Timepiece

Her fingers felt every inch of the map twice. Her mouth turned down at the corners. “I don’t feel this one.”

“That’s because it isn’t a map of France.”

She growled at me.

“Okay, try the Leaning Tower of Pisa—”

“There.” She opened her eyes. “I think I’ve got it.”

Her cheeks were flushed, and the excitement in her voice was contagious. I took her face in my hands and kissed her hard on the lips. “You can do it.”

“We can.” She pointed at the Skroll. “Let’s start with North America.”

Two hours and seven continents later, we had nothing.

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” Lily stretched her neck from side to side and rolled her shoulders. “We haven’t even gotten a hint.”

“Take a break,” I told her, touching her cheek. “Maybe we’re pushing too hard.”

“What if it doesn’t exist, Kaleb?” She leaned against the couch, dropping her head back and closing her eyes. Hopelessness.

“My dad thinks it does.” I had to hold on to his belief. I might not have seen the evidence, but he’d seen enough to make finding the Infinityglass one of his life goals. I knew how much he loved my mother, how pure it was. He’d never risk their relationship on something that couldn’t be real. He wouldn’t.

I navigated back to the main page of the Skroll and spun through every icon, hoping we’d overlooked something. One file didn’t have a title at all. I tapped twice to open it.

The hologram displayed familiar writing.

I used the stylus to quickly advance the pages. “No way.”

Lily sat up and opened her eyes, focusing on the image hovering between us. “What’s wrong?”

“These are my dad’s files, the ones that Jack and Cat stole. They’ve been scanned in. They list everyone he’s come across in his research who could have a time-related ability.” So many names. I sped through faster and faster. “It doesn’t make sense. Unless …”

“What?”

“Dad expected Jack to use the files as a bargaining chip with Chronos. How did they end up on the Skroll?”

I advanced to the letter C and saw Emerson’s name. It felt wrong to read it now.

“Will you …” Lily sounded strange, as if she was trying to stop herself from asking the question. “Will you go to the Gs next?”

“Why?”

“I want you to look for me.”

I advanced the pages. “Nothing.”

She exhaled. “Try Diaz.”

“Diaz?” I went backward from the Gs. “There are three on the list. Jorge, Eduardo, and Pillar.”

Lily gasped.

“Do you know these people?” I asked.

“Pilli was what my father called me, a pet name. That’s why my abuela chose Lily once we got to America, because it sounded similar and was less confusing for me. My real name is Pillar Diaz.” She stared down at the Skroll. “Does it say what I can do?”

“Not you. It just says your grandfather and father had seeker abilities. There’s a question mark by Pillar’s … by your name.”

“You know what this means.”

“I do.”

“Jack couldn’t get to my father or grandfather, so he brought Abi and me here. He found us, just like he found Emerson. And just like he wanted to use Emerson to change his past, he wants to use me to find things.” Her voice was steel, but her heart was broken. “He had to get me to this time, and this place, so I could find the Infinityglass.”

The door opening behind me caught me off guard. Lily’s scream tipped the balance.

The blow to my skull did the rest.

I opened my eyes, but I still couldn’t see.

Blindfolded. I couldn’t move my arms or legs, and I was gagged. My left wrist felt like someone had taken a hammer to it.

Worst of all was that I couldn’t feel Lily’s emotions, no matter how far I stretched.

But the stale air of the gatehouse was familiar.

I rocked side to side. Once I had momentum, I pitched my chair over, pulling outward with my legs. I landed on my right shoulder, and pieces of chair went flying the second I hit the ground.

I pulled off the blindfold and removed the gag. My wrist was blue, and possibly broken.

Lily’s jacket was still on the floor, but she and the Skroll were nowhere to be found.

I got loose from the remaining pieces of chair, somehow managing to cut a five-inch slice on the inside of my right arm with an exposed screw.

Then I ran like hell for the main house.

Chapter 49

“I can’t feel her.”

Ava and I sat in a corner of the emergency room, which was blessedly empty. She’d insisted on taking me to the hospital.

“That doesn’t have to mean the worst.”

“I put her in this situation. Nothing can happen.” My voice broke, and I stared at a framed print of Monet’s water lilies on the wall until I regained control. Lilies. “It’s been three hours. The sun is coming up, her grandmother is home, and she’ll know Lily’s missing.”

“Are you sure you’ve told us everything?” Ava asked. “It’s going to be easier to find her if we know every detail, especially if you have to wait for X-rays and a cast and we have to go looking by ourselves.”

Ava looked toward the sliding double doors of the emergency entrance. Dune and Nate walked in, holding four cups of coffee.

“Fracture?” Nate asked, looking at my arm.

“Don’t know yet.”

I doubted Dune would ever forgive me for breaking into his room and stealing the Skroll. Even so, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I can’t feel Lily. Has anyone heard from Emerson or Michael?”

Nate stared up at the red exit sign, blinking as if he was holding back tears. The fact that he was serious scared me as much as anything could.

“No,” Dune said. “Thomas has the cops on it. He freaked when Em didn’t come home last night.”

Almost everyone I loved was in danger, and I was in a hospital waiting for stitches and an X-ray.

“I don’t know who has Lily.” The possibility that it was Poe sent ice down my spine. Jack wasn’t any better. He’d keep her alive long enough to use her ability to find the one thing he wanted, and then he’d discard her. “I need to get out of here. My arm can wait.”

“Ballard?” A young, smiling nurse with pink scrubs, red hair, and white shoes called my name. She had a clipboard in her hands and a pen stuck in her bun.

“No,” Ava argued. “Your arm is all bendy. You can’t leave without seeing a doctor.”

“I’ll be fine. Let’s just go.” I stood up.

“Dude,” Nate said. “You’ll be useless if you don’t get that arm fixed. Trust us to look for Lily. We want her found, too.”

He waited for me to read him. Loyalty, fear, conviction. The same feelings came from Dune and Ava.

“Ballard?” The nurse had removed the pen from her hair and was now tapping it on her clipboard, looking at us pointedly, but still smiling.

“Thank you.” I could only whisper.