Chapter 8
They left us alone for a few minutes, told us to wait for them to get back, to not go anywhere, as if that was even an option for us at all.
But when they came back, they brought fruit and pastries, bottles of water, roasted meat and vegetables, and then Kohen brought tea, too.
The teapot was old and well worn. Steam curled out the spout, and it smelled heavenly.
Since we’d already eaten the food and hadn’t died of poison, we all said yes to the tea, too.
We’d brought the chairs close to the three-legged table that threatened to tip over any time someone pressed their elbows too hard against it, and we’d sat down while the Timekeepers were still gone.
We shared theories about what the proof they wanted us to find could be, then dwelled a little on ideas about what we’d forgotten, and lastly on who had stolen our memories or kept us stuck that Mimi had written about in her book.
It occurred to me, while we spoke, that we barely knew each other. Whatever had happened that we didn’t remember, whatever kind of a relationship we’d had before, we were strangers—yet here, we had no inhibitions. We spoke like we trusted each other, which was strange all on its own.
I felt it the most with March (yes, that was his name.
We all reintroduced ourselves when we first sat down).
He’d sat right next to me at the table, and every time he spoke, my thoughts spiraled like they were trying to warn me of something, like they were screaming for my attention.
The way he always seemed to be looking at me didn’t make things better.
The way he listened when I spoke, like every fiber of his being hung onto the sound of my voice, definitely made me even more curious.
The Timekeepers left us alone to eat, disappeared beyond the doorway. The Diamond boy Russ asked them what was back there, but all they said was, you’ll see soon. Which meant the way to the Labyrinth was through it.
As afraid as I was, I was also excited. I didn’t much remember the Labyrinth in those short minutes I’d been in it that day. I did remember the feeling, though. Of wonder. Of awe.
“So, we’re just…going to go,” said Levana as she finished the piece of bread she’d been eating since forever. She had refused to touch anything else, even though the rest of us hadn’t keeled over yet. “We’re just going to trust the Timekeepers and—”
“Not trust,” March cut her off as he spun a red apple between his hands. “We’ll just go to the Labyrinth.”
“And find proof without even knowing what it is,” said Levana, frustrated.
“But we’ll be in the Labyrinth.”
Mimi, who was sitting by her right, reached out and put her hand over Levana’s arm. I almost expected the Heart girl to jump back but she didn’t, only looked at Mimi like she couldn’t decide whether to scream or cry or smile.
“Think about it—we’ll be in the Labyrinth, which is where it all happened.
Maybe we’ll get our memories back once we see that place again.
Those Timekeepers,” she said, her whisper low, and she turned to the doorway once more to make sure nobody was there, “—they can’t get to us there.
We’ll go in, see what we find, see if we remember anything—and then we can decide what to do next. ”
Holy Hour. That was actually a very good idea.
“But we don’t know what’s in there, or who’s in there, or if there’s food and-and-and water,” Erith the Diamond girl breathed.
“There’s nine of us,” I said, more for my own benefit. “We’ll figure something out.”
“The Labyrinth is a big place. And it’s not empty or anything. Back home people said it required work every day year-round,” said the other Diamond girl Anika, and…
“That’s correct.” The voice of the Timekeeper Kohen came through a second before he slipped out of the darkness again, like he’d materialized out of thin air.
Which made me even more curious to see where that place led.
“The Labyrinth is never empty, especially the main palace. There are workers of all kinds permanently stationed there, and plenty of food, water, and beds. You will be perfectly fine while you search, I assure you.”
Then he and the younger Timekeeper came all the way to the table and dropped two bags onto the edge.
“Clothes, for some of you. I’m afraid we took you…unprepared.” His eyes were on me when he said this—because I had only a nightgown on underneath my mother’s leather coat, and I was barefoot, too.
I wasn’t the only one, though. Erith, Seth and Cook wore pajamas, too, and Anika had fluffy slippers that looked like clocks on her feet.
“We’ll be right there, whenever you’re ready. Just leave everything here and we’ll take care of it.”
Kohen was in a visibly better mood since we’d made that deal.
He was almost smiling—almost. The other one was suspicious of us now, though, didn’t roll his eyes, didn’t look bored, but continuously watched us out of the corner of his eye while he and Kohen leaned against the wall near the doorway, and waited.
“All right, then. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we’ll know the truth. Let’s get dressed,” Seth said, standing up from the table first as he rubbed his hands, and went to look at the bags the Timekeepers brought. Everyone else followed.
“I could use a new pair of sneakers. Mine are spent,” said Mimi.
“And I could do with a jacket. I’m always cold.” Cook.
“Maybe they have a cute pair of shoes in there, somewhere.” Anika.
Meanwhile, March stayed seated and looked at me.
Just…looked.
I couldn’t bring myself to stand up if I tried. The gears in me twisted faster, and my heart skipped so many beats she had me worried, but I didn’t move.
Time’s Teeth, he was perfect. Every line of his face, every shape and every color was exactly right.
“Hi.” The word slipped from me again—too many words had slipped from me by accident today.
Hi. Sparetime save me, I was going to slap myself.
Half a smile—just a slight curl of the right side of his lips. “Hi.”
I felt like I was drowning.
“I just…you’re…you’re very familiar.” Again, the words rushed and stumbled out of my lips like drunks, and if I had a moment of privacy to strangle myself, I would.
For a split-second there, I thought he might laugh at me.
Instead, he said, “And you’re very, very beautiful.”
Did I hear him right?
Because that couldn’t be. And his voice had changed, too—like he was a completely different person from the guy who spoke earlier—to the Timekeepers and the other former Hands.
Heat on my cheeks. I wouldn’t be surprised to find them melting.
“Oh. Thank you,” I barely choked out—and I was just happy that I didn’t say you, too, or something even more cringe-worthy.
“My eyes know your face,” March said, and he still smiled just a little, but somehow he looked…sad in the eyes. Very sad.
My heart beat and beat like she was hoping to escape from me and go to him. His words made sense to me—perfect sense because my eyes knew his face, too. My mind knew it in detail.
I drew you, I thought, but this time the words couldn’t be bothered to come out.
Instead, I was reaching out my hand before I realized it, for that curl that fell over his left brow in such a perfect shape, and it looked so smooth.
I needed to touch it, or I thought I might lose myself all over again. I needed to touch him.
So, I did.
I ran my fingers over his hair and pushed the curl back, and my skin rejoiced on the smooth feel of it, and my insides sang a happy tune—like suddenly all was just simply right. Which was a silly thing to feel over touching hair, but it wasn’t just that.
It was also that my hands knew the feel of it. That he didn’t move, didn’t flinch, didn’t make any kind of a face when I leaned in, didn’t stop me. He just held still and watched me like he was in awe while I smoothed his hair back a couple of times, and—
“Hey! You two. Coming?” Mimi said, and we both leaned back at the same time.
“Yeah. Yes, we are,” March muttered and stood up from his chair, waited for me to do the same.
He never once moved without me moving first, and that did things to me. Maybe it was the reason why I was smiling when there really wasn’t anything to smile about.
Then there were the Timekeepers.
They both had their eyes on me, watching me from the doorway, and they weren’t smiling. In fact, they seemed genuinely concerned there for a minute, especially when they looked up at March.
The old Timekeeper shivered visibly before he moved his eyes to the floor.
And I was no longer smiling when I reached for the bags to find something to wear, thinking, this night is becoming curiouser and curiouser.
I found a pair of black pants and a dark red shirt to replace my pajamas.
Mimi and Anika held up my jacket while I changed in the corner, just like I did for them.
I also found a pair of worn sneakers my size—they weren’t the most comfortable, but my foot was small, and all the leather boots were bigger sizes.
Still, I had my mother’s coat over my shoulders, and I wasn’t cold at all, so I took it.
And finally, we followed the Timekeepers through the doorway and into the darkness.
It wasn’t real—which explained so much the second I stepped through it.
It was an illusion, Kohen said—simple magic to keep prying eyes and ears away.
And it worked flawlessly. Just a screen of darkness that hadn’t let us see or hear anything at all beyond it, yet stepping through it felt light as air, with only a slight buzz to it from the magic. Definitely a useful trick.
The tunnels beyond were nothing like the room we left behind.