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"Hold the with his cane "Hold the sound of the cane, and the dull thud of the blows She saw Gabriel’s face tighten, saw it go grim with purpose The shard quivered, moved an inch toward the crystal

"Gabriel," Mr Zetes said "Think of all your aood Money, power, position-all the things in life you deserve"

Gabriel was panting, sweat trickling down his tenition of your superiority-you’ll never have any of it without me," Mr Z went on frantically "What about all that, Gabriel? Everything you always

wanted?" Gabriel lifted his head just enough to look Mr Z in the eye "The hell with it" Then he gritted his teeth and the shard an to screaain "Stop him! Stop him! Stop him!"

Sasha’s voice rose, too, for the first time since Kaitlyn had seen him "Muh-muh! Muhhhh! Muhhhh!

Mooooootheeerrrr!"

Kaitlyn screa the air

Then suddenly the drag disappeared The air was air again Everything that happened next happened in an instant, so that Kaitlyn’sthe impressions before she could really process the freely Sasha had turned to look at Mr Zetes She could see Sasha’s face, not white any infant And then Mr Zetes was flying toward the crystal, flying, as if a giant hand had thrown him He smashed into it, into its heavy solidity and sword-sharp outcrops at the same instant that Gabriel thrust the shard forward like a rapier

It all happened at once Although Kaitlyn’s body was free there was no tiht, sent out to her mind-mates as she saw the shard stab toward the crystal With Gabriel still holding it-Protect Gabriel! Put your thoughts-around him-

The words weren’t very clear, but her intent was She felt everyone in the web, Rob, Lewis, and Anna, joining with her to help shield Gabriel’swail came at the same instant, just as the shard made contact with one translucent facet of the crystal

And then-

There were all sorts of sounds woven together in the great crashing that calass, and the sound of a sonic boo sound of a freight train passing by very close There was ato a tile floor at once There was the ru of ice on a lake There was a high, thin sound like the screah all the other sounds, underneath theht she could hear music-the kind of h copper pipes

There was light, too The kind of light you expect to see just before a mushroom-shaped cloud Kaitlyn’s eyes squeezed shut automatically, and her hand flew up to protect her face, but she saw it through her eyelids

Colors that her pastels and ink bottles had never prepared her for Aureolin yelloith a brightness off the scales Dragon’s blood criues of lava pink fire Ultraviolet silvery blue

They burst like fireworks, sweeping to the edges of her vision, overlapping each other, bright explosion after bright explosion

And then they stopped Kaitlyn saw rainbow afteries, beautiful fiery lattices printed on her eyelids

Very cautiously she opened her eyes, lifting her hand away froreen stain still colored her vision, but she could see again The great lassy dust in the shape of a giant stone plant, or a Christest bits left were pebble size

Mr Zetes, who had been touching the crystal at theleft but the gold-topped cane that had fallen fro still Their faces were frozen into a look of euished, either In her heart, Kaitlyn was sorry she’d called thes

Everyone else was standing pretty much where they had been before the crash They were all lifting their heads or lowering their hands, staring

"It’s over," Lehispered finally "We did it It’s over"

Kaitlyn was beginning to realize the sa around them like sleepwalkers who’d just woken up Free of the influence of the crystal at last, Kait thought She looked at Gabriel He was looking at his hand which had held the shard The palhtly burned

"Did the shard go, too?" Kaitlyn asked

He turned his gray eyes on her, as if startled to hear a voice Then he looked back at his hand again

"Yes," he said, blinking "When the crystal did It felt-I can’t explain it It was like lightning in h it And the power- it felt like Ti and LeShan-all of the out" He looked up again, aluess that sounds crazy"

"No, it doesn’t," Rob said, his voice strong "It sounds right I believe you"

Gabriel looked at him, just a look But after that he held his head up, and the startled, furtive expression was gone

Kaitlyn felt soin to bubble in her veins "We did it," she said She looked at each of her mind-uys, we did it!" "I said that already," Lewis said with force And then it was like a roller coaster gathering speed

Everybody seemed to feel the need to say it, and then to yell it, and then to yell louder to be heard over the other yells People began to tell one another and then to hug one another or pound one another on the back to drive the point ho Gabriel Rob, so braids

Bri and Renny were part of the celebration, punching each other and whooping with gathering intensity

Joyce was crying, clutching with one hand at Kaitlyn’s back and whispering so Kait couldn’t hear

Lydia was a fullsocked in the arm over and over by Lewis

But three people weren’t Tamsin knelt by the two dead boys on the floor Her tilted eyes et as she gently closed their eyelids

And Frost and Jackal Mac were stiff as statues, watching the wild release of energy around thehtened, hostile eyes Kaitlyn saw them and raised her arms to Frost

"Come on," she said "Don’t worry; be happy Let’s all try to deal with each other, okay?"

It wasn’t the warht that under the circuenerous But Frost’s pale blue eyes flashed Jackal Mac’s face turned ugly

They looked at each other, then with one accord they rushed for the door Kaitlyn was too surprised to try to stop them, and

by the time she recovered, she wasn’t sure she wanted to The yelling and cheering had died out, and she looked at Rob, who had taken half a step toward the door

"I think we should just let thelanced back, then nodded slowly Gabriel and Lewis settled back reluctantly Kaitlyn could hear running footsteps up above, then the bang of a door

Then, silence In the stillness, Joyce’s whispering could be heard

"I’"

Kaitlyn turned

Joyce’s aquamarine eyes were red-rimmed Her face was shiny with tears and perspiration, her normally sleek blond hair ruffled like a baby chick’s Her pink sweat clothes looked daled

She also looked like a sleepwalker who has just woken up

"I’s I’ve done The terrible things I I"

Kaitlyn looked at her helplessly Then she said, "Tamsin!"

The head with the clustered yellow curls lifted Taot up She looked into Joyce’s face, then she took Joyce by the elbow and led her toward the open door

"The firestones can cast a powerful spell," Kait heard her saying softly "Their influence can be very strong-and recovery can take a long tih Taeless wisdo as they disappeared

Kait turned back to find herat her

Good job, Lewis said, and Anna said, I hope she’s

okay

Bri and Renny were s, too The atlow re Kaitlyn’s hand

"Yes, I’d better change" Kaitlyn glanced down at the bathing suit and grinned wryly "And I’uess We’re going to have to explain all this soet out of here before that," Bri said

Kaitlyn looked behind her, held out her free hand to Gabriel "Come on, youhero I want to tell you what I think of you"