A grin slipped free as I punched the button. I almost felt guilty he was going to be left hanging.

Then again, he’d never remember having this conversation.

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

QUANTA

As soon as Tair left me alone, my stomach started doing the twist at double-time. I’d set him on a path that may or may not make us a little progress, but I was going to pay for it. With interest.

Darren was coming for a talk.

His timeghosts flickered over the present, and the possibilities ranged from a painful chat to me getting dragged off on a stretcher. All equally fuzzy and likely. Which extreme we hit depended on how well I kept my mouth shut.

So best case, I’d land somewhere in between.

There was no way I wouldn’t say something to set him off at least a little. Tair made Darren extra homicidal, so any conversation where his name came up was pretty much already a disaster.

Sketching helped me stay grounded. I outlined the shapes of flames licking at wooden houses. The Great Fire of London was way out of my normal range, but time had trouble forgetting a city-wide bonfire. The image faded at its edges, crackling like an old photograph and I could only sniff the tiniest hint of smoke, but that gave me plenty to draw.

Really morbid, but so was I at the moment. All those people, trapped with nowhere to run as the ash and flame closed in…

I knew the feeling.

The door whooshed open. I tried to ignore the footsteps, but Darren’s presence was impossible to block. He felt like an oily blot on my surroundings and the hint of ammonia on the air told me he was hovering over my shoulder.

My neck muscles clenched, but I managed not to turn.

“You don’t really like this rich boy, do you?” Darren’s voice sounded way too close.

Way too close.

I kept my features as smooth as I could. If I gave a third of my attention to the drawing and another third to the pages of time, then that only left a third of me to be squicked out and Darren wouldn’t pick up on how much I hated him being here. “He’s fun to boss around.”

“Just don’t get too attached.” Darren’s breath hit the back of my neck in a warm cloud of yuck and it took everything I had not to shudder—he’d see it and then I’d be headed closer to a stretcher future. “He won’t last the week.”

“Why? You’re getting him kicked out?”

Darren stepped between the wall and me wearing one of his shadiest grins. “Of course.”

My body moved away from him and there was nothing I could do to stop the reaction. Darren’s brow furrowed and the futures flickered dangerously. All the chat options were disappearing right quick.