Page 53 (1/2)

"And you don’t reht?"

I told him the parts I did ree of power in thened "I wish you’d kept me in the loop," he said finally

"I intended to I went to your office, but you’d gone home to sleep, and I remembered how tired you said you were I didn’t want to interrupt your rest beforeyou know, tonight"

Another pause, longer, hung between us So ht The first night of the fullon the hunt for ht," Kane said "Getthat happened since I last saw you"

"I got a tip about where Pryce and the Old Ones were holding Tina"

"A tip from whom?"

"Butterfly"

"That darowled "And you trusted it?"

"The tip was good I’ve told you before--Eidolons can’t lie"

"But they can manipulate You told me that, too"

It was true And that was exactly what I’d been afraid of--that Butterfly was leading me into a trap set by Pryce The next time that Eidolon dared to show its damn face, I’d kill it No truces, no niceness Just one dead deood And Tina’s life was at stake" Fear gripped me "Do you knohat happened to her? Is she safe?"

"There’s been nothing about her in the news Details are sketchy So far, all the reporting is focusing on the SWAT tea out what had happened was as easy as turning on the news "All, right, so the deave you this tip Then what?"

"After I stopped at your office, I checked out the site I talked to a neighbor I called Daniel, and he organized the raid He couldn’t be on site because of the virus threat"

"Wait, what virus threat?"

There had been nothing on the news about the factory being a suspected plague virus lab The authorities ht cover up that information to prevent a panic--I’d seen them do that before But they’d also have co to Kane’s description, and confirmed by the newspaper photo on Kaysi’s table, cops and journalists swarmed over the site

So the biohazard team hadn’t found any virus

My eye on the clock, I resumed my narrative "Daniel eht So after I debriefed the team, I waited in the van, until I heard that screa as clearly as if the phone could broadcast his thoughts He was thinking that once again, I had to go rushing in And yes, he was right If soo rushing in It’s part of who I am

But today, "who I am" felt like a wide-open question Had I helped those cops? Or had I sent them to their deaths? Even worse, had I been the one to kill the the raid?"

"After When I blacked out I ended up in Li Hehe told me the Destroyer possesseswhat I destroy He said that’s what happened to the SWAT team" At that moment, the full horror of Pryce’s claim hit me, really hit me, for the first time "He said I killed the" My voice couldn’t

For so long, I’d fought the Destroyer, pushed down the rage it created in er, and I was so tired Maybe Pryce had a point Maybe soive in

I stifled a sob My greatest fear--and it was co true

"Vicky, listen to me I know you I’ve seen the Destroyer’s hold on you, yes But I’ve also seen how hard you fight How deep your reserves are You are stronger Do you hear er"

The certainty in his voice, his unshakable belief in ht stirred, like a long-buried seed groping toward a hint of warht In fact, I greatly feared he rong But he believed his words, and thatIt meant a lot

"Thank you," I whispered

"I want so badly to hold you right now This wasn’t how I pictured saying good-bye, not today" The frustration in his voice shifted into so, andand tonight I’ll dodownhe understood

35

BEFORE WE HUNG UP, KANE SAID MAB WANTED TO SPEAK with ave et in touch if you could--callthat dreaed it, I wanted to be there"