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Kevin, furious, screa, red-faced, tried to rip the walls of the roo deep into the bedrock below the hotel He didn’t care anymore who he hurt Maybe he never had

My instinct was to act, to do so

Marion’s hand slipped over entle touch, and when I looked at her I saw tears in her eyes

"I see," she said "I see what to do All this time we destroyed the about the Wardens she’d been ordered to neuter-or kill This was a revelation for her, and it couldn’t possibly be a happy one

The Ma’at, in their quiet, invisible way, focused their powers to still the vibrations It was a basic principle of wave ht frequency, and the wave disappears At aresonates at specific speeds, to specific notes

Even the earth

Even Kevin

The Ma’at didn’t fight what he did; they fought what he was, at the source stilling hi him, as a mother’s hand stills a child’s lips

Kevin wasn’t screa anymore, I realized, and I looked down His tear-streaked face was open and vulnerable Defenses gone I felt hiet beyond his own skin; he had Lewis’s earth powers, and that meant that if he wasn’t particular about how he used it, he could easily blow my heart open or crush my brain into jelly insideto protect , but I had to trust Lazlo The best I could understand it, if I introduced a chaotic vibration into what the Ma’at were laying down around him, it would destroy any chance of success

Boy, Kevin wantedoff of hi around him on the aetheric

The cool whisper of the Ma’at was keeping that in check It was a little like a piece of Saran Wrap holding back a heavyweight boxer’s punch I tried not to let the analogy make me nervous

"Now," Lazlo breathed "Take her hand"

Her, who?

I looked down

Alice Her innocent smile clashed with the vastness of the power I sensed in her She was old, this little one Far up on the Djinn scale of People You Don’t Want to Mess With

I extended ers around it

We co

Huative

On the aetheric, the pattern swirled, lit up in glorious glowing color, and it was breathtaking Co, each piece in exactly the right place I watched the colors race around green for earth, blue for air and water, red for fire, sparking off of each huhter as they th

to cascade through Rachel’s touch into Lewis A rainbow of light, turning brilliant white as it coiled inside of hi ruin of shadow and darkness-took on forer destroying itself

No longer dying

Let hih the clasp of hands, felt it h us like a breath Hu Leas part of that So was Kevin There was a bright red bonfire burning inside of him-his natural powers, the ones that the Wardens expected Marion to rip away from him It could be done noithout risk Even without risk to Kevin, for that matter He’d survive it We’d all see to that

But that was Lewis’s voice, whispering, Let him keep what he is Because he understood, maybe better than anyone, that Kevin couldn’t live without that touch of fire in his soul He wasn’t dee kind of deood or bad) an association of independents In this formation, this syth of eued from our souls

And, in the end, we knee had to do

Marion took her hand off of my shoulder, and the pattern dissolved into silence Into forty-odd huendas, their own hates, loves, needs Each separate and apart, as the Wardens were separate and apart

That hy the Wardens had never truly succeeded They couldn’t They didn’t understand

This was power

Kevin burst into tears

I left ive hi "She’s dead, and you hurt me Siobhan’s dead I couldn’t protect her"

He kept crying, rocking back and forth His whole body was shaking I looked across at Marion, whose face was luerous, I know that," she said "And he has a lot of potential Now that I know it can be nurtured and controlled, I’d be a fool to destroy that for hi to need a mentor," I said And, when she opened her mouth, "Don’t look at me I don’t even like the kid"

Oh, that s smile on Marion’s lips

"I don’t," I insisted

Kevin continued to cry

"Oh, givenext to Lewis "Rahel"

She rose to her feet in one of those smooth, inhu they have such a thing-and turned to face me, chin down, eyes fierce, smile fiercer

"Snow White," she said

"My turn," I said I saw people stepping away from what they saw in my face "You fixed Lewis, you fixed Kevin You knohat I want"

She studied me without fear "I can’t You already know that What David is can’t be fixed so easily"

"You orse off, but you’re just fine now, aren’t you?" I gestured to indicate the whole Rahel package "Don’t give me any crap, Rahel I’m not in the mood"