It could have been toying with her, setting her up for an epic smackdown for so lightly and carelessly traveling through through it.
Time didn’t look mad at her so far, but she had the uneasy feeling that things were spinning out of everyone’s control—even time itself.
Something had happened, probably in the future.She didn’t know why she thought this.She just did.But she had a feeling that someone had done something.
Even something as slight as a butterflies wing can have consequences.
It wasn’t just the agency that believed this.It was old knowledge.
The Pitts engines were so loud, there was no warning as two massive helicopters loomed up on either side of them.They must have given some signal to Con—which seemed better than the last time when they’d just started shooting—because she felt the plane adjusting course and then beginning a descent.
Had the agency caught up with them?And if not the agency, then who?
It was gone.Stella stared down at the empty high security drawer.She’d expected it, so why the sense of shock?It didn’t matter that Alastor shouldn’t have been able to get at it.
He had.He had taken the Butterfly Device.
She swiped a hand across her forehead and tried to think why he’d done this when he knew it had a flaw—a possibly fatal flaw.
She pushed the drawer shut, hearing the now useless locks clicking into place.It was cold in here with its lines of metal drawers filled with secrets.
Had he taken anything else out?
She’d need to find out.She leaned against the metal wall, the ice of it surging through her clothes and turning her skin numb.
She wished it could numb her heart.
Alastor gripped the Butterfly Device, debating his next move.So far he hadn’t done anything too catastrophic—that he knew of.
Time feels alive, the kid had written in his research journal,as if it will kick back if you go too far against it.
Alastor shook his head again.He’d tried to work with time.It hadn’t cooperated.Now here he sat, on this lonely mountaintop considering the base below, inhaling the carefully controlled air that had rendered what used to be a desert—bland.
Stella was in there somewhere, oblivious to the fact that he was just miles away.He wondered if she’d tried to look for him here, now that he shared time with her.
It was common practice to make sure agents “touched base” with their own time on a regular basis or they risked spinning off into time disorientation.
His gut tightened but he didn’t let himself think about Ness lost in time, unable to touch base with the known or even save herself.
He made himself focus on Stella and what she might be up to.He wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating her.She was brilliant, just not quite smart enough.
Did she think that disorientation didn’t apply to him?Of course, she didn’t think of him as an agent.
She’d figured out he visited his daughter’s grave, but what else had she learned?
The base might have been deserted from this viewpoint.Everything of significance happened out of sight.So there were no clues there, at least from this view point.
So why was he still here?Why was he hesitating?He wasn’t debating his next move.He’d planned it.
He frowned down at the device.He knew why he hesitated.This would be a step out of the safe—he almost grinned that that thought.As if anything about the device was safe.
But he’d avoided venturing into the regions where they’d encountered the instabilities they’d been unable to overcome.
Alastor had tried to work with the device.Now, well, now he’d have to do what needed to be done.
He touched the device and nudged the control a little at a time, trying to judge by the ways the colors swirled at its heart, when he should stop.
There was a sound below, jerking his attention away from the device.One of the hidden bays had opened and ship was emerging.
