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“Throw me into a slaughter then. I don’t
want to talk about the plan anymore. I’m going today, and I’ll figure it out
when I get there.” I tossed a branch into the fire. The sky was showing the
first signs of light. “Why isn’t Rose being held with Dustin?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Do you know where they have her?” I
demanded.

“I can’t say.”

“You mean you won’t say. Tell me.”

“It would be interfering.”

“Interfering? What does that mean? Are you
worried I’ll alter some cosmic plan? Afraid if I know where my Aunt Rose is
before it’s time, I’ll end up missing an appointment with a mystic? Maybe
they’ll tell me something I’m not supposed to know yet. I can’t believe you.”

I pushed the rocks nearest me into the
fire.

“Who made you God?”

I left him there.

51

I walked back to my tent. The Old Man was
sitting on a log nearby. “About time!”

I wasn’t in the mood for another mystic,
but needed to get to Wizard Island. “Looking for me?”

“I’m not sitting here waiting for a train.”

I should just call Fitts and offer to trade
myself for Dustin. I wasn’t one of the seven. Someone made a big mistake. I
wasn’t cut out for any of this.

“Can you take me to Wizard Island later?”

“That’s why I’m here. Come get me when
you’re ready.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded once, then started walking away.

“How will I find you?”

“Come to the shore, anywhere, I’ll be
there.”

My cell phone found a signal on the picnic
table, but Kyle’s phone went to voicemail; I left a message changing the
meeting time to ten-thirty. He’d have to cut a few classes, but his perfect
grades could handle it. Dustin couldn’t afford any more hours. The bigger
question was would he hold together if we were chased. Mom would probably love
to hear from me and a call was important just in case I didn’t make it back, but
I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Amber’s friendly voice would have been nice,
but it was too coincidental how Lightyear kept locating me. Kyle was right;
Amber was the only one who knew where I was every time they attacked. I didn’t
want to believe it but couldn’t take any chances two hours before taking the
battle to Lightyear. Spencer said the Lightyear psychics couldn’t track me yet.
He tried to explain all the reasons, but my head started hurting again. I took
his word for it.

I meditated for an hour then watched Dustin
on the astral. He was still lying there not moving, possibly dead. I studied
the guards, the layout of the house and property again. It was time. At the
cove, Spencer was gone; the Old Man came out of the trees.

“Ready?”

“No, but I’m going anyway. I mean, yes, I
think I’m ready.”

“Take in the calm of the water while we go
across. Let it fill you with its energy. The vortex can make you see what is
normally blind to you.”

There was a quiet peace once we were on the
island. The lake recharged me and stripped away any doubts, including all other
remaining options; it focused my energy on the most important priority, rescuing
my brother.

“Spencer said to tell you, ‘Fitts is on his
way here to kill you.’”

“To the lake? How did he find me?”

“I don’t know anything. That’s all he said
about that.”

“That’s great news. He won’t be at the
house. Maybe I have a chance.”

No one was on the island. It wasn’t clear
if it was too early for tourists or if the Old Man fiddled with the boats
again. We walked the trail to the top of the cone in silence. Looking down into
the crater for a moment, the Old Man put his arm around my shoulders.

“Spencer said to tell you one last thing.
‘Trust the universe.’” He looked at me and smiled. “There’s power in you, boy.
You can do this.”

I threw myself into the crater and seconds
later Dustin was in front of me, heaped on the floor just where I’d last seen
him. Fate was on my side, as I could reach him without stepping out of the
portal. Being this close, I realized he was even worse than I thought and could
die any moment. He was heavy, but my strength had increased because of the
vortex at the lake and the power of the portal. Unfortunately, the door to his
room was ajar.

Dustin cried out when I moved him. A
shocked guard entered--only my upper body was visible outside the portal--and
he came at us. I’m not sure what happened, but there was a struggle. Somehow I
pulled Dustin into the portal, but the guard wrestled me out. As the portal
closed, enveloping Dustin, I managed, in my mind, to order him transported home
but had no idea if it would work. He might wind up on Wizard Island or even in
some other time or dimension. I’d have to worry about that later. He was out of
the clutches of Lightyear and Fitts at last.

The guard pinned me, but I used Gogen to
send one of Dustin’s discarded shoes flying into his head. It wasn’t enough to
hurt, but I broke free when he turned to see who threw it. Instead of psychic
skills, it was the power of my kicking his head with all my strength that sent
him reeling backward, dazed. It was a perfect hit. I grabbed the gun from his
shoulder holster and, just before he yelled for help, brought it crashing
across his face just like I’d seen Ray Liota do in
Goodfellas
. There was
blood everywhere, and I think he was actually crying. I thought of Fitts
beating Dustin and I hit him again, knocking him out.

The outside guards hadn’t shown, presumably
still stationed on the wrap-around deck. I caught my breath and went on the
astral to see where they were; one was on the east side, the other on the
north. I was in the bedroom on the south side. The east guard would be there
soon, so I had to move fast. Attack or run?

I quickly made two Lusans and cradled them
in my left arm while holding the gun in my right hand. I wanted to flee, but if
my timing was wrong, I’d be caught, or worse. Attack or run? Time to decide.
Just as I was running toward the door, the east guard spotted me through a
window. He called the other guard. I fired a shot at the window. The force of
it surprised me, and the gun flew from my hand.

I ran downstairs, two at a time. The
basement had a few windows and a door leading outside. It was secured from the
inside with a two-by-four screwed across it. I scanned for tools, nothing. They
were coming down the steps now, knowing I’d be trapped. I moved back across to
the other side of the room. When the first one emerged from the stairway, I
threw a Lusan. It wasn’t possible to see what happened, but the men screamed as
wood and drywall shattered.

Sending the other Lusan through a window, I
followed it out, slicing my arm on a piece of glass, and raced down an old deer
trail. The first shot whistled passed, so I tumbled into the thick brush and
clawed my way through until I reached a small clearing. Apparently, at least
one guard survived the Lusan attack.

Trees obscured the house, so I couldn’t see
where they were, but I knew from my astral observations that the long gravel
driveway came from the road then made a sweeping half-mile circle around the
house. The property was crisscrossed with fences, old tractor roads, and
trails. Farms, orchards, and a vineyard surrounded the whole place. My escape
route would not be simple. Getting my bearings, it seemed easiest to go back up
the driveway, past the house, then down a sloping field to my rendezvous point
with Kyle--if he’d gotten the message. I figured the one or two surviving
guards would follow me into the trees and never guess I’d head back to the
house. No better alternative surfaced in the seconds available to decide.

After navigating through more brambles, the
barbed wire fence bordering the gravel driveway was in front of me. I got over
it quickly, ran along the opposite fence line, around a curve and up the small
hill until I could see the house again. No guards in sight. I jogged off a side
trail parallel to the driveway. A grove of young trees shielded me from the
house.

“Freeze!” shouted a guard from behind.

Did he still have orders to take me alive?
Fitts said he was coming to kill me, so it was unlikely. I turned slowly. Ten
feet away, he leveled his gun.

“Don’t move, kid,” he held my stare as he
slowly approached.

I was about to be taken into custody and
then likely tortured at the hands of Fitts and probable death. I summoned all
that I had learned, called upon every mystic I’d met, and prayed to every god
I’d ever heard of in my life. It was for this moment that Spencer had asked me
to make the seagull sleep. The guard was very close now, our eyes still locked.

“Now listen, you punk, raise your hands
slowly.”

I did as ordered.

“That’s it. Good, good. Now turn around and
start marching to the house.”

I just stared.

“Turn around, or I’ll shoot you right here.
I’m not going to ask again.”

It was working.

“Hey! What the hell? You’re doing some kind
of voodoo on me--”

He dropped at my feet. His gun was under
his body, and I didn’t know how long he would be out, maybe just seconds. I
turned and ran.

Crossing back onto the driveway, I headed
in the direction of the road. It was very likely that the Lusan at the house
had left the other guard out of commission because he hadn’t appeared again.
I’d taken out three federal agents; my adrenaline was pumping. I was going to
make it.

The roar of a car engine caused me to turn.
A cloud of dust and small rocks spewed as the car barreled toward me. I froze. If
only I’d taken that gun. Panic. Could I make a Lusan? At the very last second, I
dove from its path. Untangling from a rose bush and stumbling to my feet, I
gripped dirt and grass trying to get up a steep slope. The car skidded on the
gravel and stopped thirty feet away. Breathlessly clawing my way up, I heard a
wounded agent yelled from the house, “Fitts, he’s getting away. There, up the
hill!”

Fitts? I thought he was at the lake looking
for me. Why was he back here? I started trembling. Desperately fighting the
hill, weed, and sticks slicing my hands, I climbed. Fitts’ first shot was
nowhere near me. The second grazed the ground as I got to my feet and pushed
myself into a run. It was his third shot that knocked me back down, my left
shoulder hit. Blood covered me too fast, and pain took control of my thoughts.

There was no time to recover. I scurried
through leaves, got behind a tree, then struggled to stand. Fitts had stopped
to aim and was only now starting after me. My lead was still considerable, but
I was choking for air and shaking. Somehow, with the crest of the hill behind
me and temporarily out of his sight, I kept climbing higher. Thick underbrush,
cedars, and pines slowed my progress, but eventually I reached another fence
line on a small ridge. The hill, covered with dense trees, fell steeply toward
a barn just beyond the road. I hoped it would take me to Kyle, so I kept
moving.

My shoulder was on fire, my arm numb, and
my bleeding increased. I leaned against a large ponderosa and started making a
Lusan. A figure, most likely Fitts, cut across the hill. He hadn’t seen me yet.
I quickly Skyclimbed the other side of the tree, but halfway up I nearly fell.
Clutching a bulky branch, I fought my way in toward the trunk. The loss of
blood was robbing my strength. More than thirty feet off the ground and safe
for the moment, I woozily pushed my back into the trunk to steady myself. I
finished the Lusan, balanced precariously on three narrow limbs. The bullet had
passed through--I knew from movies that this was a good thing. The healing orb pressed
against my wound helped me slow my breathing.

A crowded stand of mature trees protected
me. A few minutes later, someone passed close to my hiding place but kept
going. “Thank you,” I whispered. His DHS ball cap and familiar blue parka were
visible through the branches about fifty yards away. For all he knew I’d
escaped. Moving the Lusan back and forth between the entry and exit holes in my
shoulder eased the pain, and after about ten minutes, the bleeding stopped
completely. Ten more minutes passed before the crunch of footsteps passed
again, very near, as Fitts headed back to the house.

Seven minutes more and the healing was good
enough--two indentations, thick scabs, and my very red and swollen shoulder was
battle-ready. I Skyclimbed to the top of the tree and caught a quick blur of
the guard, who I’d dropped into sleep, talking with Fitts on the driveway. This
was my chance, if my strength held. I Skyclimbed from tree to tree, heading
down the hill, away from them and toward the road.

The cover of trees gave way to a pasture
dotted with blackberry and wild rose bushes. I came down hard, my strength
slipping, and cut a leg vaulting over a barbed wire fence. I had clear, open
field now, making an easy target. One last barrier and then the road. I tried
to vault the fence, took a jolt, and burned myself as the top wire was
electrified. I ran full speed up the narrow country road, crested a rise, and
spotted the Subaru. Kyle saw me too; he started his car and raced toward me. He
must have been waiting there for more than an hour. I jumped into the car.