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"Your hands aren’t clean," he pointed out "Hell, you’ve stood by and let people die, if nothing else How coether "Because nobody ever becauys don’t see what they do as evil; they see it as their own personal good Sound faht fro-tiiven you that De around the shallow-personality pool, wondering if you could destroy a tornado fast enough to ood, not evil Not anything"

"I don’t understand"

"Yes, you do" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, hands clasped "I’ve er than any godda the whole ecosyste the Djinn Makes humans the real apex predators of this little ball of rock And I’ to say "You - you think this is a good thing for ood or bad It’s what’s necessary I always do what’s necessary" Bob’s grin flashed "Soh"

I didn’t want to hear any an to chop as the wind moved faster, as te with the weather Taunting us Sending te an ioing to kill you," I said "De away today, not if it costs me every last breath I have If youafter you"

He sighed "Ah, Jo Wave a red flag, and you run at it like a bull, every time You think I didn’t know that?"

Which was exactly hoanted hilittering, mounted like soht out in the open, almost as a taunt

The whole house was lethally radioactive I was, in effect, already dead Even as an Earth Warden, I couldn’t diffuse thathter had cut herself off fro frohaul It was a treatment, not a cure

I turned away fro with its own black aura, sending its poisonous tendrils deep into the house, into the aetheric

"You don’t want to do that, honey," he said "It’s suicide"

I picked it up

The outside of it felt shockingly hot A slightly rough texture when I ranthe balance point The horrible thing was heavier than I’d expected, andto rid me of the burden

Bad Bob hadn’t ar to hisidea, Jo You can’t kill ht, but lost, the battle for control of the weather systeh and fast and wild It collided arhtning burned inside it, living and dying in rapid-fire flares "But I’ll bet it slows you down for the others to finish"

"They’ll have their hands full trying to keep half of Florida alive by nightfall If I h, the Djinn will have to show their faces just to keep the balance, and once that happensthey’re mine" His pale blue eyes focused onyourself faster"

I shook my head Sweat dripped down my face, matted my hair "No Make me I know you can"

"Why should I?" he asked "You want to kill ht Maybe it’ll just be that easy"

I lunged, both hands barely able to keep hold of the black spear, and as I did I had an involuntary flash of sense- that black shard fro dead in the street, pierced just like this

I draggedat Bad Bob’s blue eyes The tip of the Un treet away

"Do it," he said "Maybe I’m not your enemy after all You ever think of that?"

Sweat burned downto drop this thing that was already killing ood, but you couldn’t bla to tell e unknown and beyond translation, but so

Bad Bob had expected o in for self-sacrifice, and he kne to set the hook firmly

How to use the best possible baithimself

He had the power to stop me, if he wanted Why wasn’t he?

He’d tauntedhe could to drive me to this moment He’d used my voith David to open the Djinn up to the Rule of Three We knew he had Rahel And Rahel had a giftfor mimicry

The last piece fell into place with a physical shock This wasn’t Bad Bob

It was Rahel It had to be Rahel, forced to take on his shape, be his puppet, his sacrificial goat

I felt a pulse of power in the black torch oni the script

I closed y was flowing through the connection, thick and golden, a torrent that was racing through my body in a frantic effort to keepanymore I need you to show me, I whispered I need to see Help me see

I went up into the aetheric It was hard, so very hard that it was like ripping off my own skin; I barely ht revealed the room in dull reds and blacks

It wasn’t Rahel in the chair after all Rahel was outside, heading to the van Bad Bob was holdingLewis

I needed to act If Rahel was out there, that meant that Bad Bob was in front of me Had to be I just had to strike that last inch

I saw a bright copper flash, just a flash, with the last fading strength of Oversight before I fell back into one to the aetheric Bad Bob had used Rahel to lure him here, and he’d bound hi in the chair in front ofhis life I’d co choice One more inch, just one, and my life would have been over, even if I’d survived this day