Time's Echo: A CHRONOS Files Novella Read Online Free Page A

head, Eliza yanks
the chain taut several times. Then she pivots to show it from all angles before
starting to attach the cuffs to my wrists.
    "Make sure they're tight," Easley chimes in,
actually bothering to open one of his eyes. "We need to see what he can
do."
    "Yes, dearest." She gives
him a smile I hope to God I never get from Kate and ratchets the cuffs another
notch tighter. When the cuffs are snug—a bit too snug—on my forearms, Daisy
follows with the second set, Eliza with the third, and then Daisy attaches the
ankle cuffs.
    It's tough to balance in these things, so the girls help me
sit down on the platform. I spin my feet over the edge and then slip down into
the coffin, about six inches below.
    As soon as the lid closes, I twist slightly to secure the
latch and pull out the CHRONOS key attached to my belt. I lock in the stable
point on my bed, twenty minutes after I left for the trolley.
    Kate has fallen back asleep, with her arm flung over my
pillow, right where I need to land. I scan forward twenty minutes, then half an
hour. Then forty minutes. Her arm is still there. I can feel the coffin moving
forward as Eliza and Daisy roll it toward the audience, and I know I can't
waste any more time hunting for a moment when Kate's not hogging the bed. She's
just going to have to deal with that arm getting a bit squished.
    I blink to lock in the location and hear her muffled " ow " before my eyes open. She pulls her arm out from
under my neck and rolls toward the wall.  I nudge her with my elbow.
    "Hey, sleepyhead." I
nudge her again. "Wake up and grab the keys, okay? These cuffs aren't as
comfortable as they look. And I want to get back so I can get this over
with."
    She yawns and stretches, then climbs over me to grab the key
ring. Her brow creases as she slips the first key into the lock. "Why are
they on so tight? Your arm is all red."
    "Easley is a world-class jerk. But I think the job's in
the bag. The last guy quit without notice."
    "Yes." She smiles, unfastening the second set.
"Clive the Debonair is now performing at a theater in Woonsocket. A six-month contract. It pays surprising well for such a
small venue."
    I should have known.
    "I'll bet it does." I sigh and slide my hands out
of the cuffs on my forearms, as Kate removes the ankle cuffs. "You
couldn't have told me this?"
    "Didn't want you to go in too cocky." She scoops the cuffs off the floor and hands them to me.
"And I did say that you'd get the job, didn't I?"
    Kate starts to get back on the bed, but I put my hand on her
shoulder. "Might as well stay put on the floor," I say, tossing her
one of the pillows. "He's going to want to see this at least twice. You
don't want to get squished again, do you?"
    "Not unless you're going to stick around long enough to
do it properly this time."
    I grin at her and lie back down, holding the cuffs in one
hand as I activate the medallion with the other. "Patience,
my love. You need to learn patience."
    ∞
    Easley is staring up at me from the orchestra pit. Standing
in the pit makes him seem even shorter—from up here, I can count the few
remaining strands of hair plastered to the top of his skull. This is the fifth
angle he's chosen to view my finale. In addition to his initial vantage point
near the front, he's watched from stage right, stage left, halfway back in the
audience, and now, from the pit. I wonder if he's planning to climb up and view
the act from the bloody rafters above the auditorium next.
    I truly hope not, because I doubt I can make another jump.
If these weren't short, local hops, I'd already be tapped out. It took three
tries for me to get back to the coffin on the last attempt and now I'm wishing
I'd taken Kate's advice and waited there for a few hours to, as she puts it,
"recharge my batteries." But I really want to get this over with.
    After a moment of standing there, saying nothing, Easley
disappears around the side of the pit. I hear his feet tapping up a small
flight of stairs, and