Hourglass (Hourglass 1)

I wouldn’t let history repeat itself.

“I promised you that you would be safe, and I don’t want you anywhere near this lab. Go with Liam to the car. Please? Time is running out.”

“I’m sure Michael knows what he’s doing. We’re just holding him up.”

“Go. Stay safe. I’ll get to you when I can.”

The second I was positive the pathway to the front door was clear, I stepped away from the side of the building and into the lab.

Michael stood frozen; his shoulders slumped forward, defeated. His fingers gripped the body as if it was a lifeline.

“Michael!”

He looked up, and his eyes widened, filling with fear. Shaking his head violently, he said, “Why are you here? Get out, Em, run!”

“No.” Grabbing Michael’s wrist, I kicked at John Doe as hard as I could, and the body fell to the ground. It landed with a thud, one arm escaping from the plastic it was wrapped in. The sight turned my stomach. “We both run.”

Still holding tight to Michael, I dragged him outside and hauled ass, my feet pounding against the frozen ground. I heard Michael’s heavy breathing behind me as he followed me through the woods and into the tiny shack.

Two seconds after the door shut behind us, the lab burst into flames.

Chapter 52

What did you do? Emerson, what have you done?”

“I saved your life.”

“The rules—”

“Don’t say anything about rules, or you’ll be dead in the future because I killed you. No one else is following them besides you, and I’ll be damned if some misguided sense of honor makes you do something stupid right now.” My heart was so conflicted. Part of me wanted to throw my arms around him and never let go. The other part wanted to rage at him for knowing that he was going to die and choosing to do so instead of stopping it.

“Why did you come back to get me?”

Rage took a clear lead. “Did you even think, for one second, about what losing you would do to me? To your mom and sister? To Kaleb? To all the people who care about you?”

“It was all I could think about.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I didn’t have a choice. It was the way things were supposed to happen. Once I knew that you would make it back safely—” He stopped. “I had to believe you’d be okay with my choice, eventually. And you were.”

“Was I?”

He stared up at the ceiling. “When I saw you, you were being taken care of. You were … loved.”

“Who was taking care of me?”

He met my eyes. “Kaleb.”

I shook my head.

“So I knew you had a future. I had to let go of the fact that I wasn’t part of it.”

“Maybe I don’t want a future without you in it.” I licked my lips and tried to push down my nerves. How screwed up was I? The prospect of a conversation about my feelings was more terrifying than the drama going down outside the door. “Did you think of that?”

“My death was staring me in the face. I shouldn’t have been able to think of anything, but there you were, at the top of the list.”

I wondered how I ranked so high.