A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring #1)

“Be quiet!” he yelled. “They’re going to show up any second now.”


Sera felt a painful thumping in her chest, a mix of panic and aching hurt for Dak. Something terrible had happened, and she wasn’t sure why. But if his parents hadn’t appeared yet, they weren’t going to appear at all.

“Dak, listen to me. . . .”

He turned toward her, his face at first full of fire and anger. But it quickly melted into despair. His lips trembled.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice cracking. “Where are they?”

“I don’t know.” In that moment she felt responsible — had she messed something up in her calculations? “I’m sorry.” She hated that her words sounded so empty.

Dak turned on her, thrusting the Infinity Ring into her hands. “Fix this! Help them! Do something!”

“Dak, we’ll figure this out, but you need to calm down,” she said.

“Easy for you to say! You have no idea . . .” He started pacing around the room, looking as if he wanted something to kick.

But before he found anything there was a sudden explosion behind them.

Sera screamed and fell to the floor, instinctively turning her body to avoid landing on the Ring. Lights danced before her eyes as the huge iron door jumped a couple of feet forward then fell down, its ringing boom shaking the entire building.

Then came the people. They stormed into the lab in the wake of the tremendous crash — people dressed head to toe in black. At least a dozen of them.

Oh, no, thought Sera. It’s the SQ.

Dak freaked out, punching wildly at the intruders as Sera scrambled to her feet. She was shocked and confused and suddenly terrified that these people were going to put a bullet in Dak’s brain.

“Dak! Stop it!” she shouted, but he seemed like he’d lost his mind. Several men tackled him to the ground, subduing him roughly.

Sera didn’t know what to do. Her only thought was that she could use the Infinity Ring to get them out of there, but she’d barely had the idea before people were grabbing her, taking the Ring out of her hands. She kicked and flailed to no avail, screaming at the black-clothed thugs.

“Both of you calm down!” someone yelled at them. “We’re doing this for your own good!”

But Sera and Dak didn’t stop fighting as the intruders dragged them through the door and away from the laboratory.



They finally stopped thrashing once they were locked in the backseat of a car and black hoods were pulled over their heads. Sera fumbled for the door handle, but it was locked tight. It took a while for the two of them to calm their breathing, but silence eventually fell over them as the vehicle drove for miles and miles.

Dak didn’t make a peep as they rocketed through endless unseen streets. But every once in a while his shoulder trembled, and she knew he was stifling a sob. She wished she could talk to him, tell him that she knew all too well what it was like to have missing parents. Even though she’d never met her own, the pain was like a hole in her heart. But she couldn’t find the words.

If she couldn’t cheer him up, she could at least try to keep him safe. She resolved to do whatever it took to get him out of this mess.

On they went, turn after turn, the car silent, the mood gloomy.

What light Sera could see through the coarse fabric of the hood suddenly cut out when the car pitched downward then upright again, as if they’d gone underground or into the lower floor of a garage. There was a bang of metal and the vehicle bounced before speeding forward again.

Soon they came to a stop. Someone escorted them out of the car and led them forward, steering Sera by her elbow. Although Sera couldn’t see where they were going, she kept her ears trained on Dak’s shuffling footsteps. There didn’t seem to be much point in fighting, but if they dared to separate her from Dak, she would try.

Their captors didn’t take the hood off her until they’d reached a metal door. Sera quickly looked around. They were in a dark garage, just as she’d guessed, but only a few cars were parked there. It seemed to have been carved out of rock, with uneven walls and ceiling. Dak wouldn’t look her in the eyes. A blond man had them each by the arm, and he nodded toward the silvery door.

“Down the elevator we go,” he said. “Then all of your questions will be answered.”

Down the elevator they went.