Timepiece (Hourglass 2)

“You know, I don’t even really know what my ability is. I mean, it’s telekinesis, but not the garden variety. I think Jack knows, and I think he took away anything I knew. He’ll use it against me again. If he gets another chance.”

A couple of raindrops splattered against the sidewalk. “We’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

“It won’t be easy. I was valuable to him. Valuable enough to seduce. I just don’t know why, or when he’ll come back for me.”

“Ava, I’m so sorry.”

“The worst part is … I don’t even know if I … did anything. With him.” She shuddered and closed her eyes. “But the fact that I thought about it is bad enough. He made sure to leave those memories intact.”

I understood her blackness a little bit better now.

Ava opened her eyes. “Sorry. That’s too much information, I know. I just don’t really have anyone to talk to about that kind of stuff.”

“If you don’t feel too awkward, you can talk to me whenever you want.” I frowned down at Ava in dismay, shocked I’d made the offer.

Her expression must have mirrored my own. “Let’s take twenty-four hours to think about that. Then we’ll reassess.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” she said. “But thank you. I need an ally. I feel like he’s three steps ahead of us in some crazy game, and he already knows who’s going to win.”

“We will,” I promised her. “We will.”

“I hope you’re right.” She shook her head. “Because if you aren’t, Hell’s going to come down on us like rain.”

Chapter 38

I went home.

A month ago, I would have taken off for downtown Nashville, found a bar, and drunk myself into oblivion. Now, instead of holding a beer, I had a measuring cup. And all the ingredients for peanut butter cookies. And chocolate chip.

I fumbled and lost them all when I saw what was on the kitchen island.

A box with the Crown Royal label sat in the exact, dead center. The beam from the pendant light above it shone on it like a spotlight. I dropped the cookie ingredients and picked up the box. Brand spanking new. When I ripped it open, I saw that the seal on the bottle was unbroken.

We had a stare-down, me and that bottle. It won, of course. Whisky doesn’t blink.

I twisted off the top with a snap.

Smelled it.

Got down a glass from the cabinet.

There were so many things to run from.

Things Jack wanted me to run from.

I realized then who had left the bottle.

I thought of my dad, and all the things he’d finally trusted me with. Michael, and the understanding we’d come to.

And then I heard Lily’s voice. “You’re worth more than what you’ll find at the bottom of a bottle.”

I put the glass back in the cabinet and upended the liquor into the sink.

“I question your sanity sometimes, Ballard, but I know you aren’t an idiot.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Shorty.”