Stealing Infinity, page 1
Also by Alyson Noël
The Beautiful Idols Series
Unrivaled
Blacklist
Infamous
The Immortals Series
Evermore
Blue Moon
Shadowland
Dark Flame
Night Star
Everlasting
The Soul Seekers Series
Fated
Echo
Mystic
Horizon
The Riley Bloom Series
Radiance
Shimmer
Dreamland
Whisper
Standalone Novels
Keeping Secrets
Forever Summer
Cruel Summer
Saving Zoë
Kiss & Blog
Laguna Cove
Art Geeks and Prom Queens
Faking 19
Fly Me to the Moon
The Bone Thief
Five Days of Famous
Field Guide to
the Supernatural Universe
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
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Bonus Content
Acknowledgments
About the Author
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2022 by Alyson Noël, LLC. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Entangled Publishing, LLC
10940 S Parker Road
Suite 327
Parker, CO 80134
rights@entangledpublishing.com
Entangled Teen is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.
Edited by Stacy Abrams
Cover design by Bree Archer
Cover images by
EduardHarkonen/Gettyimages,
wacomka/Gettyimages,
paulfleet/Depositphotos,
remuhin/Shutterstock, and abzee/Shutterstock
Interior design by Toni Kerr
ISBN 9-781-64937-150-8
Ebook ISBN 9-781-64937-155-3
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition June 2022
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Elizabeth Bewley,
so many years and so many reasons.
At Entangled, we want our readers to be well-informed. If you would like to know if this book contains any elements that might be of concern for you, please check the book’s webpage.
https://entangledpublishing.com/books/stealing-infinity
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
—William Blake
Dear Reader,
At some point in the story that follows we’re going to delve into a bit of numerology (not a spoiler, I swear!). And, since I figured some of you might not be familiar with this ancient divination tool, I thought I’d include a little primer right here, so you can add up your birthday and see how numerology applies to you.
Of course, if you prefer not to do any math, (which I totally get!) feel free to skip ahead. It honestly won’t make the slightest bit of difference in your reading experience.
If you do choose to calculate, find me on Instagram @alyson_noel and let me know if your number rang true for you!
(Full disclosure: I’m an eight!)
Numerology: How to Calculate and Understand the Meaning Behind Your Numerology Life Path Number
Much like your sun sign in astrology, your Life Path Number reflects your strengths, weaknesses, interests, talents, goals, dreams, and the overall tone of your life experience and life’s mission.
To calculate this number, add your full birth date (month, day, entire year) together, then keep calculating until you reach a single digit number, except for the numbers 11, 22 and 33, which are Master Numbers.
For example:
Birth date: May 24, 2004, or 5/24/2004
5 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 4 = 17
If your result is a double digit number, (again, except for 11, 22, and 33), add the two numbers together and reduce it to a single digit.
1 + 7 = 8
The Life Path Number for this birth date is 8.
Okay, so, now that you know your number, what the heck does it mean?
Number 1 (10/1, 19/1): If you’re a one, you are all about taking action. You’re confident, independent, a bit of an innovator, and you carry some big-time natural leadership vibes. You’re the one in your group who gets it started and sees that it’s done.
Number 2 (11/2, 20/2): Twos are naturals when it comes to anything to do with relationships, cooperation, and bringing harmony where and when it’s needed. If you’re a two, you are sensitive to energies and are known for enhanced intuition, which makes you the go-to for friends seeking advice.
Number 3 (12/3, 21/3): Threes are big on communicating. Whether it’s via speaking, writing, drawing, dancing, composing, whatever. If you’re a three, you take great joy in expressing yourself, and your creations are known for inspiring others.
Number 4 (13/4, 22/4, 31/4): Fours like to take a more practical approach. They’re logical, orderly, with strong earth-centered energy. If you’re a four, you probably have a calming vibe and often serve as a grounding influence on others. You’re the one your friends can rely on.
Number 5 (14/5, 23/5, 32/5): Fives practically live for freedom and adventure. If you’re a five, you most likely have an appetite for learning, and a deep curiosity for just about, well, everything. Fives are natural life-long learners who love to travel.
Number 6 (15/6, 24/6, 33/6): If you’re a six, chances are you’re the go-to for anyone searching for help, healing, nurturing, or just a willing ear or shoulder to lean on. Animals and humans are equally drawn to your innate, protective, soulful energy.
Number 7 (16/7, 25/7, 34/7): Sevens are the investigators, the analysts, the ones who delve deeply to get to the root of the matter. If you’re a seven, for you it’s all about the research, because you know better than anyone that the details are the true key to understanding.
Number 8 (17/8, 26/8, 35/8): Eight is a power player. If you’re an eight, you probably like listing your goals so you can cross them off once you’ve achieved them. Your hard work often leads to the sort of status, wealth, and success you’ve always dreamed of.
Number 9 (18/9, 27/9, 36/9): Nines are the old souls of the group. They tend to be selfless humanitarians who are more interested in serving the greater good than themselves. If you’re a nine, you see the bigger picture of life, and people are drawn to you for the wisdom you offer.
Master Number 11 (11/2): Elevens, like twos, are all about communication and connection, except the eleven energy is intensified to a whole other level. If you’re an eleven, you’re artistic, creative, and your intuitive abilities are often the by-product of your own extreme life experiences.
Master Number 22 (22/4): The Master Number twenty-two, is the ramped up version of a four, with the addition of enhanced creative abilities. They’re the architects who make their visions happen. If you’re a twenty-two, you’re probably a master at taking your hardships and spinning them into gold.
Master Number 33 (33/6): With the nurturing vibe of a six, and double the communication skills of a three, thirty-threes are masterful teachers and inspired visionaries. If you’re a thirty-three, both friends and strangers are drawn to the deeply healing presence you carry.
Fact:
The Antikythera Mechanism: An ancient Greek hand-powered orrery lost at sea for over 2,000 years, is thought to be the oldest example of an analogue computer, used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. Many of the mechanism’s pieces are still missing—including the wooden box it was housed in, the knobs used to turn the missing metal gearwheels, a collection of stones that stood in for the sun, moon, various planets, rotating dials, and more. Many of its hidden inscriptions have yet to be translated.
The Mystery Schools of Egypt: These ancient societies held and protected wisdom within the confines of the temple walls. Such secrets were passed down within the priesthood but forbidden to the ordinary man.
Tarot: The earliest surviving tarot deck, known as the Visconti-Sforza tarrocchi deck, is said to date back to fifteenth-century Northern Italy, when it was commissioned by the Duke of Milan, Francesco Visconti. The twenty-two Major Arcana cards depict an allegorical pictorial processional of a youth who symbolically dies and is ultimately reborn. Though originally used as a parlor game, widespread use of the tarot for divination began to take off in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Henricus Martellus: In 1491, the German cartographer created a world map that depicted Europe and the Mediterranean that is thought to be the map Christopher Columbus relied on during his voyage across the Atlantic. Modern technology has recently uncovered previous illegible and hidden texts within the map.
All the artwork mentioned in this novel is real.
Prologue
The Timekeeper
Basilique Royale de Saint-Denis, France
1741
I wake to a void of darkness and the tip of a cold, sharp dagger jabbing into my bound wrists.
“Get up,” a voice shouts. “The sooner it’s done, the sooner I’m gone.” With a single flick of the blade, the rope that binds my hands falls away.
I grunt, flex my fingers, as a pair of rough hands forces me to my feet. The sudden movement causes a jolt of nausea to lurch through me so violently, I double over in agony and empty my belly.
“Good God!” my captor cries. Ripping the blindfold from my face, he smacks me hard across the back of my head. “Now look what you’ve done!”
A searing pain shoots through my skull, but at least the fog of sedation is beginning to lift. Swaying unsteadily, I focus on the vomit covering my captor’s polished black boots.
New boots, not yet broken in. The boots of either the young, the vain, or the wildly inexperienced. When I meet my captor’s gaze, I realize I’m looking at a match for all three. The blue eyes that stare back belong to a boy no more than fourteen.
Back home, he’d be considered a child, sheltered by parents and governed by laws meant to keep him safe from exactly the sort of people he undoubtedly works for.
But here…
I glance around, trying to distinguish where I am. Though there’s no question as to why I was taken.
Two boys had grabbed me off the street and stuck a needle into my arm. Just before I blacked out, I saw one of them bore the mark, or at least the beginnings of the symbol, but still, he offered no help. And though only one boy stands before me now, that doesn’t mean the other isn’t off lurking somewhere.
“What year is it?” I ask, the spike of dread in my unused voice echoing through the ancient, cavernous space. Something feels off. Something’s not right about this place.
“1741,” the boy spits.
So it is true. A slow chill creeps down my spine, my breath grows shallow and weak. I heard this was possible—traveling backward through time. And now that I’ve done it, it seems a shame I won’t live long enough to tell anyone.
“You don’t have to do this,” I say. “You’re being used. Sent on a coward’s mission. You—”
“Silence!” The boy flashes his dagger, clearly eager to use it. Though he won’t be willing to use it just yet. Not until he gets what he came for.
After that, escape is unlikely.
Though I’ve spent a lifetime training for this very moment, I’m still surprised to find that just beyond the regret lies a quiet acceptance of the doom that awaits me. Is this how my ancestors felt when confronted with a Timekeeper’s fate?
I watch the boy unfurl a roll of old parchment and point to a faded sketch of a skeleton holding a vertebra.
My god. I inhale a quick breath, instantly recognizing the map as the one that once belonged to Columbus. Though the symbol was added a full century after the explorer had used it to cross the Atlantic. How in the hell did he get ahold of that?
“The Death card,” the boy says, those blue eyes glinting as he seizes my shoulder and drives me toward a single crypt against the far wall.
Of course—we’re in the Royal Necropolis. Where the French royals were buried for centuries. The boy, and whoever employed him, has misinterpreted the tarot and played right into the Order of the Timekeepers’ hands. The treasure is safe. And, for now, at least, it’ll remain that way.
“The Antikythera Mechanism is nearly complete. Only one piece to go.” The boy’s grin is smug, but the claim is a lie. The Antikythera will never be complete. The Timekeepers date back to the great Mystery Schools of Egypt—we understand the true workings of time and have dedicated our lives to protecting the very pieces this boy wants.
“You’ve solved all the clues,” I say, “so don’t let me stop you from winning this game.”
It’s a challenge the boy can’t meet. The missing pieces are enchanted so that only the worthy can retrieve them. This boy clearly doesn’t fit the criteria.
“Grunt work’s on you.” The boy glares. “Or I can always bring the girl back to finish the job…”
A sudden coldness seizes my core. I’ve gone to great lengths to keep her a secret. Hell, the other Timekeepers don’t even know about my daughter. So how does he?
“It’s time for you and your brothers to give up the pieces and return the Antikythera to humanity—where it belongs!” the boy snaps.
There are so many dangerous lies contained in that statement, but for me, one thing rises above the rest. “She’s a child!” I shout.
“Not for long. We can either travel forward and find her in the future or wait it out. Now’s when you get to decide if you’ll spare her that fate.”
Can they travel forward? I’m doubtful. Though there’s clearly nothing to stop them from waiting it out.
“I’ll get it.” My voice shakes. “Just—leave her out of it.” I squint at King Dagobert’s tomb and the three carved panels above that tell the story of the Hermit John.
The early tarot portrayed the Hermit card—also referred to as Time—as an old man carrying an hourglass. Modern decks switched that hourglass to a lantern. Once again, the boy and his employer have played right into our hands. But still, two things are clear.
The boy has no intention of letting me live.
And my daughter is no longer safe.
Though…if I can delay long enough, the window for travel might close, leaving this boy trapped in a time and place he doesn’t belong.
Not exactly a happy ending, but it’s the best I can manage.
I get to work, prolonging the struggle to move the slab. But the boy grows impatient, pushes me aside, and shoves the lid to the ground where it breaks into chunks. “It’s not there!” he cries, punching his dagger to my neck.
“It’s enchanted,” I remind him, my jaw clenched. “Isn’t that why you brought me here?”
