Timepiece
Lily sighed and opened the door wider to let me in. “Almost since we came to America. I was eight.”
I followed her into the living space. “How did you end up here?”
“We were with family in Miami for a little while, but my grandmother wanted to come north.” She took my jacket and hung it neatly on a peg by the door. “Ivy Springs was small and still run-down back then. Thomas was just starting his renovations, and a realtor introduced my grandmother to him. The guy who owned the building wanted out, so Abi got it for a steal. It was still a stretch, financially, but we made it work.”
“What’s it like, living above the shop?” Some walls were exposed brick, others a soft white. She sat down on a couch with bright blue cushions and lime green throw pillows. Everything was tidy, and the room smelled like vanilla and citrus. Like Lily.
“Hard to get away from business. Abi can be a slave driver.”
I sat down beside her. “I’d like to meet your grandmother.”
“I don’t know. If you think I’m tough? She’s been known to make grown men piss their pants with one look.” She put a pillow behind her back and adjusted her position, flipping her legs over my lap. She rested her head against the padded arm of the couch. “Do you mind? My back is killing me.”
“I don’t mind.” It felt intimate. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I left them sort of hanging midair. “Do you get to talk to your parents very often?”
“Not really.” I felt a flash of the pain I’d seen on her face when she told me she and her grandmother had escaped. “Communication there isn’t like it is here. Everything is monitored. Mail, phone calls. Cuban citizens don’t have any access to Internet, so even e-mail is out.”
“I had no idea it was that bad. I feel really stupid. And Americanized.”
“Sometime I’ll help you understand. If you want.”
“I want.”
She noticed my arms were still up in the air and pushed them down on her legs. I went in the shin direction. As opposed to the thigh direction.
“Okay, Kaleb. Spill it. Because I know you didn’t come here to talk to me about Cuba, or my grandmother. What’s going on?”
“You always say what you think. Your emotions match your words. It’s amazing how infrequently that happens.”
“Why?” She laughed. “Is everyone else acting?”
“Maybe. I might know what emotions people are feeling, but I rarely know why.” I made a show of knocking on my forehead. “It’s crowded in here. The filter gets full. After Mom and Dad … everything hurt, all around me. Everyone was grieving. That’s when the tattoo and piercing thing started.” I pointed to my bicep and the end of the dragon tail peeking out from under the cuff of my sleeve. “Pain, meet source. It could be identified.”
“That’s understandable.”
“Dad wants Mom back. So do I. I just don’t know how to do it.” I stopped short. “I sound like I’m five.”
“No. You sound like you love her,” she said softly.
“That’s only one of the reasons we have to find Jack before he finds the Infinityglass.” I gave her a quick rundown of everything Dad had told me. “Dad thinks Jack will lead us straight to it. It’s like the Holy Grail of time or something. It could restore everything. Or destroy it.”
“Magic,” Lily said, sitting up.
“Magic. People have been searching for it for years, possibly centuries. Longer. Teague and Chronos don’t want Jack because they want him. They just want the Infinityglass, and they think Jack knows where it is.”
“Have faith. While Dune works on the Skroll, and Emerson and Michael help your dad with the exotic matter formula, we can work on my abilities. Maybe I was doing something wrong when Jack fell off the map. Maybe I just need to keep trying.” She scooted to the end of the couch, preparing to stand. “I’m going to get a map. I’ll look at maps of the whole damn world if I have to, until I find the pocket watch. We can get to Jack before it’s too late.”
“Lily. Wait.” I sounded defeated, even to my own ears.
“What is it?”
“This.”
I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out the pocket watch.
“When?” she asked, barely keeping the disappointment out of her voice.
“In Memphis, at the police station. Not when everyone was there, later. He left this behind.”
“He knew. He knew he was being tracked. How?”
“I don’t know. But Jack knows how to manipulate a lot of things.” I gauged her expression carefully. “I believe you have a theory that would confirm this.”
“Ivy Springs as Freak Magnet. Abi and I really did end up here on purpose.” Lily made all the connections, and a line formed between her eyebrows. “If he … what if he messed with our time lines the way he messed with Em’s? How would I know?”
I stared at the ground. “I don’t think you would.”
She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. Her lashes were free of tears, but from the way she was spinning around inside, I didn’t think that would last very long. I instinctively reached out to comfort her, but instead, I froze.
Somewhere in the middle of hell and high water, Lily had started to matter.
I stared at the face, the curves, trying to will her back to being an object I needed to use, rather than a living, breathing girl who was beautiful inside and out.
It did not work.
She blew out a deep breath, and I jumped about three feet in the air. “This is a game changer.”
“What is?” I asked, a little too loudly.
“I don’t have a choice now. I have to ask Abi if I can look for him. The pocket watch isn’t an option anymore, and Jack has to be found.”
“What are the chances she’ll agree?”
“Low.” She stood up.
“You’re going to do it now?” The thought made me a little frantic.
“Why would I wait? The deadline isn’t getting further away, and who knows where we’ll have to go to get to Jack. Not to mention that I don’t know how to actually find a person, because I’ve never been allowed to do it.”
“Wait, Lily, you need to think about what you’re going to say,” I protested. “You’re about to drop time travel and screwed-up time lines and crazy rips and … possible death on an old lady.”
She snorted. “Don’t ever let Abi catch you calling her an old lady. You could seriously end up losing boy parts.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Abi can handle it, but I’m not sure I can. Not alone. Will you stay?”
As long as you’ll let me.
I swallowed, hard. “I’ll stay.”
Chapter 34
A tall woman with spiky silver hair and brown eyes walked into the apartment, and then paused. I stood. The way she was looking at me, I was shocked I hadn’t yet burst into flames.
“Who are you?”
Lily had warned me that her grandmother could make grown men piss their pants with one look.
Pretty much.
Lily spoke up. “This is Kaleb Ballard.”
“Kaleb is a friend?” Abi’s emotions were a mixed bag. Distrust and anxiety. At least she wasn’t angry. Yet.