Time's Daughter (11 page)

My inability to see meant I couldn’t gauge how long
I’d been inside or how far we’d traveled before the vehicle’s
engine went quiet. Once again I was lifted, carried a good distance
and then dropped on a hard floor—this one stone. The room smelled
of fire as if a wood-burning stove was in use. I could make out the
crackling in the distance. The thing did a poor job of warming up
the place because I chattered and shivered.

Someone tore the rope from my legs. Another
individual yanked me into a standing position. I stood blind and
shaking in a strange place with what I assumed were abnormal
creatures. I’d never been more terrified in my life.

The blindfold and gag were removed with little care
for my hair. I winced as a few strands were ripped out of my
scalp.

Slowly, reluctantly, I drew open my eyelids. And I
wished I’d kept them shut.

It wasn’t one, or two kidnappers but
five
black-haired individuals standing in front of me. Out of the corner
of my eyes I could tell there were
more
beside me and no
doubt a few behind me. My terror grew in the form of faster
shivers.

The figure at the center had an intimidating frame
and regal air that marked him as the boss of this gathering. This
man with raven-hair and penetrating dark eyes shared many of Alex’s
traits—that Nordic nose, those unremarkable lips and a lack of
cheekbones. He was certainly a relation perhaps thirty-years Alex’s
senior, and he was a fine looking man.

Two men stood to his left. One appeared to be in his
twenties. The other male—sporting a head of silver-threaded black
hair—was older than anyone in the room. To the man’s right were two
women with straight raven hair that fell to the middle of their
backs. They shared Alex’s steel blue eyes.

“
You are the one who has been
time-stopping,” the man spoke gruffly in a voice that was deeper
than Alex’s. “And yet you refuse to declare yourself to
us.”

I’d have been annoyed if I hadn’t been so fearful of
the gathered beings.
They
were new in town. If anyone was
supposed to be declaring themselves, shouldn’t it be them to
me?

“
What are you?” he demanded in a
voice that couldn’t be ignored.

“
I don’t know,” I said with a
frightened croak.

The man’s eyebrows drew inward, clearly irritated.
“You’re not a Time witch?”

I was too scared to even shake my head. “I don’t
think so,” I squeaked.

“
How is it that you stop
time?”

“
I’m not really sure.”

“
What did you do just before you
stopped it during the most recent incident?”

I mimed my movements as I explained. “I held out my
hand, inhaled and wished I had more time to stop the mugging.”

“
The mugging?” He swiveled his head
to the side.

I resisted the urge to look. No doubt Alex was one
of the figures in my peripheral vision to the left. “Yes, I saw
someone in a black hood with his hands hidden. I assumed he was
going to mug my friends and me. So I froze time to stop it.”

The man grunted, drawing his attention back toward
me. “Where did you get this power?”

I inhaled an unsteady breath. I was near to tears. I
could barely admit the truth to myself let alone a room full of
scary strangers.

“
Well?” he demanded
fiercely.

I remembered what Alex had said. If I lied, they
would know and by the look of them, lying would be worse than
telling the truth.

“
I don’t think I’m allowed to say,”
I whispered.

A low growl came from his part of the room. “Girl,
you are here because you refused to tell my son the answer to this
question. You will tell me or I will be forced to do something rash
to protect my clan.”

“
Please
.” My voice shook
miserably. “I don’t even know how to use it and the few times I
have, it hasn’t affected Alex. I’m not a danger to any of
you.”

“
A Time witch can wreak all manner
of havoc we can’t control. An
untrained
Time witch is far
worse. You aren’t just a danger to us, you’re a danger to the
universe.”

A danger to the
universe
? That was serious!
“But I don’t think I’m a Time witch!”

The man stepped forward until he was halfway between
the line behind him and me. “Were you born like this?”

“
No.”

“
Did someone give you this
power?”

“
Yes.”

“
Who?”

My eyes slid shut. Tears slipped from beneath the
lids and streamed down my face.

“
Look at her. She’s terrified,” Alex
said anxiously from beside me.

“
Silence! Girl, who gave you this
power?”

I was crying in earnest when I answered. “My
father.”

“
Now we’re getting somewhere,” one
of the females behind him chimed in.

I didn’t like the bitter, sardonic delivery of it.
Wasn’t it enough that I had the patriarch shouting at me?

He continued with his interrogation with an
impatient, “Is your father a Time witch?”

I nearly laughed—little more than a breath left my
nose.

“
That’s
funny
?” the man
roared and took two steps toward me.

I shrunk back, wide-eyed and petrified but I managed
to answer him. “My father isn’t a Time witch.”

“
What is he then?”

I looked the man in the eye and gave him the ragged
answer he was looking for. “Time.”

The slate eyes narrowed angrily. “
Time
? Are
you toying with us, girl?”

“
My father is Time,” I answered him
in a steadier voice.

There was a commotion from all around as the figures
spoke over each other furiously. I didn’t understand any of what
was being said but I heard many snarls and growls.

“
You are toying with us,” the man
said. He faced Alex. “You told us she truly didn’t
understand.”

“
She doesn’t,” Alex said.

He thrust a long golden finger at me. “Then what is
this blatant defiance?”

“
She isn’t lying,” Alex insisted.
“You
know
she isn’t. Ask her another question. Aeon, lie to
him.”

“
Who is your father?” the man
demanded once again.

“
Bob,” I answered with a lie as
requested.

The man grunted but turned away. He walked back to
the others. “Time,” he said. “How can something abstract like
‘time’ be your father?”

Clearly they weren’t going to let me go until I
explained more.

“
His name is Aeon,” I said. “You
might know him by his alter ego Chronos.”

“
Chronos?” Someone echoed from
behind me. “The Greek god?”

“
Yes.”

The leader snorted sardonically. “You expect us to
believe you are the daughter of a god?”

“
No.” The man’s face darkened. I
quickly qualified my answer. “
I
barely believe it myself so
of course you shouldn’t.”

“
How did this happen?”

I couldn’t look him in the eye when I relayed the
tale. “I don’t know the full story but I know he met my mom
seventeen years ago at a picnic in the park. They hit it off and
nine months later I was born.”

He laughed harshly. “The daughter of a god.”

“
Maybe she’s delusional,” another
male voice said from beside me. “She truly believes this
madness.”

The leader turned back to me. “Why did your father
give you this power?”

They already knew the most ridiculous parts of the
tale. I might as well come clean with the rest of it. I lifted my
gaze to his. “He told me something bad was about to happen in
Junction Hill and that I’d need part of my heritage to stop
it.”

Many of them exchanged looks. Several began quiet
conversations.

The leader questioned again. “Part of your
heritage?”

He wanted a better explanation. I didn’t have one.
“He didn’t explain what any of it meant. Just mumbled some words in
a language I didn’t understand and then disappeared.”

The longer I spent surrounded by these menacing
people, the more I began to think they were the “something bad”
Chronos had warned of.

“
Do you know of any other abilities
you have apart from the ability to stop time?”

“
No,” I said.

The leader made a dismissive gesture. Someone jerked
me back. During the half second before I was twirled around and
forced forward I saw Alex watching me with pained eyes.

Apparently they’d gotten all of the information
they’d wanted out of me. Now it was time to dispose of me and they
didn’t want to mess up their nice floor.
Would they take me out
back and shoot me like a rabid dog?

My handler shoved me through a door into a
pitch-black room—a space little bigger than a closet. He left me
alone. The raised voices of an argument were obvious through the
door but I couldn’t make out what was said.

Perhaps they were debating over who got to do the
honors.

CHAPTER
NINE

I slid my fingers around the wall behind me until
I found where the doorknob was. It was locked. What was I supposed
to do now?

I couldn’t go down without a fight. Maybe I could
escape if I had the element of surprise. I moved directly behind
the door—where they’d look last.

The voices quieted until fewer and fewer could be
heard. Then it went silent. That was when I began to truly
fear.

The doorknob quietly turned and then light poured
into the room. A silhouette of a man was cast against the back
wall.

Strangely he stepped inside and closed the door
behind him without looking for me. I launched myself where I
thought he’d be. He nearly fell over with a ferocious snarl but
somehow he maintained his balance. A hand shoved me back. I slammed
into the wall. My teeth snapped down on part of my tongue. I howled
in pain.

“
What the hell are you trying to do,
Aeon?” Alex’s annoyed voice cut through the darkness. “You’re lucky
it was me. If it had been any of the others…”

Until the pain subsided I couldn’t speak and I
didn’t know what I’d say anyway.

“
Aeon?”

“
Ouch.”

“
I’m sorry,” he said but didn’t
sound all that regretful. “You startled me. It was
reflexive.”

I snorted. I could care less if I’d startled him.
His family was going to kill me.

His sigh filled the tiny room. “They’ve sent me in
to see if I can get more information.” There was a pause. “What’s
supposed to happen in Junction Hill that you have to stop?”

“
I don’t know. I already told you
guys that.”

“
Is it us?”

I nearly smiled until I realized that it was
possible somehow they could read minds. How else would they know
when someone was lying?

“
I don’t know,” I said. “But I can
say that right now you guys do seem like the most dangerous things
in Junction Hill.”

“
I tried to avert this,” he reminded
me. “But you wouldn’t answer my questions.”

“
Do you blame me? I mean, now that
you know the answer, do you blame me for trying to keep it a
secret?”

“
Are you really the daughter of a
god?”

I exhaled noisily. “I don’t really know. All I know
is months ago I had a weird dream where a guy claiming to be
Chronos said he was my father. When I told my mom about the dream
she had a panic attack, said something about a hot guy at a picnic
seventeen years ago and then passed out. The next day I stopped
time for five seconds and Wednesday I saved Guy the camera guy by
freezing it for far longer.” I turned it back on him. “So you’ve
never heard of children of the gods before?”

“
No.”

That meant he was abnormal in a
different
way. “Then what are you all?”

“
Have you heard of other children of
the gods?”

It annoyed me that he’d ignored my question but
there was little I could do about it. I was still at their mercy.
“Other than Hercules? No.”

It sounded as if his head shook but I couldn’t be
sure because it was dark. “My family thinks you’re insane.”

“
Well, I think your family is a
menace.”

“
You shouldn’t say things like that
while in our house,” he hissed quietly. “They can hear
you.”

My stomach flipped at the thought of them hearing
me. “They haven’t exactly been hospitable. Anyone who kidnaps a
girl, demands an accounting of her parentage and then shoves her
bound into solitary confinement is getting nothing but disdain from
me.”

“
Again, if you’d—”

“
Yes, yes,” I’d have gestured
dismissively if I could have moved my arms. “It’s all my fault.
Look, did you get the answers you came in here for or
what?”

“
I guess,” he grumbled. “I’d hoped
you’d be more cooperative.”

“
I’ve told you literally everything
I know. There is nothing left to tell.” I slowed the words down so
he’d be certain to grasp them all. “I. Know. Nothing.”

He exhaled once more then turned for the door.

After I’d been left in the darkness again I found it
nearly impossible to ignore the pain in my tongue. It was such a
minor discomfort compared to the prospect of death and yet I
couldn’t seem to get past it.

An argument broke out again further in their house.
This time snarls and growls were easy to pick out through the door.
An inhuman screech shook the walls. I scrambled into a corner.
Silence followed it.