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Who was scra blood froely triuotten Gabriel to lose control Kaitlyn realized he wasn’t thinking any He was lost in his hurt and betrayal and anger, lashing out in a way she’d never seen before
God, we’ve changed, she thought, sick with dis in such close contact with one another Rob used to be so pure and now he’s furiousjust like a regular hu-and I’ve got to stop this Before the two of the "D’you have the guts to go one on one with h for that, boy?"
Gabriel pulled off his jacket, despite the efforts of Anna and Lewis to keep him still Strapped to his forearreat, Kaitlyn thought She held on to the crystal shard et it to safety-but where was safety? Gabriel could follohere she went; could take the knowledge of where it was hidden out of her mind And besides, she couldn’t leave and let Gabriel and Rob fight
She decided to gamble
"Here’s the crystal, Gabriel," she said "I’ve got it-and the only way you’re going to get it is the way you did before" But I’ you won’t, she addedto do us any good We can’t get to Mr Z’s crystal-so what
difference does it o back and tell hiive him a way out If he didn’t really want to hurt theht; his eyes hard But she could see uncertainty in his face He stood very still a moment, then, abruptly, he started toward her
Kaitlyn’s mind blanked out in fear and surprise Behind her, the door opened
"Hey, are you guys still up-?" The sleepy voice broke off
It was Tony, Marisol’s brother, wearing cutoff shorts as paja Clearly whatever Gabriel had done to keep the Diaz family asleep had worn off
"Who’s that?" Tony de at Gabriel Then he blinked and the frown disappeared
"Hey, it’s you I reet the brujo, huh?"
He seemed happier to see Gabriel than he had been to see the rest of theht Maybe because Gabriel was souy Or ht that of all of theet Mr Zetes Tony hated Mr Z with a passion; called hied for hied
The five who shared the ere all frozen by the presence of a stranger, like figures in a tableau Tony went on talking cheerfully; he didn’t seem to feel the tension in the rooot the cuchillo-the ic knife for Marisol I couldn’t believe it when they told ht? After all those doctors said she’d never wake up-we’ll show ’e He did everything but slap Gabriel on the back
Kaitlyn looked at Gabriel sharply, sahat she’d suspected-that he hadn’t known the shard could cure Marisol Maybe she should have told hi Mr Z any further inforainst theiven Gabriel pause He seeood huet the shard," Kait said-and that was true enough If Gabriel hadn’t defected, the Fellowship’s crystal wouldn’t have been reduced to shards in the first place "And he would want Marisol to get well"
Rob was quietly wiping his bloody ain He’d backed off when Tony cah the web that he was cal down Gabriel looked at him, then at Kaitlyn, and finally at Tony
"We’ll have a big party when all this is over," Tony said "A real blowout I’ve got soe band As soon as Marisol is better" He ran a hand through his curly any hair
Kaitlyn pressed the crystal to her chest and looked at Gabriel
He held her gaze a minute with eyes as dark and unfathoht she consciously noticed the scar on his forehead-a crescent-shaped ht now it see suddenly tired, Gabriel shrugged His eyelids drooped, hooding those depthless eyes
"I’ve got to go," he said
"You can stay," Tony offered immediately "There’s plenty of room"
"No, I can’t But I’ll be back" He said the last to Kaitlyn and Rob, with heavy e "I’ll be back-soon"
He picked up his jacket and walked out the door Kaitlyn felt her breath co the crystal so hard it hurt
Tony yawned "So, are you guys coive us aover"
Tony left Rob shut the door after him, then turned to face the others
He isn’t as calht, Kaitlyn realized Rob’s jaas set, his skin pale under its tan
"Now," Rob said "What to do"
Kaitlyn shifted "He did go away," she pointed out "Without the crystal"
Rob angled a sharp glance at her "Are you defending him?"
"No But-"
"Good Because it doesn’t matter if he went away He’ll be back You heard hihed She put a hand to her forehead Her usual serenity was in tatters, but she see it around her like a cloak "Rob’s right, Kaitlyn,"
she said slowly "Gabriel did say that-and he meant it"
Kaitlyn lowered her arms and looked at the crystal
It was heavy and cold, and on one facet was a pinkish smear Gabriel’s blood "But what can we do?"
"That’s what I want to know" Lewis’s round, open face was tense "What can we do against hiet out," Rob said "That’s obvious And another thing that’s obvious-Gabriel’s our eneot to do whatever’s necessary from now on"
Kaitlyn felt very cold
Leas sober "Geez," he breathed Then he said, "I guess if we have to stop him, ill"
"Not just that If we have to hunt him, ill, too We may have to destroy Mr Zetes-and that may include Gabriel If it does, it does We’ll do whatever it takes," Rob said "We don’t have any choice"
Lewis looked even less happy, but he nodded slowly, scratching his nose Frightened, Kaitlyn turned to Anna
Anna’s lovely face was set "I agree," she said quietly "Although I hope he’ll come to his senses and it won’t be necessary-for now he’s our enemy We have to treat him that way" Her dark eyes were sad but stern Kaitlyn understood-Anna’s nature was peaceful, but she had the pragmatism of Nature itself
Sometimes hard choices had to be ree at Kaitlyn
That hen Kaitlyn realized what she had to do
It ca burst of inspiration, almost like one of her pictures A crazy plan, co She
couldn’t let Rob destroy Gabriel-not only for Gabriel’s sake, but for Rob’s If he succeeded, he would be changed forever
The first ite it
So she cohts It wasn’t easy to hide things frootten a lot of practice in the past week or so Looking as resigned and griree, too"
She orried that they ht be suspicious- but she ith three of the enuinely grined hihed
"We’ll hope for the best," Rob said "Meanwhile, I guess we should get so"
Which ht, and then she tried to s over to the desk and putting the crystal shard back in
Lewis said good night and left, chewing one thu wistful About Gabriel? Kaitlyn wondered Or Lydia? Anna departed for the bathroom and Kait and Rob were left alone