Infinityglass

manicures and root touch-ups. “You look good, but you always do. I see you’ve been shopping for jewelry, too. Why didn’t you call me? We could’ve made a day of it.”

She brushed her fingers just above the long, antique pendant that lay against her turtleneck sweater. “You’re almost eighteen, yet you show no signs of maturity.”

“You’re way past forty. Neither do you.”

“Nothing ever changes.” She sat down on the bench across from ours.

“No, it doesn’t. Probably never will. Why are you here?”

“To help my daughter.”

“Please. There are a million ulterior motives in everything you do.” I rubbed my temples. Oh, how this woman exhausted me.

“I’m here because of who you are.” She paused for effect. “What you are. How you got that way. Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I don’t need you for answers. I don’t need you for anything.” Her expression would have frozen a hot spring solid. In July. After a moment, all the chill melted away, and she smiled.

“Really?”

Cold dread swirled in the pit of my stomach. I knew that smile. She had something on me, something big. She didn’t seem eager to make me work for the information, which meant she could barely contain it.

That was scarier than a hundred rips coming for me at once.

“I’ve been with Chronos for years, ever since my own parents worked for them,” she said. “I’ve seen raw talent that you can’t even fathom.” The smile faded and was replaced by calculation. “I was a scientist before I was a mother, so I had time to think about the kind of child I wanted. One just like me.”

An uneasy fear crept up my spine.

“I wanted to make sure I did everything perfectly,” she said, “so there was research. So much tedious research. I needed to verify the genetic sequence, so I located specimens.”

“Specimens?”

Her smile made a brief reappearance. “Once everything was confirmed and reconfirmed, I began experimenting. Of course, mistakes were made.”

Adrenaline numbed my face and clutched at my vocal cords. She couldn’t mean what I thought she meant.

“No one gets everything right the first time. Experiments can create monsters.”

“What kind of monsters?”

“The versions of you that I didn’t get right the first time.”

My mouth went dry. “You made multiple versions of me. Are they still out there?”

“I don’t allow mistakes.”

I stared at her, hoping for a shred of humanity. Searching for anything that wasn’t cold and self-serving. I didn’t find any of it.

“I count as a success, then?” I asked.

“You’re as close as I could get.”

“Did you ever love me?” I asked. God, it hurt, because I knew the answer. “Or was I just a means to an end?”

“People define love in their own ways,” Mother said. “Some people say love is about duty. Or loyalty. You owe me your very life. The way our relationship has progressed is completely your choice.”

“No, you made all my choices for me.” Either through manipulation or emotional blackmail.

“Have you considered I have motives?”

The pull of the power she had over me was the only thing keeping me in my seat. I decided then and there, no matter how many hours or minutes I had left on earth, that she wasn’t going to dictate one more second.

“Your motives are the least of it. I don’t know one true thing about you, and I don’t want to.”

Dune

“You’re wrong about that,” Teague said to Hallie. “I think there’s plenty you want to know about me. About you.”

Seconds ago, sadness had hung off Hallie’s frame like an empty husk. Now it disappeared and was replaced by determination.

“No, there isn’t.” Hallie squeezed my hand. “I’m done talking. As of right now.”

She leaned back in her seat and imitated zipping her lips and throwing away the key. It was fiendishly immature, and just the right choice to piss Teague off.

Teague stood and turned her back on Hallie.

I had tried to check out emotionally and play the part of the cool observer, but right now I wanted to get ugly. Anger would’ve satisfied me on a primal level, but I chose a more balanced playing field. My weapon would be intelligence rather than emotion. I spoke up. “Tell me your motives.”

When Teague turned around, I realized how much she and her daughter resembled each other. Remarkably so. I knew how beautiful Hallie would be twenty years from now. My job was to figure out how to get her there.

“I don’t think so. You aren’t part of this,” Teague demurred. “I know your weaknesses, Dune. I know you can smell the water from here, and that it calls to you. I even know what it says.”

I felt Hallie tense beside me, but thankfully she was stubborn enough to stay silent. I stood and stepped forward, completely disrespecting Teague’s personal space. “I don’t need a translator. Tell me, Teague, what is your goal? Power? Or is it just the idea of conquering time?”

“I don’t need to share my intentions with you.” Teague looked from me to Hallie. “I’m here to talk to my daughter.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to you. I’m the only reason she’s still sitting here, so if there’s something you want her to know, I’m the messenger.”

Teague’s eyes were a deeper hazel, but she and her daughter shared the same slender build and tall frame. Their dark hair shone like silk in the sunlight, and they had perfect bee-stung lips. But where Hallie’s face was still soft, Teague’s was nothing but hard angles. Less in her appearance, more in her countenance. Other than that, they were alike.

Exactly alike.

The truth sneaked in and blindsided me. I took a step back, staring at Teague. “Do you have the transmutation gene?”

Teague offered a bemused smile in response. “You and Hallie haven’t discussed my ability?”

“She told me you’re a human clock. You always know what time it is, down to the second without looking. Half metronome, half party trick.” Hallie had also told me Teague didn’t use it very much. “If you were around someone like that every day, it would get old pretty fast. It might be amusing to a child, but eventually the novelty would wear off. They’d stop asking for demonstrations. You could stop faking it.”

The deep lines around her mouth told me I was on the right track.

“Instead of digging up specimens with the Infinityglass gene,” I asked, “why didn’t you just use your own?”

“Use my own? That’s a ridiculous assumption.” Teague crossed her arms over her chest. “I—”

“You couldn’t take the chance that having a child naturally would create someone like you. You had to make sure the specific gene was isolated. You needed exact proof.”

She leaned down to pick up her purse. “When my daughter is ready to talk to me, let me know.”

I stepped in front of her. “How long did it take before you considered cloning?”

“Cloning?” Hallie stood, too, giving up her vow of silence.

I got out of the way and let Hallie take over.

“Is he right?”

“Not cloning. You’re genetically engineered.” Teague sounded bored. “It’s not a quick explanation.”