“Correct!” Levana cheered, the glistening in her eyes transformed now that she was smiling.
“It’s simple mathematics,” Silas said, breaking away from the group just as the First Hour lit up again.
My heart fell all the way to my heels. There was nothing simple about this.This is it, this is the last time!shouted a voice in my head.
I threw a look at the bulb of the Thirteenth Hour. A little more timesand, and it was going to flip to the other side, and then we?—
No.I would not indulge in that thought. Not yet.
“Simple mathematics—breaking earlier hours will make it worse. What we need is to find the closest substitutes for each sequence,” Silas continued.
“The first was the third-sixth-ninth, and ended with the Twelfth Hour,” said Levana.
I went closer to the Tenth Hour, to its timesand that had spilled all over the floor, and I wrote the numbers on it with my finger, just in case we forgot.
“But I don’t think this clock wants the highest hour—Lev, you heard it, right?” Cook said. “It finishes with the last note thatstill matches.”
“I did, I did,” Levana said, nodding too many times.
“So…the Ninth Hour, then?” I wondered, because that seemed logical, considering.
Both of them shook their heads.
“If we break the Ninth, it will just force the system to compress downward again,” Cook said.
“It will make the Eighth the new finishing line, won’t it?”
Now my brain hurt. “But do all of them still match?”
“They do—the seventh, eighth and ninth lit up, and…” Levana turned, watched the Seventh Hour light up right that second, and…it didn’t give its sand to the Thirteenth Hour.
The Eighth did.
Holy Hour, they were really taking turns.
“Seventh and Eighth,” Silas said. “If we break the Ninth, the system resets. But the Ninth is isolated from above already…” he pointed at the three broken hourglasses. “If we break the Eighth and the Seventh, the sequences can still begin, but they can’tcomplete. Completion is what feeds the Thirteenth Hour.”
The others looked just as clueless as me, but Cook and Levana seemed to get it.
“Makes sense. You’re right—it makes sense,” Cook said. “We basically break the last place the sequence can still finish.”
To me, it felt pretty counterintuitive, but I pulled my lips inside my mouth and kept quiet.
The First Hour lit up—this time right away. Right after the Thirteenth stopped taking the timesand of the Eighth.
“Guys, we don’t have time,” Mimi shouted. “Are you sure?! Absolutely, twelve-hours certain that this is the right answer?”
All eyes turned to the three of them.
“Silas?” Levana whispered, and I jumped to my feet,shaking.
Becausethisreallywas the last time before everything went to shit. Before the Thirteenth Hour came to life for good, and we all died. In here, surrounded by this darkness. It wasit.
“Yes,” Silas choked, and you could see it written everywhere on his face that he wasn’t. Hewasn’tsure. Nobody was. “Yes. The Seventh and Eighth Hour. I’m sure.”
Sweat on all our brows. The seconds ticked, and the Fifth Hour chimed, and the panic grew and grew.
Then Reggie said, “Let’s get to it, then. Red?”
