Capturing Today (TimeShifters Book 2) (11 page)

“I have ideas. I just need to be able to test them.”

“Fine.” I stick out my arm as if he has a needle ready in his pocket. “But I’ll need a chair because I’m not too proud to tell you I’ve fainted before.”

“Not here.” He glances down the hall. “Not where we might be seen.”

“Then where? Your lab?”

“Office.” He hooks his hands in his pants pockets, which makes his scrawny arms stick out on either side. A few coin-sized bruises line his arms below his sleeves. “It’s an office.”

“What happened to you? You look like a heroin addict.” I grab his arm and poke at one of the blackish circles.

“Oh, those?” Eugene tugs down his sleeves. “More tests.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“Will you come to my office? Now?”

Last time I found myself in Eugene’s “office” he’d built a teleporter, complete with crackling lightning energy, and tested it on me and Michael. Far more secret lair than computer tech’s hang out.

“I need to let Michael know I’ll be back.”

“Take your time. Just do me a favor and don’t tell him.”

Eugene hangs back in the hall while I make the ten-foot journey to Michael’s side. Michael’s heavy lidded eyes follow me. He’s clearly fighting sleep.

The gash near his temple is almost healed. Darnell and the other medics in Keleusma are good like that. Michael’s external injuries will soon be a memory. Another story to add to his vast array of missions. But Darnell’s warning about shell shock stays with me. Michael’s bruises and cuts will quickly fade, but what about his internal pain? His mind. His spirit. Are those okay? Will he shrug off this experience like most of the others?

Or will it become another deep scar on his heart that he hides from everyone?

I stop next to his bed and press my fingertips into the mattress. “I’m going to go somewhere with Eugene for a bit. Will you be all right?”

He struggles to sit up and winces. I press my hand to his shoulder, guiding him back down.

He takes a long, deep breath. “Will you be here when I wake up?” His eyes almost close. Whatever Darnell gave him is strong. He’s fading fast. But if I know Michael, he’ll force himself to stay awake until I answer him.

My chest feels tight and achy watching him. If words could heal, I’d say whatever he needs to hear.

“Of course I’ll be here.” I try to infuse life into my voice. He doesn’t need to sense the anxiety that darts around inside my stomach. “Don’t worry about me. Your job right now is to sleep and get better. I still owe you a very stern talking to, which you’re not about to dodge.” I shake my finger at him, my frayed emotions causing me to overdo it. I try to correct my tone. “So that’s something to look forward to once you’re back to a hundred percent.”

 His fingers walk toward where my hand rests on the bed until the tips of them touch me. “Gabby?” Eyes closed now, he slurs my name. “You’re my best friend.”

I almost lost him.

“You’re mine too.” A tear escapes and slides to the corner of my mouth.

I flip my hand over, squeezing his gently. “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” I whisper.

Eyes closed, a slight smile lets me know he heard me and probably knows the literary reference. Somehow, I knew he would.

I turn and palm away my tears as I head back to Eugene. A single thought pounds through my head throughout the entire walk to his office. If Erik hadn’t shifted me, Michael would be dead right now. There’s no getting around that truth. Left to Nicholas, Michael would be gone. Dead and buried in some World War One mass grave near the trenches.             

Bile races up my throat. I swallow, but my eyes keep burning.

We stop in front of a door, and Eugene pulls a wad of keys from his pocket and starts flipping through them. For such an intelligent person, he’s so disorganized. After trying three different keys, he locates the one for his office. In Eugene’s defense, the keys are all about the same size and shape. I debate telling him about the Pinterest hack I saw where he could use colored nail polish to code all his keys but think better of it.

He holds the door open. “Have a seat in the chair by my desk. It’s that or the floor, I’m afraid.”

Like the last time I was here, Eugene’s office is large and cluttered with piles of paperwork, file cabinets, and stacks of mechanical parts. If I was placing a bet on it, I’d say the floor has never been swept. Not exactly the most sterile place for a blood draw. Then again, I still smell like the trenches.

“Where’s the teleporter?” I point to the empty area.

“Somewhere more secure.” He opens a box on his desk and pulls out five little vials and a needle.

Eugene has my best interest at heart, doesn’t he? He cares. And he’s smart. But is he on the wrong side in the fight between Shifters and Shades? Someone good and talented like him wouldn’t follow the wrong leader. But Erik saved Michael. He shifted me, and Nicholas continues to ignore everyone.

I drop into the swivel chair and lay my arm, wrist up, on top of the papers scattered across the desk. On one is a drawing that shows a Portal and then a bunch of scribbles and calculations. Eugene opens what looks like a handy wipe from a BBQ place and washes the inside of my elbow.

Remembering the last time I tried to give blood—which ended in me fainting—I make a fist. “When did the resident computer whiz learn to use a needle?”

“I didn’t.”

I jerk my arm away from him and cradle it to my chest. “No way then. Get Darnell. I can’t—”

“I was joking, Gabby.” He winks. “Relax. Darnell taught me how. I could give some of his nurses a run for their money.”

“Time and place, Eugene. Time and place.” I hand my arm back over.

He wraps an elastic band around my upper arm, meaning he’s going to poke the needle into my vein soon. If I think about it too much, I won’t last. But I have to do this. It’ll be better to know what’s different about my blood.

I need a distraction. My eyes go to the image of the Portal on his desk, and then I look up and away from where he loosens the band around my arm.

Distract. Quick. “I ran into Lark’s Pairing when Michael and I were on our mission. He mentioned something about problems in the shifting world.”

The needle slightly pinches my skin. I close my eyes and inhale through my nose until it feels like my lungs will burst. Eugene will discover what’s wrong with me. I part my lips and release the air as slowly as I can.

Eugene’s voice is soft. “Since you left, the Shades have been growing stronger. No one is exactly sure how they’re doing it. But they are. I have some theories, but as of yet they’re unsubstantiated.” He presses something against my arm. “The Shades move as quickly as we do now. They aren’t slumped. They’ve changed.”

“Your theory?”

“
Theories
. More than one.”

“Eugene.”

“I’m not avoiding telling you. I haven’t had the opportunity to look into them at length. So they aren’t worth mentioning yet.” He squeezes my wrist. “Here. Hold the gauze in place while I open the Band-Aid.”

 “You’re done already?” I peak through almost closed eyelids. Sure enough, he’s capped the needle and waits for me to assume gauze-holding duty. “I hardly felt it.”        

“Told you I’m a needle ninja.” He sticks the Band-Aid on crooked.

I flex my fingers, testing to make sure nothing hurts. “If the whole mad scientist thing doesn’t work out, you could try your hand in the medical ward.”

Candy apple red takes over his cheeks. “I’m just a computer guy.”

“You aren’t
just
anything, Eugene. And you know that.”

He ducks away from my compliment and busies his hands, tucking the vials of my blood into a small pouch. “My fear with the Shades is that their newfound strength is somehow tied to their plans for you.”

“Me?” My voice squeaks.

“They want you, Gabby. And they’re going to do whatever they can to get you.” He shoves up his glasses and looks me in the eye.

An image from my nightmares projects onto my mind like an old black and white movie. The Shades grabbing me and dragging me away. Someone cackling in the background while they do it. Calling out for help and no one responding.

But it’s all in my head. It has to be. If Erik has a colossal evil plan like the Shifters believe he does, he had every opportunity to haul me away when we met, and he didn’t. There were Shades all over No Man’s Land, and not one of them made a move to come after me.

 
Tell Eugene about Erik
.

I stare down at my hands. If Eugene knew I trusted Erik, he’d be upset with me. He’d probably stop telling me things. More than anything, Eugene would no longer look at me as if I have some untapped potential that he’s waiting to see come to fruition. I’ve disappointed so many people in my life—I can’t bear the thought of disappointing him.  

I need to redirect the conversation before I spill everything. I tap his scrawled picture. “Can the Shades take down a Portal?”

He leans against the desk so he’s facing me. “I’m afraid so. Again, I don’t have a ton of information—Donovan’s been keeping most of that under wraps. What I do know comes from piecing together overheard conversations. Basically, people have been going out on missions and finding the Portals in shambles. Portals we know should be there.”

Portals like the one Michael said is by my house. “How are the Shades doing it?”

He rubs his knuckles against his jaw line. “The better question is
why
. See, they’re not supposed to feed off the despair of Shifters. It’s against the rules, but they aren’t playing by the rules anymore.” He drums his fingers on the desk like a college professor. “What would push them to do that?”

Probably the same thing that’s pushing me to break the rules.

I lick my lips. “Desperation.”

“Exactly.” He turns away from the desk and stalks toward the middle of the room. “And none of this was happening until you shifted the first time. I have a hard time believing the timing is a coincidence.”

So I’m to blame for the problems in the shifting world? Great. Really. Because I needed one more tick against me. Let’s add it to my list. Can’t take care of my father? Check. Failed to make my Pairing work? Double check. Made a deal with my sworn enemy? Check. Am to blame for Portals being destroyed and the Shades becoming powerful? Check again. 

Not to mention, this means that a bunch of Shifters might still be afraid of me. So walking around Keleusma should be about as awesome as it was for me last time. Which was not at all.

I rise from the chair and pace away from Eugene. “I need to get back to Michael. I promised him I’d be there when he woke up.” Granted he’s only been asleep for a half hour or so, but if he has shell shock like Darnell guesses, then I want to be there if he freaks out.

“If you wait a second, I can walk with you.” Eugene fishes through the paperwork on his desk.

I push open the door. “Don’t rush. I’m going ahead alone.”

Like always.

Eugene shoves a pumpkin muffin into my hand at the last moment, mumbling something about blood sugar levels, acting as if I’d donated a quart instead of a few vials. The muffin is lopsided, probably from being crammed in a little brown bag in Eugene’s coat pocket for who knows how long. For the record, coat pocket muffin is ten times more appealing than the stuff being offered the past few days on the battlefields of World War One.

I peel off the wrapper and bite into the best part of Keleusma while I head down the hall.

Okay, the muffin is not the best part. Close but not the best. But I’m hungry, so right now this half-stale crumbling bakery item is heaven. I lick my fingers and toss the wrapper into one of the waste bins spaced periodically in the long hallways. The finger licking was a terrible idea. I haven’t showered since getting back to Keleusma.

I planned to head straight back to the medical ward, like I told Eugene, but my feet go in the opposite direction. Down a long corridor I once walked when I was forced to meet the Elders after I first shifted. Wow, that feels like ages ago. A sign that reads
Offices
leads me past the grand room with the glass ceiling where I met the four leaders last time.

Now that I’m back in Keleusma and Michael’s on the mend, I need to resume my search for my mother. Erik seems like the logical source for information, but I’d like to avoid the whole
go to Mónatos
part unless I absolutely have to. If I can get answers here … if someone is willing to help me … No. Donovan won’t help me. He’ll only prove why the Shifters can’t be trusted.

Perhaps that’s why I’m doing this. For confirmation.

After hearing about the Portals and changes with the Shades from Eugene, I have to confront the Elders. Someone needs to. Tension from the last few days, from almost losing Michael, zings through my body—it needs a release. My goal isn’t necessarily to pick a fight with Donovan. But if it happens, it happens.

A man dressed in teal—a member of Keleusma’s security team—stops me in the hallway. “Who you looking for?”

I square my shoulders and clench my hands, ready for a fight. “Donovan Anderson.”

“He’s the third door on the right. Knock before you enter.” The man points the way before continuing down the hall.