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NICK, RAY and I idled in the cafeteria, three guys as different as night, day and whatever time scheme applied to the Clock Tower. We sat in silence, awaiting that one special woman who could help us out, or beat the crap out of us, depending on her mood.
Ivory’s arrival reminded me how much time had passed.
She looked like she did when I’d first met her, back when she was in the Aborealian military. Her hair—white like Nick’s—hung loosely around her shoulders instead of cropped in the sassy style I’d grown accustomed to behind the Fire Falls. Her jaw was tightly set.
Black eyes pitched daggers in our direction. I took a double take, hoping the daggers weren’t meant for me.
The headlock that ensued was brutal.
My mouth hung open as Nick struggled to release himself from Ivory’s grip. He murmured something unintelligible between gasps, all while she ranted a string of Aborealian curses that would make a pirate blush.
I held out a hand to still Ray, who’d gotten up to help. As for who he wanted to help, I wasn’t sure; I knew firsthand not to get in the way of Ivory’s targets. Best to let her wrath run its course.
When finished, Ivory pushed Nick from her and wiped tears from her eyes.
Nick, still sitting, gulped for air as he rubbed his neck and throat. “That was one heck of a hug, love. Breathtaking.”
“Why are you here, Trav?” Ivory’s breath hitched. “You can’t be here.”
My left eye twitched. “Trav?”
Nick coughed before mumbling, “It’s short for Travertine, friend.”
His real name, then. It made sense given his hair color. The purest form of travertine was white, just like ivory.
“It’s Nick now.”
Ivory swallowed and closed her eyes. She swept her hands across her cheeks and sniffled. “I wasn’t supposed to see you again. Not after you left Aboreal.”
Nick smirked as she nervously looked around the cafeteria.
“What happened? Why aren’t you in hiding?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned on me and Ray. “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing Trav with you to lunch?”
I shrugged, meeting Nick’s eyes. “Because I didn’t know his name.”
“Times have changed, love. Travertine is no more.”
Ivory sat down and squeezed her forehead with her hands. “This changes everything.”
“You won’t help us?” The pain on Ray’s face was profound.
“It’s not that. I can get the time off. We both can.” She gave Ray a sharp look, clearly with meaning behind it that I wasn’t privy to. “We can’t talk about this here. It’s not safe.”
“Very well,” I said. “Are you up for a short trip back to Nick’s...place?”
Nick grinned. “I promise there’s nowhere like it. No rules, no surveillance. No friends either, but it suits me just fine.”
Ivory glowered.
“Don’t smolder with thine eyes like that, love. It’ll only encourage my asking you to stay with me forever.”
She gave him a shove. “Stop it. You already know I want that.”
Ray and I exchanged a glance. His eyes flickered with an understanding that was just beginning to sink in for me.
I’d never met any of Ivory’s past love interests—had never thought of what such a love interest might be. A life partner for Ivory would need to be secure enough to match her confidence, relaxed enough to counter-balance her stringent military persona and smart enough to know when to back off. Not to mention Nick enough to make her burst into tears. Someone Ivory would lay down her life for, someone she’d protect no matter the cost.
Ivory was charged with a TSTA infraction for having committed an Overwrite, a contributory infraction. I’d watched from the mezzanine level of the Hearing Chamber, on the same day Calla was sentenced to help me find Plaka. Ivory was tight-lipped and livid. She’d avoided telling Commissioner Reese why she’d created the Overwrite and who she was protecting. Her Overwrite had been so effective that the TSTA hadn’t figured out who he was.
How ironic that the object of Ivory’s protection sat there with me inside TSTA Headquarters. Nick kept up his calm demeanor. But I was certain he knew, as I did now, that we needed to leave the TSTA as soon as possible.
Perhaps the TSTA couldn’t find the slice in time that would suffice as evidence. This didn’t surprise me, now that I’d seen the Clock Tower and gained a better understanding of how many worlds we were dealing with, ever-growing and limitlessly sliced.
I shot up from the table. “Ivory, you and Ray go and do what you need to do to obtain a leave of absence. Nick and I will return to—” I eyed the room, certain there were microphones and security cameras dotting each corner of the cafeteria. I’d already mentioned the Clock Tower, but I didn’t want to remind listening ears. “We’ll go back to where we came from. Use whatever means you can to travel to Plaka. I want him in on this.”
“Of course he should join us,” said Ivory. “He needs to be there for Calla. I’ll flip out on him if he doesn’t.”
Nick chuckled. “I look forward to meeting your next victim, love, and from what Valcas tells me, a Healer at that.”
The Ivory-Nick drama was going to make this a long mission, but I needed both of them, just as much as I needed Ray and Plaka. “The last I heard, he was laying low at the border-worlds near Chascadia,” I said. “I’ll contact him before I meet you there. Let’s go.”
Ivory hesitated. “So, you have a plan?”
“I have the beginnings of a plan, which is a lot more than I had before meeting Nick.”
***
OUR STOMACHS STAYED empty. Once again, lunch was an elusive dream. Nick followed me out of the cafeteria, leaving Ivory and Ray to do their thing.
“How do we port back from here?”
“All in good time, friend. All in good time.”
We exited TSTA Headquarters through the back door I’d escorted Calla through when we arrived for her hearing. That felt like eons ago.
Once we were outside in the open air, I felt more comfortable mentioning the Clock Tower without being heard by TSTA personnel. “Is there a portal in every world and time that looks like a miniature version of the Clock Tower?”
“Yes, but you won’t see it, not the way I do. Ready for the really taboo aspect of my travel talent?”
“Well?”
“The Clock Tower portals are invisible. It takes a Time Keeper to feel the portal entrances and exits. The way inside a world is not always the way out.” His eyes darted to the space behind us. He lowered his voice. “I learned of my talent by stumbling upon such a portal in Aboreal that no one else could see—or pretended not to see—given that travel talents are inherited.”
I frowned. His parents must have been ashamed of Nick’s talent, even though his father or mother had passed it on to him. “Do you know where the portal is for us to escape this world?”
“No.”
“No?” Panic set in. In our haste to find Nick and Ivory, I hadn’t given much thought to how we’d return to the Clock Tower. I suppose I relied on the travel glasses for everything. I did, after all, use them to get to the Clock Tower from the Workshop in the Woods.
“Well, not exactly, but I can tell it’s nearby.”
I glanced down at Nick, who was now palpating the ground like a metal detector looking for coins. He stood up and waved his arms around. How could Ivory have fallen in love with such a nut? I grimaced. I suppose anyone could say the same about me and Calla.
Just as inklings of pain began to prickle the backs of my eyes, Nick shouted, “Aha!”
“Have you found the exit portal?”
He sniggered. “I’m sorry. Have you been worrying over there while waiting for me, friend? Or have you been watching reruns of the Life of Valcas on those television glasses of yours?”
I clenched my teeth. “Travel glasses.”
“Whatever you say, friend. Now step into my hand.”
Yes, he and Ivory couldn’t be more perfect for one another.
“We’re about to travel back to the Clock Tower...through a similar portal,” Nick continued. “You saw what happened last time you got your face smacked upon arrival. Are you willing to trust me this time?”
I had no choice but to trust him. The outlines of figures appeared in the shadows behind us. We’d been followed outside. A handful of TSTA security guards must have been slowly making their way toward us. Two of them pointed, while one yelled for us to stop and raise our hands above our heads. When we didn’t comply, the guards broke into a run.
“Fine,” I said, raising my foot to his outstretched hand.
My voice echoed along with the buzzing and popping sounds of electrical charge. I held my breath while the purple-blue tunnel sucked us back through to the Clock Tower, leaving the TSTA guards behind.