Time's Divide (The Chronos Files Book 3) by Rysa Walker Read Free Book Online

glances over at Trey again, a little embarrassed.
    “I have a room,” Trey says. “Not here—they were booked solid. I’m at the Park Plaza a few blocks over. I think Kate was planning to stay with you?”
    I nod and smile, even though I have no intention of sleeping in London tonight. If things go as planned, Mom will be on a plane to DC and I’ll be sleeping in my bed at Katherine’s.
    Prudence claps her hands, as though she feels compelled to pull everyone’s attention back to her. When her arms move, a faint sliver of vivid blue light peeks through the thick cabled fabric of her left sleeve, just below the elbow. It seems like a weird spot to strap a spare CHRONOS key, but I guess it explains her out-of-season sweater.
    “Enough with the logistics!” she says. “We should celebrate! They have the most divine afternoon tea in the Library, with champagne and these little sandwiches and—”
    Mom holds up a hand. “Remember, Pru?” she says in the slightly patronizing voice I recall all too well from when I was a kid and she was trying to put the brakes on my suggestion that we go to Disney World, or get a puppy, or whatever. “You asked when we checked in. We’d need reservations weeks in advance.”
    Pru’s shoulders slump like a kid who’s just missed the ice cream truck. Then her eyes widen and the smile returns. She grabs the CHRONOS key on her silver chain and blinks out.
    I expect Mom to be stunned, but she looks annoyed more than anything else. “Damn it! She did it again! You saw it, too, didn’t you, Kate? Trey?”
    We both nod, and she continues, her voice too loud, like it always is when she’s stressed. “Well, thank God. I thought I was going crazy. It’s the third time in the past few days. Last night, before we left Italy, I was looking straight at her and . . . poof. Just poof. It’s not . . . possible!”
    People are staring at us now, and not just the security guys, who are still on alert near the concierge desk. I’m not sure if anyone else saw Prudence disappear or if it’s just because Mom is freaking out, but we’re drawing far too much attention. I make a shushing noise and lead Mom back to the bench.
    “That’s why I’m here, Mom. Could we go up to your room now? There’s a logical explanation for what you saw—”
    “No,” she insists. “There’s not. She touches that . . . thing . . . and vanishes. How can there possibly be a logical explanation for that?”
    “That thing ,” I hiss in a low voice, “is called a CHRONOS key, and it’s the reason Prudence disappeared just now. Also when she was fourteen. It allows her to jump backward—or forward—in time.”
    Mom’s eyes narrow, and she gives me her yeah, right look, but it’s not convincing. She knows something really bizarre is going on, and she must know it’s connected to the medallion. She just doesn’t want to believe it.
    The quickest way to convince her would be a demonstration. Unlike Prudence, however, I’m not inclined to jump out in a crowded lobby, especially with the security guys watching us.
    “Let’s go back to your room, okay?”
    “No. We need to wait here. Pru will be back. At least, she came back the other times. But . . .” She starts looking around the lobby again. “It didn’t take this long before. She came right back.”
    I tug on her arm. “Pru will go to your room if we’re not here, right?”
    Trey, who has kept silent so far, leans in and adds, “You probably don’t want everyone looking on when Kate tells you what she knows about all of this.”
    Mom starts to object again, then notices a middle-aged couple two benches away watching us. They look more annoyed than anything else, so I’m guessing they’re reacting to the noise rather than Prudence’s unconventional exit. The man quickly shifts his gaze to a large planter a few feet to our left when I stare back. The woman next to him watches a moment longer before deciding that same planter is