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)
“Yeah, what made them so confident X would be at the castle?” Claire asked.
“Could they have some kind of Marvel on their side who was able to weave a tracking spell?” Dawn suggested.
Claire nodded. “It’s possible. Tracking spells are difficult, though. You’d need a red and a blue Marvel to work the threads together, and then they’d need to be attached to Xavier.”
“Maybe it’s something else…” Maddox said. He’d been pretty quiet tonight.
“Maybe.” Claire stifled a yawn. She glanced at her watch. “Oh, wow, I didn’t realize how late it was.”
“Same,” Dawn said, stretching her arms in the air.
Claire’s yawn jumped to me. I didn’t do a good job of hiding it, though.
“Come,” Xavier said, a hand on the small of my back. “Let’s go get some rest.”
“Please. I’m so fucking exhausted.”
“Night, boys,” Dawn said as she stood and grabbed the box of pizza. Claire asked her to hold on as she took out another slice and bit into it. Damien and Robby stayed cuddled on the couch. Maddox and Caleb decided to call it a night too.
“Think Cass is okay?” I asked as we walked up the stairs. A wall of glass was too much right, giving us a beautiful view of the quiet desert landscape. The stars covered the sky in a blanket of twinkling lights.
“He seemed shaken, but I think he’ll be okay. That picture may have a good explanation behind it.”
“I hope so.” I shook my head. “It’s hard to even wrap my head around. He and his dad were always like a second family to me. If his dad has anything to do with this… I don’t even want to think about that.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
As we walked down the hall, the smooth red rock of the rock formation on my left, my phone started to ring. It was a FaceTime call from my father.
“Hey, Dad,” I answered. He was sitting in his study. The curtains were drawn behind him. I could tell he was burning that midnight oil, same as we were.
“How are you?” He looked concerned. I had spoken to him earlier and filled him in on the Shade attack.
“Tired, but doing alright. Everything okay over there?”
“As okay as they can be. The president is back at his desk, thankfully. But there are other things here that have me concerned.”
“National security things?”
“Those always have me concerned. No, something else. Have you spoken to Cass yet?”
I stopped, Xavier walking for a second before realizing I wasn’t next to him. “Yeah, he’s been worried, said his dad was acting weird. Have you noticed that too?”
“I have.” My dad took a sip of his coffee. Damn, he really did plan on pulling an all-nighter. That wasn’t like him. He took his rest seriously. Even though his job didn’t stop for anyone, he always believed that being rested was crucial in making the right decisions under pressure. It was a lesson I’d learned from him pretty early in life.
“How so?”
“He’s been very testy lately. And he’s dropped the ball on quite a few different things. But what’s even more concerning to me is his disappearance these last few days.”
My jaw dropped. “He’s been gone? But Cassius said he just talked to him.”
“He did? Did he mention where he was? We’ve been trying to get a hold of him. His aides don’t even have his location.”
That didn’t make sense. Why had Cassius’s dad gone off-grid right after we were ambushed at his uncle’s house? “Do you know if Joshua had any contact with Cass’ uncle?”
“I don’t believe so. Why?”
“Because we think Simon is the one behind this Time Turner shit. That’s the house we were searching when we were attacked by Shades. But he had left traps there, as if he knew we were coming…”
“Blake, I need you to be very careful. This has spiraled far out of anyone’s control.”
“I know, I know. But we can’t let up now. I feel like we’re so close to figuring it out.”
“But at what cost? If anything were to happen to you—”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got Xavier with me. He’s got my back.”
My dad offered a genuine smile at that, although worry still creased the corners of his eyes. “Good, that makes me feel better, at least. Is he around? I’d like to thank him.”
I turned the camera so that it faced Xavier. He gave a friendly wave and a big grin. “Hello, Mr. Vice President, how are you?”
“It’s Richard, remember? I wanted to say thanks for looking after Blake. I feel like hiring you was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a while.”
I can second that, I thought, my heart turning into a fluttery mess. If only he knew half of why I thought it was such a great idea. I’d have to break the news to him sometime, but then again, Xavier and I weren’t anything official, so there wasn’t all that much news to break.