Timepiece: An Hourglass Novel (16 page)

Chapter 32

Q

uestions rode a merry-go-round in my mind. “All the time-related abilities, travel, speed … they exist because of a gene, one that’s backed up by research. The Infinityglass sounds like science fiction or fantasy.”

“But it’s backed up by research, too. I wouldn’t believe the Infinityglass was real, either, if I hadn’t seen evidence, years’ worth. If I hadn’t searched for the truth myself.” Dad faced me. “It’s real.”

“Real enough to kill for.”

“You’ve always thought we left Memphis so I could take the department head position at Cameron. But there were other reasons, too. I’d begun to question the motives of Chronos.” Dad was quiet for a moment, lingering in the shadows of a secret. “Even then, Teague was obsessed with the Infinityglass. She was so consumed by her need for power. She knew about the time gene, but she believed all my research was internal. She didn’t know I’d been gathering information on people who may or may not have the gene. I never told her about your mother’s ability, or yours. She definitely doesn’t know Cat and I were trying to develop a formula for exotic matter.”

“What would she do with the knowledge if she had it?” I asked.

“Use it. In the worst possible ways.”

“What about people with abilities? Everyone else at the Hourglass?” My chest grew tight with unease. “Does she know about them?”

“If she does, it will only give her a bigger incentive to find the Infinityglass.”

I stared at him for a long time, sorting through his emotions, putting pieces together. “What Teague and Chronos don’t know is what’s keeping you—all of us here—safe. If we find Jack and turn him in, Jack could use his knowledge of us, of the exotic matter formula, as a bargaining chip.”

“Didn’t take very long for you to put that together.” He grimaced and then reached up to stroke his beard. “Keep going.”

“But if we don’t find Jack and turn him in, time will be rewound, and you’ll most likely be dead.”

“The Infinityglass will only make it easier for Poe to follow through with his threat.” Dad focused on a spot just behind my head. “That’s why we absolutely must find Jack first, so we can let him lead us to the Infinityglass before Chronos or anyone else. Our lives depend on it.”

Chapter 33

I

went to Lily’s the next morning, after calling to check the location of her grandmother. We met outside the door to her apartment above Murphy’s Law.

“How long have you and Abi been in Ivy Springs?”

“Hello. I’m fine. Thanks for asking. And you?”

“Sorry.” I put on a cheesy smile. “Hi, how are you, I’m fine, too, and how long have you and your grandmother been in Ivy Springs?”

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.

Lily darted a glance at me. “Yes. A friend. Kaleb, this is my grandmother. Everyone calls her Abi.”

“I’m pleased to meet you.” I held out my hand.

She eyed my hand before she shook it, as if she were checking me for fleas. “I’ll put on some coffee. And then we’ll talk. Sit.”

I sat down at the kitchen table and waited.

An hour later, I didn’t know what they were saying, because they were doing it in Spanish, but their combined emotions rolling in my gut made me glad I hadn’t gotten around to lunch.

“
Es demasiado peligroso
.” Abi stood and slammed her hands down on the table. “
¡
Dije que no … y eso es final!”

“Obviously, it’s a no,” Lily said to me, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes.

“She’s scared,” I replied without thinking.

That earned a heated response in Spanish from Abi that I’m pretty sure disparaged my manhood and my intelligence.

I let Abi finish before I spoke directly to her. “What I mean is, if your fear is rooted as deeply as it seems to be, I don’t want Lily to be involved, either.”

She dropped back into her chair, crossed her arms, and said some more words in Spanish. Then she said, “I didn’t peg you for honorable. Unless you’re playing some kind of game.”

“I’m not playing a game.”

“Why doesn’t any of this surprise you?” Lily asked. “I just told you about time travel, and people with special abilities, and rewinding time. You should be shocked, or at the very least doubtful.”

Abi picked up her coffee mug and sat back in her chair. “There are many things in this world I don’t understand. It doesn’t mean they aren’t true.”

Fear. Guilt.
The guilt confused me. I leaned forward in my chair, concentrating on trying to read Abi.

“What?” Lily asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

Sharing Abi’s emotions with her granddaughter wasn’t my place.

“I just told her you can sense emotion. So she knows she can’t hide anything.” Lily had covered a lot of information in an hour. She turned from me to Abi. “If you knew something about all this, you’d tell me. Wouldn’t you?”

More guilt.

“There’s no reason to discuss it.” Abi’s voice was full of grim determination. “It’s the past, and we left it behind when we left Cuba.”

“We never discuss Cuba at all. There are things I want to remember. Our home. Our family.”

“I do remember. And you are better off not knowing.”

“I don’t accept that.” I saw Abi’s fierceness in Lily’s eyes and anticipated she’d make grown men piss their pants one day, too. “If you know something, you have to tell me.
¿Por favor?
Please.”

Abi put her coffee cup down and walked to the wide, arched double windows that overlooked the town square of Ivy Springs. “People lose things, they look for them. Ask for help. ‘Help me find my house key. Where is the grocery list?’ It was always funny that your grandfather seemed to know where things were. He just … knew. Then your father was born, and he could find things, too. Your father was five when I discovered
el truco de magia
—that’s what we called it—wasn’t a magic trick.”

“¿Como?
” Lily asked, her face softening with understanding..

“I asked questions. Women didn’t ask questions back then. I was silenced, and I never got any answers while your grandfather was alive. I didn’t get them until about ten years ago. They came directly from your father, when he started doing survey work.”

“I didn’t know he did survey work,” Lily said. I couldn’t imagine not even knowing what my father did for a living.

“Cuba was a trade hub for over four centuries. Ships sank. Many riches were lost. Imagine what someone with a supernatural ability could find with the aid of satellite imagery. Your father saw things he should not have seen, but it was part of who he was. Who he is.”

“What kind of things?” Lily frowned.

“The gift seemed to increase in strength with every generation.” Abi returned to the table. She traced the rim of her cup. “One of the first things the realtor gave us when we moved in here was a town map with tiny little cartoon drawings of all the planned renovations. He tried to hand it to you, I guess because it was colorful and he thought you’d like it. I jerked it away, telling him I wanted to make it a keepsake, that you were too little and you’d tear it up. I always taught you to touch the maps in your schoolbooks with the eraser end of your pencil. Remember?”

“Yes,” Lily answered, remembering. “And when I had to make a topographical map of Tennessee, you wouldn’t let me.”

“The only time I’ve ever done your homework.” Abi stared into her coffee cup as if it held all the answers. “Your grandfather couldn’t find things on maps, but your father could. I didn’t know what you’d be able to find.”

“I can find things on maps,” Lily confessed. “And … people, too, I think.”

“I suspected as much,” Abi said, resigning herself to the truth. “Please understand, my love, I thought by keeping your ability dormant, I was keeping you safe.”

“Safe from who?”

Dread settled in the bottom of my stomach.

“From the people your father worked for. They knew about your grandfather, too. It would only make sense that they’d look to you one day. We considered lying, saying that the gift had skipped a generation, but it was so strong in you. You couldn’t control it, not at that age. So we left Cuba, and I swore I’d do everything I could to make you forget.”

Lily leaned forward. “Papi looked for things on survey maps. On the ocean floor?”

“Knowing the history of a piece of treasure, its origin, and the path it’s traveled can increase the worth by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Priceless to museums, collectors, historians, or anyone with money and interest.”

“Lily’s father can trace provenance?” I asked. “Can Lily?”

“I don’t know.” She was lying.

If Lily could trace ownership of artifacts, it would make the artifacts more valuable. It would make Lily more valuable.

“Did Lily’s father”—I hesitated, meeting Abi’s eyes—“did he have to know what the things he was searching for looked like?”

“How could he? They’d been on the bottom of the ocean floor for decades….” She trailed off. “You didn’t know that.”

Lily’s shock coursed through my body as if it were my own. “I thought I had to have seen a thing before I could find it.”

“No, my love. No,” Abi explained wearily. Defeated. “Not if you’re searching on a map. Touching it.”

“Abi, I have to help Kaleb find someone. So many bad things could happen if we don’t.”

“So many bad things could happen if you do. They think we died on a raft in the ocean. But what if they found out the truth? We’ve been safe for a long time in America, Lilliana, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been found out.” Abi held her fist up to her mouth and paused for a few seconds. “Any suggestion that you are alive and have a hint of your father’s ability, and the people he works for will be here on our doorstep.”

“Maybe things have changed.” Lily didn’t want to believe her.

“Do you think your father works for them because he wants to? The government forces him to work for them, or the highest bidder, and then he watches money go into the pockets of others.” Abi’s voice got louder and louder. “What do you think these men would do if they could double their intake? What makes you think you’d be treated well, alone on a boat with so many men?”

The thought made my skin crawl. I leaned closer to Lily, resting my arm on the back of her chair.

Abi stared at me for a moment before turning her attention back to her granddaughter. “It’s not like it is here. It’s not the same.”

“I understand that, and I’m so grateful for all you’ve given up for me.” Lily paused, trying to gain control of her emotions. She wasn’t having a lot of luck. “But I need you to understand that what I’m asking to do could make the difference between life and death—”

“No.” The force behind Abi’s answer wasn’t just strong, it was harsh. I could tell Lily wasn’t used to being spoken to that way, the same way I could tell Abi wasn’t used to Lily challenging her.

“Fine.” Lily stood, crossed the kitchen, and took her bag and jacket from the peg by the front door. “I’ll be home for dinner.”

“You no longer ask permission?”

I hated the hurt I felt between them, wished I could erase it and make everything right.

“May I leave?” She didn’t meet her grandmother’s eyes. “With Kaleb?”

Abi looked at me. “You care for my granddaughter?”

“Yes, ma’am.”
More than care.

“Then you will not let her do anything that would put her at risk?”

“No, ma’am, I won’t.” I stood up. “I promise.”

“Fine, then.” Her eyes were dull. “I love you, Lily.”

Lily didn’t say a word as we walked out the front door.