generalities about Chronos so they’d go away satisfied.”

“What about Jack? Did they ask about him?” Dr. Turner didn’t respond. “They did.”

“Just if I’d heard of him, or if I knew where he was.”

“They’re looking.” Teague smiled. “Good.”

“What are you after?” The fear was in his voice now.

“Finding the Infinityglass has always been the ultimate goal of Chronos, our main purpose for years. We’re closer now than we’ve ever been.” Teague had an unnatural light in her eyes as she looked at the Skroll. “Jack Landers picked up the search where Liam left off.”

“You think that all you have to do is find Jack, and he’ll be able to open the Skroll up and answer all your questions?” Dr. Turner asked.

“If we can’t find the answers on our own, I believe he can be persuaded. Especially once he discovers the Skroll is in our possession.”

“What about the Hourglass?” Dr. Turner asked.

“If they find Jack for us, they’ll be fine.” She shrugged. “This isn’t a game. Sometimes myth translates into reality.”

“What if you find the Infinityglass and it doesn’t do everything you hope it will?”

“It will.” Teague held out her hand. Dr. Turner gave her the Skroll. She placed it in the top drawer of her desk and then locked it with a small silver key. “That and so much more.”

Poe and Dr. Turner exchanged a look.

“Shall Poe and I see you safely out of the building?” Teague asked Dr. Turner.

“You have that little trust in me?” Instead of sounding offended, he seemed relieved.

“I don’t trust anyone. That’s why I’m still here.” She opened the door, and she and Poe followed Dr. Turner out.

We were perfectly still for thirty seconds after they left.

“They’re gone,” Lily said. “Far enough for us to get out safely.”

We stepped out of the closet, and the hourglass made of bones started whispering to me again. I turned away. “We need to get out of here before they come back.”

“I’m not leaving empty-handed.” She was staring at the desk drawer that held the Skroll.

“How do you plan on making that happen?”

Without another word, she dug around on top of the desk until she found a paper clip. Shoving it in the lock, she wiggled it, opened the drawer, picked up the silver case, and slid it into the waistband of her pants. She took off my flannel shirt and tied the arms around her waist.

Then she looked at me, smiled, and took off toward the hall at a full run.

Chapter 24

“Forget being quiet,” Lily huffed over her shoulder, as we flew down the hall and out the front entrance of the Pyramid and into the crowd.

I spotted what looked like a tour group close to the food stands. All wearing the same shirts, broken English touched by a French accent, and a woman holding a tiny red flag above her head.

“Slow down.” I took Lily’s elbow and pulled her to my side. I’d noticed she got a lot of stares from both men and women in general, but with the appealing addition of flushed cheeks and accentuated curves, it was attention we didn’t need. “Try to blend. We’re too conspicuous if we run.”

“Let’s get good and mixed in with this crowd first.” She pulled the sleeves tight around her waist again and tied them in two knots this time. “Do you see anyone?”

I scanned the crowd. “No sign.”

“I can’t sense them.” Lily exhaled, but her body didn’t relax. Tension pulled her shoulders together, and I reached for the base of her neck to help ease it. I stopped before I touched her and shoved my hand into my pocket.

I was losing my mind.

“I won’t feel safe until we get back to the hotel.” Her hands went to the small of her back, and then she moved them to her waist, stretching and twisting from side to side.

“You okay?” I asked, mesmerized by the movements.

“Yes. I wanted to make sure everything was secure.”

Everything looked secure to me.

“I want to be able to run again if we have to. I’m so scared I’m going to drop this thing.”

I shrugged. “Maybe if you do, it’ll pop open.”

“Not the time for sarcasm.”

We stepped back into the flow of the crowd like migratory birds, wayward ducks falling into alignment.

The bird fetish was rubbing off on me.

“Kaleb.” Lily’s eyes were wide. “Look.”

I took a step back, trying to figure out what was off. The crowd was twice as big as it had been two seconds ago.

There were rips.

Everywhere.

“None of the scenery has changed,” Lily said in a shaky voice. “It’s just extra people. There were fifty people setting up, I blinked, and then there were a hundred.”

“The French tourists are here.” They were chattering away, checking out the Memphis skyline and the reflective surface of the Pyramid. “And they don’t seem to see the rips.”

The bodies occupying the crowded space were sharing features, like multi-limbed demigods. They were in the same air space, possibly even in the same cell space.

“So instead of a whole scene, we have a whole crowd. That’s freaky,” I said under my breath. Facial features blurred like out-of-focus photographs as the living blended with the dead. “That’s way too freaky.”

Lily’s hand tightened on my arm. I didn’t know what it would feel like for a rip to walk through me, and I sure as hell didn’t want to find out.

A mother, father, and two young boys stopped beside us, posing for a family photo. An elderly woman held up a camera and counted to three. It was all very vacationlike and innocent, unless you saw the man standing with them.

Although the more accurate term was in them. One leg rested solidly in the dad, the other, in the mom. His hand was visible on one side of the youngest boy’s neck, his elbow on the other side.

“That’s too much. I’m going to be sick.” Lily closed her eyes and turned toward the breeze blowing off the river, inhaling deeply.

“Stay there and keep your eyes closed. I’ll take care of this.” When the family finished posing, they turned and headed toward the parking area. I rushed to tap the man on the shoulder, expecting him to disappear.

He jumped, startled. “Can I help you?”

The family had been part of the rip instead of the man. Their Memphis Grizzlies jerseys should have clued me in. “I’m so sorry, sir. No.”