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Then he added, “Leave her”

With Diana and Drake gone, Caine knelt before Orsay again “You saw him, didn’t you? You felt him there He touched your mind I can tell”

Orsay didn’t deny She“He was in the little boy’s dreams”

“The little boy?” Caine frowned “Little Pete? Is that who you mean?”

“He needed the little boy The dark thing, the gaiaphage, he was…” She searched for a word, and when she found it, it surprised her “He was learning”

“Learning?” Caine gripped her ar what?”

“Creation,” Orsay said

Caine stared at her He should ask He should ask what she meant What would the Darkness create? What would he learn from the mind of a five-year-old autistic?

“Go inside,” Caine whispered He let go of her arm “Go!”

Alone, he searched his e of the ca there in the earlyshadows

“And then ill turn off the lights and feed the—”

He had not justThere had been a definite idea there, so

Hungry in the dark

It felt like someone had a rope wrapped around his brain So far off in the dark, invisible The rope disappeared into gloom and mystery, but at this end it was attached to him

And out there, the Darkness held the other end Yanked it whenever it liked