Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“We just want some quick answers,” I said. My hands were at my side, but I was poised to defend us if need be. “You were a part of this ‘movement,’ so please tell us what it’s about. Who are the Time Turners?”
“They are monsters. Manipulators. Users. Tumors. I excised them from my body. I don’t need them back. Go. Go!” Another screech split my ears. Cassius, spooked, bumped into Blake and then hit his hip against a table.
“Sorry, sorry,” Cassius said. He nearly knocked over a framed photograph. It was of Kalen holding an arm over the shoulder of a young woman who looked very much like him. Blake moved a little closer to the frame.
“Is this Rachel?” Blake asked, surprising me.
Kalen looked to Blake. The anger that had flared up seemed to momentarily ease. His expression softened, the feathers pressing flat against the sides of his head. He gave a small nod. I looked around the living room, the pieces of Kalen’s puzzle beginning to click together.
“And these figurines are all of her?”
“Yes,” Kalen answered. He picked one up off the table and kissed the head. “These are my Rachels.”
Now I understood. These weren’t manifestations of someone losing their mind; they were physical representations of the grief that held Kalen in a taloned grip. Grief was a faceless monster that loved to dwell inside the darkest parts of you, slashing out at random intervals, creating wounds that never truly healed, barely even scabbed over. These figurines were Kalen’s form of bandaging his wounds, staunching the invisible blood that flowed from the hole in his heart.
“I’m so sorry,” Blake said, hand on his chest. I echoed his sentiment.
“She was taken from me far too soon. I… I need you all to leave.” The anger returned with the blood-red tinge of raw grief. We couldn’t leave without the information we came for.
“The Time Turners. Who are they?” I pressed.
“They are the ones who promised I’d get my Rachel back. They lied. They’re all liars. Everyone. The world. Liars. You three, liars. Go!”
I glanced at Blake and Cassius and motioned to the door. Cassius started toward it, but Blake stayed at my side. “We’re on your side,” Blake said gently.
“That’s what they said. I found them because I was lost without my daughter. They offered me help in exchange for my devotion to their cause. They worship the starlight dagger, the tool they say can be used to solve all our problems. They recruit broken souls only to drain them of any hope, asking the impossible of us while they reap the rewards. They never wanted to help me, help us. Their goal is ultimate power. They want the Chaos King to reign again. To have never been imprisoned.”
That revelation chilled the room. It settled on me like toxic dust from a nuclear fallout. “What did they do to you?” I asked. Kalen looked down at the figurine in his trembling hands.
“They were running experiments. They were trying to find the key to the dagger.”
My head spun. A hundred different questions swirled like a whirlpool. “Who is running these experiments?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Kalen practically spat the words out at me. “They’ve figured it out. They know what they need.” Those dark, pained eyes flickered to me. His thin lips slipped up into a crooked smile. “And what they need is you.”
Chapter 17
A Collection Of Rachels
Blake
Kalen’s words dropped into the room with the force of a nuclear bomb.
“Xavier?” I asked. I looked to the golden dragon, confusion clear on his face. His thick eyebrows pulled together. Wrinkles formed between them. His lips were parted as if he were about to speak, but no words came out.
“Yes,” Kalen answered. He had his attention pinned on Xavier. The feathers behind his ears twitched. “They discovered that the blood of a time manipulator must be spilled by the dagger in order to activate it.”
Holy shit…
“How do you know this?” Xavier asked. It appeared as if the dust started to settle around him, but the shock continued to play across his expression.
“I still have a few connections inside the group. I get fed information. But that doesn’t matter. I know they will never bring my Rachel back, that isn’t their goal.” Kalen ran his thin fingers over a figurine, kissing the head and holding it against his chest. Cassius stood next to me, silent. I shot him a worried glance. This was beginning to spiral.
“It would explain why they kept attacking us,” I said. My mouth began to feel like sandpaper. Things were falling into place but not at all how I expected them to. “I thought I was the one being targeted, but they were never after me, were they?”
Kalen shook his head, dark eyes narrowing to slits. “Why would they be after you? Can you manipulate time as well?”