Matt dropped the dusty handkerchief and quickly turned the time dials to take him back to when he’d left. The room spun and the next thing he knew he was in his bedroom again. The dust and destruction was gone. It was clean and bright. Too bright. The sun was shining through the windows. The sun . . . That wasn’t right. It had been night when he left. Corey’s bed was empty and so was Albert’s. He looked down at his compass and his stomach dropped. He’d accidently returned at 12:00 p.m. instead of a.m.! He hit himself in the forehead. How could he have been so careless? He really should have designed the compass in military time to avoid this very mistake. His mind raced. He could fix this. He could travel back, wake up in his own bed. . . .
His bedroom door flew open. There was Corey. He looked from Matt to his compass and back to Matt. His eyes narrowed and darkened. “You’re in so much trouble.” Corey grabbed Matt’s arm and yanked him out of the bedroom like he was some kind of criminal.
“Ouch! Let go of me!”
“He’s back! I found him!” Corey announced as he pulled Matt into the dining room where everyone was gathered around the table—his parents, Gaga, Ruby, Jia, and Albert. Mrs. Hudson had her hands at her temples, but as soon as Matt entered she stood quickly and rushed toward him. He thought she was going to embrace him with relief that he’d returned, but instead she grabbed him by the shoulders so her nails dug into his arms. She shook him a little. “What happened? Where did you go?”
“Nowhere. I—”
Corey scoffed. “Oh, brother, quit with the lies already.”
“I’m not lying!”
“Matt,” Ruby said. “You’ve been gone for hours.”
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” his dad said. “Your grandfather and uncle are both out looking for you now.” Matt was surprised by the harshness in his dad’s voice, the wariness in his eyes.
“I’m really sorry,” Matt said. “I can explain. The compass is fixed, see?” He held it up, but no one seemed to be all that impressed.
“Yeah, we guessed that much,” Corey said, then turned to their parents. “I told you he’s been traveling behind our backs.”
“What? No, I haven’t!” Matt said. “I was fixing the compass, and then when I put it back together I traveled. It was an accident, just like on my birthday!”
“Where did you go?” his mom asked.
“I went to the future, I guess, just a day or two. I stayed right here in the apartment, and—”
“Did you see us?” his mom interrupted. “Did you see yourself in the future?”
Matt shook his head. “We weren’t there. Something happened. An explosion or something. No one was there. We have to get out of here. This place is going to be torn apart any time now.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Corey said. “It’s a trick.”
“What are you talking about?” Matt said angrily. “Why would I want to trick you?”
“I don’t know,” Corey said. “Maybe because you’ve been tricking us all along. Maybe because you’re not who we thought you were. Maybe because you’re not really on our side at all.”
Corey nodded toward the dining table where everyone was sitting. Matt glanced at the table and saw the handkerchief laid out exactly where he’d just seen it in the future. So Corey had shown it to everyone else while he’d been gone. They knew now that Vincent was a Quine. But there was more on the table that he hadn’t seen in the future. The note from Vincent that he’d found on the willow tree in Gaga’s yard, and the scrap of paper he’d torn off from Quine’s letter, the part that completed the poem and confirmed Matt’s true identity. His mother, at least, would have been able to put it together. Bring Mateo to me. We are one and the same. They must have searched his things for any clues as to what had happened to him or where he’d gone.
“It all makes sense now,” Corey said. “You’re Marius Quine!”
“I still don’t see how this can be true,” Ruby said. “That’s Matt. Our brother. He can’t be Marius Quine. He’s just . . . Matt . . . right?”
“No, he’s not just Matt,” Corey said. “Don’t you see? It all makes sense now. We always thought Marius Quine was the inventor of the compass. But then we found out Matt had invented the compass, and so we thought Quine was somehow the bad guy. But then Matt was there with Quine when Captain Vincent got the Aeternum. Vincent always favored you when we were on the Vermillion, because he knew who you really were, that you two were related somehow.”
Everyone looked at Matt, waiting for him to confirm. He felt like he was being backed into a corner. He had no defense, nowhere to run or hide. He couldn’t keep his secret any longer.
“It’s true,” Matt finally said, casting his eyes downward. “Quine and I. We’re the same person.”
“I knew it,” Corey said with part triumph and part derision. “I knew you were hiding something from us.”
“How long have you known?” his mom asked, her voice a bit hard, and he realized right then he’d made a mistake. He thought she knew already, and maybe she suspected, but he should have told her right away.
“Since that day in Asilah.”
“When Quine gave Vincent the Aeternum,” Corey said, every word dripping with disgust. “When you gave him the Aeternum! So that’s it then. You’re on his side.”
“No!” Matt said. “I’m not, I swear.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us?” Ruby asked.
“I don’t know,” Matt said. “I
