Grateful my vision had adjusted to the dim light, I looked around the room. A plush velvet ottoman sat in front of an armchair fifteen feet away from me. I hurried over to it, praying it was on wheels. Finally, success.
Rolling the ottoman over to the door, I climbed up precariously and knocked the key to the ground. It pinged when it hit the hardwood floor. Not bothering to return either of the items to their proper places, I slipped the key into the lock.
The cold air outside made my eyes water. Lights were on in the lab, and no one occupied the frozen expanse of yard. I crossed my fingers, snuck down the patio steps, and took off running.
I reached the tree line that bordered the woods fairly quickly. I wished I could see something, someone to let me know I’d come out of the bridge in the right time period.
Wish granted.
I scrambled for quick refuge, sliding inside the abandoned building with the rotting floor that Michael had once told me to avoid. Even though the door barely hung from the hinges, I pushed it closed with a soft scuffing sound—the smell of molding leaves and gasoline permeating my nostrils. The floor looked to be in good enough shape. Even if it wasn’t, it didn’t matter.
I had no other alternatives at the moment.
Landers and Ava were already in the woods, walking straight toward me.
I opened the door half an inch, leaving just enough space so I could see outside.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be. But I forgive you. Do your job well, and maybe I’ll reward you.”
“Whatever you say, whatever you want.”
If possible, the conversation was even more desperate the second time around. At least now I knew that Michael and Liam were in the lab, and that I was merely a few feet away, hiding behind a tree, listening to the same conversation.
That was weird.
I leaned as close to the door as I dared, peering through the crack with one eye.
Jack stood, starkly handsome against the winter landscape, carrying the cool assurance that he was justified in what he was about to allow. It made me hate him even more.
“How long do you think we have before they come looking for us?” Something about Ava’s voice was different now, maybe because they were closer to me this time. Or maybe because she sounded scared.
“They won’t come looking. There will be no evidence this was caused by a time-related ability.” He threw off her worry as if it were meaningless—he was right to do so. According to Kaleb, no traditional authority even knew anything like the Hourglass existed. “Stop being so concerned with the repercussions. You act like policing me is your job.”
o;I understand.”
Chapter 50
The cicadas sang cheerfully as we drove through the dusky twilight on the way to the Hourglass. It made what I was about to do feel even more surreal, as if I should be catching lightning bugs in a jar and playing flashlight tag instead of resurrecting the dead.
Cat maneuvered her car up the long drive skillfully, keeping a close eye on the rearview mirror. Satisfied that no one had followed us, she pulled over, parking close to a willow tree. The low-hanging branches partially obscured the car.
“We’re going to go straight to Liam’s old office inside the house. Follow me, and act like you’re supposed to be here, no matter who we see or what they say.”
“Got it.”
“When I open the bridge, you need to focus on when you and Michael went into the lab together. And you have to be careful not to be seen by anyone—I mean anyone, Emerson. No matter how tempted you are to call out to Michael, you can’t do it until after you and Liam have left the lab. You’ll have seconds before the explosion.”
I looked down at my clothing and hoped it would be enough to persuade him it was a “different” me. We’d cleaned up the warm coat I wore to travel back to save Liam as best as we could, and I’d added a bright green scarf. I had my hair long and loose instead of pulled back in a ponytail. I’d also tucked Kaleb’s silver circle into my pocket as a good-luck charm.
“You have to convince him to cooperate. If he refuses, if something happens to you …”
She didn’t have to complete the sentence. If anything happened to me, no one would be coming back to save us.
“You keep saying ‘if.’ It’s not doing a lot for my confidence.”
She grasped my forearm and squeezed. “You need to understand what kind of risk you’re taking. Do you?”