442 Chapter 442

"What time is it?" Cadence asked again.

Job pointed at the clock again. "One."

I locked eyes with my sister and swallowed a lump in my throat. She asked, "What time did you say Tara got that message?"

"What message?" Trina demanded. I was a little surprised Cadence hadn't told them.

"A text message from Dax," Cadence replied, not looking away from me to answer.

"Dax?" Oswald repeated loudly. "One of the guys who is trapped in the portal?" He was leaning so far forward in his chair, I could imagine it toppling over and knocking him into the table.

"Yeah," I assured him. "It was at 7:00 AM." My sister was puzzled, so I clarified. "Our time. So 6:00 AM Central time. Every six hours?"

"Oh, yeah. We are in the Eastern time zone." Cadence shook her head. I could tell she was exhausted and not thinking as clearly as usual. "Okay, so."