In one short second, the darkness swallowed the light, leaving us in complete silence.
Chapter 18
Hallie
I slept for five hours.
When I woke up, Dune was in my bed with me, typing one hand. The other was on my hip. “Dune?”
“Hey.” After a couple more key clicks, he put the computer down and kissed my forehead. “What can I get for you? What do you need?”
“You.” I grabbed him and held on tightly. It took less than a second for him to hold on harder.
“You slept for a long time.” He tucked my hair behind my ears. “I think you took about thirty thousand breaths.”
Because he watched every single one.
“Where are the houseguests?” I asked.
“Kaleb and Lily went to find Michael and Em so I could bring you straight home. They’re all back. Probably asleep.”
“I don’t remember what happened.”
“It was a rip world. The whole thing took us over. Not only did you stop your possessions, you got us out, too.”
“How?” I asked.
“I hoped you’d remember. Poe saved Em and Michael from a rip world once, but it was a totally different situation.” His lips touched mine, and he smiled with his eyes. “You saved our lives.”
I climbed on top of him and dropped my forehead to his shoulder. Images of some of the people who’d possessed me flickered in my subconscious, but I didn’t want to recall any of it.
“You cried in your sleep. I couldn’t decide whether or not to wake you up.”
“Bad dreams. The night I was possessed in the ballroom, there were happy moments. Everything I saw in that alley tonight was terrible, depraved in some way. I don’t want the memories, but I have them.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not now.” Maybe never.
“Whatever you need, I’m here.”
“You’re here.” I sat up straight. “In my bed. My dad is going to kill you!”
“No, he’s not. Carl is heading up security tonight, and after I told him what happened, he didn’t want you left alone any more than I did. I put the security feed on a loop, just for tonight. We’re safe.”
“Look at you, taking care of me.” I wanted to touch his skin, not the cotton of his T-shirt. I pulled it over his head and was almost disappointed when I didn’t see more tattoos than the one on his shoulder. Then I ran my hands over his chest, and all disappointment left the building. Smooth skin. Defined muscles.
Floaty hearts. Falling. I let my fingertips absorb the warmth of him and hoped it would smother the nightmares.
“Tell me about your tattoo. You said you wanted to keep these memories for life.”
He explained the different parts as I traced over them. “The swirls stand for past, present, and future.”
“Is that a turtle?” I would’ve expected a sea animal to look hokey, but it didn’t on him.
He gave me his crinkle smile, like he knew what I was thinking. “They have remarkable migratory patterns. They always return home.”
I leaned over to place a kiss in the center of the turtle’s shell. “And the word aiga?”
“It means ‘family.’ The ten stars represent everyone I’ve lost, and the moon is for my father.”
I hoped he didn’t have to add any more stars. My sigh caught on a sob, but I stopped myself before it broke.
“Hey.” He lifted my chin with one finger. “Like I said tonight, I’m not going to lose you.”
“You saved me in that alley; you didn’t leave. You or your friends.” I couldn’t imagine what I would do if Dune weren’t part of my life. “You stayed, and gave me a reason to hold on.”
As if he heard the words I couldn’t utter, he said, “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.”
I moved to the skin over his heart, placed a kiss there. “I don’t want that, either. Not ever.”
“Hallie.” He spoke my name in a whisper.
He was watching me. Raw, unmasked. All that control conquered. Finally.
“Dune,” I whispered back.
His fingers dug into my hips, holding me back, but his expression didn’t change. “A lot of terrible things went down tonight.”
“Yes, they did. Good reason to claim a stake on life, don’t you think?”
“All I can think about is trying to stop this.”
“Are you saying you don’t want to kiss me?” I traced the outline of his bottom lip, staring at his mouth. “Are you really going to tell me no?”
“Yes, I want to kiss you. I’m not insane. And who could possibly tell you no?”
I had time to smile before his kisses burned down the column of my throat, across my collarbone. He took my face in his hands, leaned back, and brought my mouth down to his.
I let myself sink into the kiss, into him.
When he rolled me over and covered my body with his own, I lost my breath.
Dune thought he was so quiet, sneaking out of bed. When a 220-pound weight lifted, a girl noticed.
I’d slept enough, but I stayed quiet, letting him think I was still out cold. I had a lot to think about, and he’d spent a good part of the past hour making sure I hadn’t thought at all.
When he shut the door behind him, I opened my eyes. His laptop was open on my desk. I didn’t hesitate.
I clicked on the external hard drive that held all the Infinityglass info. I didn’t look at anything else on his computer. I didn’t want to invade his privacy. I just wanted a quick look at the things that pertained to me that I hadn’t seen yet. No one could fault that.
Especially if I didn’t get caught.
There were carefully labeled folders organized by year, and one with the words time-related objects underneath. I found other folders with lists of links, articles scanned from old newspapers, and thumbnails of pictures, one of which showed an hourglass in a frame made out of human bones. It had been stolen from a museum.
By me.
Others were things I’d never seen or heard of, and while some of them were truly scary, others seemed downright ridiculous. I kept skimming until I found a folder with my initials on it, and then I was overcome by that undeniable feeling of anxiety that arrives when you’re seeing something you shouldn’t.
That didn’t stop me from clicking.
Three other names occupied my desktop file, each with folders of their own.
Two females, one male.
Very little information was provided. One of the girls helped on an archeological dig that took place around the time Tut’s tomb was discovered, in the golden age of archeology. The other worked on a farm, possibly in the United Kingdom, and listed no dates.
The guy’s folder had nothing but a name and a GPS location.
I scanned the rest of the information.
Scientific terms, mathematical equations—gibberish to me. I closed out the hard drive and saw a minimized document I’d missed before. It didn’t even have a title, so it must have been what Dune was typing when I woke up.
There were notes about activation, with more questions than answers, and paragraphs written in another language: what looked like Arabic or Egyptian. There were also photographs of hieroglyphs.
Attempted translations were directly below the pictures, and one phrase in bold jumped off the page.
I read it. Twice.
And went to find Dune.
Dune
I’d tried to be quiet getting out of bed. Hallie needed rest, but there was no way I was sleeping after tonight.
I went down to grab a drink and found Poe in the kitchen.
“Popsicles again?” I asked.
“Picked them up on the way over, after you called.” He shut the freezer door and met my eyes. “Is Hallie okay?”
“She’s asleep. She got us out, Poe. We’d still be in that alley without her.” I stepped around him to the fridge, took out a bottle of water. “Something clicked for me tonight. Have you seen the section of the
Skroll about the Infinityglass and the transfer of abilities?”
Poe crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, but I don’t know how it works. Do you?”
“I don’t.” Worry was all I knew. “Only that it results in death.”
He met my eyes. “Not Hallie’s. It can’t. I don’t think something as powerful as the Infinityglass is a one-time-use type of weapon.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, and then growled in frustration. “I want this to be resolved, and I want a mathematical, scientific formula that makes sense from beginning to end. Not mythology. Not fairy dust. Real answers that I can work with.”
“I hate to bring you down even more, but I’ve not made any progress. I can’t find out what activated Hallie’s Infinityglass ability. I’ve read and reread the Skroll. I’ve made lists of everything we’ve stolen in the past few months and researched every piece. I thought it could have been this clock, but it’s not. You said something clicked for you. What was it?”
“The Infinityglass is supposed to have ultimate power over the space time continuum, but since everything is screwed up, I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I’ve been translating the foreign language docs on the Skroll bit by bit, and one finished up tonight.”
“And?”
“I think the space time continuum is using Infinityglass Hallie as a power source, or at least the rips are. And I think it could deplete her. There’s something about the rips and the way they keep trying to pull her in—”
I heard a noise and held up one finger.
Ten seconds later, Hallie walked into the kitchen.
Messy hair, red lips, and loose limbs. She swiped the water bottle out of my hand, opened it, and took a long drink. In that moment, all I could think about was dragging her back to her room and shutting out the world. That thought disappeared real quick when she lowered the bottle.
“When were you going to tell me there’s a death sentence on my head?”
Neither Poe or I answered. Or moved.
“I just spent some quality time with your computer,” she said, handing the water back to me. “I want to know what’s going on. Put it in layman’s terms, professors.”
“We don’t know anything definite,” Poe started, but she held up one hand.
“How about you go back to what you stopped discussing right before I walked in here, about science and magic? Depletion?” She pointed to her ears. “Super-duper hearing these days, remember?”
Poe moved to the table and sat down, but said nothing.
Hallie looked back and forth between us. “The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. So one of you tell me what you know.”
I looked at Poe. I was the one with the theory, and I hadn’t even gotten a chance to explain it to him. I’d be swinging this sword by myself. I turned my attention to Hallie. “You saw my notes.”
“I sure did.”
“There’s a theory that the Infinityglass can be used to transfer abilities from one person with the time gene to another. Everything that’s translated recently … suggests it involves death. I don’t know whose, but I’m assuming it’s not yours.”
Her face paled. “Keep going.”
“What I was just getting ready to explain to Poe is that the transmutation ability means your cells regenerate constantly, faster than normal, which is what allows you to change your appearance.”
“He knows all that. So do I. Why are you teaching Hallie 101?”
“There’s a progression,” I said gently. “Listen, okay?”
Pressing her lips together, she pulled out the chair beside Poe’s and sat.
“Once the Infinityglass part of you became activated, your transmutation ability sped up and got stronger,” I continued. “Everything about you got stronger, right? Super-human hearing, vision, energy.”
She nodded.
“The rips are using you as a power source. As long as they can possess you, they can live. They aren’t going to give you up without a fight.”
She stared down at her hands. “What happens if I lose?”
My throat felt like I’d swallowed a bucket of sawdust. “I don’t know, but we’ll find answers. Between what we’re learning every day, and the number of people trying to help, and the wealth of information we already have … we’ll find answers.”
“How can I avoid them? They find me. If they want to take me over …”
Poe covered one of her hands with his briefly and then stood. “Dune’s right, Hallie. We’re going to get answers. I will figure out what got you in this position, and then I’ll learn how to reverse it.”
He left the kitchen, and Hallie and I stared at each other through silence.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“No. It’s just a matter of time before it happens again. What if I don’t get out next time?”
I pulled her into my arms, rested my chin on top of her head. “You will.”
I wanted to believe it, but things were happening too fast. The truths about the Infinityglass came slowly at first, but now the terrible possibilities were tumbling toward us in a rush.
At what I feared was the end of the story.
Chapter 19
Hallie
Dune sat at my desk, scrolling and clicking.
We’d sent the Hourglass contingent out to sightsee. I’d spent the day staring at my TV and tried to lose myself in a Supernatural marathon, but I was too stressed out to enjoy the eye candy. Finally, I clicked the remote and stood.
“Off.” I closed the lid of his laptop, barely missing his fingers, and sending empty Jolly Rancher candy wrappers skittering to the floor. “All you’ve done is stare at that damn computer all day.”
He raised a brow. “Just trying to find answers.”
I dropped onto the bed. “Sit with me.”
He didn’t touch me when he did. I took it metaphorically.
“We aren’t going to do this, Dune.” I gestured to the empty space. “You’re removing yourself from the situation, and removing yourself from me.”
“This isn’t about distance. It’s about giving you room to breathe. Giving me time to research.”
“I want us in the same airspace right now, okay? I need it.”
Dune’s arms were around me in a second. “I need it, too.”
Relief eased my tension before his mouth on mine ratcheted it up again—gentle, insistent—not enough.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my body to his. Closing my eyes, I teased his mouth open to deepen the kiss. He tasted like candy. “Forgiven.”
“I’m still sorry. I didn’t think circling the same thing over and over again in conversation would be good for us, and I didn’t have any new answers.”
“I understand, but I don’t want to lose time with you now. What if I can’t get it back later?”
His thumb smoothed over my forehead and down my temple. “We’re going to figure out how to stop the rips from taking over.”
This was the capable Dune, the one everyone looked to for ideas and support. Totally solid, completely dependable. He thought he was nothing more than the strength behind the scenes. “As much as I’ve tried to avoid being trapped in one place my whole life, now I don’t want to move from this spot. I keep thinking, Can they find me here? Am I safe here?”
“You’re as safe as I can make you.”
“I know.” Even though I hadn’t shed a tear, I felt like I’d been crying for days. Raw, achy, and emotionally spent.
“I want to make you happy,” he murmured into my hair. “Tell me how.”
I whispered in his ear.
Dune pulled away so he could look into my eyes.
“I could disappear,” I said. “Not exist, except as a full-time playground for dead people. I know the timing sucks, but right now is all we have.”
“No, it’s not, Hal. I’ll make sure of it.”
“You’ll try. But you can’t guarantee it, and I don’t want to lose one more second. Do
you?”
Instead of answering, he shut the bedroom door.
He hadn’t fallen asleep until dawn, and even then he’d only slept in snatches. This time, I was the one who watched him take every breath. When my phone rang, I picked it up to silence it, figuring it was Dad checking in.
My heart stopped cold when I saw the name on the caller ID.
I shook Dune awake and answered.
“Hello, Mother.”
She sounded cool and well rested. Wherever she’d been for the past few weeks, the living hadn’t been hard.
“Where have you been?” I asked, keeping my tone as bored as I could manage. “We thought you were dead.”
“Don’t you mean hoped?”
“What do you think?”
Dune sat up beside me. The word backup had never meant so much. My mother’s lack of response gave me a petty amount of pleasure. Today, I’d take pleasure wherever I could get it.
“Why are you calling?” I leaned back into Dune’s chest. “I know you want something. You always do.”
“That’s no way to talk to your mother, Little Miss.”
It was her childhood nickname for me, a passive-aggressive insult. Her specialty. “Whatever.”
“I’m your mother. That’s why I’m calling.” She took a deep sigh for dramatic effect. “I want to help you. I want to lift the burden of the Infinityglass from you. I can make that happen. I can help.”
I tensed, saying nothing. Waiting for the bomb to drop.
“I’m in New Orleans, and I need to see you.”
“Could she be telling the truth?” Dune asked. “What if she does have a way to help?”
“Everyone should try something new once in a while. Maybe truth is her latest hobby.”
Dune had insisted on neutral ground, and Audubon Park fit the bill. We took Dad’s town car down Saint Charles. It dropped us off across from Tulane’s Gibson Hall.
We didn’t go in too deep, staying far away from the Fly, the side of the park next to the river. Even so, I could still smell the Mississippi. I knew Dune could, too. A keen edge of panic sneaked out from underneath his mask of cool every time the wind blew.
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