Infinityglass(16)

“I can. I’m making my final decision this afternoon.” He set his jaw. “Whoever I choose will start tomorrow. Prepare yourself.”



My phone rang just as I reached the top of the stairs.

I didn’t want to answer, but I always did. I stopped in front of the window seat in the upper hallway that looked out over the street. “Hello, Mother.”

“Good morning, Hallie.”

“It’s already afternoon.” I wondered if she was in a different time zone. I strained to listen for background noises on her end of the line.

“Why must you always split hairs?”

“What do you want?” I dropped down onto the red velvet cushion and watched a dragonfly repeatedly crash into the window. I figured they’d all have taken to the swamps with the recent cold snap.

“You’ve usually hung up by this point in our conversations. What’s stopping you today?”

Poe. The fact that my mother always had me on a hook. The endless pull between wanting her approval and wishing she didn’t exist at all. It tore at me constantly, leaving my insides busted up and oozing. “I know you want something. Might as well find out what it is now.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“Please.”

She sighed. “There’s something you and Poe retrieved for your father. I need to know its location.”

“Oh. That’s why I rank a phone call.”

“You rank a phone call because you’re my daughter.”

“Don’t.” I knew it was wrong to roll around in all my upper handedness, but damned if it didn’t feel good. “You know my involvement ends after the jobs are done. I’m not privy to the location of things, and I seriously doubt Dad would leave whatever you’re looking for lying around for some idiot to come across.”

The implication that she was the idiot remained unspoken, but I rolled around and got dirty in it, too.

She paused. “It doesn’t have to be this way between us.”

I stared at the dragonfly, still bumping against the glass. You’d think it would’ve given up by now.

“Yes, it does. Maybe you should call Dad. Maybe he’ll accidentally pick up, and you can try to weasel the answer out of him.”

I knew she’d already tried. The Poe information had been offered up to try to grease the wheel, and when she hadn’t gotten anything from Dad, she’d bounced to me. Good thing Dad and I could always see her coming.

“Don’t hang up on me, Hallie.” It was said in a definite “mother” tone.

“You almost sound like you’re pulling the parent discipline card. And I know that didn’t just happen.” My grip on the phone was deathly. I breathed in through my nose, down to my stomach, like Gina taught me. When I exhaled through my mouth, I loosened my fingers. “Can we be done now?”

“Did you tell your father that you were seeing ripples?”

How did she know?

“I’m not a traveler,” I said cautiously. “Why would I see rips?”

“You aren’t the only one. So am I. It’s impacting everyone with the time gene. Poe, too.”

The mention of Poe sparked my anger, but I didn’t show it. Giving her the satisfaction of knowing how much it bugged me would burn me from the inside out. I wanted to ask her where he was, but held back on that, too. It wasn’t like I could trust her answer, anyway.

“I talked to Amelia and Zooey,” she continued, and I could swear I heard a tinge of smug. “They both tell me the usual rules don’t apply anymore. They used to be able to talk to a rip when they saw one, singular. Now they see multiples, and the rips don’t acknowledge them.”

Someone was going to need to get on the horn and tell A. and Z. to keep their traps shut when it came to my mom.

“Thanks for the info.” If she thought I was giving her anything in exchange, she’d cracked. “I’ll take it under consideration.”

“Seeing rips isn’t all that’s happening to you, is it, Hallie?”

So sly. Trepidation coiled in my gut. “What do you mean?”

She paused for a minute, and I could see her pacing as she considered what to say, looking out a window onto an unknown city.

“Your cells are regenerating faster and faster. All your faculties now operate at optimal performance. You’re getting stronger every day.”

I sniffed. “I hope it’s after five wherever you are, because you sound like you’re three sheets to the wind.”

“You aren’t sleeping. Your mouth can’t keep up with your brain. I can help you, Hallie.” Her voice was soft, but there was nothing gentle about it. “I’m your mother, and you can trust me.”