Infinity

by Jus Accardo

  “Someplace safe.” Cade grabbed my arm and held it up. “Fork over the key and we’ll tell you where.”

  Prickles of ice trickled down my back at the sound of Dylan’s laugh, and the look in his eyes? It sent wave after wave of goose bumps jumping up all across my skin. The look in his eyes was rage brought to life. “Really? You think I’m that easy? You should know better by now, little brother.”

  Cade held his ground. “You want Ava? Then give me the key.”

  Some of the anger leached from Dylan’s expression. He was quiet for a moment. “I give you the key and you’ll take me to Ava. No games?”

  Cade relaxed a little. “You’ve got my word, Dylan. I swear. As soon as the cuff is off, I’ll take you to Ava.”

  Another moment of hesitation and Dylan sighed. He dug into his back pocket, and a second later, held out his palm. In the center was a small silver disc. He lifted his head and met my gaze head on. “Here. Take it.”

  I almost didn’t reach out. It seemed too easy. Lacking the dramatic flair Cade said he loved so much. It was cool, nestled between my thumb and pointer, and when I handed it to Cade, he wasted no time in flipping my wrist and moving to set the key in place.

  “Oh,” Dylan said, almost as if an afterthought. “Just one thing. Before you use that, you should have all the facts.”

  “The facts,” I repeated, swallowing the sudden lump in my throat. A shudder rippled through me. Of course it wouldn’t be as easy as using the key and being done with this whole mess, would it? I took the key from Cade before he could use it, then sighed. “What facts?”

  He turned to Cade. There was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “There’s a choice to make. You can save only one of them.”

  Cade tensed, and I couldn’t contain myself. “One of them? Meaning what? Who is them?”

  He kept his gaze on Cade, refusing to look me in the eye. “I think this is a more fitting end to the game. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve loved our previous rounds, but I think changing things up this time around did me good. Considering you screwed me over with Penny Bloom—” He winked. “Yeah. I know about your daring cliffside rescue. But I’m in a good mood. I’m going to let one of them live. The ghost of the girl you loved—or the only father you’ve ever known.”

  Cade’s jaw tightened, and at his sides, both fists clenched and quivered. While I didn’t understand Dylan’s cryptic message—well, except for my part in it—he was visibly rocked. Fear swelled in my chest. I didn’t know what exactly he was referring to, but if it had Cade this scared then it couldn’t be good. He squeezed his eyes closed and pressed his lips into a thin line, nostrils flaring slightly as he seemingly struggled to keep his breathing even. Every muscle in his body went rigid, from the twitching line along his neck, to the stiff, troublesome set of his broad shoulders.

  In short, his response scared the crap out of me. “What?” I tried. “What does it mean?”

  Cade opened his eyes but refused to look in my direction. In the end, it was Dylan who finally gave in. “I decided General Anderson would look spiffy wearing one of those cuffs. That’s the choice my brother needs to make. You or him.”

  My entire universe started to spin. Each breath gutted me, handfuls of razor-sharp glass moving in and out of my lungs with no other purpose than to rip me apart. It wasn’t true. Couldn’t be. Dad wasn’t here. He was safe. “Bullshit. You’d never capture him.” Yet, as I said the words, doubt crept in, poisonous and sharp.

  “I figured you might not believe me,” Dylan said, breaking through my haze. Shifting, he leaned to the left, plunging a hand into his pocket. A few moments later, he held out a small silver pin.

  I couldn’t bring myself to take it from him, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from it, either. The small, shiny infinity clip that Mom had given him three years ago on their anniversary. He took it everywhere with him, clipped to the inside of his jacket when he went out of town. “No… How?” I lifted my gaze to meet his. “How is that even possible?”

  Dylan laughed. It was dark and full of arrogance, and infused me with more rage and hatred than I ever thought possible. “It wasn’t hard.” He inclined his head toward Cade. “These idiots ran right to him when we got here. Told him all about how I was a threat to his precious daughter. He left them to babysit and set out to find me. Old bastard did all the hard work for me.”

  The fury bubbled over, and I launched myself at him. Luckily—for me or Dylan, I wasn’t sure—Cade had amazing reflexes. He caught me and yanked back hard, bringing me in close to him and holding tight.

  Dylan wasn’t impressed. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me make a new suggestion—you give me Ava and I’ll give you the general.”

  The world fell away. The birds chirping in the distance, the cars passing on the main road—it was all just gone.

  Dylan looked like a little boy who’d just stolen the very last cookie. “Oh. I’m not playing fair, am I?”

  Anger unlike anything I’d ever known boiled up inside me. “If you—”

  “Oooh. And here come the meaningless threats. Spare me, princess. There’s only one way this is going to go. My way.” Dylan leaned in, smile fading. “This is nothing personal. I actually like you. But I love Ava and nothing, no one, is going to keep me from her.” He tapped his wrist. “Better hurry, though. Time’s almost up.”

  “Fine,” Cade said with a growl. “We’ll get Ava and meet you back in Wells. At the park by the mural.”

  “You have until just before midnight on Tuesday.” He turned and started to walk away, then paused. “Oh, what the hell. I’m feeling funny today. Let’s sweeten the pot.”

  Cade regarded his brother carefully. “I’m listening.”

  “Bring me Ava and I won’t even make you choose between them. I’ll give you the general and the last key. I get Ava, and everyone gets to live.” He snickered and, without waiting for an answer, strode away with his head held high.

  We watched him leave, and it took everything I had not to tackle him and start pounding.

  Cade lifted his head to look me in the eye. “We still have time. We can find him.”

  There was confidence in his voice, but the glint of fear in his eyes told a different story. There was something wrong. A catch he didn’t want to tell me about. “If that’s the case, then why are you so freaked?” I was done being coddled. “Why the hell would we need another key? We already have one. What aren’t you telling me?”

  For a minute I was sure he’d keep going. Spitting out soothing platitudes in an attempt to keep me calm. On another girl it might have worked. Made her feel safe and secure. On me it only made things worse. I didn’t like beating around the bush. Head on, full throttle. That was my motto. There was no point in dancing around a problem. It wasn’t going to go away.

  With a twist of his lips and the slightest furrow of his brows, he sighed. “From what I understand, each key can be used only once.” He shook his head. “I dunno about other worlds, but ours are one-time use. Something about the electricity in the cuffs frying them—I don’t know. If the general is really wearing a cuff, then unless Dylan keeps his word, we have one key for two people.”

  “Do you think he’s lying?”

  “About the general? No.” He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. “About having another key? Hard to say.”

  Even if he did have one, I doubted he had any intention of letting us use it. But facts were facts. You needed to have them in order to make important decisions. To weigh the options and make the choices. “How do we know it’s even true? He could be lying. He might not even have another cuff.”

  “We can’t afford to take that chance.” He took a step toward me but I backed away. I was afraid he’d try to steal the key and ninja the cuff from my wrist. “I know for sure he took two cuffs. When Noah and I skipped, we found only the two we’re wearing. I wish I could say for sure about the keys, but everything happened so fast. There was no time to take inventory…” />
  “Well, if there’s only one key, then we’re pretty much back to square one.” My voice rose. This was the moment I’d been holding out for. Getting our hands on the key. Now that we had it, things seemed to have gotten even worse than they’d been before. I hadn’t thought that was even possible. “Because you can be damn sure I’m not unlocking this and letting my dad die.”

  “We’re not back to square one,” he said. “Not exactly. I might have an idea.”

  He draped his jacket over my shoulder as I tried hard not to shiver. “An idea?”

  “Rabbit,” Cade said, squaring his shoulders. He dialed Noah, and after a moment, said into the cell, “We have to see the Rabbit.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “So this guy is some kind of computer genius?” I fidgeted with the seat belt as Cade pushed the jeep past fifty. We’d met Noah in the park and were on our way to sneak back into Wells—not the smartest idea in my book, but the boys assured me it was necessary. All they’d told me about this Rabbit person was that he was a trusted friend where they came from and that he’d freelanced for the government for the last five years.

  “That’s putting it one way. Rabbit is like a technological savant.” Noah twisted around in his seat so that we were face-to-face.

  “How do you know we’ll find him? I mean, you said Ava was my cousin, yet here we’ve never met. Cade and Dylan were never born, and you…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. “What if Rabbit is here, but he’s like a checkout guy in the Stop N Shop?”

  Noah shrugged. If he knew where I was going with it, he didn’t seem to care. Then again, if he regarded all his other incarnations the way he did mine, then why would he? “Rabbit is one of the few constants we’ve seen. He’s always here. Always smart as hell. We’ve gone to him a few times for help.”

  That made me feel a little better. “And it worked? When you went to him for help?”

  Noah twisted back around in his seat, and Cade sighed. “Not every time.”

  My hope started to fade. “How many? How many times has he successfully helped you?”

  “None,” was Noah’s answer. He glanced across the car at Cade, who returned the look with an irritated glare.

  “Ignore him,” Cade said as he slowed the jeep. He made a left onto Stamford Drive, then another quick right onto Muller. “We’ve gone to Rabbit about our cuffs a few times. Wanted to see if he could slice us from the main while still allowing us to track it.”

  “And I take it he had no luck.”

  “Nada,” Noah said with a snort. “Because it can’t be done. And now you want him to, what, unlock that thing without killing her?”

  “It can’t hurt to try,” Cade responded tightly. “Got a better idea?”

  Noah didn’t answer. He sank back in his seat and proceeded to look out the window for the rest of the ride, which lasted all of about ten minutes. By the time we pulled up to the small white Cape Cod at the end of a partially empty cul-de-sac, I was ready to scream.

  “Remember,” Cade said, closing the driver’s side door. His gaze was fixed on Noah, an even mix of concern and irritation. “Let me do all the talking. Every time you go in, you freak him the hell out.”

  Noah threw up his hands and slowed, stepping behind me. “Go for it, man. It’s not my fault the last one had just come off a three-day bender.”

  Cade rolled his eyes and stepped onto the stoop. He turned to me. “Same goes for you. Let me do the talking.”

  Without even thinking about it, I threw up my hands just as Noah had. “And what would I even say?”

  He looked from me to Noah and groaned. “Dealing with one of him was bad enough, but two? I’m not sure how much of this I can take.”

  Before I could argue that Noah and I were nothing alike, Cade turned away and rapped on the door several times, then took a step back. A few moments later, it opened and a tall, broad-shouldered boy stood framed by the doorway.

  He had eyes as dark as the night sky and skin the color of mocha. There was a thick silver bar in his left eyebrow, and when he turned his head to the right to study Cade, I noticed a small rabbit tattoo just beneath his ear.

  “Phil, my name is—”

  The guy snickered. “Pretty sure no one anywhere calls me Phil.” He leaned against the doorframe and tapped the screen three times, then leaned close and squinted. “Also pretty sure you knew that already. Am I right?”

  Both boys hesitated, but not me. I’d never been the sit back and be quiet type. “He’s Cade.” I hitched a thumb over my shoulder. “That one is Noah. I’m Kori.”

  “And I’m Rabbit. But, like I said, most people who come around here looking for me know that already.”

  Since I’d already broken the no-talking rule, I decided to keep going. I nodded. “We do. We came to see if we could get your help with something.”

  He cocked his head to the side, a slight grin splitting his lips. Both arms folded across his chest, he gave me a small nod. “Illegal?”

  “Not even a little bit,” was my response, while at the same time, Noah said, “Depends on who you ask.”

  “Hmmm. My interest is piqued.” Rabbit looked among us and waggled his eyebrows once before pushing open the door and waving us inside.

  Without question, we filed inside one by one, Noah bringing up the rear. We followed our pierced host down a long hallway, then down a flight of narrow steps that emptied into a large blue bedroom.

  Without invitation, Noah flopped down into the squishy-looking couch against the far wall and kicked up his feet. Good to know he was rude no matter whose house he waltzed into.

  Rabbit eyed him but said nothing. Instead, he turned to me. “So what is it you need my help with?”

  I looked to Cade. This was where he needed to take over. Technically he knew Rabbit. Or, a version of Rabbit. He’d know better how to approach this—and exactly what to ask. I still didn’t understand how this guy could help us. Genius or not, if we didn’t have the key, we didn’t have the key. I was willing to bet all the paint in the world that this was one lock we couldn’t pick.

  Cade took my hand and held it up for Rabbit to see. “I need you to break into this.”

  Rabbit squinted at the cuff. “What is that thing?”

  “It’s something that needs to come off. But it’s locked. We need you to unlock it if at all possible.”

  He straightened and regarded Cade like he had two heads. “Dude, I’m not sure what you heard about me, but I’m a computer man. Ask me to hack mommy and daddy’s bank account, or fix your grades in school, and I’m golden. But picking a lock?” He leaned forward again and frowned. Nudging the cuff with his pointer finger, he shook his head. “A really weird one? I’m not your guy.”

  “Yeah,” Noah said, hoisting himself off the couch. “You are. This isn’t a normal lock. Its tech. Tech that you helped create.”

  “I helped create this?” Rabbit snorted then backed away, looking uncomfortable for the first time. His gaze bounced between Noah and Cade as he inched toward the door. “Not sure what you’re on, but it’s customary to share when you come into someone else’s house.”

  “Please.” I pulled my hand from Cade’s and took a step toward him. “I’m desperate, and I really need your help. Could you at least try?”

  I thought he’d turn and bolt up the stairs. He had that look in his eyes. I’d seen it before on the faces of people about to tell my dad something he didn’t want to hear. A mix of fear and self-preservation. Fight or flight.

  I lifted my wrist and gave it a subtle shake. “This thing? It’s going to kill me if I don’t get it off. Soon.”

  That got his attention. His expression morphed from fearful to intrigued. Not concern, but hell. I’d take it. He cocked his head to the side, regarding me skeptically for a moment before jabbing a finger in my direction. “How is that supposed to kill you?”

  “This whole thing is complicated and believe me when I tell you that you don’t want to know the whole story.” C
ade stepped up beside me. “What I can tell you is that piece of tech is government issued and ended up on her wrist by mistake.” He pulled a tiny silver disc from his pocket. The key Dylan had given us. “This is the key. We need you to duplicate it.”

  “Duplicate it? If you have the key then why do you need me?” The skepticism in his voice was now mirrored on his face. If Cade wasn’t careful, we’d lose him altogether.

  I decided the truth—or as close to it as I could get without freaking him out—was the best bet. “This key will unlock it—but I can’t use it. There’s someone else wearing the cuff. Someone else whose life is in danger.” I took a deep breath. “Someone I care about. The key can be used only once. If I use it to unlock mine, then he dies.”

  Rabbit narrowed his eyes. He took the key from Cade and turned it over in his palm several times before looking up at me with a quirked brow. “What kind of a key can only be used once?”

  “This one,” Cade answered for me. “Please. Just take a look at it. See if you can do anything.”

  Rabbit hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Okay—but no promises.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Rabbit was an incredible host. He let us raid his fridge and gave us access to his video game collection—much to Noah’s delight. With the sounds of electronic slaughter and game-world mayhem drifting out from the other room, I tucked my sock-clad feet under me and curled into my borrowed fleece hoodie.

  “He’s still working,” Cade said, coming into the room. He sat down on the chair across from the couch, never taking his eyes off me.

  You’d think I’d have gotten used to his weird scrutiny by now, but the truth was, I hadn’t. It was different now, though. His gaze didn’t make me uncomfortable like it did in the beginning. Now it kind of made me jealous. I’d never had anyone look at me like that. Like they were seeing the sun, the moon—the entire universe—all wrapped up in one person. But that was the thing. The major hitch. He wasn’t looking at me. Not really. He was looking at her. At his Kori. The girl who shared my face and body. A girl long gone.