The Black (39 page)

"Tell Ree what I said. She's the only one I'll talk to."

I pulled Maggie toward the exit on the far side of the terminal.

"Are you sure about this?" she whispered.

"No."

We walked slowly until we passed under the giant Kodak display and left the main concourse.

"Let's go," I said, and started running.

We didn't stop until we had left the terminal and reached the edge of
Ree's
vision.

"Where
are
we going?" Maggie asked.

"Your vision," I answered. "They don't know who you are."

Seconds later we stepped through the swirling cloud of color and found ourselves on Maggie's porch. I immediately noticed that things had changed. It was still her house, but the sky was no longer gray and gloomy. The trees were covered with small green buds that were warmed by a brilliant
yellow sun. Maggie's vision had changed for the better. I had to believe her future was going to change as well.

I looked to her and smiled. She knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Thanks to you," she said.

"Why are you still here?" I asked. "I mean, now that the truth is out."

"I don't think the truth matters as much as how I deal with it," she said. "Maybe I haven't done enough to earn my way out."

"Well, you sure helped me. That should count."

"I didn't do it for my sake," she said, then dropped her eyes. "I'm sorry about your grandfather."

"If anybody should be sorry, it's him," I replied. "He owes you."

"No, he doesn't. People do what they have to do."

"That's what he said. Maybe he's right. People have to take
care of themselves first and to hell with everybody else."

"I don't believe that," she said. "And neither do you."

"But I do. Isn't that what the Black is all about? Taking
care of yourself?"

"Then, why did you look out for me?" she asked.

I shrugged. "It just happened."

"No, it didn't. You were concerned about me and that's why you questioned Collette. And it's
why you're looking out for your friend in the Light. I'm sorry that your grandfather disappointed you, but that doesn't change who you are."

"Maybe not," I said. "But it does change how I operate. I'm going to beat this Damon guy, but on my terms. Now that I've got the crucible, I'm in control."

Maggie frowned. "There's a difference between control and arrogance."

"I'm not arrogant. I'm confident."

"No, you're cocky. This isn't a game, Cooper. There's a lot at stake."

"Which is why I'm going to do things my way from now on." I held up the crucible. "Thanks to you."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Not we," I said quickly. "I don't want you following me anymore. You're on the verge of getting out of here. Hanging with me could send you in a completely different direction."

"Or maybe helping you is the last thing I have to do to earn my way out," she said with certainty.

I really liked Maggie. She had been through so much, most of it because of my grandfather. I wasn't about to let anything bad happen to her again. I held her shoulders and she looked up at me with those huge brown eyes.

"I wish we could have met at a different time. Or place. Or vision."

"Or maybe this is exactly what should have happened," she said.

I leaned down and kissed her. She was so fragile. I would do anything to protect her. Keeping her away from me seemed like the best way to do it. The kiss lasted a long time. It had to. It would
probably be our last. Finally I pulled away and saw that she was crying.

"Where are you going to go?" she asked.

"I'm not telling. Good-bye, Maggie. Thank you."

As we stood on that porch, I had to wonder if we'd ever see each other again. In any life. It took some willpower, but I let go of her and turned to walk down the porch stairs.

I didn't get far.

Standing at the bottom was Ree.

"Then, tell
me
where you're going, Cooper," she said. She was clutching a black sword.

25

"I thought you couldn't see outside of your vision?" I asked.

"I said we can't see into the Light. The Black is another matter."

I quickly held out the crucible to let her know I had it. She didn't flinch. She already knew.

"Taking that was a mistake," she said. "Do you understand what would happen if it broke?"

"I know what'll happen if I don't do
anything,"
I shot back. "Your Guardians aren't trying to stop Damon and neither are the Watchers. So where does that leave us?"

Ree sighed and put away the sword. "The Watchers are a higher form of life, Cooper. They don't deal in conflict the way we know it. They wait until a spirit has evolved enough to join them, or proves they have no hope of reaching that level before they intervene."

"So they want all us lower life forms to duke it out on our own," I said.

"That's right. We're all guided by our own free will, even Damon. And besides, as long as Damon has the kind of power he's shown, they would never put themselves at risk by forcibly pushing him into the Blood."

"Translation . . . they're afraid of him because of the black swords," I said.

"Of course, and they should be. Destroying a spirit in the Black is tragedy enough. Destroying an evolved life form would be catastrophic. So they don't give him a chance."

"That's not good enough," I said. "He's going to find the poleax, Ree. Maybe now or maybe a hundred years from now. Or a thousand years. He's not going to give up. And when he does, nobody will be safe, including the Watchers. You can't sit back and react to what he does anymore."

"And if you break that third crucible, it'll only get worse," she countered.

"I don't want to break it. I want to use it."

"For what?" she said with surprise.

"To force the Guardians to take him on."

Ree stared at me with disbelief. "You want us to fight Damon?"

"Absolutely!" I replied. "I've seen his soldiers. They're a bunch of drones. Adeipho's guys are way
more organized. Heck, even his daughter kicked my ass. The Guardians would wipe them out."

"We aren't executioners," she said with finality.

"Great. Nobody wants a fight . . . you, Adeipho, the Watchers . . . but Damon sure does. So while you're all sitting around hoping he goes away, he's doing everything he can to get more power. If you don't do something to stop him, you won't have to worry about guarding the Rift from
inside the Black because he'll be coming at you from the other side."

I saw
Ree's
jaw muscles working.

"And what will you do, Cooper? You think the threat of breaking the crucible is enough to force us into this battle?"

"I don't know. Maybe. But if breaking this gives him more power, then you'd be crazy to push me there."

"And you're crazy for even thinking about breaking it!" she shouted.

I'd never seen Mrs. Seaver so angry. I didn't like it. Neither did Maggie. She walked up behind me and held my arm.

"Then, do something!" I shouted back. "Have Adeipho rally his soldiers and end this. Adeipho knows how dangerous Damon is. I can't believe he wouldn't be willing to do what's right and finish the job."

Ree shook her head in frustration. "You can't do this, Cooper. You can't be the kid you've always been, jumping in with both feet and worrying about the consequences after. You aren't playing army with Marsh. We're talking about the balance between life and death. Between the physical and the spiritual. The Guardians are the only thing that
stands between Damon and chaos. Without us, there would be nothing to stop him from tearing apart the very fabric of existence."

"From what I've seen, that's going to happen anyway," I said.

"And what if we fail?" she screamed. "Do you really want to be the one who brought about the collapse of humanity?"

"Don't put this on me," I shot right back. "Things would have gone on like this forever if you hadn't uncovered the Rift and broken that first crucible. This is on
you,
Ree."

I hated to slam her like that, but I had to get through to her somehow. We stood staring at each other, neither wanting to give in.

A familiar voice broke the tension. "This is marvelous! Who will triumph in this battle of wills?"

All three of us looked toward Gramps' house to see Damon leaning on the fence.

"Such fire!" he bellowed. "Such passion! I apologize if I ever doubted you, Foley. When I selected you, I chose wisely."

Seeing him was a shock, to say the least. He strolled casually toward us with a big smile.

"And you must be Ree," he exclaimed. "You have been hiding for so long I thought we might never meet. I have so enjoyed spending time with your son."

Ree spun toward him and reached for her sword. Damon
was faster. He pulled his own black sword from its sheath. "That would be foolish," he warned. "I do not doubt
your bravery, but you would be no match for me in battle."

"Don't bet on that," I said.

Reluctantly Ree took her hand off the sword.

"Now," he said, turning his attention to me, "I am pleased to see you have fulfilled your part of our bargain."

"What bargain?" Ree asked.

"I told you," I answered quickly. "He said he'd leave Marsh alone if I broke the crucible."

"Not only that!" Damon said indignantly. "I promised you your life back." He looked to Ree and added conspiratorially, "He was particularly tempted by that offer."

Ree shot me a look. "Is that true?"

"Well, yeah. But that's not why I took the crucible. I told you I—"

Ree threw her hand up, cutting me off. I felt her disappointment and anger. "You always find a way out of trouble, don't you, Coop?"

"It's not like that!" I insisted. "Yeah, he promised my life back but I didn't even believe it was possible."

"Until you found out about the Rift," she declared.

"Yes! I mean, no! I'm not trying to help this guy."

"Yet you have taken the crucible as I asked," Damon said smugly. "Now please, would you be so kind as to crush it?"

I took a step back from both of them and held the crucible up.

"I'll take off and neither of you will see it again," I warned. "With the crucible gone it'll force this thing to an end."

"Not true," Damon said. "Take the crucible and I will finish your friend." He looked to Ree and added, "Your son."

"He isn't part of this," Ree growled through clenched teeth.

Damon chuckled. "There is no soul, living or dead, who is
not
a part of this."

"Cooper, listen to me," Ree said. "Go. Do what you have to do. But do not break that crucible."

"You could make that choice," Damon declared. "But only if you can stomach watching this."

Behind Damon a cloud of swirling color appeared. I thought, and hoped, that he was going to step through it and leave us alone.

"This will be a treat for you, Ree," Damon said. "Taking the crucible away from the Rift is already paying rewards. Would you like to see your son?"

Ree was near panic. She glanced to me, looking for help but I didn't know what to do.

"I would," she finally said, her voice full of pain, as if she was agreeing to a deal with the devil.

"Of course you would," Damon said with mock sincerity.

He turned to the cloud of color that immediately separated to give us a view into the Light. It was as if a tear had appeared in the thin veil between two worlds, allowing us to see as clearly as if we were actually there.

What we immediately saw . . . was Marsh.

Ree gasped. It was the first time she'd seen her son since she'd left on the fateful trip to Greece. He wasn't a little boy anymore. And he was in trouble.

"Is that your sister?" Maggie whispered to me.

All I could do was nod.

Sydney and Marsh were on a Jet Ski, flying over the surface of Thistledown Lake. It was night and they were moving fast—too fast for safety and it didn't take long to see why. They were being chased down by a monster cigarette boat.

"What's happening?" Ree asked.

"Is it not obvious?" Damon replied. "They are about to die."

Sydney knew how to drive the Jet Ski. We'd raced each other plenty of times on the lake. But there was no way she could outrun or outmaneuver the powerful speedboat.

"You should appreciate the symmetry, Foley." Damon said. "That is the same boat that killed you. A young boy ran you down, and now his father will do the same to your sister . . . and to your son, Ree."