Her laugh was as soft as her voice. “Your skills and those errands are the only reason you’re still alive.”
“I suppose I’m to be grateful to you, then?” Poe looked much younger in the light of day than he had the night of the masquerade. “Since it’s thanks to you I still draw breath?”
“Yes.”
Poe set his jaw. His anger spilled across the thick carpet and seeped between the slats of the closet door.
“Have you made any progress?” the woman asked. “At all?”
“It shorts out everything I use. So, no.” He held up a slim silver device that looked like a laptop computer but was half the size. “Did you call him?”
“Only because you said ‘please.’”
Lily tried to stand up straight, and the boxes behind her shifted when her weight was no longer on them. She wobbled and almost fell when they hit her calves. I put one arm around her to keep her upright, and the other against the wall to brace us. It made a slight thudding sound.
The woman frowned and looked in the direction of the closet.
She tossed her dark hair over her shoulders and started walking toward us. Lily squeezed her eyes shut. I tensed in preparation, planning to get us out alive, no matter who I had to hurt. I didn’t know if I could get us both past Poe, but Lily would go free.
Teague walked past the closet and went to the office door. I heard a new voice.
“Hello, Teague.”
The woman was Teague. And the man addressing her was Dr. Turner.
Chapter 23
“Hello, Gerald.” Teague arranged her expression into a smile. “So glad you could come on such short notice.”
When Lily exhaled, I realized how tightly I must have been holding her. The fact that I hadn’t noticed spoke volumes about my anxiety level.
“I cancelled my afternoon classes. I hope the matter is as urgent as you made it sound in your message.” He’d taken one of the fedoras from the moose antlers in his office and clamped it down over his head of white hair. He removed the hat now, holding it in one hand and tapping it against his other palm. I noticed his suspenders for the first time. They perfectly matched his orange bow tie.
“You’ll have to ask Edgar how urgent the matter is,” Teague answered, nodding her head toward Poe, who’d taken a seat in the corner.
Edgar? I’d have gone with the nickname, too. I wondered briefly if his middle name was Allen.
“Hello, Poe,” Dr. Turner said kindly. “Teague didn’t tell me I was visiting for your benefit. I would’ve made it here much more quickly.”
Poe stood and held out his hand. “Sir.”
Dr. Turner shook it, and then his eyes caught the device Poe held. He looked from it to Teague, and back to Poe again. “Is this …?”
“We don’t know,” Poe said, and handed it over to Dr. Turner. Teague hissed between her teeth. Neither of them acknowledged her. “Unfortunately, I can’t get it open.”
Turning it over and over in his hands, Dr. Turner squinted before lifting his glasses and taking an even closer look. “Like a technological vault.”
“Precisely.” Poe continued to ignore Teague as she tapped one high-heeled foot. Both men stared at the device. “Whoever stored the information knew how valuable it was.”
Dr. Turner whistled. “Those won’t even come on the market for at least a couple of years.”
Teague’s thin patience ripped. “Gerald, can you help us or not?”
“I’m afraid I can’t.” A lie. One he was happy to tell. “I’ve only read about these, how much information can be stored on them. Not how to access it. There’s a USB port here, but if that’s what Poe’s been using—?” Dr. Turner dropped his glasses back down on his nose to look at Poe, and Poe nodded. “Then I have nothing more advanced to test it.”
Lily’s arms snaked around my waist. I looked down in surprise, and then realized she was about to lose her balance again. I pulled her close enough to feel the rise and fall of her chest.
“What about the university?” Teague asked. “Wouldn’t they have more advanced equipment?”
“You’ve been out of academia for too long.” Dr. Turner shook his head. “We have to fight to get funding for our most basic needs. Skrolls aren’t even in our orbit. Probably won’t be for ten or fifteen more years.”
“I can’t accept being this close to information and not being able to access it.” She walked to the window to stare out at the water. “We’ll just have to keep trying.”
Dr. Turner and Poe exchanged a look I didn’t understand. The emotion that went with it was mixed—both trust and fear.
“You know, Teague,” Dr. Turner said, “doing something rash to this piece of equipment could destroy anything stored on it. Why don’t you let me take it—”
“Oh no.” Teague spun around and held out her hand. “It doesn’t leave my sight.”
Dr. Turner didn’t let the Skroll go. “Where did you find it? That might give me a clue about how to manipulate it, the right kind of software and such.”
“Or give you a clue who to contact for leverage against me.” A history of betrayal hung between them, the kind that spoke to the fact that they’d once been allies. Teague wanted to tell him what she knew, and he wanted to hear it, but neither with the intention of helping the other.
Slimier than a snake pit, and even more twisted.
“We should find a way to work together.” Dr. Turner said.
“Why would we do that, Gerald? We don’t want the same thing.” The warmth in her cheeks didn’t match the coldness of her smile.
“That’s not always been the case. It was different when Liam was here.”
All my muscles tensed as a quick flood of adrenaline pulsed through me. Lily rubbed her hand across my back, intending to soothe. It did.
“Liam left because he’s entirely too honorable,” Teague said, lifting her delicate shoulders. “Always has been.”
“I don’t think that’s the only reason Liam left.” Before Teague could ask what he meant, Dr. Turner continued. “Maybe he left because he had information he didn’t want to share. With anyone.”
Teague frowned.
“Oh, and … his son is here, in Memphis. He doesn’t know anything about the Infinityglass, either.”
I tensed again under Lily’s hands. I could feel her heart beating.
“When did you see him?” Teague asked, her expression full of reproach.
“He was at my office.” Dr. Turner didn’t get into specifics about exactly when.
“And he knew nothing about the Infinityglass?” She assessed his reaction. “You’re a human lie detector. If you say he didn’t know, he didn’t.”
“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 of
f.”
“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.”
“Kaleb?” Lily waited for an explanation.
“My mistake. It’s okay.” I stayed beside her and scanned the crowd, trying to find someone who was obviously out of place. “The rips don’t see us. It should be easy to find one.”
“Just like it was a second ago, right?”
Doubt. Fear. More like terror.
“I bet she’s a rip.” I pointed to a woman wearing white Reebok high tops with fluorescent pink laces. I called out to her. “Ma’am?”
“Yes?” she answered.
I wasn’t expecting a response. “I like your … shoes.”
She hurried away, eyeing me strangely.
“I didn’t even know they made those anymore,” Lily said, now obviously holding the Skroll in place with her hands, ready to run.
I pushed down a creeping sense of dread. I didn’t want to tell Lily, but I was starting to worry that we were becoming planted more firmly in the crowd of rips than in reality. I wanted to run, too. Problem was, I didn’t know where to go.
“Trying again.” A teenage girl wearing a sweatshirt with the neck cut out was my next target. I could see a shiny spandex leotard underneath. I didn’t bother speaking to her; I just stepped in front of her and held out my hand. She walked into it and dissolved before she reached my body.
“Thank God,” Lily breathed out.
“Don’t relax yet.”
Poe and Teague stood on the steps by the Ramses statue, scanning the crowd.
“Run.”
Chapter 25
“We’re totally not conspicuous,” Lily said as we raced through the crowd.
“Stop running, but walk fast.”
“That I can do.”
We hurried toward the Mud Island monorail and the riverfront, weaving through parked cars. Some of the cobblestones were crumbling. “Be careful.”
“I should probably give this a little extra protection.” She slid her arms out of my shirt and wrapped the Skroll in it. “Oh no. Duck!”
Call it a stress reaction, but I had the strangest thought she’d gone back to the bird fetish thing. “
What—”
“Duck! Poe’s boots.”
She dropped to the ground behind a Honda Accord and shoved the wrapped Skroll underneath it. Then she yanked my arm, pulling me down with her. On top of her.
When things like that happen in movies, they always result in a longing look, or an almost kiss. In real life, it translated to Lily’s eyes squeezed shut in pain. She was the only thing between the cobblestones and me.
“Holy crap. You’re like … a … giant.” She smacked at my biceps as she choked the words out. I rolled onto my back with my hands on her hips, pulling her with me. She took a huge gulp of air, but instead of moving, she lifted her upper body and straddled me, craning her neck to get a glimpse of Poe. “I don’t see anyone. Maybe he wasn’t as close as I thought.”
I clenched my jaw and stared at the thin white clouds in the otherwise blue sky.
This was about to get really uncomfortable.
“Lily.”
“Oh hell. He is close. Teague’s with him.” Dropping back down, she pressed her chest against mine. Her hair tickled my neck.
“Lily.” I exhaled through my teeth. A blush of surprise colored her face, but not before a brief second of recognition passed over it. The second when she realized exactly what she was doing to me.
“Sorry.” She grinned.
“I bet.”
Scrambling to her feet, she squatted down behind the car and looked toward the river.
I took a few seconds to recover, and then crept over to the rear bumper of the Honda and peeked around the side. Teague turned back around and headed toward the Pyramid, while Poe moved to the end of the line forming to board the monorail.
We waited, crouched down. The water lapped against the dock, and hungry seagulls cried out for lunch.
“Too bad I don’t have my camera to hide behind,” Lily said, pulling the Skroll out from under the Honda and into her lap. “We could have pretended to be tourists.”