When All is Null and Void

Chapter Two

"No, thanks," Caleb said.

A crease formed between Titus' eyebrows as his frown grew more pronounced. "You can't just say no." His cheeks were splotched a light pink. A rush of pleasure shot through Caleb. Titus deserved to be ruffled after curdling that milk.

"So I'm forced to go the Testing?" Caleb asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well—er—" Titus trailed off. "No, you're not. But it's—normally people—"

Caleb smiled. "Then I'm not interested. If you'll just go around the counter, I can make you a drink before you go. Free of charge." He shooed Titus into the lobby. This seemed to confuse Titus even more. Probably because he'd never been denied anything in his life, nor been cast out of someone's personal space with such ease.

"Now," Caleb said after he'd rounded the counter again, "what can I get—"

He'd taken his eyes off of Titus for no more than a second, and yet the boy was gone. He'd disappeared, as if he were vapor. Caleb leaned over the counter to see if Titus had just ducked out of sight, but he was nowhere to be found. Caleb muttered under his breath and turned back to the mess Titus James had left him.

+++

Tonight was one of his mother's Galas, and Titus had forgotten. He shouldn't have, since it was all she'd talked about for the last week, but Caleb Carlisle had thrown him off. He hadn't thought before Hopping to the front steps of the Estate. The doors to his home—large, wooden behemoths—stood closed against the drizzling rain. If he'd arrived any earlier, Titus might have found himself outing the Timewalkers at a widely publicized event.

His mom would have had his head. Titus was fond of his head, however, and was glad he hadn't made the mistake. Except, of course, he was stuck in the rain now, and it was hard not to grumble. It was impossible for him, or any Timewalker, for that matter, to Hop into the James Estate. "For safety reasons," his mom had told him when he was little, and once more when he'd first been given his ring. He wasn't about to try and explain to his mom that the people she employed were generally trustworthy, and surely they had other people they would want to assassinate before they came for her.

Unfortunately for him, the security measures had settled him into a quagmire. The only way into the Estate, unless you counted his second floor balcony, was through the front doors. Since he wasn't in the mood to climb, and the ring wouldn't allow him to Hop up anyways, Titus sighed. He could have Hopped backward a few hours, before the guests had arrived, but he was a James, and that meant he had a passion for the dramatic. Flicking his hands through his sopping wet, mussed up hair, Titus pushed open the front door.

His smile came with ease, and he was well aware of his mother's eyes as they locked onto him with heat-seeking accuracy. He nodded at her but was slow to make his way over to where she stood. She wouldn't come to him, and he couldn't leave the room without connecting with her.

He wasn't scared of the inimitable Rhea James, Queen of Time. He was scared of Rhea James, his mother, and what she could do to him. Namely, she could strip him of his ring, strand him here in this god awful time. He knew she would do it, too, and the thought made his palms itch as something feral roiled inside him.

So why was he taking such a risk, showing up to a Gala in wet jeans and tennis shoes? Not to mention the turquoise sweatshirt about flamingoes he'd found at a store near Disneyland in 2017. In all honesty, Titus did a lot of dumb things, and riling up his mom was one of his favorites. Life's always best lived on the edge, he'd always said.

After nearly twenty minutes of unabashed conversation with a Prime Minister, outright flirting with the less attractive guests who twittered nervously, and quick, terse nods to the few more attractive ones, Titus arrived to his mother's side and her kind smile. Her lips were a little too tight, and only Titus could tell. To the guests, she was the epitome of poised, but to Titus she was pissed.Tonight the signature crimson of her dress was styled in a sari, one of those traditional Indian garments which wrapped around her shoulders. She hugged him awkwardly, keeping herself from taking on any of the water Titus dripped.