I stared down at Hiram’s still, lifeless form, hot tears spilling down my face. I couldn’t imagine never seeing the playful glint in his eyes or never hearing him call me Poppy again. Without Hiram, the world was much like this clock: dark, overwhelming, and hollow.
With the possibility of the killer still being around, I needed to leave, but I couldn’t make myself move. Instead, I pulled off my bloodied right glove and traced a hand down his cheek for one last touch. His stubble was rough against my fingers.
“Please don’t leave me,” I whispered as I moved my hand to the hollow of his throat, then to the area over his heart, which was still and silent beneath my touch. My finger brushed his badge, and the cool metal sent a chill through me. A blue spark jumped to my fingers, pulling me into the past.
My breath caught at the thought of leaving my body defenseless, but there was no stopping it as my spirit left my body. The world rushed around me for a few indeterminable moments, and my thoughts darted to Mamá’s ring. I’d have to be careful since the last few times I’d Slipped had affected my body once I returned to the present.
I crashed to the ground and took a second to catch my bearings. The darkness around me didn’t look too different from the shadows in the Epoch Clock I’d just left behind. In my hand, Hiram’s badge pulsed with the first warning that traveled through the room like a shock wave, pushing back the rolling mist until Hiram materialized next to me.
Seeing him move again, breathe again, made my chest clench. Maybe I could save him. The thought hit me like a steamroller, making it hard to breathe.
“I know you’re in here,” Hiram said as he ducked under something. A metal pipe came into view, then Hiram hurried across the open space and took cover near the far wall, one hand on his saber.
The catwalk appeared underfoot, and I looked up to find a pendulum overhead, which meant we were still in the Epoch Clock, but now we were much higher up, almost near the top.
“Hiram, you’ve got to get out of here.” I rushed to his side and tried to grab him, but my hands went right through. “Go get another officer. Don’t stay here alone!”
He cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening.
For a moment, my heart leapt. I’d never interacted with someone in the past before, but since I’d brought that paper back from the past, who knew what else was possible? But then the pervasive ticking sound started up along with a softer scuffle barely audible over the grinding of gears.
Someone else was in here with him right now. Most likely, it was Meridian Eliver, since that was who the officers had gone to arrest.
The badge pulsed with a warning.
The same strange buzzing filled the air as from the debate, and Hiram dove to the side. A beam of blue energy burned a hole in the catwalk, and the metal groaned and twisted, almost snapping in half.
The attack almost hit me, and my breath caught. What would happen to my body if I was injured while Slipping? It had never happened before, but that wasn’t the reassurance it used to be, especially considering how I’d experienced those new effects lately after returning to the present.
Hiram jumped to his feet and charged up the next set of stairs.
I didn’t have time to worry about myself, not when Hiram was in danger. I ran after him with my heart in my throat. There had to be something I could do besides watch him die.
Hiram pulled his saber free and swung it at someone. Another form materialized. A man wearing dark pants and a black shirt ducked under the blade. A bowler hat and a mask covered the killer’s—no, Meridian Eliver’s—face, and he held a strange gun in his hands similar to the one taken from the debate.
The Blue Capes had confiscated the last weapon when they’d captured the other culprit, so the two must be working together after all.
“Why did you kill Meridian Lambkins?” Hiram yelled as he swung again. The confined space, combined with the incessant ticking, made his voice distorted and echoey.
“He was in the way.”
Hiram’s badge thumped again, and I looked around, searching for some way to help.
The man pointed the gun at Hiram and pressed the trigger, and another aether bolt shot out. Hiram dove to the side, only just avoiding the attack. The move made his saber tumble from his hand. It skidded across the floor and dropped off the edge of the catwalk. Hiram kicked out his leg, knocking into Meridian Eliver.
The aether gun hit the ground with a clatter, and a few metal pieces popped loose as it slid from reach and fell down some of the stairs. It almost fell through the holes and plummeted into the dark, but the muzzle and handle caught on the narrow space between the steps just a few feet above me.
Meridian Eliver swore and jumped to his feet. He turned and ran toward me—or rather, at the gun—but he limped slightly. Hiram charged him, shoulder down. The impact sent them both to the ground, and part of the catwalk groaned. They rolled around on the narrow space and Hiram pulled off one of the man’s glove in the scuffle, revealing a ring. The same hourglass ring with the scythes.
With the unrelenting pounding of the badge in my hand, I looked away to scan the area again as more of my surroundings came into view. There was nothing except a few boxes and coils of rope.