Page 62 of A Dagger of Twisted Starlight

“There he is,” I said, nudging Blake and pointing in Cassius’s direction. We hurried over to him, relief flooding through me at the sight of our friend, albeit a distressed one.

“Cassius, what’s going on?” Blake asked gently as we approached. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

Cassius lifted his head, his eyes red and filled with hurt. He’d been crying. “I think my dad is involved in all of this,” he said, his voice trembling.

“What makes you say that?” Blake asked, sitting down beside him, trying to keep my tone calm even through my thoughts.

Cassius pulled out his phone and handed it to me. “I recorded a call with him. You need to hear it.”

Blake and I listened to the recording, our expressions growing more serious with each passing second.

“Dad, where have you been? You haven’t been answering any of my calls,” Cassius had asked.

“I can’t talk right now. It’s complicated.”

“Complicated? What do you mean? Are you involved with my uncle?” Cassius had asked point-blank. I looked to Blake. He had a hand over his mouth.

“Cassius, there are things you don’t understand. I can’t explain right now.”

“Dad, please. We found a recent photo of you with him. You said you hadn’t spoken to him in years. Why would you lie?”

“It’s not what you think. I had no choice.” His father sounded angry, like a snarling dog being pushed into a corner.

“No choice? What are you talking about? Dad, are youworking with the Time Turners? Tell me the truth. Please.” The pain in his voice was as clear as the light coming from the stars above.

There was a pause. Long, stabbing. Even Blake had appeared to stop breathing. “I can’t… I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry. This has to happen. Don’t get involved. Don’t try anything stupid.”

And with that, the call hung up. The silence fell on us like a guillotine.

Holy fucking shit.

Cassius’ dad was involved. Blake embraced his friend in a tight hug. Cass dropped his head into the crook of Blake’s neck and started to cry. I rubbed his back. The cries became louder, waves of pain leaving his body like an exorcism. This was a torment I didn’t want to see inflicted on anyone. Even my own father, who’d been distant for most of my life, would never have betrayed me like this. There was something about going against your own blood that felt demented. It shouldn’t be.

“Oh Cass, oh Cass, I’m so fucking sorry,” Blake said, tears in his eyes.

Cassius lifted his head and rubbed his face. He looked out at the distant rock formations, the quiet dessert, the silent expanse.

The app.

Shit.

“Cassius, there was something else. That app you have. We believe they’re using it to track us.” I couldn’t beat around the bush about it. Every second he had that app meant another second we were placed in danger.

“I know,” he said, surprising us. “I figured it out after the call. But I had already deleted it after the attack on the castle. I got a bad feeling then, but the call just confirm—” He couldn’t finish before another rush of tears took over.

We let him get it out, sitting on either side of him.

Cassius sniffled and started to regain control. After a few moments longer, he had stopped crying altogether. “I think I’m going to go to bed. I want this day to be over already. But there’s something else,” he said. “I think I know where the lab might be.”

That had us whipping our heads in his direction. “Really?” Blake asked. “How?”

“I wasn’t the only one using the tracking app. My dad was too. For a little bit, at least. I remembered checking it a few times and seeing him go to a random address. I checked it out online. It’s a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, close to our home in DC. That must be where it is.”

My jaw dropped. Blake looked equally as shocked. “That’s huge, Cass.”

“I guess.” There was defeat in Cassius’ demeanor. Understandable considering how this information came to be discovered. “It could be another dead end, but at least it’s something.”

“It is definitely something,” I said. “Thank you, and I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

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