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I closed hed All I had to do was wait

I felt a warning tingle in the still, cal down at us fro snaked around it, living barbed wire, and it hit the curved surface of Lewis’s protective bubble around the Grand Paradise and began to probe for weaknesses

Then it bo down at us through the oddly clear eye of the tornado, that empty funnel space where the cold air and the warines I didn’t knohat it was at first - wreckage,or a barn, or -

No That was a ship A whole, intact ship A s vessel The black-painted bottohter I saw the naail

There were livingas the ship dropped toward us in free fall, her weight turningher nose down like the tip of a spear

"No," Lewis moaned, but he didn’t drop the shield He couldn’t

The Abigail hit his protective bubble and exploded into shrapnel, scrap, and bodies I flinched - instinct, not sy marine diesel in a wave across the invisible wall

Lightning ignited it, and fla Nothing to burn once the diesel had flaone in even less ti with her crew Even if there’d been a chance of saving them - which, after the fury of that crash, I doubted -

there was no way to reach the our own protective shield

Bad Bob really was bringing his A game

The tornado’s sloppy mouth slithered over Lewis’s shield for another few seconds, and then it withdrew up into the clouds Not gone, just reloading I could see this stor its way fro the way, like a boy collecting stones to throw Congested shipping lanes out there Naval vessels flying under various flags Pleasure craft and yachts and sailing ships and cruise ships save out, and he lost his grip on the railing He fell to his knees I could feel David’s agony rippling through the connection between us This was tearing the under the strain

I reached out and put my hand on his sweat-matted hair

Finally, he turned his head and looked atBone-deep exhaustion in hiret

"Jo, you have to stop yourself," he said "Please Stop yourself"

"Too late," I told him, and took control of the bubble away from him

It was a shock, howin from the stor A normal Warden, no matter how accomplished, would have been shredded in seconds

Lewis collapsed lian to crawl slowly

I rolled him faceup, and held him in place with a foot on his chest I turnedinto the abyss

Nietzsche was right - it also looked into me

"Stay put," I said to Lewis "I want you to see this You used to be an altruist, but I watched you change You turned into such a realist, with all your cold win/lose/ draw equations You just never thought you’d acutally lose, did you?" Lewis reached in his pocket and pulled out a slass bottle It was sturdy, one of those pocket travel saned to be break-resistant, but still lass-only requirements of a Djinn containment bottle The cap, of course, was off, because Lewis had been accessing David’s powers

I saw hile with the choice That was a no-win scenario

He eventually did the ainst the deck It didn’t break

"Where are the other Djinn?" I asked Lewis shook his head and collapsed, panting He was holding the bottle in a death grip "Let ood idea of how you think You ordered David to send them all away, to a place of safety Maybe Jonathan’s house" Lewis nodded, eyes tightly closed I wondered why he wouldn’t look at me I wondered what he saw

"I’ll bet you told yourself it was temporary," I said, and took my foot off of Lewis’s back to crouch down next to hio as soon as the eency was over But that’s not human nature, Lewis We don’t work that way We take power, and we keep it We don’t give it up So and take it from us, usually violently" I soddaet that?"

He didn’t want to look at me I wondered as so terrible about es

Finally, Lewis got up his strength to ask, "What are you going to do?"

"Take this ship where it was going anyway," I said "Directly to Bad Bob The difference is, most of you will be dead by the ti to feel so ca under the waves, and I really couldn’t even care

Lewis rolled over on his side and wiped blood froaze

His pupils were huge, like those of a man who’d never left the darkness

"Well?" I asked, and cockedto do about this little situation?

Aren’t you going to stop hed It sounded wet and deep, like so had broken deep inside him "No"

"Really"

"You’re the one with the hero complex, not me"

"And what are you?" He didn’t answer "Oh, that’s right You’re the one who doesn’t have to feel good about hi Then live up to it, Lewis You can stop ot the answer in your hand"

His fingers closed around the bottle

David’s bottle

"Come on," I whispered "Let hiood to make him come after me? Wouldn’t that be fun ?"

"Stop"

"Make nite deep inside et all noble on me nois You put a Djinn in a bottle Worse, you put a Conduit in a bottle Don’t you think that’s going to piss the Djinn off? The last as about the to be pure revenge, and they won’t care about who’s innocent and who’s guilty Congratulations You’ve single-handedly destroyed the Wardens"