An alarm began sounding softly behind Harry, and he turned away. “They moved Jack into one of the doctors’ apartments. B-2. Just down the hall to the right.” His frown deepened, and he tapped the array of video monitors set to the side. “Another one down. This is so weird.”
“Thanks, Harry.” She signed her name with a flourish, catching sight of Rachel as the woman hustled into the nearby hallway.
“If you see Bill, tell him I need to talk to him,” Harry said, eyes still down as he fiddled with a knob. “Something’s wrong with the electrical system. We might have mice in it again.”
Or little winged men, Peri thought as she turned away, forcing her pace to slow when all she wanted to do was race down the hall.
Rachel waited at a drink kiosk, looking out of place with Peri’s purse over her shoulder. “Your security is lousy,” she said as Peri joined her, and the two walked as one down the deserted hall.
“That’s because there’s nothing here,” Peri said, miffed. “It’s an infirmary, not headquarters. That’s two buildings over. Getting in there is another story.” But this was still an Opti-only area, and unease began to rise in her.
The clatter of Jenks’s wings gave her bare warning, but she still started when the pixy rejoined them. “Relax, Rache,” he said saucily as he landed on her big hoop earring. “The hard part is over.”
“I don’t like the smell of hospitals,” Rachel muttered.
Jenks launched himself from Rachel, landing on Peri’s shoulder. “She spent most of her early life in and out of them,” Jenks said in a loud, conspiratorial whisper.
“No kidding.” Peri gave the uncomfortable woman a sidelong glance. “You’d never know it now.”
“Shut up, Jenks,” Rachel warned, reading the small placards on the doors they passed.
“I just think Peri ought to know who you are before it goes bad,” Jenks said, tone merry. “And it will go bad. Otherwise, why risk continuing to help us? You all think I’m just good at fixing stuff, but I’ve got eyes and I know people. Peri will do anything for the underdog. That’s us, Rache.”
Flushing, Peri lifted her chin, not comfortable with how well he was reading her or that he wasn’t above manipulating her for their benefit. But if the truth be told, it had been Rachel standing before her balcony, wondering where she was, that had done it. That confusion couldn’t be faked. It was something Peri lived with. Identified with.
“You’re not helping, Jenks,” Rachel said more firmly. Relief crossed her, then a tight tension. “B-2. We’re here.”
Peri motioned Rachel back until she knew if Bill was in there as well. Nodding, Rachel held the bag with the wine and glass to her chest, Jenks again on her shoulder. The fake accelerator was in Peri’s purse. If they were lucky, Jack would know where the real one was. Taking it out, she dropped it in her pocket for faster access. She went to knock, hesitating as Rachel and Jenks whispered, and then Jenks flew off.
“Where is he going? Someone might see him,” Peri all but hissed.
“I doubt it.” Rachel looked up and down the deserted hall. “He’s looking for his cat.”
Peri’s jaw clenched. “Carnac is my cat. Why else would I have him on the back of my phone?”
Rachel knocked on the door and drew back. “Then he’s finding the best way out of here.”
“Come in!” Jack’s voice rang out, muffled but strong, and Peri’s breath caught in consternation. Frowning at Rachel’s smug expression, she pushed open the door.
Relief spilled through her as she saw Jack propped up on the low cot. He was in a pair of scrubs, his bare feet looking knobby poking out from under them. “Jack,” she said around a sigh, glad his eyes were bright and clear in the light of the small desk lamp on the otherwise empty bedside table. The room was tiny, almost a closet, but for a doctor looking to crash for a few hours, it would be heaven compared to an emergency-room cot.
“About time you showed up,” he said, clearly not drunk anymore as he closed his phone out and the TV show he’d been watching went dark. “Did you really go to the mall?”
“I can explain,” she began, and then Jack’s eyes flicked behind her, anger furrowing his brow.
“What is she doing here?” he said as he swung his feet to the floor.
Frowning, Rachel shut the door and set the bag on the tiny, empty desk.
“Jack, it’s okay,” Peri pleaded. “She’s . . . a friend.”
“Friend?” Jack exclaimed, perched on the edge of the bed. “She knocked me out. She was waiting for us in our apartment, and you bring her here?”
Rachel chuckled. “From what I could tell, you knocked yourself out,” she said as she set the half-consumed bottle on the desk. “I’d say you’re a lightweight, but I know this label, and it’s like drinking fire from the sun.”
“Relax,” Peri demanded, her hands raised for patience. “I’ll explain everything later. Did you tell Bill about her?”
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “No,” he said sullenly, and Peri couldn’t tell if he was lying. “I figured if you left me a note, I should keep it to myself when Bill showed up.” He cocked his head quizzically. “The mall, Peri?”
She frowned at the accusation in his voice, shifting to try to hide Rachel setting up her . . . spell. “Does Bill still have the accelerator?” she asked, heart sinking at Jack’s flash of doubt. “Jack, if you ever trusted me, trust me now. Does he have it?”
Jack flicked a look at Rachel, then back to Peri. “Last I saw it, it was in Bill’s pocket. I doubt he’d courier it over to Opti at this hour. Why?”
Behind her, Rachel harrumphed, her lips moving as she looked over the words of power she’d scribbled on a receipt she’d found in the Mantis’s console. Peri warmed at Rachel’s low opinion of Bill. Her handler wasn’t dirty, but still . . . here she was, running an elaborate plan to find out for sure, half done and vulnerable.
Seeing her flustered and confused, Jack took her hand. “What is it, Peri?”
Peri sat beside him, the soft mattress pushing them together. “I need to see it,” she lied. “I think it’s fake. That we’ve been duped.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “No . . .” he breathed, his head jerking up when Rachel reached out, wanting his hand.
“Can I have your finger, please?”
Jack didn’t move, eyeing the finger stick in her other hand. “What for?”
“Big strong man afraid of a little poke?” Rachel mocked, and Jack’s jaw clenched.
But then his head snapped up and they all turned as Bill walked in, shoulders hunched and looking like a mobster’s thug even in his two-thousand-dollar suit and shiny dress shoes.
“This sort of complicates things.” Rachel made a fist, hiding her finger stick and backing up to the poured wine on the desktop.
Bill shut the door with his foot, never taking his eyes from them. “You look taller than the tapes suggest.” The door clicked shut. “What were you doing at the mall with Peri?”
Peri lifted her chin, thinking fast. “She told me the accelerator was fake. Is it?”
Bill’s thick hand touched his breast pocket. “No. It’s real. Where are you from?”
He was talking to Rachel, and the woman sat on the desktop, arms over her chest. It made her look vulnerable, but Peri knew it was to free her feet to slam into someone. “Cincinnati,” she said shortly.
“Really. Let’s find out for sure.” Bill reached for her, blind to Rachel’s foot coming up.
It struck Bill’s arm, and he pulled back, hissing in anger. But Rachel had moved, spinning to the center of the room and landing a back kick square in his gut.
Bellowing, Bill went crashing into the wall and slid to the floor.
“What are you doing!” Jack exclaimed, standing aghast beside the bed.
“You should have let me stick your finger,” Rachel said, then
punched him.
Silent but clearly shocked, Jack fell back onto the bed, his hands drenched in the blood streaming from his broken nose. The white sheets went crimson. “Jack!” Peri cried, reaching to help him, and Rachel spun, her entire weight focused on her knee as it landed on Bill before he could get up, knocking the breath out of him.
“Excuse me,” Rachel sang lightly, Bill’s eyes going murderous as she plucked the accelerator from his pocket.
“Bill, I can explain,” Peri gushed as Rachel smeared Jack’s blood on the accelerator and dropped it into the wineglass. White wine tinted pink, and Rachel turned, eyes alight.
“I don’t think you can,” Bill said, and Peri gasped, seeing the Glock in Bill’s grip. It was pointed at her. “But you have three seconds to try.”
“Bill.” Peri looked at Rachel, knowing she wouldn’t leave without Jenks.
“One,” Bill intoned, the muzzle never wavering as he got to his feet, hunched like a bear.
“It’s not what it looks like. She said the accelerator was fake. I didn’t—”
“Two.” Bill checked the safety.
Holy shit, I think he’s going to shoot me, Peri thought, panicking.
“Bill, don’t!” Jack said, paralyzed by the bed, covered in blood from his broken nose. “She’ll never forget you shooting her. Even if she drafts.”
“You’re probably right,” Bill said, voice soft, and Peri exhaled. “Three.”
The bang of the Glock firing shocked through Peri, and she jumped, hand going to her chest. But he hadn’t shot her. He’d shot Rachel.
No, Peri thought, anger and fear flooding her.
“Oh, that hurts,” Rachel said softly, then started to collapse.
Peri lurched to catch her, somehow keeping the wineglass in her hand upright. The shot had been high, away from Rachel’s heart but nicking her lung. It was filling even as she sat there. Shock had paled Rachel’s face, making her lips red and her eyes eerily bright. No . . .
“I can’t believe you did that,” Jack said, wiping the blood from himself.
Bill shrugged. “I didn’t shoot you or her. I shot a mall fruitcake she’s known for three hours.” His smile at Peri was predatory, and the beginnings of hatred trickled through her, muddling years of trust. “Now. The question is, how important is she to you, Peri? Is saving her life worth your memory of her?”
“You sons of bitches,” Peri whispered, Rachel’s weight going heavy in her arms. She was nearing her forty-five-second ceiling. If she was going to draft to save Rachel’s life, she would have to do it now.
So she did.
The light spilling from the side lamp flashed blue, filling the room with a smoky haze that flashed to a sparkling clarity. No longer did Rachel hang in her arms. The woman straddled Bill, shock stiffening her shoulders. “I’ll take your gun this time, too,” Rachel said as she plucked first the orb from Bill’s pocket, then the Glock from his holster.
“You remember the first timeline?” Bill stammered, truly surprised, and Rachel beamed a big smile before slamming her elbow into his jaw.
“Rachel,” Peri prodded as she snatched up the glass of white wine. “We have to go.”
“Right.” She got up, kicking the large man in the ribs. “No one shoots me!” she shouted, kicking him again. “No one!”
“Here!” Peri said, warning Jack to stay where he was even as Rachel tossed her the accelerator and Peri rolled it in the bloody sheets. They had to get out of here. Right now, Peri remembered both timelines, but when they meshed, she’d forget—and there was a lot she was going to miss. Damn you, Bill, she thought, never having dreamed he’d shoot Rachel.
“She’s compromised, Jack,” Bill moaned as he rolled to his hands and knees. “Take her back four hours.”
“We’ll lose everything she knows,” Jack said, not moving. “You sure?”
“Four hours!” Bill bellowed. “I’d rather have Peri without doubt than know who that woman is.” His eyes rose, murderously intent as he found Peri’s. “And Peri has a doubt. Don’t you, kiddo.”
A chill raced through Peri as she dropped the bloodied crystal into the wineglass and ran to the hall, Rachel tight behind. The shock of the pop, pop, pop of the gun as Rachel blew the lock shook her.
Four hours? Peri thought, numb as she breathed in the spent gunpowder. Were her extended memory losses engineered? By Jack?
“Time for plan B,” Rachel said, taking her arm and pulling her into a run. “Grab the fish and run like hell.” She took a breath and shouted, “Jenks! Forget the cat. We gotta go!”
Confused, Peri followed, wine in hand and ducking when a drone whizzed overhead, Jenks’s voice shrilling in a high-pitched thrill trailing out as he rode the head-size copter. Carnac bounded down the hall after it, head up and tail crooked.
“Wall!” Rachel shouted, but the drone was going too fast and it missed the turn, smashing into the wall with a small crunch. It hit the floor, and Peri gasped when the cat leapt for it.
But Jenks had bailed, and he flew at head-height back to them, grinning and trailing a bright silver dust. “I found my cat,” he said, darting up when Carnac jumped for him.
“That’s my cat,” Peri protested as Rachel scooped the tail-swishing cat up and mule-kicked a locked door open. It was a storage closet, and Peri stared until Rachel shoved her in, wine almost spilling.
“That busted lock on the doctor’s bunk won’t stop them for long,” Rachel said, struggling with the wiggling cat, which was pawing for Jenks as he tormented it, darting up and down like a demented yo-yo.
“Wine,” Peri said as she proffered it, amazed there was still some in it. “You know the charm?”
Rachel beamed. “I think she believes us, Jenks.”
“Say the words!” Peri shouted. There was a sudden pounding on the door, and she shoved the wine at Rachel, moving to get between them and the door, should it open.
“Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again,” Rachel said, cat in one hand, wine in the other, and Peri turned, seeing Jenks landing on her shoulder. Carnac’s eyes went black.
“As I stand here with my trusted friend, who can replay time and make it bend,” Rachel added, and Peri blinked. It wasn’t the same words that Jack had used, but maybe this was better.
“Who should know. Of the truth. That lies in her brain. Memories remain. Through her I spin, to my line.”
Rachel raised her glass, pink with Jack’s blood. Saluting Peri, she took a sip. Nothing happened.
Panic iced over Rachel’s eyes, the cat wiggling in her arms. “What did we do wrong?” she said, frantic. “I can’t stay here, Jenks. I can’t!”
The pixy, too, looked scared. “I don’t know, Rache. There’s enough mystics in this room to choke a horse.” He hesitated. “I hope we haven’t changed something by being here.”
“I don’t care!” Rachel wailed as Bill pounded on the door. “I just want to go home!”
“You didn’t say the magic word,” Peri said suddenly, and Rachel’s fear hesitated.
“Abracadabra?” Rachel said, her eyebrows high in disbelief.
Peri gasped, letting go of the doorknob in shock as the draft ended and time meshed with a savage sureness. A flash of red light seemed to blind her, and a soft thump and angry cat yeowl was like fingernails on a chalkboard as she reached out for the memory of Rachel . . . and the mall . . . and a little man . . . There was a little man, wasn’t there?
And then it was gone.
Pain lanced through her head, and Peri fell to the door, barely conscious as Bill and Jack boiled in. She looked up, finding herself in a closet. Carnac crouched in a corner, scared and eyes black, as Jack and Bill stood in the doorway, shadows against the brighter light from the hall.
I drafted, she thought, gathering up the confusion like a familiar blanket and shovin
g it aside, refusing to let it rule her. Why am I in a closet?
“Peri?” Jack said, dried blood on his face as he knelt by her. “Are you okay?”
“Holy crap, Jack,” she exclaimed, touching his face. “What happened to you?”
Jack stood up, his eyes flicking up to Bill. “I ran into a wall.”
She reached up, and he extended a hand, helping her rise. Her quick motion slowed as vertigo took her. An odd dust coated her arms, but when she brushed at it, it vanished. She breathed deep, thinking she smelled sun and wind. “Why am I in a closet? With Carnac?”
Bill’s eyes roved over the interior of the small closet. “She’s not here.”
“Who?” Peri asked, and Bill pressed his lips together. A man’s fast steps sounded in the hall, and he turned as one of the night security at Opti Health slid to a halt. Why are we at Opti Health? she wondered, no longer believing Jack’s story about walking into a wall.
“Sir, we can’t find her,” Harry said, gaze flicking to Peri and back to Bill. “There’s no trace, and the camera’s aren’t working. They’re all stuck on a five-minute loop.”
“A what?” Bill exclaimed. “How?” he added, quickly turning on a heel and stomping away, Harry hunched and apologetic at his elbow. Peri smiled, thinking Bill looked funny when he was pissed. But at least she knew where she was.
“Jack, what are we doing in Opti Health with Carnac?”
Jack put an arm over her shoulder and led her out of the closet. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Wine,” she said, seeing the empty bottle in his hand, and then her hand went to her pocket, finding the lump of the accelerator. “Hey, while we’re here, we might as well give Bill the accelerator. Save ourselves a trip in tomorrow.” She squinted at the ceiling and the low-powered lights. “It kind of feels like tomorrow already. What time is it?”
Jack’s eyes widened as he took the crystal from her. “You have it? Damn, woman. You are amazing. Bill is going to be so pleased. He thought you lost it.”