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)
“Dad, please. We found a recent photo of you with him. You said you hadn’t spoken to him in years. Why would you lie?”
“It’s not what you think. I had no choice.” His father sounded angry, like a snarling dog being pushed into a corner.
“No choice? What are you talking about? Dad, are you working with the Time Turners? Tell me the truth. Please.” The pain in his voice was as clear as the light coming from the stars above.
There was a pause. Long, stabbing. Even Blake had appeared to stop breathing. “I can’t… I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry. This has to happen. Don’t get involved. Don’t try anything stupid.”
And with that, the call hung up. The silence fell on us like a guillotine.
Holy fucking shit.
Cassius’ dad was involved. Blake embraced his friend in a tight hug. Cass dropped his head into the crook of Blake’s neck and started to cry. I rubbed his back. The cries became louder, waves of pain leaving his body like an exorcism. This was a torment I didn’t want to see inflicted on anyone. Even my own father, who’d been distant for most of my life, would never have betrayed me like this. There was something about going against your own blood that felt demented. It shouldn’t be.
“Oh Cass, oh Cass, I’m so fucking sorry,” Blake said, tears in his eyes.
Cassius lifted his head and rubbed his face. He looked out at the distant rock formations, the quiet dessert, the silent expanse.
The app.
Shit.
“Cassius, there was something else. That app you have. We believe they’re using it to track us.” I couldn’t beat around the bush about it. Every second he had that app meant another second we were placed in danger.
“I know,” he said, surprising us. “I figured it out after the call. But I had already deleted it after the attack on the castle. I got a bad feeling then, but the call just confirm—” He couldn’t finish before another rush of tears took over.
We let him get it out, sitting on either side of him.
Cassius sniffled and started to regain control. After a few moments longer, he had stopped crying altogether. “I think I’m going to go to bed. I want this day to be over already. But there’s something else,” he said. “I think I know where the lab might be.”
That had us whipping our heads in his direction. “Really?” Blake asked. “How?”
“I wasn’t the only one using the tracking app. My dad was too. For a little bit, at least. I remembered checking it a few times and seeing him go to a random address. I checked it out online. It’s a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, close to our home in DC. That must be where it is.”
My jaw dropped. Blake looked equally as shocked. “That’s huge, Cass.”
“I guess.” There was defeat in Cassius’ demeanor. Understandable considering how this information came to be discovered. “It could be another dead end, but at least it’s something.”
“It is definitely something,” I said. “Thank you, and I’m sorry you have to go through this.”
“We also aren’t entirely sure why your dad is involved,” Blake said. “Things aren’t always what they seem. Maybe he’s got a good reason.”
Cassius shook his head and stood. “I highly doubt it. But I like the optimism. You were always great with that.”
“It’s how I keep afloat.”
Cassius’ lower lip twitched. I could tell more tears were on their way, but before they could manifest, he excused himself.
Blake and I stayed outside for a few moments longer, processing everything we’d just heard. After a bit, I stood. “Let’s head back inside,” I said.
Blake nodded and grabbed my hand. I pulled him up onto his feet.
We walked back to my bedroom under a cloak of heavy silence. This was a revelation that none of us were expecting or wanting. Cassius’ own dad? He was working all this alongside his brother? It made sense the more I thought about it. Like one of those logic puzzles on the LSAT I was always so terrible with. It would take me a while to put together the pieces, just how this entire hunt for the dagger had been.
Finally, the pieces were falling into place.
But at what cost?
Once back in the bedroom, Blake closed the door and called his father. He had to be the first to know about this. I stepped into the bathroom, wanting to give him space for the call. It would be difficult for the vice president to reconcile the fact that his best friend had been working against him this entire time. He’d used his power in the government, his access to top secret areas, in order to steal that dagger.
I leaned against the sink. The deep green chevron tiles made the bronze mirror pop. I fixed a rogue curl in my hair, running a hand through the rest of it. We had a long day ahead of us tomorrow.