Hourglass (13 page)

I was still trying to interpret the look he’d directed at Cat, so it took a second for Michael’s words to break through. “I thought you said we were the only ones who can travel?”

“We are.” He sat down beside me again but moved his chair a little farther away. “But time as a concept is fluid. It can be slowed down, sped up, stopped.”

I thought of the most impossible, movielike scenario I could. “So if someone were shooting at me and I had the ability to stop time, I could pluck the bullet out of the air before it hit me?” I asked, laughing.

He didn’t crack a smile. “Does the fact that such a thing is possible upset you?”

“No more than any of the rest of it,” I mumbled, the laughter dying in my throat. I dropped my head into my hands. “Why is it I suddenly feel I’m on the more normal end of the freak spectrum?”

“I keep trying to tell you normal is relative,” he said. “Do you need a second?”

I needed a millennium. “Can I … Can I do those other things? Stop a bullet?”

“All indications are that your ability is traveling to the past.”

“That’s enough,” I said, feeling a little better. Although stopping a bullet would be a handy skill for a girl to have. “So what about everyone else?”

“Nate is kind of like Oliver Twist mixed with David Blaine.” Michael wiggled his fingers as if coaxing a rabbit out of a top hat. “Thievery skills with illusionist abilities. He can slow things down, speed things up, including himself—all depending on his needs.”

“How did he end up here?” I asked, frowning. “That doesn’t seem like the kind of ability Liam would’ve encouraged.”

“He didn’t encourage it. Not for financial gain anyway. But there are other reasons to need stealth.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Dune can influence water. It’s handier than it sounds. Ava … well. She’s still trying to figure some things out.” Michael gave me an apologetic smile that faded as he glanced toward the back stairs. “Speaking of Ava, I have to talk to her. Then we can head back to Ivy Springs.”

“I’ll be right here.”

Seething with envy.

He disappeared through the doorway leading to the stairs. It sounded as if he took them two at a time. I focused my attention on Cat. “What are Nate and Dune doing today?”

“A consult job I set up. Dune can control things like the tide and the direction a river flows. It’s helpful when we’re looking for certain things, but it’s not something he can use very often. He’s also a research genius, which comes in handy …”

She continued, and I tried to pay attention, but my mind strayed to Michael in Ava’s room. What were they doing up there? She said she needed to talk to him. I really hoped they were talking. I really wished she weren’t so gorgeous. I really wanted to go upstairs and listen outside her door. I hadn’t told Michael when he questioned me the day before, but I
had
learned how to eavesdrop at boarding school. From the other students. Not the teachers.

I realized Cat was silent and waiting for a response to something she’d said.

“What? Oh my word, I’m so sorry.” I sat up, horrified, my hands flying to my mouth.

“It’s fine—I promise. I know your mind is elsewhere.”

“That obvious?” I covered my face to hide the blush I felt coming on.

“I understand the way it is between the two of you,” she said in her lilting voice. “It was the same way with Liam and his wife.”

“What do you mean? How was it?”

“Cataclysmic.” Cat let out a chuckle at my facial expression and gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder.

I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, slower than they had been going up. Michael entered the room alone, his face drawn. “If we don’t leave soon, your brother’s going to send out a search party.”

“Considering I haven’t talked to him since yesterday, it might include torches and pitchforks.”

“You ready?” He looked toward the back door. “I want to get out of here.”

“Let’s go.”

It seemed as if there was trouble in paradise.

I could only hope.

Chapter 28

I
dropped Michael off at his car, and we planned to meet at Murphy’s Law once we got back to Ivy Springs. I owed Lily an explanation. Before going into the coffee shop I checked my voice mail. Seven messages from Thomas.

My ass was grass, and big brother was the lawn mower.

I parked and crossed the town square, trying to figure out what in the world I was going to say to Lily. I paused outside Murphy’s Law to try to come up with a good story. Or at least a decent lie.

Through the plate-glass window I could see her leaning against the counter, staring off into space. Her fingers held a pencil that moved at a furious pace across a pad of paper. I opened the front door and the jangling bell caught her attention. She shoved the pencil and drawing into her apron pocket and put her hands on her hips.

“Girl.”

The emphasis she placed on the word asked a hundred questions at once.

“It’s not what you think,” I said defensively.

“Then I’m very disappointed for you.”

That made two of us. “I haven’t been with him since he picked me up here! Last night, I had to go out for … something, and I ran into Michael and it got late and we lost track of time and—”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” She took the dishrag from her shoulder and began polishing the counter needlessly. “Your secrets are yours to keep.”

“Lily, please.” I reached out and pulled the cloth from her hand. “I’m not trying to keep anything from you. This … thing … with Michael is more than complicated. Please believe me.”

“It’s okay. I understand. But you have to throw me a bone and tell me if the personality is as hot as the package.”

I gave her a slow grin before faking a heart attack, clutching my chest, and backing up a few steps. Falling against the counter, I slid to the floor, twitched a couple of times for effect, and then burst into giggles.

“You are not right,” Lily said, but she laughed as she pulled me to my feet. I handed her the dishrag and reached behind her for a to-go coffee cup. I was starting to drag after the long night. Being around Michael kept my energy up, and now that he wasn’t close to me it felt like I was coming down from an adrenaline high.

“Can I talk to you seriously for a sec?” I pulled the lever on the coffee machine that dispensed the bold blend, inhaling deeply when the liquid began to fill my cup.

“What’s up?”

“Do you ever wonder what your life would be like now, if your parents were here instead of in Cuba?”

“Yes.” She pulled up the bar stools she kept behind the counter in case things were slow and she had a moment to sit. “All the time. Are you wondering what it would be like if yours were still alive?”

“I am.” I clambered onto my stool. Lily and her long legs made everything look so effortless. I practically needed a stepladder. “I wonder about the whole depression thing, too. If the accident never happened, if my parents had been there for me to lean on—would I have been able to handle everything better than I did?”

“You’ll never know. And you can’t go back in time. No one can.”

I didn’t see any point in correcting her.

“The thing is, Em, you don’t know if you struggled with the depression because of your circumstances or if it’s a chemical thing. You might have to deal with it again. So you do everything you can to keep yourself well, whether that means meds or counseling or … whatever.” She threw up her hands. “Vigorous exercise … I don’t know.”

We both laughed. Lily knew I didn’t like to talk about my depression, but whenever we did, she always made a tremendous effort to affirm me, and my choices. Another reason to love her.

“What do you think about the supernatural?”

She frowned. “You mean like werewolves or ghosts?”

“Maybe, but more like superhero stuff—special abilities like mind reading or precognition.”

Or manipulating time.

Raising one eyebrow skeptically, she asked, “Did you walk away from your drink last night? Did somebody slip you something?”

“Lily, I’m serious.”

She chewed the nail of her pinky finger, silent for a moment, frowning. “I don’t have an opinion.”

“You have to have an opinion,” I argued. “Are you really going to tell me you haven’t ever thought about it?”

“No, I haven’t. And I really don’t want to think about it now,” she said firmly.

“Hey, it’s cool.” I’d never seen Lily react that way to a simple question. “I just wondered.”

“When do you see Delicious again?” Lily shifted on her stool, folding the cloth in her hands in half.

“He’s going to meet me here so we can go talk to Thomas. He wasn’t very happy his little sis spent the night out.”

“Does your brother have a gun? If so, get Delicious a bulletproof vest. That boy is way too pretty to have a big hole in him.”

“No,” I said, laughing at the thought of my straightlaced brother with a firearm. “Thomas doesn’t have a gun. I’m sure everything will be fine once we explain.”

At least I hoped it would.

“Explain about how you just lost track of time,” Lily said. “Right?”

“Um … right.”

I had been keeping my own counsel for years. I didn’t know what it was like to truly confide everything in a friend, and here I was, wishing I could tell Lily all of it. There were too many secrets in my life.

The bell jangled again as someone entered the coffee shop. I knew it was Michael when my energy level jumped ten notches. He walked up to the counter, smiling at Lily.

“Michael,” I said, “this is Lilliana Garcia.”

Lily, usually articulate and poised—the perfect example of grace—just sat on her stool and giggled.

“Nice to meet you, Lilliana.”

“Call me Lily.” Her voice did the Marilyn Monroe thing, and I wondered if Michael had that effect on every girl he met.

“Nice to meet you, Lily.” He flashed another smile, and I heard her whimper under her breath. When he looked at me, his expression softened. “Em, you ready to face the music?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Lily stared at Michael as if she would scale Mount Everest and swim the English Channel if he asked. I snapped to get her attention. “Lily?
Lily?
”

“Yes?” She dragged her eyes away from him and cleared her throat before she spoke. The husky voice was wasted on me anyway. “Yes?”

“Unless Thomas locks me in my room, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good luck.” Her fingers fluttered in a feminine wave. “Bye, Michael.”

We turned to leave, and I noticed Lily making wild gestures to get my attention behind Michael’s back. When I looked over my shoulder, I was treated to a mimed performance of a full-blown body slam. And maybe some French kissing, but I closed my eyes before I could be sure.

I dragged him from the shop into the afternoon heat before Lily embarrassed herself, or me. We walked through the middle of the town square, passing a bubbling fountain and several wrought-iron benches on our way to Dru’s car. I’d miraculously parallel parked it in a spot without a coin meter. Michael’s convertible sat right behind it.

“You think you can work some of your magic on my brother?” I asked as we waited for a rusty pickup truck to pass before we crossed the street. The exhaust from its tailpipe lingered in the air, and I wrinkled my nose as we passed through it.

“What are you talking about?”

I pressed the remote for the keyless entry, and the car chirped. “Don’t even try to tell me you didn’t notice Lily’s reaction to you. She
never
acts like that around guys.”

He rolled his eyes and reached out to open my car door for me.

“I’m serious about working the magic,” I said as I climbed into the SUV, the heat from the leather warming the backs of my legs.

“I think you’re a little optimistic about my skills. I can’t imagine your brother is going to be too thrilled about your spending the night with me, even if I can morph into Houdini.”

“I didn’t spend the night with you. I mean not,
spend the night
, spend the night.” Now my face felt as warm as my legs. I stayed quiet for a moment, staring at the steering wheel and waiting for my embarrassment to subside. “Anyway … about going back to help Liam. It isn’t safe, is it?”

“There’s definitely a huge amount of risk involved,” he answered, leaning over to rest his hand on the frame of the open car door, his wide shoulders blocking the light of the sun.

I leaned back, glad I didn’t have to squint up at him anymore. I preferred an eyes-wide-open view. “People at the Hourglass know what you can do. What if word gets out that you found a partner, someone who can help you change things?”

“Remember, Kaleb’s still on the inside, and he hasn’t heard anything,” Michael said, rapping his knuckles against the driver’s window. “Jonathan’s probably too busy covering his tracks right now to listen to any rumors.”

“So he’s busy,” I said, feeling tiny beads of perspiration form on my forehead and upper lip. “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know about me.”

“We’ve taken precautions,” he assured me. “There’s no way anyone at the Hourglass could know anything, except for Kaleb, and he won’t say a word.”

Getting hotter by the second, I cranked the SUV, turning on the air and adjusting the vents. “What about Liam’s wife?”

“When you have a bond like theirs … that close … After he died, she got really sick.” Michael looked across the street toward the fountain.

“Is she all right? Did she die?” I couldn’t imagine coming out of hiding and finding out the person I loved was no longer in the world.

He looked back at me. “Not sick like that.”

“Oh.” My kind of sick.

“If we can bring him back, she’ll be okay,” Michael insisted. A breeze blew through the open door, erasing the remnants of the truck exhaust, bringing the scent of mums. “Everything will be. I have to believe that.”

I hoped he was right. “Do you really think Jonathan Landers will stop if we save Liam?”

“No. He’s had a taste of power. I think what drives him so hard is his desire to be like us, even though he knows he can’t. If he finds out you were involved, I can’t promise he won’t come after you.” His expression grew fierce. “But I can promise I’ll do everything possible to keep him from getting to you.”

The way he said the words caused a shiver to run over my skin. I focused on the windshield, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel.

Weighing options.

If everything Michael and Cat had told me was true, my ability would allow me to save a man, a man with a wife and a son. A man whose whole life had been about helping others. Not only had he started a school for people like me, he had also provided employment. A future.

Then there was Jonathan Landers. If Michael was to be believed, Landers exploited those with abilities, used them. I guessed he had no problem feeding on insecurity and fear to convince people to do what he wanted. Before I met Michael, I would’ve been a perfect target.

It was a clear-cut choice.

I looked into Michael’s eyes, touching his arm to make sure I had his full attention. “I’m in.”

Michael jumped, either from the shock of my fingers on his skin or my words. “Are you sure?”

“How can I say no to saving someone’s life?” I pulled my hand away, tucking it under my leg. “And if I help … well, it’s a good reason to be a freak.”

“Em, you aren’t a—”

“Michael. I am a freak. So are you, so is Cat, so are Dune and Nate, and so is … whoever else the Hourglass has helped.” I didn’t want to make Ava part of this conversation. “But for the first time in my life, it’s actually okay. Now I’m a freak with a purpose.”

“Tell me why. Why do you want to help?” I felt the weight he gave to the “why.” It was almost as if the reason for helping was more important than the act itself.

“Not because you pressured me, or because of anything you said. Maybe it’s just the thought of what Liam’s life meant when he was alive. He was exactly like me, and he made a difference.”

That seemed to be the answer he was looking for. His eyes searched my face. “Promise me that you’re sure.”

“I said I’m in, and I’m in. One hundred percent. Don’t ask me again. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Michael gave me a mock salute, but I sensed admiration beneath the teasing. “If you’re in, we need to tell your brother. Everything.”

I tapped my fingers on my leg. “Do I have to?”

“Thomas trusts me. I have lots of reasons not to betray that trust.” Michael reached out and laid his hand on mine, stopping me from tapping. Heat shot up my arm. “What do you think he’ll say?”

“He’ll probably get over the fact that I spent the night out pretty quick. I mean, comparatively speaking, there’s no competition.” I grinned. “But seriously, Thomas won’t get in the way of any choices I make.”

“Even dangerous ones?”

“We’ll find out, I guess.”

He squeezed my hand. “Okay then. Are you ready?”

“Nope.” I squeezed back. “Let’s go.”