“We will uncover the truth of our forgotten memories. We will hold responsible those who’ve lied to us, and who’ve kept us stuck here, and who’ve forced us to play these trials backward as well.”
“Holy Hour,” said one or the other—but we all felt the same way.
Time’s Teeth, I wasshaking,I could hardly breathe, and there were tears in my eyes, too. Tears I had to blink away to clear my view when Mimi turned yet another page—the notebook was no bigger than the palm of her hand—and read…
“We will not abandon one another. We’re in this together.”
Silence for a tick.
I was falling, even though I felt the ground underneath my feet, and the rough wood of the table I was holding onto. I was falling down that hole in the ground, only this time I couldn’t really see anything, could only hear those words echoing in my head over and over again:we’re in this together.
“Guys—who lied to us? Who kept us stuck…where?”one of them asked.
But…
“Thosearequestions worth asking.”
The voice came from our side, and every one of us jumped back with screams and gasps, to find that the doorway that had led to darkness was no longer empty.
In front of it now stood two men, and they were definitelynotsurprised to find us there.
7
My eyes insisted that the darkness beyond that doorway had birthed those men out of thin air—and not only that.
They insisted that the hair on their heads and the beard on their cheeks was ginger.
Timekeeper.
Which was funny because there were no Timekeepers in the Court of Spades, were there? The only one I’deverseen was the woman who’d escorted me to the carriage in Neverwhen. That was where they lived—in the city, far away from the other courts. They wereTimekeepers.
So, what were these two doing here?
And most importantly—wherewashere?
My body moved without my realizing it. I was backing away together with the others, our legs perfectly in sync as we made it to the other end of the table, our eyes unblinking, on the men.
Two of them. Two Timekeepers in black cloaks. Both were tall, as tall as the Heart boy, and the first had glassesover the bridge of his nose though he leaned down his head to look over the rims.
The one behind him kept staring at the floor, like the sight of us didn’t much interest him.
In fact, I almost got the feeling he wasbored.
“W-who areyou?” the Heart girl demanded. “Are you the ones who kidnapped me?! Howdareyou.”
I envied her courage. Right now, I couldn’t speak if someone offered me the whole realm—yet she sounded properly pissed off. Terrified, yes—but also furious.
“Kidnappedis a very strong word, but yes. We’re the ones who brought you here,” the guy with the glasses said and took a step into the room.
We all jumped, and most already had their chronobanks in their hands—which reminded me I had mine, too. In the pocket of my mother’s leather coat. My chronobank was with me, full of Sparetime to use, except I didn’t know the first thing about doing magic.
“We’re armed!” said one or the other.
“We’ve got magic—back off!”
“You caught me by surprise the first time?—”
“Yeah. We’re ready for you, Timekeepers.”
