Read Loop for Free Online

stool in the far corner of the room, eyeing the paintings thoughtfully. The resemblance to his son was striking. The changeable stuff, hair and glasses, was different. But the features that stuck around—a strong chin, deep-set eyes, square jaw—they shared.
    “It drives Charlotte crazy that I refuse to bring them back with me. I purchase them in the past and store them. She’d rather have them in pristine condition than brittle with age, even if well preserved. I keep telling her it’s time that makes them authentic. It’s one of the few things I put my foot down on.” His weary gaze fell on the kitchen door, which practically vibrated with muffled yelling. “Wish I’d done the same about telling the kids. I’m John, by the way.” He reached out his hand.
    I looked at it like it was a live snake. This was it. If I took that hand, if I spoke to him, I was officially breaking The Rule. The Rule that was in place to protect him … and me. And if I somehow let it slip that I’d interacted with him, I’d lose everything.
    “Bree,” I whispered.
    “It’s nice to meet you.” His hand was calloused but warm. “Charlotte mentioned you’re a student.”
    “Ummm…”
    “I’m sorry.” He took a step back. “Are my questions making you nervous? You probably don’t meet too many Shifters from before your time.”
    “I haven’t met any. Once, I thought I saw a guy fade in my peripheral vision, but when I looked over it was too late to be sure.”
    “Well, welcome. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you.”
    “Do you know where Muffy van Sloot’s grave is?” I only had a few more minutes, but it was worth a shot.
    “Sorry. Don’t know that name.”
    “Thanks anyway.” I shuffled my toe along a crevice in the marble floor, and we stood there in awkward silence.
    “So the future, ehh?” John finally said. “You must have some cool technology up your sleeve.”
    I froze. There were two directions this conversation could take. One included my involvement in a black market delivery. The other, a microchip in my skull. Either way, I could see the crack form on the thin layer of ice on which I tread.
    “It didn’t take you long to synch up from your Shift,” I said to change the topic. That much I knew about pre-chipped Shifters. Like us, their quantum tendrils could only stretch for so long before they had to synchronize with real time.
    He shook his head. “I haven’t synched yet.”
    “What?”
    “I only went back a few minutes,” he said. “It happens sometimes—an emotional response when I wish I could have a do-over. I’ll synch back up when things simmer down.”
    “So you’re actually Future You?” I asked.
    “Hmm.” He chuckled. “I suppose you could think of it that way.”
    I didn’t like thinking about it, period, lest it make my brain cave in. As if on cue, the back of my skull began to tingle. Ahh, finally. A little Buzz. I fumbled through my pocket for the vial of Buzztabs. I took out the box of rocks and laid them on a desk that looked like it could have belonged to Louis XIV. Heck, probably did. I started to pick the rocks back up but then thought better of it. At least I could leave them in this time, if not on Muffy’s grave.
    “What are you taking?” he asked.
    “Oh, umm…” Blark. I could see the ice on which I tread crackle, the splinters grew even as I opened my mouth. I’d trespassed into dangerous, dangerous territory. This was why we had The Rule against speaking to Shifters from the past. If he knew his fate and, more important, if he knew I had the remedy for his fate buried in my skull … I popped a couple tabs in my mouth to give myself time to think. They dissolved on my tongue, the minty aftertaste not quite able to mask the acidic bite. The pills were a relatively recent development, only around for fifty years or so, since Shifters came out of hiding. But I could tell him part of the truth.
    “They’re for the Buzz.”
    “The