What others say about THE BEHOLDER

“I was so sure that all the supernatural worlds were already exhausted. Vampires, werewolves, aliens, ghosts… Then Mr. Amberlake’s novel arrived, took me by surprise and left me totally speechless. A world that no one has ever thought existed suddenly appeared. A world so perfectly built you wonder where it has been hiding before.”

— Becca, a Goodreads Reviewer

“Mr. Amberlake, in my opinion, has created a literary masterpiece. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy novels.”

— Bethanie Armstrong, the author of The Memory I Can't Erase

“Ivan’s world building is fluid and tangible and his characters are real. The Beholder is a well-written novel that will pull you into the storyline as though you were experiencing the reality yourself.”

— Sandy, The Reading Café

“Amberlake does an excellent job of melding plot, fantastical concepts, darkness and light with a love story between Jason and his very real feeling counterpart, Emily.”

— Scott J. Toney, the author of Hearts of Avon

“Dark, beautiful, and sinister. [Amberlake's] blend of the supernatural in and the harsh starkness of reality is fantastic.”

— Christian Rogue, the author of Beastia

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without the permission of the author. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

Copyright © 2013 by Ivan Amberlake

All rights reserved.

ASIN: B00B7TG2DC

Cover by Yannis Karatsioris

First Paperback Printing, February 2013

The Beholder

Ivan Amberlake

Breakwater Harbor Books, Inc.

Scott J. Toney and Cara Goldthorpe, Co-Founders

www.breakwaterharborbooks.weebly.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would love to thank so many friends who inspired me in my work and encouraged me to make The Beholder into a much better book than it initially was. Many thanks go to Scott J. Toney, Cara Goldthorpe, Yannis Karatsioris, Sylvia Jobar, Ted Cross, Andrew Williams, Bethanie Walker Armstrong, Ross Clark, Jennifer French, J.H.F. White, Wendy Russo, Phil Partington, and Genevieve Graham.

Special thanks to Yannis Karatsioris for the amazing paperback book cover, and to Gwen Cole for the ebook cover.

For Tanya

Prologue

In darkness, Pariah crept along the wall of the ancient corridor, black eyes squinting toward the end of the passage. A silvery glimmer streamed through the archway, and he flattened himself into the shadow, out of the way of the shimmering light. With every heartbeat the light grew more intense, until he was forced to halt and close his eyes to block it out, if only for a little while.

The Ethan girl was there, crouching behind the silvery dome she’d created in the center of the vast hall. It had cost them a lot of effort to track her down, and now part of the plan had been accomplished: he and seven other Shadows had brought her to bay.

Opening his eyes again, Pariah took a step forward and winced at the subsequent burn. I shouldn’t go any closer. He clenched his knuckles and the movement hurt, driving fury through him. He wanted to crush her, destroy her Light … but she was dangerous and unpredictable.

What if she escapes? This may be our only chance to catch her. Pariah inhaled, reaching for patience. He must wait for her to make the fatal mistake, wait for her to leave her refuge. He envisaged his skulking brethren, guarding the other exits like spiders, and he grinned in malicious delight. She won’t get away this time.

Currents of crimson energy flowed through Pariah and his brothers, the force aimed towards a circle of whirling silver light. But the girl remained unaffected, sheltered by its brightness. No, he realized, watching the stream. This was not the way she would be killed. The currents could kill an ordinary person—in fact, hundreds of them in one second—but not a Sighted one. What they needed in order to break such a defense was an inhuman hatred. Pariah knew how to do it, but this wasn’t the time. His objective was to lure the girl into the trap, not kill her. First he would torture her, learn her secrets, then he would kill her.

Against the Light he was a better warrior. His hands were stained with the blood of the many Sighted he had slain. Patience, he told himself. She won’t be able to stay there for—

Searing pain shot up his spine, burning like acid and paralyzing him, sucking out his breath. All he could do was stare as an effulgent creature emerged from the circle, brighter than the explosion of a supernova, and watch that violent star head in his direction. The closer she got, the more she stifled the darkness inside him. Disgust rose as he sensed what was happening. It was as though love had been sewn into his hateful mind; twinges of conscience were waking in him, eradicating his inherent evil.

He tried to slow time, to stop the burning pain, but she knew how to block his attempts and make him suffer even more. The laws of physics meant as little to her as they did to him, and both abused their gifts to attain their aims. She was quicker than any of the Sighted ones who had previously crossed his path. He knew she was just as aware of him as he was of her, but she was stronger. For the first time in his dark existence, Pariah knew fear.

It happened too quickly. With ease, she breached the vicious circle he and the others had formed, and shot past, leaving a comet trail twinkling in her wake. Pariah stared after her, thinking through the decision she’d made. The trail was a block, not an attack. The Ethan girl had decided to protect herself from the shadow’s evil mind rather than use her power to kill him.

How noble—and naïve—to spare your enemy’s life, Pariah mused.

His confidence returned, but his hands still glowed bright from her energy. He dispersed the vapor trail she’d left and warped his mouth to let out a horrific banshee howl. The terrible sound reverberated off the walls, rising in magnitude, and he hoped the amplified echo might hamper her flight. His brethren chimed in to reinforce the cursing howl as they swished past and darted after her, but Pariah remained stationary, suffering the agony of having been imbued with her Light.

He reached his hands in her direction, slowing her nimble movements as much as he could, but the distance between them only increased. Wasting no time—for he had no more to lose—he threw himself forward, steadily gaining speed, watching tunnels rush by on either side. Acting purely on instinct, Pariah cut a rupture in space and flung himself into the blackness. This time he exited much closer to her, and his success spurred him on to try again.

Cut—plunge into blackness—return to reality. That was the process.

The sickening light came closer with every surge. Understanding his intentions, the others reassembled to help the Evil One coax the girl into the trap. Pariah was desperate, aware he would only get one chance. He took a final plunge into the ruptured darkness and the action brought him through at last. He reappeared directly in front of her, and she braked, glowing with that detestable light.

For a brief moment, Pariah managed to discern her face, the amber eyes wide with fear. Then it was gone in an eruption of burning brightness. He sent a wave of dark energy at her, and her shield disintegrated. Pariah’s fury transformed into a victorious pulse; he had broken her defenses, and now she lay convulsing with pain, his deadly energy choking the life out of her.

Chapter 1

Streams of translucent sunlight seeped onto New York, setting the windows of the Chrysler Building, among so many others, ablaze. It was normal for people to rush along the sidewalk, passing each other without making eye contact. What was abnormal was the way the sky rolled overhead, darkening with each moment until the early morning light seemed swallowed up by night.

Jason drummed his fingers nervously on the steering wheel of his sedan, frustrated at being stuck in traffic. He hated being late, and today he had the added pressure of a big presentation for which he’d been preparing for the past month.

A couple of women on the sidewalk stopped and pointed skyward, talking amongst themselves, so Jason leaned forward and looked up through the windshield, watching the storm cloud sprawl above the city like a purple bruise. As he inched closer to the Evelyn & Laurens building, a gust of wind wailed by, shaking the car and throwing thick raindrops against the windshield and roof.

“Nice,” Jason grunted.

He clicked a button on the control panel, and the wipers squeaked back and forth, sweeping the water away. Turning into the parking lot, he grabbed the only spot left, collected his folder, and took a deep breath before getting out. Shielding his head with the bulging folder, he scurried across the parking lot, maneuvering his way between the cars, but the folder was poor protection. An icy blast whipped across his face, reducing his dark brown hair to a sodden mess. When the wind picked up and nearly ripped the folder from his hand, Jason gave up on using it as an umbrella and clutched it tightly to his chest instead, barely managing to keep it in his grip.

He crossed the remaining distance, trying unsuccessfully to hop over streams of water, and shoved through the revolving doors. Water dripped from his new suit and pooled by his feet as he waited for the elevator, and he eyed his folder dubiously. He could only hope his paperwork wasn’t as drenched as he was.

“Of course it had to happen today,” he muttered.

Why couldn’t even one thing go right when it was supposed to? Had anything ever gone right? Like that time two years before when his plane from Manchester to New York had flown into an ash cloud and nearly crashed. The plane landed safely, but Jason celebrated his survival by ending up in a car accident not long after. He escaped with only a few cuts and bruises, but several others were severely injured. Dumb luck.

And then there was the day he had moved to the new apartment. After that, things had only gotten worse.

In half an hour, he thought, as butterflies created mayhem in his stomach, I’ll be fired.

The doors opened, and he stepped into the elevator, together with a crowd of people thoroughly soaked just like him. A pretty blonde he hadn’t noticed before wedged against him on the left, but when Jason smiled, her eyes shot green daggers at him. His smile waned, and he was relieved when the doors finally opened so he could get out.

More frustrated by the moment, he stormed into the office, paying no attention to the familiar chic surroundings, and slammed the door behind him. He wasn’t surprised to see his co-workers, Matthew Allen and Debbie Eve, had already arrived.

Matthew swiveled in his chair, giving Jason a smile no one could resist. “Did you have a good night last night?”

Jason shrugged, then winced as a cramp grabbed his stomach. “Just stayed in.”

“You should have come to the party,” Debbie said. “We missed you.”

“Yeah, well I had—”

A soft knock interrupted their conversation, and a woman with black-rimmed glasses and a svelte navy suit entered their office. Jason stiffened reflexively. Evelyn, their boss, was in her late forties but looked ten years younger. It seemed to Jason she never stopped smiling. She was friendly enough, but there was something intimidating about her eyes. They never smiled.

Now Evelyn stared at Jason, and a lump lodged in his throat.

“The presentation will start in ten minutes,” she said, lifting delicate eyebrows. “I hope my trinity is well prepared.”

The cramp in his stomach had spread.

“Sure,” he muttered, his mouth parched.

“Okay. See you in ten minutes,” Evelyn said.

As soon as the door latched behind her, the three of them rushed to make a new copy of the soaked report. Ordinarily, Jason, Matt, and Debbie weren’t the least bit nervous at meetings. Today, however, they were under pressure to coerce the clients to sign a contract for a substantial sum. Evelyn & Laurens specialized in interior design. Jason called it an anthill of psychos and maniacs. And though it could be fast-paced, after working here for three years Jason happily admitted that being a maniac wasn’t so bad.

As the three walked in silence to the conference hall, the pain in Jason’s stomach intensified, twisting so that he almost doubled over. He suddenly wished he’d taken the time to eat breakfast.

“You okay?” Debbie asked quietly. “You’re really pale.”

“Stomach’s killing me,” he admitted.

“I’ll do the presentation if you want.”

“That’d be terrific, Debbie. Thanks.”

Inside the hall, the clients sat waiting in a semi-circle. A smiling Evelyn sat opposite them, chatting away. She’d switched the lights in the room on since the ugly cloud had overwhelmed the sun, and the room lit even brighter with a sudden flash of lightning, echoed by a faint rumble of distant thunder.

As if in response, Jason’s stomach convulsed. His knees wobbled, and he reached for a chair, barely able to stand. No. Please no! He took his seat, aware of a bead of perspiration trickling down his spine, and stared at the table. The storm worsened outside, and it seemed to Jason that the closer it came, the worse he felt.

It wasn’t breakfast. It wasn’t nerves. He knew what it was, though, and he was helpless to do anything about it. Trying to control the agony he knew would only get worse, he clenched his clammy palms until his nails dug in, but the pain in his stomach took over his mind, crushing him. Though he wanted to sit, he knew he had to get out, knew he couldn’t take it anymore. He leapt to his feet just as a bolt of lightning struck the neighboring building, and the accompanying thunder rattled the windows of the conference room. Everyone jumped and turned towards the window, and the building’s lights flickered a few times before going out completely.

Jason stumbled out of the darkened room, vaguely aware that the pain in the pit of his stomach had spread throughout his entire body. No one can stand this kind of pain, he thought.

He tried to distract himself, counting out loud as he raced toward the bathroom, but nothing helped. Inside the bathroom he gripped the rim of the sink, swallowing a scream as his left shoulder burst into an agony so sharp it was as if a nail had been driven into it. With an effort, he scooped water onto his face and gasped as it prickled like millions of tiny needles against his skin. He squeezed his eyes closed and saw … the impossible. Images—memories he’d never known—gushed out and seared themselves into his mind.

No, not again, he pleaded silently.

The shadows had returned. He knew them so well: relentless pillars of smoke that thrived on his blood. Fighting for breath, he clutched the sink, letting sweat drip from his face into the porcelain bowl. When he snapped his head up to look in the mirror, he stepped back, shocked.

“No way.”

Five words were smeared across the mirror, written in what had to be blood. Nothing else left that shade of red behind.

We are coming for you.

The room spun, and Jason dropped to the floor, falling into the yawning blackness.

Chapter 2

Jason’s eyelids fluttered open, and he squeezed them shut again. His left shoulder burned as if it had been drenched in gasoline then set alight. He clutched at it, but the pain didn’t let go. His chest pounded, barely containing his thumping heart, and screams sliced through his mind, accompanied by horrific, morbid images.

The shadows. They’ll kill me.

A chill ran through his crumpled body, and Jason forced his eyes open again. Emergency lighting had saturated the room with an eerie crimson light. Everything looked blurry, and no matter how hard Jason tried to focus on reality, the shadows kept haunting him.

Muffled footsteps approached from behind the door, and Jason gulped, though his throat was dry. What if it’s them? His fingers clawed at the tile floor, and he scrambled desperately to the corner of the room, needing to conceal himself before the shadows found him. His mind worked frantically, trying to think past the agony still roaring in his stomach, but he could see nowhere to hide. With no other options available, he propped himself against the wall, panting, expecting the worst.

The door burst open, and a dark form barged into the room.

“He’s here!” Matt yelled.

Matt, Jason thought and slumped with relief, his forehead beaded with sweat. His vision still blurred, but he made out Debbie’s blurry silhouette looming behind Matt. Both dropped to their knees and started peppering him with questions until their voices merged into white noise. Jason cringed, wanting to plug his ears, do anything to shut off the gale of sound, but his right hand was still occupied with gripping his burning shoulder.

“Stop yelling,” he groaned. “I’m fine.”

Gradually the pain receded, and the room came into focus. Two pairs of anxious eyes stared down at him.

“You okay?” Matt asked.

“What happened to you?” Debbie demanded, her voice shrill with alarm. “I think we need to call a doctor.”

Jason shook his head, nauseous at the very thought of seeing a doctor. “I told you I’m fine. It’s just my stomach. There’s no need to call anyone.” He started to scramble to his feet, wanting to reassure his friends. “What about the presentation?”

Matt gently pushed him back up against the wall. “Whoa, man! Stay put for a while.”

For once, Jason didn’t argue. Now that the pain had faded he felt hollow, empty, too weak to control his body.

“The clients left soon after the lightning struck the neighboring building,” Matt said. “Totally freaked them out.”

“They told us they’d give us a call,” Debbie said.

“Great. That means they’ll never give us a call,” Jason muttered. “Evelyn is going to kill me.”

Debbie snorted, stroking the mess of his hair back from his sweaty brow. “As if this was your fault. Don’t worry about any of that, Jason. It’s just important that you’re all right.”

Yeah, but for how long? Jason silently wondered.

The emergency lighting clicked back to normal as the power resumed, and Matt and Debbie headed back to work. Jason promised to join them soon, but said he still needed a few minutes in the bathroom. He wanted to take a closer look at the mirror. Now that he was feeling closer to normal, he needed to examine the bloody message. But when he peered into the mirror, the reflecting surface held no marks at all—definitely no words painted in blood.

“I’ve gone insane,” he informed his grim reflection.

In fact, his reflection was not only grim, it was a sorry sight. The pain had dulled his sky blue eyes then rimmed them with red, leaving them to burn under the limp fall of his damp, dark hair. His square jaw was clenched with strain, and he pressed his lips tightly together to draw a crooked line.

Slightly recovered, but still requiring assistance from the walls on either side of him, Jason shuffled out of the lavatory and headed into the office. He was surprised to see light streaming through the windows, unmarred by even a trace of the earlier horrendous storm. For a fleeting moment Jason wondered if he’d only imagined everything that had just happened.

The rest of his day was consumed by the usual routine: reports, phone calls, talks, more talks. Not far away, someone tapped on a keyboard. The phone rang incessantly, but no one bothered to pick it up. A day like any other. Fortunately, he was lucky enough not to bump into Evelyn. He really didn’t relish the idea of discussing the afternoon’s events with her.

The blonde woman Jason had spotted earlier on in the elevator passed their office, and Matt floated off in her direction like a leaf caught on a gust of wind. Debbie’s head was down as she made blueprints for their projects, but Jason noticed her shooting uneasy glances every so often in the direction Matt had disappeared.

When he’d finished the day’s to-do list, Jason slumped in his chair, his chin resting on his hands. Grains of sand trickled through the narrow channel of an hourglass on the desk before him, and Jason watched, mesmerized, until his eyes began to blur. Behind him, the setting sun kissed the skyline of the city buildings, flooding the office with a mellow wash of red. The last of the sunlight seeped through the windows, turning the tiny particles of the hourglass into gold dust. Pleased to be left to himself, finally left in peace, Jason stared at the heavenly glitter …

Someone tugged at his shoulder and his head snapped up.

“Time to go, sleepyhead,” Matt told him.

Jason groaned and opened his eyes. The grains of the hourglass had ceased moving, and the sharp outlines of Manhattan’s office towers were ablaze, the sun sunk behind them.

“What? Go where?”

“McAlester’s,” Matt said, then shot Jason a quizzical look. “You remembered we were going there after work for dinner and drinks, right?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jason replied, though he’d forgotten. “Where’s Debbie?”

“In the ladies, preening.” Matt puckered his lips and feigned curling his eyelashes with an imaginary brush. “She said she’ll catch up with us. Let’s go.” He grabbed his leather suitcase and slapped its side. “I’m ready.”

Chapter 3

Darkness brought a light breeze to New York that chilled the city’s air. The army of buildings in downtown Manhattan stood like a line of jagged teeth, piercing the inky heavens, with bright lights reflected in the puddles at their feet, the only vestiges of the morning’s rain.

Jason and Matt were weaving their way through the crowd when Debbie caught up to them, and they walked in silence towards their vehicles.

Matt frowned at Jason. “You know, Walker, you’re acting strange these days. What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Jason lied. He was rewarded with a thump on his back from Matt.

“Wrong. You know you’re going to have to tell us? Either you do, or I’m going to thump you.”

“Oh yeah?” Jason glanced at Debbie, hoping for a little support, but she only nodded.

“I’m with Matt on this,” she said. “You don’t share anything with us these days. You hardly even talk to us anymore.”

Jason waved a hand, dismissing their questions. “Oh, come off it. Nothing’s going on.”

But when Matt and Debbie stopped, Jason was forced to turn around. Their eyes locked with his, until he lowered his gaze, then looked to the side. Anywhere but at his friends. He wasn’t sure how this was going to sound. Crazy, for sure.

He sighed. “Okay. But the problem is, I don’t know if you can help me, and I don’t want to drag you into it.”

Debbie frowned. “Into what? You have to tell us now. What’s going on?”

“How about I tell you everything when we get to McAlester’s?”

“Okay. You’d better,” Debbie said. She stopped by her little white VW Beetle and pulled out her keys. “I’ll meet you there.”

Jason fumbled for his keys in his jeans pocket, but Matt grabbed them from his hand. “You’ve had a tough day, bro. I’ll drive.”

Matt pulled into traffic, then glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure Debbie was behind them. Apparently satisfied, he turned to Jason, hunched against the car door.

“You look tense, man. It’s not like you.”

“I’m okay.”

But he wasn’t. Jason was miserable. He stared out the window, watching people stroll carelessly along the streets, laughing, talking, or saying nothing at all. For a fleeting moment, he wished he were one of them, living without all the fear and pain. If only he could exchange his life for some else’s. Then he could live a placid, nightmare-free life.

“Let’s talk about you,” he suggested, wanting to think about something else—anything else but what was going on in his life.

“Me? What about?” Matt raised his eyebrow and flicked another glance at the mirror. He frowned, looking confused.

“You’re head over heels with her!”

“With who?” But his slight hesitation gave him away.

Jason chuckled. “Debbie, of course.”

“What?” Matt scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.” But Jason saw his friend’s knuckles whiten as he squeezed the steering wheel just a little too hard. After a moment he shot a quick glance at Jason, then looked back at the road. “Is it that obvious?”

The car moved slowly but steadily along the Big Apple’s crowded streets, and Matt made a point of checking his mirror every few seconds. They were lucky McAlester’s was only a few blocks away from Evelyn & Laurens.

“A blind man would feel the vibes around you,” Jason said. “The way you look at her … You dirty old man.”

Matt grinned but didn’t say another word. When McAlester’s came into view on the right, he swerved into a spot close to the entrance. Debbie’s headlights turned off nearby, and she trotted up to join them just as Matt was returning Jason’s keys to him.

“Ready?” she asked. “Let’s go. I’m thirsty.”

A doorman pulled open the restaurant’s front door, gesturing for Jason, Debbie and Matt to go ahead. Matt frowned back at the street, then shrugged and stepped inside.

As soon as they entered, a waiter approached the trio, but the restaurant’s owner, William McAlester, had already crossed the hall toward them. “I’ll take over from here, Neil.” The waiter bowed and retreated as William turned to the newcomers. “Good evening, friends.” He shook hands with Matt and Jason, and kissed Debbie’s slender hand. “It’s been a long time since you visited. I was worried you’d lost interest in the beauty you three created,” he said in his raspy voice, stretching out one arm to indicate the room.

Jason couldn’t help but admire the spruce fir-latticed ceilings, and the smooth adobe walls flickering with candles. He and his friends had designed the place, and they were proud of it. The atmosphere was stylishly relaxed, encouraging customers to either sit by the tall front windows, or settle into the warm, spacious dining room in the back.

“No way,” Matt said, smiling. “We’re always glad to come here.”

“You’re welcome,” William replied, then shifted his gaze to Debbie. “And you look stunning, Debbie.”

She glowed with pleasure, her cheeks flushing a deep scarlet. “Thank you, Mr. McAlester.”

“Please call me William.” He frowned, flapping a cursory hand at the rest of the place. “Everyone around here calls me Mr. McAlester.”

“I’m sure that’s out of respect for you, Mr.—I mean, William,” Debbie said, still blushing.

“Come,” he said, smiling. “Let’s find you just the right table.”

He took Debbie’s arm and led them to a quiet table by a floor-to-ceiling window, giving them a view of the brightly lit, bustling street. Debbie glanced over her shoulder at Matt, who returned her reproachful glare. Frowning, Jason watched the cat-and-mouse game, trying to understand who was the hunter and who was the prey.

McAlester’s had a reputation for excellent food, and though Jason wasn’t hungry, he ordered wings and potato chips, along with a light beer. Debbie, who got tipsy as soon as an alcoholic drink touched her lips, asked for a fresh-brewed iced tea. Matt, always hungry, said he would start with a tuna melt and go from there.

As soon as the waiter had gone, Matt and Debbie stared expectantly at Jason.

“What?” he asked.

Debbie squinted dangerously at him. “You know what.”

“The story,” Matt said. “You promised to tell us. Spit it out.”

Jason closed his eyes and sighed. He hadn’t wanted to share his secret for so many reasons, but the biggest was the fear that no one would believe him. Now he had no choice. He shook his head.

“I already know what you’re going to say, so what’s the point?” he asked, glancing hopefully between the two, but they were unrelenting. “Okay, okay. But first I want to apologize. I’m sorry I have been so withdrawn lately. When I tell you about this, you’re going to understand why, I think. Either that, or you’ll think I’m nuts.”

“Go on,” Debbie urged.

Jason swallowed, then had a sip of beer to ease his dry throat. “It started the day I moved to my new apartment,” he said. “The first night I stayed there I had a really bad nightmare where a guy chases a girl.” Jason paused, trying to decide whether or not to tell them about the girl’s glowing aura, then decided against it. “I was the guy. I chased her along an ancient tunnel, together with several other shad—” He stopped himself just in time, then went on, “—other men.”

The waiter came with their drinks, and Jason used the precious moments to try and think of a way to tell the story so it was believable. Debbie lowered her eyes as she sipped her iced tea, but when the waiters had left, Matt insisted.

“Go on,” he said, his eyes constantly watching the entrance to the restaurant.

Jason rubbed his brow hard. Though he hated the conversation, talking about the experience seemed to help ease his inner tension. “After that I had more dreams where it was me who was being chased by the men. And each time they managed to catch me, then torture me to death.”

Debbie twitched her eyebrows and shrugged. “So? Everyone has nightmares.  Your dreams may be the result of excessive stress: moving to a new apartment, the presentation, and other challenges. You just need to relax more.”

“No, Debbie. It’s more than that.”

She clicked her tongue and smiled, leaning back in her chair. “Come on, Jason. They’re just dreams!”

“No, they aren’t! That’s the thing. These things are happening in real life!” he burst out. “The people in my dreams writhe in blinding agony while I am inside their minds!” He shuddered but pressed on. “Have you ever felt your flesh being ripped to shreds? I feel it!”

Debbie fidgeted in her chair, clearly uncomfortable. Jason saw her exchange a glance with Matt, but he couldn’t contain his stern tone. They had wanted to know, and now that he was sharing, he couldn’t stop. And he needed them to believe him.

“And it’s not only that. Every time I see a dream,” he continued, “my left shoulder hurts. It feels as if it’s going to crumble to pieces.”

Debbie sighed. “I believe you. It’s just … All I’m saying is you have nothing to worry about. Let’s analyze what you’ve dreamed about so far. You said you were running through an ancient tunnel, right? Well, to begin with, there are no ancient tunnels in New York.”

“This is exactly what I expected from you.” He shot her an acidic look and turned away.

“For goodness’ sake, Jason,” she persisted. “You don’t have to be mean. Just forget about it.”

He sighed and softened his tone. It wasn’t her fault. “I knew you weren’t going to believe me.”  And I didn’t even get to the part about how those people glowed, he thought.

Matt had kept silent through their exchange, his eyes distracted in the direction of the front door. Suddenly he sat straighter.

“Uh-oh,” he said quietly.

Chapter 4

Debbie eyed him, then started to turn towards the door. “What?”

He raised a hand to stop her. “Don’t. Turn. Around.”

“What’s the matter?” Jason cut in.

Matt leaned over the table toward the other two and kept his voice low. “The guy at the entrance has been following us since we left the office. Black coat with a high collar, long blond hair.”

Jason flicked a glance towards the entrance, wondering why anyone would be dressed in a high collared coat on a warm evening like this. “Dangerous looking guy.”

“Yeah. Looks like an ex-con,” Matt muttered, his eyebrows knotted. “Hmm. He just shook hands with William.”

“Are you sure it’s the same guy from the office?” Jason asked.

“Positive. He never lost sight of my car. Every time I looked back, he was there.”

Debbie frowned, pursing her lips with doubt, but Matt persisted. “I saw his face in the light of the streetlamps.”

“What’s he doing now?” Debbie asked, tinkling her fingernails over the surface of her glass.

“Just talking and looking around the room,” Matt said.

Jason snorted and reached for his beer. “Oh, man. This is great. It’s enough for me to be paranoid, but now you, too?”

He ventured another peek at the man. As Matt had said, the blond stranger was talking with Mr. McAlester, and they seemed to be engaged in a serious conversation. He was conspicuous in his black leather clothes and long cloak, and his grim expression soon attracted the attention of most people in the room. With all the other customers staring at him—except for Debbie, who refused to move—Matt and Jason were able to gape at him without making a secret of it.

The big man looked completely out of place. When he shot a glance in their direction, his dark, inquisitive eyes latched onto Jason, making him squirm. When he took a step towards them, the hair on the back of Jason’s neck stood up, and his insides started to burn. He turned away from the approaching figure and squeezed his eyes shut, but the feeling didn’t vanish.

The girl lay on the stone floor, her small body convulsing with pain.

Disgust consumed Jason, and nausea rose in his stomach as the stranger drew closer.

Amber eyes widened in terror.

He opened his eyes, and blinked at Matt who seemed oblivious to all of the sensations flowing through Jason. He was, however, staring at Jason with concern.

He took another step and laughed. He had broken her.

Matt’s lips moved, but Jason heard nothing. The footsteps of the approaching man thundered closer in his head until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Just when he thought he was about to vomit, the fit started ebbing away. The voices of Matt and Debbie drifted back to him from afar.

Debbie gripped his forearm. “Jason, are you okay?”

“No,” he said, then managed a dry chuckle. Tiny beads of cold sweat dewed his forehead, and blood still pounded like racing horses in his temples. “I just saw her again.”

“Saw whom?” Debbie asked.

He took a deep breath and blew it out, trying to release his clenched muscles. “The girl. From my nightmare. She was in a lot of pain,” Jason replied quietly. “Where’s the man? Where’s he gone?”

“He passed our table and sat in the opposite corner of the room,” Matt replied.

Debbie patted her napkin on Jason’s sweaty brow. “You look awful.”

“Thanks.”

“What happened?”

“It was the same vision, only it played a bit further,” Jason muttered.

Matt sat stiffly, his eyes locked on Jason. “What do you mean? What did you see?”

“I don’t know. I just saw the girl lying on the floor, then the vision stopped.”

What a lucky day for me, Jason thought wryly. Writing on a mirror and the stranger.

“Let’s leave,” Debbie said.

Matt shook his head. “We’d better stay,” he said. “How about if we find out who this guy is first?”

Debbie shot him a worried glance, but Matt took her hand and rubbed his thumb smoothly over her knuckles.

“Matt’s right,” Jason said, sitting back as the waiters arrived with the trio’s orders. “We’ll ask William.” If William knows the man, it can’t be anyone wishing to hurt us—I hope.

No one seemed interested in eating anymore.

Matt kept darting glances at the stranger. “He’s not watching,” he told them. Debbie took the opportunity to turn and take a look, but most of the man’s face was hidden from view by his long blond hair.

“I want to go now,” she told them.

In that moment, the stranger rose, paid for his untouched drink, and made for the exit.

After he’d left, Matt exhaled. “Maybe I am being paranoid.”

“I really hope so,” Debbie said, smiling weakly.

Jason jumped to his feet, nausea replaced by an urgency of a different kind. “I have to go, guys.” At last he had some kind of connection to the horrible dreams, and he was determined to follow that lead. “I’ll explain later. See you tomorrow.”

Before Matt or Debbie could say a word, Jason strode hastily towards the exit.

Chapter 5

Two men stood outside McAlester’s, a pregnant silence stretched between them. The streets were quiet, and the normally crowded sidewalks were strangely empty. The older man’s patent leather shoes tapped the sidewalk nervously, while the other man, wrapped in a long black coat, stared hard at the sky, his blond hair spilling over his shoulders.

“Your appearance unnerved them,” the middle-aged man said. “Now that you’ve seen them, what do you say?”

Some time passed before the younger one exhaled through his long, straight nose. “Extraordinary. I’ve never seen Auras like those. Emily will be nonplussed when she sees. Stupendous things are about to happen.”

“I believe you are right,” the middle-aged man said, smiling grimly. “I was lucky to have bumped into them.”

“You sure were. They haven’t been to your restaurant in a while, have they?”

William McAlester shook his head, and the blond man nodded slowly. “Yes. It’s time to act, I suppose. Oh, before I forget,” he said, setting the high collar of his black cloak straight. “I’m not going to use the car, so you’ll have to look after it.”

William nodded, and the stranger crossed the street, his shadow sliding among streetlamps and searchlights. Without a sound, he disappeared into a dark alley on the other side.

***

Jason burst out the front door of McAlester’s, scanning the street for William. But William had disappeared, and when Jason called his cell phone, no one answered.

The doorman was watching, so Jason decided to ask him instead. “I was wondering who that strange-looking guy was. He looked familiar, you know? The guy talking with William.”

“Strange-looking?”

“Yeah. He was wearing a long black cloak with a high collar, and he had long blond hair.”

The doorman shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember anyone matching that description being in the building today.”

Jason was still mulling it over as he drove home alone. He had not bothered going back for Matt, knowing that Debbie would give him a lift, and maybe the two of them might even get their act together. When Jason finally parked in his garage and turned off the car, dead silence echoed through the place. He glanced at his watch—it showed 11:47 p.m.—then leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes, needing to just sit and breathe for a few moments.

Who was the stranger? Why had his appearance caused so much physical pain to rip through Jason? The sensation had been the same as what he’d experienced in the nightmares and visions, so how was the black-coated man connected to those? None of the pieces fit together. It was like someone had thrown fragments of different puzzles into the same box and nothing matched. The more pieces appeared, the more confused Jason felt.

His stomach knotted with trepidation, Jason entered his apartment and locked the door behind him. After today’s events, anything was possible, and he half expected to find the room in a mess, furniture turned upside down, everything rummaged through. He took a deep breath, flipped the light switch on, then relaxed. All was in its place.

He dropped his keys into the bowl on the coffee table and started opening his mail. Then straightened at the sight of a sealed white envelope lying beside a pile of magazines and newspapers. Two words had been neatly inscribed on it: To Jason.

Someone had been in his apartment. Jason’s stomach dropped. Could they still be there? Moving as quietly as he could, Jason checked the kitchen, then his bedroom. No one there. He returned to the coffee table and picked up the envelope.

On the back it bore a seal: W and T superimposed and embellished with an ornate pattern. Jason had never seen the image before, but it appeared to be an ex libris, the seal of the sender. Inside the envelope he found a sheet of paper folded in two, bearing the same image. He unfolded the sheet and started reading.

Do not try to look for them.

This may endanger both you and your friends.

Come to Dave and Buster’s at Times Square tomorrow at 2:23 p.m.

No name. Nothing else. Just the brief message and the WT seal.

Do not try to look for them? Like he was going to. Jason tossed the letter on the table and stared at the scribbled note. He could see no explanation to this message—unless … Unless someone knew about his dreams. The possibility made him dizzy, and he sank onto the couch. It made no sense. He was sure Matt and Debbie were the only ones who knew.

Matt and Debbie, he suddenly thought. He grabbed the phone, but resisted the impulse to call them. Too late for phone calls. They’d only worry.

It was too late for him to string words together anyway. He was so exhausted the room started spinning, the colors of the furniture blurring together. He staggered towards his bedroom, peeling off his clothes as he walked, and tossing them on the floor. When he finally lay in his bed, he stared up at the ceiling for a long time, still feeling ill.

I won’t be sleeping much tonight, he thought. But as he closed his eyes, sweet darkness welcomed him in.

Chapter 6

The alarm clock screamed, and Jason was suddenly wide awake, frantic with the impossible fear that the ringing sound was coming from inside his head.

He rolled onto his back, and light spilled over his face. Squinting, he shielded his eyes with one hand, hoping to shut off the stinging brightness. His hands were reluctant to obey the orders of his drowsy brain, but he groped for the raging clock and banged on it as hard as he could.

“Shut up!” he murmured.

To his relief, the alarm clock fell silent.

No dreams, no nightmares. That was all he needed. Not too much to ask for, was it? Untangling himself from the sheets, he struggled to his feet then made his way out of the room, ignoring the crumpled clothes piled along the way. He shuffled through the hall, his steps labored and slow though the cold floor tickled his feet, then cast a wary look at the coffee table.

He’d hoped the letter had been a figment of his imagination, a trick of his exhausted mind, but there it lay. Giving his coffee table a wide berth, Jason entered a sunlit kitchen, picked up a remote, then hammered a random button. A weatherwoman’s cheerful voice filled the room as she swung her arms to point at spots on the map, then jumped from the right corner of the screen to the left as if there were a mouse chasing her. Jason mustered a wan smile. If only life could be that simple.

He switched on the electric kettle, listening to the weather report as he waited for the water to boil.

“Hot, dry weather returns to New York,” the woman was saying, “whisking away the limited relief brought by yesterday’s thunderstorm. The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning, urging residents to avoid the use of open flames and …”

Jason peered outside, falling deaf to the forecast. The sky was featureless except for a layer of thin cloud, giving a white tinge to the blue. The color pressed against his eyes, and the glare made him blink. Beads of condensation ran along the air conditioner tray and dripped onto the baked concrete. There seemed no end to the blistering heat. Jason didn’t need a weather report to tell him they were in for another hot day.

After a cup of strong coffee, Jason changed into his suit and left the apartment. The elevator carried him down to the basement, but he decided to leave his car in the garage and take a taxi to Evelyn & Laurens instead.

When he arrived, Debbie was at her desk, busy with papers. She looked up at his entrance and blinked, looking contrite.

“Morning,” he mumbled. “Sorry I left so soon yesterday. How did the evening go?”

“Pretty good. Um … Evelyn called and asked you to come to her office as soon as you arrive.”

Jason had known this was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier. “Crap. Did she tell you why?”

Debbie glanced away and started rummaging for something in her desk drawer. “No, she didn’t say.”

“It must be about the presentation.”

Sucking up his nerve, Jason knocked on his boss’s door, and she welcomed him into her lemony scented, pristine office.

“Good morning, Jason. Please sit down. Would you like coffee or tea?” Evelyn’s face beamed with hospitality, which only served to unnerve Jason further.

“No, thank you.” He frowned. “Debbie said you wanted to see me?”

“Ah, yes.” Evelyn’s expression became somber. “I think we need to talk.”

Jason sat stiffly, expecting the worst.

“I think you need to take a break,” she said.

For a moment, Jason said nothing. He simply blinked. This was not at all what he’d been expecting. “A break from what?”

“From work. This month was difficult for you, and yesterday’s presentation is proof of that. Take a break and go somewhere nice. You need a change from the routine.”

“Who said I wanted change?” Jason protested.

“Debbie’s worried about—”

Jason blew out his breath, feeling easier now that he knew it hadn’t actually been Evelyn’s idea. Except now he felt a little betrayed. “So Debbie told you I need to take a break?”

“I think you need time off work.”

“But—”

Evelyn pursed her lips and stared him down. “That’s my final decision, Jason.”

He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again. There was no point in arguing. “Thank you,” he said through gritted teeth, then stood and returned to his office. Slamming the door closed behind him, he went directly to Debbie’s desk and glared down at her.

“Thank you very much,” he snarled. “You know, I never expected this from you.”

Debbie stood slowly, her mouth half-open. “But Jason, don’t you understand? It’ll be better if—”

Jason darted out of the office without listening to her objections, a furious scowl twisting his features. Coworkers looked up as he passed, startled, and those standing in his way parted to avoid him. He burst through the revolving doors and into the outdoors, and ran into a nearly solid wall of heat. Even in the shade of the skyscrapers he found it difficult to breathe. He paced, restless. Needing to walk off some of his anger, he thrust his hands in his pockets then started roaming the streets, weaving through the rush hour crowd.

His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he’d only had a cup of coffee that day. So he dropped in on a café a couple of blocks from the office and slid into a booth. After ordering a sandwich and a Coke, he closed his eyes with relief as the chill of air conditioning swept against his back, relaxing him somewhat.

Where should I go?

He chewed his sandwich slowly, sipping between bites. After all, he had heaps of time. Nothing but time. When he was done eating, he stepped back into the heat and roamed towards the George Washington Bridge, still unsure of his destination. He paused on a corner, waiting for the red light to change, and glanced at his watch. Frowning, he brought it closer and stared at the rapidly moving minute hand. It was turning as quickly as a second hand should. Darn. My favorite watch. He shook his hand, hoping to set the watch straight again, then looked up and froze.

The sun was racing across the sky, and it was speeding by. Panicked, Jason glanced around and saw all the people and cars speeding past him at an impossible rate. It was as if the whole world was moving on a fast-forwarded videotape while he stood still.

He took another look at his watch. 1:45 p.m. A few seconds later it turned to 1:47 p.m.

Suddenly Jason remembered the letter on his coffee table, telling him to be at Times Square at 2:23 p.m. After a few tentative steps he broke into a run. Times Square was several miles away from the bridge. I won’t make it in time, he thought as he darted along the pier.

Except … as soon as he began to move, he noticed the people around him had slowed again. The faster he moved, the slower the rest of the world moved. It made no sense, and his head spun with adrenaline and panic. It made his arrival at Dave and Buster’s seem suddenly very important. His feet pattered against the pavement as he rushed along block after block.

At 2:09 p.m. he was still too far from Times Square.

I need to run faster, he told himself. In that moment, the entire world stopped moving—except for Jason. Pedestrians froze in mid-step; police sirens that had been wailing in the distance went mute.

Times Square loomed before him. He was nearly there. But he’d already run for many blocks. His leg muscles burned and forced him to slow. As he did so, everything around him began to move again.

When Jason finally stepped onto Times Square, he stopped short at the excruciating pain coming from his wrist. He grabbed for his watch, but it had become white hot and was singeing his skin. He scraped frantically at the clasp with his nails, but it fought back. When he finally undid it, the watch fell to the pavement with a dull thud. Jason rubbed his wrist, careful in the spots where it had blistered from the heat.

He bent to take a last look at his ruined watch and stared in disbelief at what he saw. The time on its face was 2:23, and the watch had stopped working. Fear crawled up his spine.

People swarmed the square, and Jason scanned the crowd, waiting, though he had no idea what he was waiting for. Each second ticked inside his brain until the time somehow seemed perfect. Then he took a breath and blinked. Bright light filled the space, turning people to beautiful silver ghosts, their movements graceful and smooth. Everyone looked perfect … except no one seemed to notice the phenomenon but him.

He sensed someone approaching from his left and turned his head slowly toward it. Instead of a person, four ominous red lights swirled and pulsed, weaving easily through the crowd towards him, seeming to hiss at the silvery existence which filled the air. As they came closer, he saw they were indeed people, but the red lights flowing from them looked far from human. With each step they took, Jason’s heart thumped faster.

Was this who had sent the letter? Are they coming to kill me, just like they killed the people in my nightmares?

He took a few steps backwards, then was attracted to the sight of a silver star floating in from the opposite side of the square. The star pulsed throughout the entire space, filling him with warmth. Jason blinked again, and the heavenly light was gone, replaced by a familiar cloaked figure, his blond hair soft against strong shoulders.

Steps echoed off the pavement, and Jason braced himself. Whoever it was, the red-lighted creatures were approaching too fast for him to get away.

Jason grabbed at his ears when a bestial howl tore through the air: a horrible wail of misery and death. In the next instant Jason lay sprawled on the ground, his left shoulder smoldering. Everything around him had turned chaotic—screaming people raced by, cars screeched, and glass crashed. Jason clutched at his shoulder, consumed by agony, knowing he had to get away. He raised his head and barely held in a cry as a pulsing pain sliced through his temples, threatening to pierce his brain. Just when he felt he could stand no more of it, the warmth he’d felt emanating from the cloaked figure flowed through his veins again, and the pain subsided.

“Jason! This way!”

It was Debbie. She was in the driver’s seat of his sedan, and the passenger door stood open. She waved frantically, and her voice gave him strength. He staggered to his feet and managed to roll into the car just as Debbie stomped on the accelerator.

Jason took one last glance back and saw his pursuers fighting his cloaked savior.

“How did you find me?” Jason yelled over the squeal of her tires.

“Why did you switch off your cell phone?” Debbie countered.

She roared around a stopped car, slammed on her brakes, then hit the accelerator again, driving hard. “First answer my question, then I’ll answer yours.”

As she wove expertly between cars, Debbie reached into her suit pocket and pulled out a familiar piece of paper.

“I found this in your apartment.”

“You were in my apartment?” Jason asked, reaching for what he could see was the letter with the TW seal.

“Of course! I was trying to find you. Where else was I supposed to look?”

“Why?” Jason stared at the piece of paper and noticed how badly his hands shook. No wonder, he thought. Those people wanted me dead!

“Because I think I know what’s going on with you, and I’m really scared.” Debbie said, then gulped to stifle a sob. “Take a look at the newspaper in the back seat.”

He grabbed the paper and didn’t have to go any farther than the first page. The headline caught his attention, and he started reading.

ARCANE SIGNS SCATTERED AROUND THE WORLD

Signs Imprinted on Flesh

Four people from around the world have recently gone missing in a series of strange abductions. The latest victim, a boy from Minsk, Belarus, disappeared on Sunday. His mother reported seeing a luminous image on a wardrobe in her son’s room after he had disappeared. Similar images have been noted on the bodies of the four victims found on June 4, 7, 11, and 16. There are no clues yet as to who is behind these mysterious abductions, but both local and international police organizations are currently investigating.

(see the continuation on page 7)

Jason looked up. “What does this have to do with me?”

“Your left shoulder,” Debbie replied.

Jason dropped his hand when he realized he was still clutching it, even though it didn’t hurt anymore.

“What about it?”

“All the victims had marks on their left shoulders.”

Chapter 7

In less than an hour the gravel driveway in front of Debbie’s two-story cottage crackled under Jason’s car’s wheels. Debbie cut the engine and rubbed her arms, which were dimpled by goosebumps though the day was hot. Jason still clutched the paper, but he was no longer reading. Now his eyes were glued to a picture of a person lying facedown, covered with blood.

“Let’s get inside,” Debbie said. “Matt should be here any minute.”

Their doors slammed shut, and Jason followed Debbie towards the house. Jason had always liked her place. Everything felt welcoming. The ancient oaks surrounding the house provided shelter from the intolerable heat and helped Jason—at least for a little while—forget about the urban chaos that existed not far away, about New Yorkers who were always rushing, and about evil red creatures who wanted his blood.

He followed Debbie inside, then hung his dusty jacket in the closet and followed her down a small corridor on the right that led to the kitchen. Jason had been to the house so many times he knew it as well as he knew his own apartment.

“Coffee?” she asked, switching on the machine.

“Yeah, I think I could do with a cup.” He pulled a stool toward the counter and set both the newspaper and letter in front of him. “Well?” he asked, looking up at her. “Do you believe me now?”

Debbie fussed in the cupboards, pulling out cups and spoons, cream and sugar, but eventually she nodded grudgingly.

“What changed your mind?”

Debbie opened the fridge and leaned in, her eyes searching for something. “When I saw the newspaper I thought about you. I still had doubts, of course. I mean, it’s not a natural, logical jump, is it? But when I called and your cell phone was switched off, I went to your place. That’s when I saw the letter, and I knew you were in danger.”

“Why?” Jason furrowed his brows.

Debbie took some cheese from the fridge, then shut it with a thump of her hip.

“Take a look at page seven,” she said, setting the plate in front of him. She slid the newspaper closer and thumbed through it. Then she stopped and poked the page with her finger. “Here.”

Jason leaned in for a closer look, already feeling beads of sweat studding his forehead. The photos showed close-ups of the marks left on the victims, and Jason shuddered. The marks were exactly the same as the TW seal on the letter he’d received the day before.

“They are the same,” he said quietly, tracing a numb fingertip over the photos. “Only the letters are different each time.”

“Yeah, and I tried matching them with the victims’ names, but it doesn’t work.”

They both stared at the grisly photos a little longer, then he looked up and met Debbie’s eyes. “Thank you for saving my life.”

Her voice was gentle. “We’re friends. How could I not?”

The sound of a car approaching interrupted their conversation, and Debbie craned her neck to look outside.

“We’re in the kitchen!” she called through the window, then smiled at Jason. “Matt’s here.”

A few moments later he appeared at the kitchen door, greeting them both with his lazy smile.

“Why didn’t you call?” Debbie snapped. “Did you find him?”

“Easy, girl.” Matt raised his tattooed hands in the air. “I tried, but his cell doesn’t respond, and no one in the restaurant knows where he is.”

“What’s going on?” Jason asked, looking up from where he sat.

Matt tilted his head slightly and gave Jason an accusatory frown. “Hey, why didn’t I see you at work today?”

Jason lifted one eyebrow, a rueful smile on his face. “Thanks to Debbie, I’m taking a break.”

Matt turned to Debbie, then grinned at Jason. “What? You lucky devil! I wish I had a break.”

Debbie shook her head. “Keep on wishing. Hey, why don’t you guys head into the living room? I’ll bring coffee.”

The living room was the most spacious room in the house. An ivory white pianoforte took up the entire far right corner. Across from it stood a writing desk, piled high with fashion magazines, and Jason knew the Apple notebook was tucked somewhere in between. Paintings and prints cluttered the walls, displaying a variety of styles and colors that Jason loved to browse. A bar took up most of the rest of the place, and though Jason and Matt both liked the room, after a while Jason felt a bit claustrophobic around such closed confines.

Jason sat close to the window. Though the room was cool enough, the thin curtains rippled invitingly with a subtle draft.

“Who’s Debbie asking about? Who’s missing?”

“William,” Matt said, settling into a nearby chair.

“What?”

An image shot into Jason’s mind, a picture of William talking with the black-coated man at the restaurant. Could he possibly be connected to all this?

Matt shrugged. “No one knows where he is. He hasn’t been seen since yesterday. And Debbie is freaking out.”

“I guess so. This,” Jason held up the newspaper then passed it to Matt, “is the reason she’s freaking out.”

Matt took the paper and read the article, looking confused.

“Turn to page seven,” Debbie said, carrying in a small tray with cups of coffee and sandwiches. She set it on a table in the middle of the room, then sank onto a lush sofa. “When I went to Jason’s, I found a letter with that kind of symbol on it, you see? Like those letters there? And now they’re being found on these people’s left shoulders—do you remember Jason talking about how painful his left shoulder has been lately?”

“Wait,” Matt said, trying to figure it out. “So you’re saying whoever sent the letter to Jason might be the same ones who are killing these people?”

Debbie crossed her legs and sipped on her coffee, then nodded. Jason noted she had changed into black, close-fitting knee breeches and a rose shirt. She’d even pulled her hair up and added some mascara. She looked lovely. But her eyes were unsmiling and wary.

He sipped on his coffee, then set it down. “Can’t say for sure, but someone’s trying to scare the hell out of me. And with William missing, the situation is getting even more out of control.”

“Should we report him missing?” Debbie asked, rubbing her arms together, though she couldn’t possibly be cold.

“It’s probably too early yet,” Jason replied.

Matt was reading the rest of the article, his dark eyebrows arched with disbelief. “Reykjavik, Atlanta, Erevan, Frankfurt am Main, Minsk,” he whispered, then raised his eyes to Jason and Debbie. “That’s like … the whole world!” He laughed out loud, but the sound was constricted.

“Four people killed and more alleged missing,” Jason said. “Do you know what that means … to me?”

Debbie fidgeted with her golden Believe necklace, staring past Jason into nothingness. She nodded slowly. “It means you’ll have more dreams.”

Jason closed his eyes. She was right.

“That sucks,” Matt muttered.

“Let’s check the internet,” Debbie said, hopping up from the sofa.

In one smooth move, she cleared her desk of all the magazines and dropped them in a neat pile nearby. Then she plopped into the rickety desk chair and opened her laptop. Jason and Matt watched over her shoulder as she googled the title of the newspaper article, then leaned in when a few links popped up. She clicked the first one.

CORPSES WITH MYSTERIOUS MARKS REMAIN UNIDENTIFIED

A number of murders and abductions taking place in capital cities around the world are attracting more public attention every day. The first victim was found in Reykjavik, but the case received extensive media coverage following the discovery of three more bodies. All the victims bore similar marks on their left shoulders. At this point, experts have not been able to account for the origin of the marks, or to decipher their meaning. What is more mystifying is that the authorities have so far been unable to identify any of the victims.

“Wait!” Jason cried, realization hitting him like a blow to the head. “My first dream! In it there was a man, a German. His accent was unmistakable. The shadow creatures chased him, then captured and tortured him. I saw everything. I also felt everything he felt until the connection between us broke. I guess that’s when he died.”

Matt and Debbie exchanged a worried glance, then Debbie stared back at the screen. Jason noticed her fingers trembling over the keyboard, and he raised his eyebrows at Matt. Matt put a comforting hand on her shoulder for support, and she glanced up at him, her smile warm.

“Look,” she said, focusing on the computer. “They have a few pictures of the victims. Does anything look familiar?”

Jason didn’t know what to expect, but he leaned closer, intrigued. He’d never met those people, had no idea they’d even existed, yet they had suddenly become an essential part of his life.

The picture downloaded, and they all gasped with horror at the image of the man before them. The cause of death was obvious: a dent in his skull, as if he’d been smashed by a hammer. The dead man’s face still twisted in a final scream, his eyes gaped open, imprinted with terror. All four limbs were extended at unnatural angles, his body mutilated.

Jason gagged, feeling as if someone had punched him in the stomach. With infinite clarity, he remembered being inside that person. He knew exactly how the man had died: his skull had cracked when the shadow stomped on it. That was when he’d woken up.

Matt stepped back from the screen, his face pale. “That’s not pretty.”

Debbie closed the file hastily. “You recognized him?” she asked, then swallowed hard when Jason nodded.

“So this is real,” Matt said. “They are the victims from your dreams?”

Jason nodded again, and Debbie picked up the newspaper.

“I don’t understand how they could accomplish it over such vast distances,” she began. “Look at this. It’s more than just the five they had in the article. Reykjavik, Atlanta, Erevan, Frankfurt am Main, Minsk, Edinburgh, Jakarta, Asunción, and Sydney.”

Jason studied the list, entirely confused. “What do they want from me?”

“And what about the letter? Why did they send it to you? You said when you went to Times Square you saw the evil men, but also that one in the cloak which you say rescued you. Who sent the letter? The murderers?”

“What if the person who sent you this letter is actually good, but being watched by the bad guys?” Matthew asked. “They’re afraid of exposing themselves to the bad guys.”

“But why me? What’s going on?”

“Maybe … maybe you’re seeing the future, Jase.”

Debbie turned around all the way so she could take Jason’s hand in hers. “Let’s think about this. Whoever the bad guys are, they want to kill you. But whoever the other guy is, he wants to save you. That tells me you are special in some way that we can’t see. Whatever is going on in your brain may be dangerous for whoever they are.”

Jason twisted his face into a scowl. “That’s ridiculous. What can I do to them?  Makes no sense.”

But something about the place names disturbed him, and he focused on the screen again. What if the murders hadn’t been random? Was there some kind of pattern?

Then he saw it, and he broke into a cold sweat, feeling panic lodge in his belly.

“It’s a riddle.”

“What?”

“Look.”

It all became clear in the worst possible way. In Jason’s mind the letters ignited, burst into flames, forming a threat that could not be a coincidence. He felt dizzy and flushed, and wondered whether these awful people knew every damn thing about him: his friends, his address, his workplace. In a moment of clarity he realized that by researching them this way, he had probably played right into their hands.

“What is it, Jase?” Matt asked.

Jason’s voice was flat. “They arranged it so I would notice. Read the first letters of each place from here.”

Debbie frowned. “R. A. E. F. M. E. J. A. and S. What does that mean?”

“You have to play with it a bit. Watch.”

He reached for a piece of paper and pen, then wrote all the letters down.

R … A … E … F … M … E … J… A … S …

Then, one by one, he crossed them out.

R … A … E … F

M … E

J … A … S … O … N

“But ‘raef’ isn’t a word,” Matt pointed out.

Jason took the scrap and made some changes to it. “No, but this is. Look. Switch the letters around and you get this.”

F … E … A … R

M … E

J … A … S … O … N

The friends stared at the piece of paper. “There’s no ‘O’ or ‘N’,” Debbie pointed out.

But Jason was positive. “Believe me. There will be ‘O’ and ‘N’.”

“Who’s ‘Me’?” Matt wondered, tapping one finger on the paper.

Jason didn’t answer, but he thought he knew. It had to be the shadow—the one who wanted the nimble girl dead.

“So if you’re right, there will be two more killings,” Matt said. “The last letter is ‘N’.” He looked at his friends, fear in his eyes, and said softly, “I bet it’s going to be New York. It’s going to be here.”

Chapter 8

The three friends spent the rest of the day at Debbie’s place, trying to find an alternative version to their horrible assumptions, or at least some answers to their questions. But hard as they searched, they unearthed no more clues.

Debbie drew up a table containing the ‘Fear Me Jason’ message, with each letter marked as either ‘killed’ or ‘abducted,’ based on the newspaper reports. Opposite the last letter ‘N’ she added a question mark, which she outlined.

As evening fell, Jason gazed out the open window, enjoying the refreshing breeze as it fanned his face. So pleasant after the day’s intolerable heat. A few tiny stars twinkled in the twilight sky—calm, normal, at odds with everything that was going on in his life.

“How about we call it a day,” Matt suggested. “If I stay with you two pessimists another second, I’ll go crazy.”

Jason nodded. “Agreed.”

The men got to their feet, and Debbie jerked her head up. “Are you going?” She stopped embellishing the question mark with its multitude of tiny replicas, dropped her pen, and stood with them. “Please don’t leave. I’m scared to be alone.”

Matt chuckled. “You’re a big girl, Debbie,” he said, his voice soothing. “You’ll be all right. No one’s going to come here.” He offered her a hug for comfort, and she sank into his arms, eyes closed.

Slightly uncomfortable, Jason cleared his throat. “Um, to be honest, I don’t really feel like going home. I could spend the night here, if you want.”

Debbie stepped away from Matt, her face glowing with relief. “Thank you, Jason. Matt, please don’t leave. I have pizza, and we can watch a movie. I’ll get the two guest rooms ready.”

Matt raised his hands in surrender. “Okay. I give up.”

“I think I’ll go take a shower first, then join you two,” Jason said.

“Sure,” Debbie replied. “Towels are under the sink. Meanwhile I’ll get pizza and beer out.”

“I’ll help you,” Matt said, then winked at Jason, who gave him a wan smile in return before heading to the bathroom.

An unfriendly reflection in the mirror greeted Jason. Exhaustion had taken its toll; the dark circles under his eyes and the short growth of stubble made him look twice his age. He turned away and hurriedly undressed, then stepped into a steaming shower. In those brief moments under the water’s spray he slipped away into a reverie, enjoying the sensation of his tense muscles relaxing with the heat.

Returning to the real world, Jason toweled himself dry, and dressed. He opened the door and heard Matthew’s cheerful voice mingling with Debbie’s laughter. When he arrived downstairs in the living room, they were sitting beside each other on the couch, engrossed in a comedy.

At the sight of pizza and beer, Jason’s stomach produced a mutinous gurgling, which was thankfully drowned out by more laughter. He grabbed a piece—fully loaded, he noticed—took a bite and washed it down with cold beer. Soon his stomach was full and his body relaxed, sprawled in the armchair.

Night settled over the city while the trio sat in front of the TV, enjoying themselves. It was a brief escape, and they knew it. Part of Jason’s mind remained alert at all times, but he was glad he and Matt had stayed at Debbie’s. He didn’t want to be alone, either. And it was almost time for sleep—a time he had come to dread—but he was far too tired to fight it.

Before going to bed he kissed Debbie on the cheek and wished her sweet dreams. She smiled and did the same for him.

Matt clapped on Jason’s shoulder, trying to cheer him up. “Maybe you’ll dream of hot babes for a change.”

Jason grinned. “That’d be awesome.”

The trio headed to their separate rooms, and after Jason had closed the door, he exhaled deeply. No more pretending. Behind his mask of calm, panic and fear ruled. He was trapped within a whirling chaos of mysteries, and the farther he went along this path, the worse the situation became. And now his friends were involved, which meant they might also be at risk.

He undressed and collapsed onto the soft bed, trying to extinguish every thought in his head. Unfortunately, that only stirred up new thoughts.

His connection to the disappearances and killings repulsed him, yet he couldn’t doubt the evidence. Digging up further facts would be dangerous, but he thought of the letter which had somehow made its way into his apartment, and realized he had no choice. To someone his mind was an open book, and the idea of being someone’s puppet disgusted him.

Jason closed his eyes, longing for a few hours of undisturbed sleep—blackness with no dreams. His eyelids felt as if they were weighed down with metal, and he didn’t resist the sweet feeling of drifting away.

Then something in his mind clicked, screaming at him that he was being deliberately dragged into sleep. Dread rushed through him as the blackness advanced on him from all sides, transforming the room into an almost unrecognizable mass of blurred patches. He tried to fight back, but it was all in vain.

God, no! he pleaded. Splinters of previous nightmares flashed before his eyes, memories of infusing his mind into someone else’s, of the incredible tension that made him fear his head would explode. Then the pain receded, and reality disappeared.

***

He was running through a corridor. Doors. Offices. Another corridor. Dim streaks of light hid the truth of where he was, but each area was projected with the help of glinting lines, giving shape to everything.

No, he wasn’t running, he realized. He was in the runner.

The place felt familiar, but he couldn’t put a finger on where he was. The speed of motion heightened until he couldn’t manage to register any details, and he traveled with the runner, going upstairs, then downstairs, then back upstairs while the darkness altered between feeble light and none at all. The pattern repeated again and again. They bolted upstairs using the fire escape, launching a one-second ascent—apparently the elevator was too slow—then finally stopped.

A small plaque near the door said Floor 24. Suddenly Jason realized why his surroundings looked so familiar: he was inside the Evelyn & Laurens building, but everything felt different. He was used to the place being a busy, noisy anthill, not the creepy cemetery it became at night. The body carrying him entered Jason’s empty office and glided across the room without making a sound, approaching his workplace to rummage through the papers on his desk.

Jason felt indignant at the trespassing. Whoever this was, they had no right to go through his things, and they obviously had no respect for Jason’s belongings. After a minute or two, his papers had been scattered all over the office, the drawers turned upside down until the intruder found what he sought—Jason’s ID card. With a photo.

A whooshing sound whispered behind his back, and the door creaked.

Someone else was here.

The room turned briefly from dark to light as the person Jason inhabited scanned it. Then, willingly or unwillingly, the trespasser left the office and broke into a run, moving faster with every step. Jason reeled with motion sickness as he struggled in this unpredictable race against invisible danger. Again they ran down corridors and staircases, in darkness bordering on dimly lit passages. Though out of breath, he kept running, and Jason realized he wasn’t familiar with this part of the building. His host, however, was. Out of a number of unmarked doors, he opened one without even looking at it. A mirror on the wall gave an overall view of the room. It was a lavatory. A ladies restroom.

Unlike the rest of the building, this room was well lit. The person darted a cautious glance at the far end of the room, even checked under the stall doors to see if anyone else was there, but everything appeared to be empty and safe. They came to the middle of the room, turned to the mirror, and Jason saw a woman’s face.

It was the first time he’d seen a person’s face in his dreams—since he was looking in the mirror he knew it was technically his face, and yet it was the face of another person. A tsunami of fascination swept over him as the woman examined her own reflection. What stunned him most wasn’t that the body belonged to a woman, but the fact of how beautiful that woman was. The mirror, the reflection … it couldn’t be right.

She closed her eyes to regain her composure, and panic welled within Jason. He was suddenly terrified their connection might break, that he would never see her face again.

“Open your eyes!” he begged silently. “Please, open your eyes!”

The girl unknowingly complied with his desperate plea, and Jason, with no time to lose, examined her face more closely. She was truly beautiful, in a simple, natural way that captivated him. Her dark brown hair had been combed back and tied into a knot, and he watched with fascination as she untied it and let it roll down her shoulders, fringing her face like a lion’s mane. The color was several shades darker than her rich amber eyes, which were framed by long black lashes.

Strangely, Jason had trouble believing such a girl could have been drawn into a situation involving violence and death.

A thought came to him out of nowhere: She knows why I see the dreams.

The girl heaved a sigh, looking sad, but at least she’d recovered her breath. In that instant, her peripheral vision caught a subtle movement in the back of the room. Her eyes widened, and the nostrils of her straight, short nose flared. She had barely turned her head when someone’s hand gripped her hair from behind and smashed her head against the mirror. Her body slid slowly down the cold wall to the tile floor since her weakened hands were unable to cling to the sink. Jason couldn’t see the assailant, but he sensed the somber, intangible presence in the room.

So this is the end, Jason thought miserably. The girl was going to die. Just like the others.

A hoarse voice cut the echoing silence like a knife. “I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while, Emily. You’re playing a dangerous game, meddling in things that are beyond you. Tell me. Why are you doing this?”

Emily lay facedown on the floor, still bleeding heavily from her brow. Jason couldn’t see the man, but knew he was lurking somewhere at the back of the restroom.

Her hands shook, and she clutched at them to suppress the nervous tremor. When she answered, her voice was strong, confident. As if she hadn’t just been slammed against a wall.

“The Prophecy says I’ll find him,” she said. “And not even you will hinder me.”

The pain both he and Emily were feeling suddenly dispersed and seeped through the floor, then was replaced by a flood of warmth and a blanketing sense of security. With effort, she got up, but when she turned to face her attacker, Jason couldn’t see who it was. An aura of thick blackness settled around the unknown danger like smoke without a breeze, concealing his face.

“The Prophecy?” A note of mockery stained the word. “I do not give credit to that. It’s not even important if there’s one word of truth in it. You still hope he’ll come and save you all? From me?” The voice was calm and confident, framed by a jeering edge.

“You’re not afraid? Then why do you hide your face?” she demanded.

The shadow laughed, a low, forbidding sound that bounced around the tile walls. “I do not hide.” He took a step closer, and Emily dutifully retreated. “It’s a game I’m going to win, Emily. The rules are simple. Your part is to watch me kill your savior. And now, since I know he is watching and listening while you and I have this heart-to-heart talk, he knows, too. Why are you doing this? You know it’s a dead end.”

“I proclaimed the Prophecy, Pariah. I’m not afraid of you. You won’t be able to kill me because the Beholder will come, and the Darksighted will have to hide from him.”

She wrenched at her inner pocket, reaching for something, then bolted aside when a deafening roar blasted the room. The remaining sections of the mirror and chunks of wall tile broke off in a shower of razor-edged splinters, and though Jason tried to readjust his vision and mind, everything happened too fast. The storm of sound rolled over him so quickly that he understood what was happening only after several pieces had ripped into the girl’s flesh. Pain blurred her sight, and everything was smashed by the thunderous lash of the creature’s whip.

The girl startled Jason with her swiftness. Everything moved fast forward—very, very fast. The evil lashes struck everywhere, yet the girl managed to dodge them. Hope swelled in Jason’s chest, hope that she would escape this assassin. She couldn’t die—not yet. The girl was Jason’s only hope of finding out the truth. She was going to make it. She was—

The lash whistled past her left ear with a painful swish—

Jason awoke with a jerk, hand pressed against the ear that should have hurt. But it didn’t. The dream was over, and the pain nonexistent.

At least … to him.

Chapter 9

At first, Jason didn’t recognize the room. His eyes flicked from place to place, unsuccessfully searching for an anchor, something familiar to which he could relate. A bead of perspiration trickled down his forehead in an irregular line, and he wrapped his arms around his stomach, afraid he was about to be sick.

This is insane! was all he could think. He’d seen this girl before, in a dream. She’d been in the tunnel, fleeing for her life—had she been running from him?—then he’d seen her lying on the ground, convulsing in pain. Now she’d reappeared, very much alive, and this time he’d seen her face. It was the same girl. Jason was sure.

What was going on? How was any of this possible?

Could he be seeing the future as Matt had said?

Matt. The thought of his friend brought him back to the present, and the lines of Debbie’s guest room slid back into place. Slowly the rolling waves of nausea ebbed away, enabling Jason to shift his position. But the slight action made him realize that if he moved any further, pizza and beer would be out in no time.

She’s there right now.

There was absolutely no reason for it, no evidence at all to support his decision to leave, but deep in his soul Jason knew the girl was still there, fighting for her life in the restroom at Evelyn & Laurens. Fighting nausea, he swung his legs to the side of the bed and scrambled into his clothes, then paused at the front door, considering his friends. They would want to know what was going on, but he didn’t want to get them into trouble. On impulse he scooped his car keys off the coffee table and tiptoed out of the house. He needed to get to Evelyn & Laurens as soon as possible.

He reversed down the drive and shifted gears, anticipation making his palms slick with sweat. This would be his first real opportunity to find out exactly what was going on. Jason slammed his foot on the accelerator and sped through the night towards the blazing lights of New York City.

The girl’s face hovered stubbornly in his mind. Ten or fifteen minutes max, he thought. Then I’ll be there with her. But what if that isn’t fast enough?

He had no idea what he was getting himself into. Not really. What if her image was bait and the Shadows were tricking him into coming to his death?

No. The pain was real. She needed him.

Jason pushed the car to its limit, reaching the city in record time. Once he arrived, he found that because of the late hour, traffic was unusually quiet. The E&L building was straight ahead. Not too long now.

He drew closer to the building, but he was forced to brake hard as several cars in front made a sudden U-turn. He glanced in his rearview mirror when screeching sounds came from behind, and he saw the cars behind him were turning as well. In fact, every vehicle but his was headed in the opposite direction to the one in which he was going.

Jason squeezed his steering wheel hard, as if it could help him grasp what was going on. He stopped at a red light and rolled down his window so he could watch the passersby. From what he could see, it seemed everyone had decided to launch an exodus from New York. In an eerie, synchronized motion, people trudged silently along the sidewalk, their expressions smoothed into apathy, their eyes lackluster.

The way was suddenly clear of traffic, the empty streets silent, colored only by the blink of changing traffic lights. The entire situation gave Jason the creeps. Before long the imposing E&L building loomed over him, and he braked sharply, leaving a smeared line of rubber behind. When he turned the key and shut down the engine, the silence around him was terrifying. A pressure all on its own. Jason climbed out of the car and looked around, confused. The slam of his car door was sharp as a gunshot. In front of him, the black windows of Evelyn & Laurens stared like blind eyes. Not a single light shone in the whole place. Not a single sound, other than his own footfalls.

It is too still. Too silent.

As Jason was about to take another step, he reconsidered, one leg in mid-air. A humming noise had started in the distance, conspicuous against the rest of the silence, and it grew steadily, reminding Jason of a supersonic train getting closer and closer. And it was coming in his direction.

Within seconds the humming reached its peak, working its way to a painful screech, and Jason braced himself. It was a sound that could only end with something big. When the explosion went off, illuminating the E&L building, there was nothing he could do. A violent blast wave whisked him away like a moth in the wind, and he dropped to the ground with a grunt. Cowering in a fetal position, Jason stared up at the inferno, incredulous. White blue flames enveloped the middle section of the skyscraper, and while he stared in disbelief, the fire sliced the structure in half.

Though he’d been blown safely away from the building, he still needed some kind of shelter. He struggled to his feet and raced to his car, battling dizziness from his recent flight. It seemed the whole world was on fire, raging with flames.

Despite the ravenous heat reaching for him, a cold certainty gripped Jason, making goosebumps rise along his arms. The dream was true. The girl was there, in the flames.

The searing light burned his vision, but Jason stared up at the blazing building, wondering what to do. Fire reflected in his eyes as the blood-red tongues licked the iron framework of Evelyn & Laurens.

His gaze was drawn ever upwards, following the flames as they rose, then the iridescent cloud of glass and plastic dust swirling leisurely downwards. And Jason saw two figures hovering in the air, descending smoothly towards the ground.

Even at such a distance it was possible to tell one from the other. The girl looked tiny and fragile beside the ominous, smoke-wrapped shadow of Pariah. The two landed on the ground twenty feet away, and froze in place. Jason didn’t move. He didn’t even blink—though his eyes watered from the smoke and tension— but it became increasingly hard to stay still as his body began to itch all over. He put all his effort into suppressing the violent urge to scratch.

The girl was the first to move, lunging forward so fast that her silhouette blurred. She thrust her hand forward, and a flash of blinding white light shot in the enemy’s direction. The shadow dodged the ray, and in that motion his black frame turned to light so intense that Jason’s eyes hurt. In the next second the girl was wrapped in liquid light, and both figures soared into the sky. Flashes illuminated the clouds, and whenever the two blazing dots came too close to each other, they were surrounded by opalescent spheres.

Jason sprang aside just in time as one of the rays shot in his direction and hit his car. A deafening explosion followed, hurling him several meters away. Jason staggered back to his feet and surveyed his ruined vehicle, then stared back up at the spectacle in the sky. The figures spun in a horrific, yet beautiful danse macabre, the swirling lights spinning as if choreographed to music.

Then everything stopped. The skyscrapers, the pavement, and the sky flared white, turning chalky and unusually perfect for several moments. The perfection was followed by an ear-splitting crash of breaking glass as every window in range shattered. Darkness fell like a heavy curtain, broken only by a bright sphere as it descended from the sky and burned directly towards Jason at an alarming rate. Jason stood rooted to the spot, stupefied by the impending collision. He clenched his fists as the rumbling and whistling of the approaching ultrafast sphere grew louder, but just when Jason assumed the impact was inevitable, the noise stopped. The sphere dissolved before his eyes, sending sprouts of light underground as if they were liquid leaking through a sieve.

Then she appeared, and Jason felt as if a wave of warmth had washed over him. Pale and exhausted, her clothes torn to rags, the girl stumbled towards him, oblivious to the blood spilling down her forehead. Emily, the creature had called her.

Jason stared, speechless, as the person whose mind he had shared came towards him in the real, physical world. Her eyes gleamed with amusement when she saw how he squirmed.

“We need to get away before he regains his power,” she said at last, her voice breathless. She pointed at a motorcycle standing by the curb—behind the pile of scrap metal which had been his car minutes earlier. “We’ll take my bike.”

He climbed up behind her on the electric blue Honda and took a last glance at E&L’s neighboring skyscraper as Emily peeled off into the street. Near the top of the building he saw a black circle scorched by the other sphere, then saw a tiny figure when it appeared in front of the circle. The Shadow was no longer hidden within a blanket of black smoke, but he was still too far for Jason to discern his face. The enemy cast two deadly lashes upwards so that they clung to the walls of the building, then he climbed onto the roof of the skyscraper and vanished into the night.

***

From the moment she’d let loose and destroyed the walls of the restroom until this moment, when the Evil One had frozen in mid-air, only one question flashed in her mind: Will he come?

Soaring around the peaks of buildings, she could feel Jason’s ungovernable, raging energy pulsing into the sky. There was no doubt in her mind that the pillar of blinding light below belonged to the Beholder. He is here.

Pariah sensed his presence as well, and his ravenous eyes shifted between Emily and Jason. When the Beholder was in such a volatile state, he was the most vulnerable, so easy to destroy, so she’d have to do everything she could to protect him. But Pariah was a skilled fighter. Their battle weakened her, and his charges scratched and stung relentlessly, but she couldn’t give up. If even one strike broke through her shield, she would be dead.

She had one chance to survive. She would have to use the power of which the enemy knew nothing: love.

Jason’s image swam into her mind, and the knowledge of what she must do empowered her, producing a dazzling wave, her most spectacular punch ever. It struck Pariah in his chest and threw him like a mote of dust, but it also took much of her energy with it. Without losing a precious moment, she darted downwards, streaking towards the ground, diving towards Jason.

She landed without effort, transforming instantly into her regular human form. In that moment the pain rushed in, and she stumbled towards Jason. The luminous veil lifted as she returned to the ordinary world, and she saw his silhouette looming in the dark. She was so close. Just a few more steps and she would see what was hidden beyond his light. Then she froze, forgetting her pain. His sky-blue eyes looked expectantly at her, waiting for some kind of answer. Though she was about to collapse, though her heart pounded, she managed to maintain a calm countenance.

I’ve found you, she thought, and smiled weakly. For a heartbeat she forgot about the Evil One, still lurking and still dangerous, spying on them from above. Then her instincts returned.

“We need to get away before he regains his power,” she told Jason, her voice shaking a bit.

She was afraid. She’d been afraid of so many things for so long, but this was the most paralyzing fear of all. The possibility that she might lose the person she had sought for so long terrified her to the marrow of her bones.

Chapter 10

Her voice couldn’t have been human. Her words rang like tiny bells, and their notes, though tainted with exhaustion, formed the sweetest melody to Jason’s ear. She spoke with a slight accent that fascinated him, and he wished she’d keep talking so he could listen.

“It’s too dangerous to go to your place, or to your friend’s place,” she shouted over her shoulder as the motorcycle roared through the night. “Pariah might already be there.”

Jason leaned forward, wanting to make sure he heard her correctly. “What?” he yelled over the wind. “What about my friends? Are they in danger?”

“No. Matthew and Debbie will be fine,” Emily replied. “They are being taken care of. My people are transporting them to a hiding place.”

“How do you know their names?”

She laughed, and even above the engine’s roar, the magical sound filled his heart. “I know more about your trio than you do. Besides, I was in your office an hour ago, remember?”

He remembered. He remembered seeing through her eyes as she ran through the building, he remembered sensing her panic, then there was the miracle of seeing her face for the first time, reflecting in the mirror. It was impossible to forget.

Emily. Her name was Emily.

They left the boundaries of New York as she insisted, and after a while he took over the driving, since she seemed to slump a little lower with every passing mile. A Sunday sun rose above the horizon, caressing the slumbering sky, and Jason drove towards the rose-colored spectacle. They left the city far behind, and the road became lined on both sides by a sand-filled horizon. He had no idea where he was headed, but knew he was going in the right direction. The light, assuring weight of Emily’s hands on his back gave him confidence.

Eventually the purr of the motorcycle lulled Emily to sleep, and she leaned against him, warm and trusting. Jason drove for a while, not wanting her warmth to ever go away, but he needed to wake her. He’d reached a crossroads and needed to ask for directions. Reluctant to lose the sweet presence of her against him, he pulled up at the side of the road and carefully turned to her, trying to wake her gently.

She stirred at his voice and slowly opened her eyes. The sun filled them with a dazzling beauty, and all Jason could do was stare. It was a face of an angel, pure and heavenly. Flawless, Jason thought.

With a deep breath, Emily sat up and looked around, blinking in a daze. “We’re nearly there,” she said and pointed to the right, off the pavement. “Go that way.”

They swerved from the road and plowed through the sand. Dust rose in their wake in massive clouds, transforming to gigantic moving statues in the air.

As Jason drove, he looked around and noted there had once been buildings in the area. Here and there bricks, wooden frames, and pieces of roofing slate lay in ruins, and foundations of nonexistent buildings stuck out of the sand.

Emily nudged Jason’s back and told him to stop. She climbed off the bike and led him to a round old hatch covered in sand which looked large enough to hold one person. He never saw her touch anything, but the hatch began to open, and the newly-formed hole dilated like a pupil in the dark, gaping fixedly at the sky. From inside the hatch came a platform, onto which Emily stepped. She held out a hand and Jason stepped up beside her.

“What about the motorcycle?” he asked.

“Don’t worry. You can leave it here. No one’s going to steal it.” She smiled. “Besides, now that we’ve met,” she told him, “you have no choice but to come with me.”

Jason was about to say he would have come with her even if offered another choice, but Emily raised her hand to stop him. “You are the first Unsighted to consciously step onto the other side,” she said. “I have to warn you about something before we go any farther. It is very important that you do not doubt your sanity over the next while. You will soon see things that you never believed could be true.”

Jason nodded and didn’t ask questions. What was there to ask? A flutter of anticipation danced through his chest as the platform slowly descended into a sunless void, sliding smoothly underground. Once they were safely hidden away, the hatch closed, shielding the sky from their eyes. The platform continued to travel deeper into the earth, and the air filled with clouds of dust surging up from below, making breathing more difficult. Pure, silent blackness combined with thick air began to overwhelm Jason, closing in on him from all sides. Just as he was starting to panic, a shimmering light passed through the platform from below, illuminating the walls and revealing a hidden world. Even Emily herself had changed and was now robed in a mantle of the silver shimmer.

Emily saw all his questions and answered before he could ask. “It’s an uninhabited city built upon many levels that go deep underground. Right now we are at the upper levels. These were mostly used to hide the Unsighted in case of threat from the Evil Ones.

“The lower levels are much deeper and accessible only to the chosen few: those with the gift of the Sight. Unsighted people would never be able to find them, even if they knew where the secret rooms and entrances were located. Now we’re heading for the Hall of Refuge. It’s located at the very bottom of the city, so we’ll have to speed up a bit.” Emily’s mouth curved into a smile. “There is only one way to get there, and there are hundreds of false turns and passages that would lead trespassers to dead ends.”

Tunnels whizzed by, black holes in the even blacker space. Jason stared in awe, wondering how any of it could be possible. Again, Emily seemed to sense his questions before he could voice them.

“There are thousands of tunnels, lined by thousands of doors. From the side it looks like this.” She waved her index finger as if it were an invisible paintbrush, and it emitted a fine silver line which resembled the fluid webs of a spider. She indicated a round object at the bottom of her sketch. “Here is the Hall of Refuge.”

Jason frowned, trying to follow everything she was saying, and Emily smiled.  “This is where we entered,” she told him, prodding at a dot at the top, far away from the Hall. “The entrance to the tunnel moves to a new place every three days. We had to start doing that after the evil side found out about its previous location and attacked us.”

“The entrance moves?”

“Yes. If you know where it will pop up, you just enter there and end up here,” Emily replied, matter-of-fact. With a simple wave of her hand she stirred the picture, and it dissolved into a misty haze. “Now it’s protected in the most secure way, both from evil and common people.”

“Common people? Like me?”

Emily’s eyes widened. “Oh no! You aren’t common, Jason. You are so not common.”

“What makes you say that?”

Emily pressed two warm fingers over his lips and shook her head lightly. “I know you need answers, but not now. A bit later. I promise.”

Jason thought they’d already been moving quickly, but the motion suddenly changed and the platform accelerated. Soon the source of the shimmering light he’d seen before—massive searchlights—came into view, revealing a huge tunnel with two rows of doors to the left and to the right. The searchlights reminded him of silver blue fireflies twinkling in the fog. The air here was thicker, making it even more difficult to breathe.

“Who built this?” Jason wondered aloud.

“No one knows exactly,” Emily replied. “Whoever they were, they passed the information of its whereabouts to us, and made sure the structure remained inaccessible to unwanted guests. Legends tell of hundreds of gifted people coming to this place and building room after room. When they died, it is said they left their souls inside so each room could serve a particular goal. Several hundred rooms here possess a particular aura, each one a spectacular creation filled with mysteries.

“After fourteen years of being Sighted I’ve been to fewer than thirty of the rooms. If you are ready to sacrifice part of your soul to them, they will reciprocate and share the knowledge of those who created them.”

The platform came to a gentle halt, stopping at a rupture in the tunnel. Through the hole Jason could see the other side, shining like colored glass. It was only one step from where they were onto the other platform, but the distance between them was blocked by what appeared to be a thin black curtain. Jason hesitated and glanced doubtfully at Emily.

“Let’s get to the other side,” she whispered, and the blackness before them rippled like water in the wind. Emily took Jason’s arm, and he felt immediately comforted, soothed by a warm wave that ran through his body. She took a step forward, hauling him through the curtain and out of the searchlights’ misty haze.

Something seemed to have gone wrong with his eyesight. Once they passed through the curtain, all the colors became so vivid and bright it was almost painful to look. He glanced at his hands, then stared hard. They hardly looked like his own hands. In fact, they looked perfect. Flawless. Like the carved hands of a god.

He glanced at Emily, wanting to ask what was going on, but the words stuck in his throat. He had thought she was gorgeous in his dream, but now … She was more than beautiful. She was a nymph radiating ripples of heavenly light. More than ever, he wanted to touch her, give in to the attraction that had been consuming him.

“We need to hold on to the platform now.” Her voice streamed like a sweet melody, enchanting, and Jason knew he would do whatever she said. When she crouched and gripped the edge of the platform, he managed to tear his gaze off her long enough to do the same. The moment he did, a warm vibration passed through the platform to him, as if it held him there.

The tunnel stretched for miles ahead. Jason couldn’t help thinking as an interior designer, marveling at what a grand project it all was. What Matt, Debbie, and he had created seemed insignificant.

“Hold tight, Jason. The speed is tremendous here.”

“Don’t worry.” He smiled. “I love speed,” Jason said and gripped the platform edge.

But when the platform started to move, the jerk was so abrupt it almost caught him off guard. Fortunately, the warm connection passing between his hands and the platform held him steady. As they accelerated, his eyes streamed and his hair whipped wildly around his face. They rushed into a mosaic of unearthly lights, merging into a whirlpool of brightness. Just as he became used to the supersonic speed, the platform zoomed downwards, making Jason’s vision go fuzzy. He felt increasingly nauseous and was relieved when the platform started to slow.

“Are we there?”

Emily’s amber eyes stared without blinking at a huge, ancient-looking door to their right. She shook her head slowly. “I have a feeling,” she said, “and I don’t like it.”

She approached the door and pressed one hand to a sphere, one of a number of identical spheres beside each door. The other hand she put on the surface of the door. Her musical voice lowered to indecipherable mumbling, then rose to a mantric incantation that chilled him to the core and left him almost afraid to move.

The sphere under her hand—as well as all the others—flared suddenly like a sun, banishing darkness so that the walls twinkled like immaculate white marble. As the dazzling light began to fade, Jason’s eye was caught by a flicker of something on the sphere where Emily’s hand had rested: two Es superimposed. Like the W&T seal Jason had seen on the letter in his home. Like the mark on the dead bodies in the articles Debbie had come across.

Emily’s expression tightened, and she backed away from the door, digging frantically in her pockets.

“What is it?” he asked, but she didn’t seem to hear his question.

“Emily?” Jason persisted.

She stared at him with wild eyes. “I was the last to enter the door of the Hall. I was the one who closed it. Tyler and I had arranged to take you three and meet there. This door,” Emily indicated the nondescript arch, “shows the initials of the one who left the Hall of Refuge the last time.” She shook her head, frowning at the double Es before her. “Tyler, Debbie, and Matt should have arrived long before us. But the door shows my hand.”

Jason swayed on unsteady knees as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She clicked an automatic redial and pressed the phone to her ear, her face set with worry.

Matt and Debbie were not in the Hall of Refuge. If Pariah had found them, they might already be dead.

Chapter 11

Matt snapped from a sound sleep when the house jolted violently. He sat bolt upright, thinking either a wrecking ball had hit the house or someone had driven a car into the wall. When the foundation jerked again, Matt leapt from his bed and threw on his clothes. He found Jason’s room empty, and though he called out a couple of times, his friend was nowhere to be seen.

The lights flickered then went off, so he had to run downstairs in near darkness. A bloodcurdling scream sent Matt racing to Debbie’s room. They bumped into each other in the corridor, and Matt clutched her hand so as not to lose her in the dark.

“What’s going on?” she shouted.

Matt could feel her hand shaking in his. He squeezed it gently. “I have no idea, but we need to get out of here.”

“Where’s Jason?”

“Not here!”

The floorboards rippled and snapped under their feet at another impact, and Matt yanked Debbie out to the street. They ran through blinding light, and though Matt worried he might crush Debbie’s hand in his grip, he was even more afraid to let it go. Self-preservation and adrenaline pushed them forwards. It didn’t matter where they ran, as long as they were moving it meant they were still alive.

Lightning flashed around them, followed by echoing peals of thunder, and Matt saw the impossible. The earthquake, the storm, the deafening noise—it was only happening at Debbie’s house. The neighbors slept peacefully on, their homes untouched.

Then, as if someone dropped a curtain, impenetrable darkness fell. It was impossible for them to move even one more step, so they stopped, and Matt pulled Debbie tightly against him, comforting them both.

As Matt’s eyes adjusted, from out of the blackness appeared something even blacker. A shadow in the night. Matt was paralyzed with terror and couldn’t move when the thing wrapped what seemed to be its hands around their shoulders. But he clutched Debbie even harder in his arms, keeping her small body safely against his, afraid to let go.

“Close your eyes,” the creature ordered.

Matt swallowed hard, then obeyed. The next moment he couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet. He couldn’t keep his eyes closed forever, despite his fear. He squinted as cold morning air stung his face, then gawked with disbelief. They were flying. The shadow hovered behind them, its grip cold and hard on his shoulders as they rushed above a straight line of a highway flanked by scopes of barren sand. The wind wailed, and Debbie pressed her face harder against him so that her hair tickled his face. He tried to turn away from the wind, but his muscles wouldn’t move.

He was caught by surprise at the bizarre sound of a phone ringing somewhere within the Shadow’s cloak. After a moment, their captor released them, and they plummeted to the ground in a free fall. To Matt’s horror, Debbie slipped out of his hands and drifted apart from him.

“No!” he screamed, watching helplessly as the wind grabbed her body and whirled it around like a lifeless doll.

The ground sped towards them. When collision became inevitable, Matt shielded his face with his hands and tried to curl into fetal position. He hoped Debbie, wherever she was, could do the same. But when he crashed, he found the land wasn’t as hard as he’d expected it to be. In fact, it reminded him of cushions stacked together to break his fall.

So this is what heaven feels like, he thought.

But when he opened his eyes he discovered he lay facedown on pavement, and he was very much alive. Debbie lay nearby, unmoving. Before he could slide closer to her, Matt turned his head and spotted the creature who had captured them. The tall, cloaked figure hid his face under a cowl as he strode, unharmed and confident, towards Matt. Then he reached within the cloak and pulled out his ringing cell phone.

Chapter 12

Jason watched Emily expectantly, feeling as worried as she looked. The phone had been ringing a while, and hope seemed to wash from her eyes with every beep. Finally, Jason heard a click and a hoarse male voice.

“Yeah?”

“Tyler! Where are you? Why aren’t you in the Hall yet?”

“There was a trap,” the voice answered, sounding calm.

Jason listened hard, relieved that he could hear what was going on. If he was kept in this state of confusion for too much longer he was sure he’d lose his mind.

“Pariah, in propria persona,” the voice continued, “wished to destroy Jason Walker’s friends. I got there just in time. Managed to leave the bastard behind. Don’t worry.”

Jason clenched his teeth, realizing that was why the Shadow had let them escape back at the E&L building: it had wanted to kill Matt and Debbie. After Jason had initially questioned Emily, he never considered they might be in danger. He had been so consumed with his own panic that he’d simply forgotten about his friends. He bit his lower lip hard enough that the salty taste of blood spread in his mouth.

“Are they safe?” she asked, and Jason listened hard.

“Course they are. They’re with me. It took longer than I expected to transport ’em, but we’ll be at the Hall soon. Tell Jason they’re okay.” Some kind of commotion interrupted the speaker, then he said, “Um, sorry, Emily. I gotta go.”

“Tyler? Tyler!” Emily screamed. Her shrill voice bounced off the walls and replicated in thousands of echoes, but the line was already dead.

Jason closed his eyes, feeling sick with guilt. How could he have gotten his friends into this kind of danger?

“Don’t blame yourself for this,” Emily admonished. She softly touched his bleeding lip with a gentle fingertip. “Even I didn’t expect Pariah to make such a move.”

“I should have called them.”

“You came to save me, to rescue me from Pariah.”

What kind of a friend am I to forget about Debbie and Matt? he thought grimly.

“You are a good friend. Faithful and loyal,” Emily assured him.

Jason recoiled. “Wait. Are you reading my mind?”

“Um, not exactly,” Emily said, looking away. She shrugged, and glanced apologetically at him. “I can’t help it. You wedged some of your thoughts into mine.”

An awkward pause hung between them before she whispered, “Thank you for helping me.”

“Helping?” Jason raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You distracted Pariah from me.”

“How?”

Her chuckle was soft and lacked any hint of humor. “You’ll see very soon.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me something. Was it you who made me see all those dreams?”

“Me? No, never!” Emily said, shaking her head. She lowered her eyes and the agitation in her expression softened to sadness. “Only the last one with the mirror.”

Jason knew he should be patient. After all, she kept promising him that he’d find out soon enough. But it had gone too far. He was so tense and confused he was afraid his head was going to explode. “But how is all this happening?” he demanded. “And what about the flying, the lightning, and you disappearing in one spot and reappearing in another? What’s going on?”

She smiled and tilted her head slightly, looking sympathetic. “I think you should know why you see these visions in the first place.” Then she grimaced. “I can’t help seeing bits of them when I’m close to you. They’re not cool, are they?”

Jason didn’t know how to act around a mind reader. He knew Emily wanted to help, but he didn’t want her to know all of his thoughts. Especially the ones that made him feel unsettled and awkward, the one focused on how gorgeous and irresistible she was. Her enigmatic presence made him feel strong and … different. As if something had lain dormant within him. Whatever had been sleeping was now wide awake.

He kept his answer brief, wishing she weren’t inside his head. “Not really.”

“Sorry, but I had no choice,” she said, rubbing her temples. “The meeting with the enemy was unavoidable. The Energy willed it, so I fused our minds to let you see me running into your office, then into the restroom with a mirror. And of course that’s where I had that nice little conversation with him.”

Jason smiled a humorless smile. “That’s what you call it? A nice little conversation?”

“It could have been so much worse, believe me. The most important thing for me to do was to show you where to find me,” Emily added. “Pariah was after me, and he also sent eight Legates on their way to you.”

“Legates?”

“Assassins in the Sight doing special service to Pariah,” Emily clarified. “Eight of them were ordered to capture you. My only chance was to lure you out of your friend’s house.” She sighed, looking resigned. “You have to understand something, Jason. Our kind has to make rash decisions, sometimes on the spur of the moment. Soon you’ll understand that the ends justify the means.”

“Your kind?”

This time her smile was warm and welcoming. “I said our, because you’re included. You are one of us, Jason, one of the few. You don’t feel it yet, but you are on your way to becoming a phenomenon even amongst us.”

Jason threw up his hands, exasperated. None of this made any sense. “You must’ve made a mistake. I don’t understand why you’d take me for someone I’m not. I’m just an ordinary person who—”

“—sees extraordinary visions. Tell me, did you experience anything strange over the last three days?”

“Like what?”

“Like running tremendously fast and being able to stop time? Or perhaps seeing people glowing in a strange silver light?”

“Okay, okay! Stop it!” Blood throbbed in Jason’s temples. He was embarrassed and angry and completely at a loss. “I’m getting used to the weird idea that you know more about me than I do. So if that’s true, maybe it’s time to tell me at least something. Why am I here? Why are my friends in danger? Why’s all of this happening to me?”

Strangely, now that Emily stood so close, Jason was more disturbed by her closeness than he was about danger from the enemy. Now that he knew she could read his mind, he wanted to look away, clear his head, but she was a magnet to him. How could she be so graceful? How could her eyes, always so vivid, be so much brighter even than the incandescent spheres? The soft, gentle flow of her hair where it fringed her angelic face …

Wait! Without warning he softly touched her left cheek. Emily shivered slightly at the contact, her eyes wide. But her left ear was perfectly fine, and there were no traces of blood on her forehead or cheek, just the smooth pink silk of her skin.

“He smashed your head against the mirror. I saw it happen. You were bleeding, and now your skin is unharmed.”

Jason’s hand slid to her hand, remembering when it had been hurt in the dream. Her clothes were torn to shreds in several places, but the wounds had closed up.

“Cuts and minor injuries heal almost instantly on our bodies. That’s one of the things you’ll learn fairly quickly, so don’t be surprised.”

Jason was so close to her, feeling the warmth of her skin with his hand, that he hardly heard what she was saying. He looked in her eyes, and his heart beat madly in his chest. What was it about this girl? An hour ago his mind had been inside hers. Now he stroked the silky skin of her cheek and neck.

But …

A contraction jerked through his body. He stepped back, remembering the dream with perfect clarity, as if a smokescreen had dissolved from his memory, revealing all the horror of what had happened—and would happen—to her. He saw again the ancient tunnel, in which the shadows had chased the girl. He had led those shadows. He had attacked the girl. Emily’s amber eyes that had widened in fear. How could that be?

Emily watched him in silence, and when she licked her lips they glistened, catching the dazzling light around them. Jason wanted very badly to kiss her.

Then Emily’s words from the dream, or “fusion,” as she’d called it, rang in his ears. “The Prophecy says I’ll find him. The Beholder shall come.”

He shook his head, completely lost. She alone held the map that would help him understand why he had lived through such torture for the past three weeks. And though he knew the answer might not be what he wanted to hear, at least it was better than living in ignorance.

“I proclaimed the Prophecy,” she said, reminding him that she could hear his thoughts.

He took a deep breath, then said, “I want to know what the Prophecy says.”

Emily’s lips twitched, as if she’d been stuck with a needle. Jason looked into her eyes and saw undisguised fear. Then she nodded and looked away. “I knew I’d have to do it sooner or later,” she muttered. “Perhaps now is the right moment. Come with me.”

Chapter 13

She led them to a door framed by an ancient stone arch, embellished with cryptic signs which had been burnt in iridescent mauve and turquoise. The door seemed to be a solid black slab in one moment, then it changed, rippling as if it were fluid instead. As Jason watched, it changed again, becoming some sort of translucent, gaseous substance.

She reached towards the smoldering sphere, and double Es glowed upon it after she removed her hand. A soft purring noise came out of nowhere, followed by a sharp click, and the door, solid black this time, vanished. A cold breeze whispered through Jason’s hair, spilling goosebumps over his body. The blackness didn’t welcome unwelcome guests, and Emily and Jason were about to encroach upon its territory.

“Let’s go.” She stooped under the archway, and the dark consumed her, leaving only a vague silhouette. Jason flinched, startled when her hand emerged from the dark. “Let’s go,” she said. “We don’t have much time.”

Feigning confidence, Jason took the proffered hand and stepped onto the stone threshold. His stomach dropped, filled with the same dread he’d experienced after each of his nightmares. Emily squeezed his hand, easing the panic, and led him through the murk.

“What is this place?” he whispered.

“It’s called the Maze. It thrives on the darkness within people’s souls, but if you have light in your heart, the Maze won’t touch you. It forms a circular shape, and we’re heading for the center of it. The only light here comes from a few torches, though they’re not of much help if you don’t know which way to go. You see, there are thousands of false entrances here that might let you in, but they’ll never let you out.”

Apparently she was on friendly terms with the ebony blackness, for her gait was confident. As she’d said, only the occasional torch lit the way along the brick walls, but their flames were dim beacons in the prevailing gloom. It didn’t take long before the afterimage of the white-hot shining tunnel which had been burned in Jason’s mind was obliterated. Soon he couldn’t see a thing, but he trusted Emily’s lead.

Not far past the first torch, Emily turned right and led Jason to what appeared to be a solid wall, but it was the first opening. Twice they turned to the left, and after that, Jason could tell nothing but it felt as if they were walking in circles. They could have spent several minutes in the dark, or it could have been hours, Jason didn’t think he’d be able to feel the difference. At some point it seemed he had become a part of the darkness, and darkness had become a part of him.

After what seemed an eternity, they stopped, and Emily let go of his hand. “Before we start, I need to tell you some rules.”

Jason nodded, then realized she couldn’t see him. “Okay,” he said.

“First of all,” she told him, “you must stay where you are. I placed a protective shield between you and me just in case something goes wrong. You absolutely must not move. You must not speak. If you violate these rules, I won’t be able to save you from what might happen. The protective shield might even get destroyed.”

Out of all the questions bouncing around in Jason’s head, he grabbed what he hoped was the easiest one. “What might happen?”

“Judging by what happened when I made the other Prophecies, I may be totally unpredictable when doing this thing.”

“Have you done it lots of times?”

“Actually, I’ve never tried doing it deliberately. The Prophecies come to me of their own accord. All I know is that the consequences may be destructive. Depends on how the Energy wills to behave.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Jason said.

She sighed. “You’ll be better off not knowing, I think. Just follow the rules. Don’t you want to listen to the Prophecy?”

“I do. I really do.”

“All right then. Remember: don’t move, don’t do anything at all. Even if you don’t like what you see. Just listen.”

Jason stood motionless in front of a shield he couldn’t see, his muscles bunched with tension. Emily struck a match, bringing a small gold aura to the blackness. He squinted and saw she’d covered herself with a cloak. He wanted to see her face, maybe read her expression, but her mane of thick hair concealed her features. The light of the match reached her lips though, and blood boiled in Jason’s veins as he watched them move.

Emily knelt slowly, folding into layers of black mist. She lowered the burning match and lit a candle on the floor, then extended her palm over the flame. The weak fire gained strength, reaching up to lick her hand, and Jason nearly screamed with frustration. He couldn’t stand to watch this happen, watch her be hurt. But he had made a promise, and he would keep that promise.

It was like one of his nightmares, only now he was the beholder from the outside, unable to do anything but witness. The light of the candle melted to liquid and dripped to the floor, spreading, turning into fiery circles which sprawled in radiant gold, forming letters and words. With the increasing light, Jason was able to see the room. It was small and circular, and the only part of it untouched by light was the space where Jason stood. He thought that meant the protective shield was working. From the small circle of golden letters on the floor came thousands more. Through their light he could now see rows and rows of corridors through doorless entries, all of them lit with similar writings.

A barely audible whisper came through Emily’s trembling lips. She kept one hand positioned over the candle flame and the other pressed to the golden floor, and Jason saw her shudder from time to time while the flame hissed spitefully. Her head remained bowed while everything around her blazed with a non-scorching fire. In the reigning silence her words were clear-cut, intensified, imbued with the most acute of pain.

Through visions of torture and horror he will walk,

Drenched in the pain of those unknowingly defending him.

Pillars of Light first released then destroyed by the raging Energy of the Dark,

Until but one remains.

The one with the Energy of Light, the last of the twelve, the Beholder.

His path lies through the valley of shadows

Where eleven souls are marked by the aura of the One.

Through Light and Darkness he will walk

Innocent blood he will save with the knowledge only he possesses.

Of two souls intertwined, the first shall be gone,

With the other left to die in blinding agony.

Death’s scythe hanging over him

Will not forget to slash at the crack of dawn,

When the Energy demands for the Librium to restore.

Once and for all the Beholder will disappear.

Emily’s voice was hoarse, every syllable burning with the pain in her hand. The Prophecy was finished, and the words died out on her lips as she dropped to the ground. The candle seemed satisfied with the girl’s palm, and the iridescent words on the walls dying out as tendrils of darkness consumed the room.

Jason’s protective shield disappeared, and he bolted through the dark towards the place where Emily was supposed to be. He found her lying on the floor, weeping, clutching at her hand. Jason palmed her face, feeling her tears stream down her burning cheeks and roll onto his hands. This was all his fault. He hated himself for asking to hear the Prophecy. If only he had known—if only she’d told him it would involve anything like this.

“Why would you do that to yourself?” Jason demanded. He heard the fury in his voice, but he was more angry at himself than Emily.

She sniffed. “To make a Prophecy, I have to feel pain. It won’t come any other way. Pain is the key to revealing the future. And now you know what will happen in the end.”

Jason closed his eyes and swallowed. “I knew it would end that way,” he said quietly, surprising even himself with the frank admission. “But Emily, there’s something else. I need to tell you something. I can’t hide it from you anymore.”

Her face shifted slightly within his hands, and he envisioned her beautiful brow creased with question. “W-what is it?”

“One of the visions.” He hesitated, searching for better words, but there were none. “In one of my dreams I saw you. You were … dying.”

The dark hid Emily’s face, but her voice trembled, giving her panic away. “What? What are you talking about?”

“In the dream, a group of shadows chased you, and I … I was inside their leader’s mind. I was in Pariah’s mind.”

“What? No! That can’t be true!” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” he replied, though there was nothing he could have done to change anything. He regretted having told her, causing her even more pain, but it had been done now. There was no turning back. He scooped her fragile form into his arms and held her tight against him.

Chapter 14

Emily didn’t understand. She pressed herself to Jason, soaking in his closeness, his soft touch, feeling constantly in awe of his sparkling beauty. She had seen him all along the path in the dark, the same way she saw the corridor of the Maze. The dark wasn’t all that dark to her, and Jason made reality even brighter than usual. If she could only tell him how beautiful he looked in the dark. But he wouldn’t understand.

Not yet.

She was afraid to tell Jason what was really going on, and why protecting him and his friends was so important. The black veil that kept Jason from seeing her made her more confident. She had been about to tell him everything when he told her he’d seen her in one of the fusions.

The news had staggered her. She toed a dangerous line, and one wrong move could ruin everything.

“How do you know it was me in your dream?” she asked.

“It had to be you. It couldn’t be anyone else. The girl moved so fast the shadows could barely keep up with her,” he said, unwittingly slicing Emily’s insides as if with a knife. “Then the leader—I mean I did something, cut a rupture in the air and plunged into it, reappearing right in front of the girl.”

Emily closed her eyes, not wanting to hear, but knowing she had to.

“Then she was lying on the ground, writhing in pain, and the vision stopped.” Jason hesitated, and she felt him swallow. “I saw her eyes for one brief moment … and they were your eyes.”

Emily touched his cheek with her left palm, smooth and as good as new. He took her hand in his, and she felt the tip of his finger tracing where her burn should have been. He would find nothing there. “Is it okay?”

She sighed. “Yes, my hand is fine.”

“How do you make it heal so fast?”

“The ability to heal is just a tiny part of what I’m going to teach you. In theory at first.”

After a long pause, he said, “You told me the Prophecy, but all I know is that it’s become even harder to understand. I need the plain truth.”

Their time in the Maze was running out; Tyler and Jason’s friends were about to arrive. He was right. He deserved to at least know some of it now. “What do you think the Prophecy spoke about?” she asked.

“Well, there are twelve pillars of light.”

“Yes,” Emily nodded. “Go on.”

“And someone attempts to destroy these pillars.”

“Pariah and the Legates. You are the last pillar of light, the twelfth in the line.”

“Why me? How do you know?”

“Do you remember the beginning of the Prophecy? Through visions of torture and horror he will walk, reaping the pain of those unknowingly defending him. Well, you have had these visions, and your name’s Jason Walker.”

That stopped him. “Wait. Just because my last name is Walker, you think that means—”

“—that you are the Beholder. Yes,” she said, deciding not to tell him she’d also seen the brilliant pillar of light emanating from him when she’d been high overhead, battling Pariah. “I’ve been looking for you for too long, Jason. When I found you after all those years, no one would ever be able to persuade me that I was wrong. Especially not you.”

“But what if you are wrong? Because after all this, I sort of feel there could be nothing worse than disillusioning you,” Jason blurted out. “It’s not really fair, you know. I don’t get a single clue as to what I’m supposed to do to stop these creatures.”

She hadn’t been prepared for his honest outburst, but she couldn’t blame him, either. Something writhed in the pit of her stomach. “I don’t know either,” she admitted. “But I know you’ll figure it out. And don’t worry. You won’t disillusion me.”

Emily saw Jason smile involuntarily, and it made her smile as well. She squeezed his hand, afraid to let go. “Maybe we should go out into the light.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that would be a huge relief to me,” he said, then wrapped his hand around her waist so he could help her stand.

Chapter 15

Matt lay on the road, trying to gain control. Nothing made any sense. His body felt like a sack of meat and bones, stubbornly ignoring his orders. Bit by bit warmth began to tingle through his arms and legs, replacing the lead that had glued him to the asphalt. He felt it a major victory when he found he could twitch his fingers, then twist his neck left and right.

Nearby he heard the stranger’s voice, but he couldn’t catch the meaning of the words. When he turned his head he saw Debbie, lying motionless on her front with her legs splayed out. She faced away from him, so he couldn’t tell if she was all right. Then it dawned on him—she showed no signs of life.

Panicked, Matt tried to pull himself together. He couldn’t stand, but did manage to transfer the weight of his torso upwards so that he sat with a groan.

“Debbie!” he called, wincing at the sensation of thousands of pins and needles pricking his insides.

She didn’t react, so he dragged his disobedient body to where she lay. With a great effort he rolled her onto her back, only to find her face still and deathly pale. But she was alive. Her eyes were wide open, her lips barely stirring as she tried to speak. Matt bowed down to her lips so he could hear her.

“It’s too deep,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Too deep,” she moaned.

With no other option, Matt called to the stranger, though he had no idea whether he meant to do them good or harm. The man appeared to be on his cell phone.

“Hey, you! My friend needs help! She’s dying!”

The cloaked man broke off in the middle of his conversation, pivoted on his heel and came quickly. In that short period of time, Debbie’s face had turned an even more cadaverous shade of white. To Matt’s horror, even the rich color of her auburn hair had started to fade. Her breathing was shallow.

“Energy sick, is she?” Although most of the stranger’s face was concealed by a cowl, Matt saw his mouth curve into a crooked smile. His voice was mirthless and calm. He knelt beside Debbie on the other side, opposite Matt, and froze like a statue. Matt stared, confused.

“What are you waiting for? Do something!”

But the cloaked man said nothing. Eventually he stretched his hand over her head then moved it over her body, though he never touched her. As he did, color returned to her hair, then to her face. It was nothing short of miraculous. To Matt it looked like someone had added color to a black-and-white film. Her chest rose high, and a low groan broke the silence.

“She’ll be all right,” the stranger said. “Fears hidden within tend to take over one’s memory from time to time.”

Matt pried his eyes off Debbie so he could look at the stranger instead. “Who are you?” He wouldn’t be surprised to hear the figure admit to being the Grim Reaper. Only a scythe is missing to complete the image, Matt thought grimly.

The stranger flung back his hood, and long, fair hair fell like curtains on both sides of his head. Strange gray eyes bored into Matt.

“It’s you!” Matt exclaimed, recoiling in horror as he recognized their pursuer from the night at McAlester’s.

With a crooked smile, the stranger nodded. “Yeah, it’s me. Call me Tyler. Tyler Woods.”

Chapter 16

Debbie resurfaced slowly, opening her eyes to see two blurred faces looming over her. The first, Matthew’s, was comforting. The other seemed vaguely familiar, though she couldn’t figure out from where. Then Matt said “McAlester’s” and it all came back.

“Matt?”

Matt’s eyes softened, and for a moment she wondered if he might cry. That pulled a lump into her own throat. “You freaked me out, Debbie.”

She gave him a weak smile, then he helped her sit. Before long she was feeling partially recovered, and she asked him to help her stand. Once she was up, she went directly after Tyler, demanding answers.

“Why did you come after us? What are we doing here—and where is here, anyway? What happened to my house? Where’s Jason?”

At first it appeared Tyler didn’t hear her. He just stared, looking bemused. That made Debbie angrier still. She started to ask more questions, but he interrupted.

“The three of you are bound and inseparable. That’s most peculiar.”

“So you can talk,” Debbie said with a snort.

Matt shook his head, observing Tyler with a wry smile. “What’s peculiar,” he said, “is that someone who can transport people through time and distance thinks something as simple as our friendship is peculiar.”

Debbie shifted her narrowed gaze from Tyler to Matt. “What do you mean, ‘transport people through time and distance’?”

“You’re wrong,” Tyler told Matt, ignoring another of Debbie’s questions. “Your friendship is not simple. I’ve traveled a great deal, and I haven’t seen anything like that before.” He riveted his attention on Debbie again, his stare so intense she felt slightly uncomfortable.

“Are you a friend or an enemy to us?” Matt asked.

“I can only tell you that I wish you no harm,” he replied, keeping his eyes on Debbie.

The manner of his speaking hypnotized her. He looked directly in her eyes, unafraid and confident, and she found herself fascinated by him. She admired the beauty of his strange gray eyes—even the way he ignored her drew her closer. He keeps teasing me. Why?

“Where are we going?” Matt asked.

“Not far. Your friend’s already there.” Tyler pointed into the distance, but Debbie saw nothing but sand. “It’s time to go. Do you want me to take you there?”

“No,” Debbie said, suspicious now that the spell had broken and he’d looked away from her.

“We can handle it all right,” Matt agreed.

“As you wish,” Tyler said, and chuckled.

Chapter 17

Jason had never been so relieved to see light. Thin lines of shimmering blue seeped through the crack below the door, which meant they were nearly out. The Maze was about to end. When a door creaked open before them, Jason squinted, welcoming the sharp colors of light. They were painfully bright, yet so beautiful after the unnerving blackness of the Maze.

Emily’s gaze turned to the place where the platform had been before, and Jason noted with some concern that it was empty. But the lines of worry on Emily’s forehead smoothed out, reassuring him.

“He made it.” She sighed in relief. “Your friends are out of danger.”

“Who is ‘he’?”

“Tyler Woods. He’s an old friend of mine. Don’t worry. Matthew and Debbie are in good hands.”

“TW,” Jason murmured pensively.

“What?”

“TW. Tyler Woods. He sent me the message.”

“That’s right.” She smiled. “So you’ve sort of already met.”

Emily seemed comfortable with Tyler, and Jason figured if the guy had saved both Matt and Debbie, he couldn’t be bad. Yet his uneasiness lingered.

Before them stretched an abyss, its emptiness yawning hungrily at them. Though he was safe, Jason clung to the doorframe just in case. “How are we going to get to that Hall?”

Emily faced him, still holding his hand. “Close your eyes,” she said softly.

Blood pounded in Jason’s temples as Emily wrapped her other arm around his shoulder. He stooped a bit, being taller than she, and enjoyed the sensation of her closeness. When her warm breath fanned his neck, his heart started drumming madly in his chest. For a fleeting moment he closed his eyes, but when he did, she released him from her gentle embrace.

“You may open your eyes,” she said, breathing out.

Jason stared around in amazement. They stood on a platform, just as they had before, but now there was no Maze in sight. They were in a completely different place.

“Why didn’t we use this method of transportation before?” Jason asked.

“You have to learn the hard way before you learn the easy way,” Emily said, then smiled. “Besides, this is more energy-consuming, especially when I’m transporting someone like you. You’re a bit heavy.”

“Where’s everyone?” he asked, looking for a distraction. The longer he stayed close to Emily, the more his infatuation grew.

“There,” Emily said, pointing the other way.

Disoriented, he turned and saw the grandest door he’d ever seen. Its arch was studded with myriads of sapphires, moonstones, topaz, and other sparkling gemstones, smooth and faceted, clear-cut and amorphous. The door glowed with emerald signs Jason couldn’t decipher.

“What is this?” he said, the luster of the stones reflected in his eyes.

“The entrance to the Hall of Refuge. It’s the safest place in our world.”

He followed Emily through the door then into a short, dark tunnel. The feeling of insecurity Jason had experienced in the Maze evaporated, and as they walked through, he discovered the passage was an antechamber lit with an incredible light. When he blinked he saw the brightest, most beautiful chamber his imagination could ever have come up with. The room was immense, a huge gemstone in itself.

How can such a place be hidden from the rest of the world? Jason wondered.

He felt a ridiculous jealousy at first, envying the skills of the architect who had designed such a perfect work of art. Lights and colors blazed around changing, merging images which were set in the walls and ceiling. The floor, on the other hand, grounded everything with black and white marble squares, like a huge chessboard. So much life and energy filled the room it felt as if it were alive, and Jason had to set his feet farther apart for balance when a wave of dizziness washed over him.

It took a few moments before his eyes adjusted to the luster. Then he was able to make out three figures standing in the middle of the chamber, and when he stared hard he made out the two familiar shapes of Matt and Debbie. Like him, they seemed in shock, goggling openmouthed at the ceiling, admiring the twinkling lights, until they looked over and noticed Jason and Emily.

A third shape lingered in their wake. Must be Tyler, Emily’s friend, Jason thought, feeling an overwhelming gratitude to the man.

“Matt! Debbie!” he called.

Debbie was the first to move. “Jason?” she cried, then ran towards him, arms outstretched. When she hugged him, he worried she might smother him to death, but he didn’t mind. Matt gave Jason a crushing hug and a firm handshake.

“You look awful,” Debbie said.

“Gee, thanks!” Jason laughed, and it felt great to laugh. He was exhausted, but a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders at the sight of his friends, alive and well. “Ah, it doesn’t matter. At least you two look good.”

The third person approached, and he recognized the man’s long, fair hair hanging loose on his broad shoulders, as well as his long black cloak and high collar. It was the stranger from McAlester’s.

“Thank you for taking care of my friends.”

The stranger stared at Jason, his eyes wide with disbelief, and Jason tried not to pay attention to the man’s strange reaction. Tyler shifted his gray-eyed gaze to Debbie, smiling enigmatically, then back to Jason. “The pleasure is mine. I’m Tyler Woods.” He held out his hand, and Jason took it.

“Jason Walker. So you’re the guy who left the note in my apartment?”

“I’m sorry I got you into trouble in Times Square,” Tyler said, nodding. “The Darksighted weren’t supposed to be there, but somehow they’d figured it out.”

“Never mind,” Jason replied. “Fortunately, Debbie arrived just in time. Thanks for not letting them get me.”

“Do you still have the letter?”

Jason felt his pockets, but the letter was not there.

“Here,” Debbie said, holding it out.

“Good.” Tyler crumpled the paper and squeezed it between his hands, then unclasped his fingers. The message was gone. “There is no need to leave clues for the enemy and make his task easier.”

When Matt and Debbie shifted their gaze from Jason to Emily, he saw her again, as if for the first time.

There she is, so beautiful, he thought.

She introduced herself to Jason’s friends, extending a graceful hand. “Emily Ethan.”

Ethan. Jason had never wondered what her surname was. He’d had no time for it. She was just Emily for him. But this explained the appearance of double Es on the white hot sphere.

“I hope you don’t mind,” she said. “I need to steal Tyler from you for a moment.”

Chapter 18

Emily had never seen Tyler so agitated before. She pulled him deeper into the Hall of Refuge while he craned his neck and stared at Jason.

Finally he stopped and gave her his full attention. “You did it! You brought him here! The Beholder is actually in the Hall of Refuge. I never thought we’d trick the Dark Ones, but you did it.”

She beamed, basking in his praise. It had been a long, hard road, but worth every step. “Yes, and his Energy is growing with each second, changing everything around him. It’s fascinating. The Energy doesn’t make Jason move, like it does with the rest of us. Jason moves the Energy. He orders it to go this way or that way.” By now they were far enough away from the trio that Emily spoke without fear of being overheard. “No one’s ever been able to make such an impact on reality as he does, whether he’s aware of it or not.”

“What you mean ‘aware or not’?”

“He’s Unsighted. Despite that, he’s creating a new reality right now.”

“Are you kidding? He’s Unsighted? That’s not possible.”

“Apparently it is.”

“But what about Debbie’s—”

“Fake.”

“Does he know?” Tyler asked. “Have you told him?”

“Nope. It’s not time for him to know everything yet. There’s far too much for him to handle right now. He’ll be even more confused and won’t be able to focus.”

Tyler shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. “Why should this be kept secret from him?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell him in good time.”

Tyler thought her words over then gawked at her with astonishment. “So he doesn’t know what he can do?”

“Well, he can’t do anything yet, actually. He hasn’t entered the Sight yet.”

“But,” Tyler’s voice rose unnaturally high, and he spread his arms wide. “I can feel his Energy pulsing through me, through this entire Hall. And he doesn’t know anything?” He grinned, looking ecstatic. “If it goes on growing at the same pace, it’ll be as strong as mine and yours in a couple of days.”

Emily nodded. “That’s right. I’m still amazed. I’ve been waiting for him for so long, but now that he’s here I’m worried about the calamities his appearance is going to bring into our world.”

“Devastating,” Tyler said, sobering.

“What happened when you reached Debbie’s place? Did you see you-know-who?”

Tyler’s expression darkened. “Yes. At first there were three of them. They were trying to raze the house to the ground, but I got there in time to keep the house from falling and burying Matt and Debbie alive. Then Pariah came, hoping to finish what the Legates hadn’t, but he wasn’t prepared for me to stand in his way. Fortunately, he’s not strong enough to hold two fights in a row against the Lightsighted.”

“Maybe not, but you’d better be careful. Pariah’s Energy is as lethal as it was before.”

“Yeah, I know. I barely managed to dodge his lashes. If he’d killed me, he’d have had no trouble tearing the chain that binds those three.” He nodded in the trio’s direction.

“Their bond is unique,” she said, “but that makes it easier for him to sting us and more difficult for us to protect them.”

“I know. But I think the Beholder is here to put an end to the impending imbalance that you prophesied so many years ago.”

“I hope so,” she said quietly, but her heart was torn by a mixture of hope and worry. The forthcoming battle would destroy either Good or Evil. One would not survive, and the world would be changed forever.

Chapter 19

In a few words Jason told his friends about the vision that had lured him out of Debbie’s house, then of the fight he’d witnessed between Emily and Pariah. He told them about the Prophecy Emily had made, omitting the details of how she’d tortured her hand over the candle for him.

When Matt told his side of the story, Debbie listened, only interrupting when he got to the part about looking across and seeing her lying there, motionless.

“I felt like I was drowning,” she told them. “Like my lungs were filling with water. It felt okay, actually, until I became aware of something black, like shadows maybe, creeping all around me, coming closer. Then I knew I had to get out.”

“And all of this happened in one night!” Matt exclaimed. “Hard to believe.”

Jason laughed. “Hard to believe? I’d say impossible to believe if I wasn’t in the middle of it!”

Comforted by being together, the three grew quiet as they sat back and admired the beauty around them. Their lives had changed drastically, and the surreal, dome-like Hall of Refuge, glittering with all its gems, emphasized all those changes. This world was so alien in contrast to what their lives had been before.

“So beautiful,” Jason said quietly.

Matt and Debbie nodded, and Matt cleared his throat. “Now what?”

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know.” All he did know was that danger lurked nearby all the time now, and it probably always would. Whatever Pariah wanted from them, once he got close enough he wouldn’t stop. All he could hope was that Emily and Tyler wouldn’t leave them. But it was not to be. The two returned shortly after, and Emily shared their decision.

“After some consideration, Tyler and I decided it would be best if we parted and went different ways.” Emily looked at her friend, who nodded without saying a word. “The same as we were before. Jason, you’re with me, and Debbie and Matt will stay with Tyler in a shelter far from New York.”

Jason’s heart sank. He had hated being apart from his friends before, and he couldn’t imagine doing it again. “Are you sure that’s the only way?”

“Yes,” Emily insisted. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to trust me. There are a lot of reasons.”

“Why can’t we stay together?”

“We can’t risk your safety at this particular moment,” Tyler said. “Neither yours nor your friends’.”

“The five of us can’t stay in the Hall any longer,” Emily clarified. “Your energy is growing too fast, Jason. There’s a possibility it might even ruin the protective shield of the Hall.”

Jason cursed himself. Once again it was his fault, and he still had no idea what was going on. All he knew was they would have to return to the surface because of him, otherwise the Evil One and his retinue might discover their whereabouts and destroy them.

Jason clenched his jaw, knowing there was no point in arguing. Staying alive was obviously the number one priority, and he was getting used to the idea that they might have to do things that went against the grain.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” Debbie assured him, smiling with her beautiful eyes. “We’ll meet you soon.”

“She’s right.” Matt put his hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Besides, Tyler is going to be with us.”

He glanced between them, sick with guilt. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Debbie hugged him and her hand gently patted his back. “Absolutely. Just promise you’ll take care of yourself. And don’t forget to eat.”

Jason smiled, enjoying her motherly admonishments. “Yes, Mom,” he said, and rolled his eyes.

Tyler, Debbie and Matt were the first to leave. They stepped onto the platform, and it disappeared so quickly that Jason’s vision couldn’t register the moment it happened. While he and Emily were waiting for the platform to return, Jason rubbed his palms together, wishing he could make the tension disappear.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“First to Newark International Airport. Then we’re flying to Minsk. Our final destination will be Paris.” The corners of Emily’s mouth curved gently down, and Jason ached to comfort her. “We’re going to stay in a place not too far away for a couple of days before we return.”

The platform reappeared, and they stepped onto it.

“Paris sounds exciting,” Jason said, glancing back to catch a glimpse of the Hall one last time.

“That’s where I was born,” Emily explained, sliding her miniature hand into his and filling his mind with joy.

“Ah, that’s why you have such a beautiful accent,” he said, and she beamed. “Where are Matt and Debbie going?”

“You’d better not know. For their own safety.”

The platform carried them along the tunnel towards the entrance. Suddenly it braked with a violent jerk, nearly hurling them off the platform. Jason checked to make sure Emily was all right, and her eyes told him something was amiss.

“The Guardian,” she whispered.

“What?”

“I should have realized we weren’t alone.” She shook her head, disappointed in herself. “He sensed our presence.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“The Guardian of the Hall and of all the rooms in the Tunnel. From time to time he checks on those who enter the place,” Emily said, sounding unenthusiastic.

“And?”

She shrugged, her eyes constantly scanning. “You are Unsighted. It’s against our law to let Unsighted into this part of the tunnel.”

“But Debbie and Matt—”

“Tyler and your friends have already left. They’re safe.” Her body tensed. “He’s coming. Stand behind me, and do not say a word.”

He did as she said, but he still had questions. “Why?” he whispered. “Won’t he see me?”

She shook her head. “He’s the opposite of an ordinary person. The Guardian cannot see in the normal way. He sees only our Energetic Auras, then follows us if anything displeases him. There’s a chance he won’t see you behind me.”

“Why didn’t he follow us earlier?”

“He might have been visiting some of the rooms. Once you enter one, you can’t see the outside, so when he came back into the tunnel he would have felt our presence. That’s not surprising, with you here.” She cringed. “Damn. He’s coming. Don’t move.”

The spheres on the right side of each door started to glow, and the platform bumped again, this time under the added weight of the Guardian, who perched on its edge. Jason saw an old man, his body crooked beyond measure, his white, matted hair dragging along the floor. His clothes were so ragged and foul-smelling it would have been difficult to say what they’d initially looked like. The old man’s face was distorted into a queer mix of rage and smug satisfaction, but the black holes of his eye sockets, which did not contain eyes, forbade laughter. It seemed the Guardian’s head was unusually heavy, because both his gnarled hands clutched at a thin cane glowing with ruby and emerald, and the crooked man rested his cheek on top of the strange stick. The creature was repulsive, but though Jason wanted to look away, he stood frozen behind Emily.

“Ah! I’ve got you!” the Guardian croaked and raised his head to glare at Emily. “What are you doing here? You know you are not allowed. And who’s that behind your back?”

The concealment plan had clearly failed.

“This is a newcomer into the Energy world,” Emily said unsteadily, “and I brought him here to defend from the Evil Ones.”

“How gracious of you to take whoever you wish into my Halls.” The creature’s voice twisted with sarcasm. “Yes, they are for every blasphemous Sighted and Unsighted to come and contaminate. No homage for the sacred place created by the most brilliant minds in the history of Energy.”

Emily cut him short. “We haven’t come to contaminate anything. This man is pursued by Pariah himself.”

The Guardian’s brow rose, and Jason lowered his gaze, unable to stand looking into the sickening eye sockets. “And you dare bring those whom evil wishes to destroy into this place of sanctity? You remember when Pariah’s hunters almost surpassed the defenses and went through the Entrance, don’t you?”

“Yes. But it was I who closed the Entrance and didn’t let them in,” she replied, sounding more confident.

The Guardian said nothing, only peered at Jason instead.

“What is your name, newcomer?”

“Jason Walker.”

The bushy head nodded once. “I sensed you as soon as I left the Corridor of the Dead. I thought a whole legion of intruders had come to desecrate my home, so I hastened here. It is miraculous that so much Energy can be controlled by one person.”

The Guardian made a noncommittal sound, then shuffled closer to Jason, who tried not to breathe through his nose. The creature raised his head as high as possible, his hands resting upon the cane, and Jason flinched at the sound of the vertebrae of his ancient, twisted spine crunching with effort. The empty eye sockets drew close to Jason’s face, scanning him.

The old man wheezed, then let out a long breath. “Amazing,” he muttered, turning his heavy head towards Emily. “Is it true then? Is it true indeed?”

“Don’t you see?” Emily asked.

“Yes, I do, I do.” The Guardian looked back at Jason. “It is an honor to be standing so close to the one whose coming has been awaited for almost two decades. So you, Jason Walker, are the Beholder.” He bowed back to lay his chin on the cane. “You are welcome to come and go whenever you wish.”

As suddenly as he appeared, the Guardian vanished, and their platform resumed sliding towards the Entrance.

***

Jason and Emily passed through the circle of light and entered the dim luminescence of the searchlights. The spell of the other side, of the incredible world below, was gone.

“You see?” Emily asked, grinning with triumph. “Even the Guardian believes you are the Beholder. Solid proof!”

The platform buzzed, and the higher they got, the darker it became around them. Blackness on either side gaped with unfriendliness.

“You bluffed, and he bought it,” Jason mused aloud. “But there’s one thing I want to understand, Emily. Tell me, if the Guardian and all the rest of you can see the Beholder in me, why can’t I see your world?”

She shrugged. “There are some questions even the Sighted ones cannot answer with absolute certainty,” she told him. “There are lots of theories. I’ll share some of mine with you when we’re on the plane, okay?”

The hatch opened a crack, and blue sky forced its way through the darkness. It wasn’t until they were back outside that Jason realized how damp and freezing it had been underneath the surface. With pleasure he inhaled warm wafts of air as it tousled his hair and ruffled his shirt.

As she’d promised, the motorcycle still stood where they had left it. Jason sat on the sun-baked seat and clutched at the handgrips. When he started the engine the motorcycle growled with approval. Emily climbed onto the seat behind him and wrapped her arms around Jason’s waist.

I’m going to have a heart attack one of these days, he thought, dizzy from her proximity.

He turned and almost drowned in Emily’s amber eyes. He grinned. At least now he knew what he was doing. “Hold tight. I’ll show you what speed really means.”

Chapter 20

The wind howled like a banshee as they approached the airport, but Jason barely heard it, his mind was so focused on the voyage ahead. He had never been to Paris, and the very idea of it evoked images in his mind of a perfect city, rich with love and romance. He was brimming with anticipation, and Emily’s closeness only increased the nervous tingle running through him.

Half an hour later they parked the motorcycle in a lot and merged with the jostling crowd at Newark Airport. Jason was startled to discover that Emily already had all the necessary documents—including his own passport—in her pocket. He had to wonder if the passport was authentic or fake.

When it was time to board, Emily took the window seat, and Jason settled in beside her, looking forward to the flight. Eight and a half hours would be plenty of time for him to furtively observe Emily’s actions and expressions, the perfect lines of her lips, the long lashes that accentuated her beautiful amber eyes, the way her hair curved in soft waves over her shoulders.

But Emily had her own agenda. As soon as the plane took off, she bombarded him with a rapid fire series of questions about himself and his life. He had to concentrate, not wanting to mess up and look like a blithering idiot.

“So you are an interior designer?”

“I thought you knew that already. I thought you knew everything about me.”

She shrugged. “I saw a general outline within the aura around you, but no particulars. Now when you are close to me I can see more than when you were at a distance. Which one of your creations is your favorite?”

“McAlester’s,” Jason said without hesitation. “Matt and I slaved on it, but without Debbie’s hard work the project would have been soulless.”

“McAlester’s? Oh, I’ve been there a few times,” she said, and Jason unsuccessfully searched his mind for any memory of her in the place. “It’s a really nice place, and it has a unique spirit. You three have talent.”

Jason snorted. “Maybe, but in comparison to the Hall of Refuge, McAlester’s is sloppy work.”

Emily held up one finger. “Here you’re wrong. You and your friends create positive things, and that’s worth a lot.”

He was flattered, but the truth was he’d never in his entire life find anything to compare to the Hall of Refuge, and the knowledge was vaguely depressing to him. Still, it did feel good to hear her compliment him. He decided now was the time to turn the tables, to ask her some of the thousands of questions bouncing around in his head.

“How did you figure out where I worked?”

“That was the easiest part,” Emily said. Jason rested his head against the headrest, enjoying the melody of her sweet voice. “Tyler told me everything he had managed to find out about you, but I used another source as well. You see, all people leave ‘traces,’ which are invisible to those with ordinary eyesight. But Sighted people can see the world in another way. That’s how I found you. Yours was very different from anyone else’s.”

“I have a trace?” Jason raised his eyebrows. “What’s so peculiar about it?”

She laughed, her eyes sparkling. “It’s the size of Newark International Airport.”

Jason gaped at Emily, trying to make sense of what she was telling him. “When we got there I couldn’t control the defensive shield for an instant … and when that happened I saw your Light,” she said, looking vaguely dazed. “It’s so beautiful. I wish you could see it.” The light vanished from her eyes. “There’s only one person with a similar trace and aura as yours.”

“Pariah?” Jason guessed.

She nodded. “But his is stable, intense, and evil. Yours is frighteningly volatile, but still in the development process. Yours is more like a volcano that’s about to erupt. Sometimes I actually feel afraid when I’m beside you.”

That seemed impossible. Of all the things this tiny girl had faced, for her to be afraid of him? There was obviously so much more he needed to learn before he could understand any of it.

“What about your trace?”

Emily smirked. “Oh, it’s nothing like yours. If we were to speak about Energy in terms of rain, then my aura is a drizzle and yours is a downpour. At times I struggle for breath when your Energy flares, and it gets harder for me to control it with each hour.”

“But I don’t do anything,” Jason objected. “Yes, I did stop time, like you said, but I have no idea how I did it.”

“Well, actually, Tyler helped you there a bit. You’re very close to revealing the Beholder in yourself, but you still need guidance. We were trying to break through the stereotypes ingrained in you, hoping you would fathom that not everything you see is the way it seems to be, that not everything you touch is the way it actually feels.

“You see, there are two realities. You know one: lackluster and sham. But when you see the other, you’ll understand that the reality we are all taught to see is just a disguise.”

Jason was silent for a moment, captivated. “What do traces look like?”

“Usually they resemble a vapor trail left behind a person. They fade but can still be seen after a few months if they’re strong enough. Tyler’s trace looks like a fog of various colors. It’s intense and quite easy to find if anyone is searching for him.”

“If anyone is searching for him?” Jason shot a glance at Emily. How could she be so calm? “So traces can give us away to the wrong people?”

She shook her head, then tucked an errant curl behind one ear. “We tend to our Energy and erase it if needed.” Emily smiled. “Tyler and I are trying to erase yours, but it’s a bit more difficult.”

“What are traces?”

“They’re people’s Energy. Energy is the fifth element, the quintessence pervading all the other elements. You know about earth, air, water, and fire. Energy is different from them because you can’t see it. Well, most people can’t, anyway. Energy rules and guides the four elements into a Librium.

“Energy is ubiquitous. It is in your brain, it is in the middle of our planet, in a butterfly’s wing. It is the most vital thing in existence. Without Energy, fire wouldn’t burn, water wouldn’t flow, and a living being wouldn’t breathe.

“Humans are a species who need Energy in abundant quantities. They are huge sources of Energy but are unable to control it, because they don’t know anything about it. Eventually it dissipates too quickly. To live, people need to replenish their Energy supplies pretty often, but if you are able to control it and hold it within, you might run a hundred miles without getting tired, you could feel full without eating for months, you might even fly.”

Jason glanced around, observing the other passengers. They sat in their own world, oblivious of him and Emily and the unbelievable conversation they were having. It was impossible for Jason to envision this other reality of which she spoke, inconceivable to put himself in the center of a burning tornado and somehow control it. How could none of these people see this Energy of which she spoke? How could he believe Mankind was unseeing? How could there be another version of his world?

“What about the defensive shield?” he asked.

“It’s around you as well as around the places where we hide.”

“Including the underground place where we were?”

“Yes. The Hall of Refuge is a unique place, and yet its protection could have caved in if we’d stayed any longer. We couldn’t risk losing such a precious hideout, which is why the five of us had to leave.”

“The five of us? Are Matt and Debbie involved in this as well?”

Emily hesitated, then swallowed, looking reluctant. “They are, Jason. Even before all of this started, Matthew, Debbie, and you had become bound in an Energy Trinity.”

“What?”

She nodded. “You passed some of your Energy to them, and they did the same to you. You are gradually becoming the One Energy Unity, something which was destined long before you met. Now if any part of this bond is ruined, the other two are doomed.”

That explained why Pariah had tried to kill Matt and Debbie. “I’ve heard stories about children and their mothers having a bond. When a child was in trouble, his or her mother sensed it even if she was far away. Do you mean to say there’s something like that between me, Matt, and Debbie?”

“Yes, but I’d say yours is like the bond of twins rather than mother to child.”

“Oh?”

Emily’s face softened, her gaze filling with a deep sadness. “Sighted twins cannot live without their other halves, at least not for a very long time. If one dies, the other is doomed to follow. They form an indivisible unity. What you three have is exceptionally rare and is called Soulfusion. It’s actually stronger than a Twins’ Bond.”

“This is unbelievable,” Jason muttered. Uncomfortable, he fidgeted with the latch of his table, still locked into the back of the chair in front of him. Then he raised an eyebrow. “Wait. You said Unsighted people can’t see Energy. But what about the fight between you and Pariah? Light was flashing out of both of your bodies. I could see it!”

She nodded reluctantly. “Well, yeah. We had to resort to an exceptionally powerful Energy which is used very rarely. We turn to it only when there’s no chance the Unsighted can figure out the source of the light. When we have to use it, we disguise the Energy as lightning.”

“I don’t know,” Jason said, doubtful. “That light was so bright I’m sure lots of people saw you. And it didn’t look like lightning to me.”

She smiled. “Actually, no one did except you, because I made all people in the area leave.”

Jason’s jaw dropped. “So that’s why … Wow. Now I get it! I saw them all going! So that was you? Incredible! I thought I was going insane.”

“That’s why I was so exhausted,” she explained. “It’s difficult to control so many people and fight against the Evil One at the same time.”

Jason shifted in his seat and puffed out a breath. “I think you’d better tell me more about the Energy that you and Pariah used. The more I find out, the more prepared I will be.”

“All right. Well, first of all, there are different types: light and dark, positive and negative, live and dead. Sprouts of extremely concentrated Energy are what we call Énergie Morte, and they are very powerful. Their deadly rays of Energy would disintegrate an Unsighted person if only one tiny sprout touched them. They wouldn’t even leave even a handful of dust behind. It takes years of learning to create that kind of Energy, and even longer to learn how to defend against it.

“Apart from Énergie Morte, I use other kinds of Energy that help me influence people and make them do things they’d never consciously have done otherwise. For example, after that fight with Pariah, I made the publishers of the New York newspapers write about a short circuit that caused a fire in the building. That will explain the pieces of glass and plastic all over the place.” She gave him a weak smile. “It’s easy to disguise the truth.”

Emily had barely answered one question when more popped up in Jason’s head. He peppered her with questions, needing to comprehend the system, though it seemed to him to be nothing but confusion and disorder. From what he could tell, he stood right in the middle of the chaos, and he needed to bring it to order if he was going to stay alive.

“How can my Energy affect things?”

“That’s a good question,” Emily said, then smiled up at the flight attendant when she stopped to offer them a drink. Both accepted a plastic cup of water and a bag of chips, then waited for the woman to move on down the aisle before continuing their conversation.

“What you have to understand is that there is a perfect order in everything. Within a crowd of thousands of people in the streets of New York, there is a perfect order. Even the universe, with its billions of stars, has a perfect order. Energy on our planet seeks the Librium, so when an outburst violates it, all the other Energy tries to find ways to restore it. Your appearance may disturb the balance, and bring about chaos that even the Unsighted will feel, though they won’t have any idea why it’s happening.”

“And this is all the result of my dreams?” he asked.

“Dreams?” She shook her head and fixed her eyes on Jason. “They aren’t dreams. They’re ‘fusions.’ And now that you’ve mentioned them, can you tell me what you saw?”

He’d been afraid she’d ask that. Of everything he’d experienced so far, the fusions were the worst part. The sense of being inside the victims’ minds and bodies as they were being torn to shreds was something he didn’t want to revisit. But she needed to know, so he took a sip of water, then told her.

“At first I didn’t pay too much attention to them,” he admitted. “I thought they were just awful nightmares, and they sort of faded from my memory. But I was inside those people’s minds all the time, the same way I was inside yours. Pariah or his people tortured, then killed those people—and me.”

Her eyes widened. “You were within the minds of the Doomed!” The news seemed to impress her, but it had lost its novelty with Jason.

“Yeah, except I saw you in the ladies’ room, and you’re not the Doomed.”

“I created that one on purpose. Your last fusion was supposed to be an exception,” Emily said. “I broke the defense of your mind so you would find me, then instilled the vision into your brain.”

Jason grimaced. “That was quite painful, I must say, when you broke into my mind. Wait. You instilled a vision in my brain? Does that mean you blocked the others? I won’t have to have these fusions anymore?”

He couldn’t survive more deaths. Just couldn’t. He’d hoped that with Emily close by, they might stop. But when he looked in her amber eyes they offered no hope. He felt suddenly drained.

“There will be more fusions,” she told him. “And they may show you where Pariah is.”

“So there will be more pain, new tortures.”

Emily patted his hand lightly but could say nothing to soothe him.

“But the real question is,” Jason said, wanting to move away from those thoughts, “why I see these fusions in the first place. Out of every regular Joe in the world, why me?”

“I have a few possible answers, but I’m not sure of any of them.”

“Go ahead,” he said, but Emily hesitated before she explained.

“The first version,” she said slowly, twisting her wrists as if she were plucking the right words from the air, “is that Pariah wants to intimidate you. Fear is the most dangerous emotion. It sucks positive Energy out of you and destroys you bit by bit.

“My second idea is that you see these fusions because of the difference between you and your surroundings. The fusions are Bundles of Energy that swirl around you, trying to re-establish the Librium by absorbing some of your Energy, then spreading it out smoothly.” She shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe both these are true. I believe, though, that when your Energy becomes more or less stable, the Beholder will wake up in you. That’s when you’ll see the world as it really is.”

Emily took Jason by the hand, sending a familiar warmth throughout his body. He closed his eyes, relaxing, letting his mind take a rest from all the new information. Before long, he drifted into a light slumber. A few hours later he woke to hear the airhostess announce they were about to land.

When they got off the plane, then out of the airport, he breathed in the fresh air, feeling like a completely different man from the one who had boarded the plane a few hours before.

Chapter 21

The Minsk sky was a film of dull gray, and its cool wind chilled their faces. Pools of water shone on the pavement, evidence of a recent rain. Nondescript blocks of flats, identical to each other, surrounded them, and though Emily glanced at the houses from time to time, looking as if she were unsure of where to go, she kept her thoughts to herself. Jason asked no questions.

The people they passed on the street seemed haggard and sullen. The farther they went into the city center, the surlier they seemed to become.

Jason couldn’t help himself. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Don’t pay any attention,” she said. “Slavic people never smile at each other on the street. They think it’s bad manners. The gloomier you look, the better they feel about you.”

Jason smiled reflexively, then decided to copy Emily’s expression of knitted brows and pouting lips.

“Where are we going?” he finally asked.

“First to the subway—“

“No,” Jason interrupted her. “I mean, why are we here?”

“Oh.” Emily sighed. “We have to visit one of the places where a mark was found.”

A gust of freezing wind tossed Jason’s hair, and goosebumps popped up all over his body, but he didn’t think they came from the temperature alone. “A mark? Does that mean a sign of where one of the Doomed was killed?”

“Not killed, but abducted,” Emily corrected, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “I don’t want to talk about it here in the open. I’m actually a bit suspicious about who created the mark. Let me ask someone the way.”

Emily approached a stranger, a skinny young man, and spoke to him. “Izvinitse, pozhalujsta. Kak nam dobratsya do ulitsy Karla Marxa?”

The young man scratched his head, frowning, then pointed up the street.

“Spasibo,” Emily thanked him with a smile.

After the stranger had walked on, Jason raised his hands in amazement. “What now? You know every language?”

“No,” Emily said emphatically, then gave Jason a wry smile. “Just French, English … and a little bit of the rest.”

“Hmph,” Jason said, flicking one eyebrow. Where did these powers of hers end? He shook his head, dismissing the thought. “And where are we going now?”

Emily pointed to an entrance that led to the Underground. “That way.”

Jason didn’t like the cold outside, but the blackness of the Underground entrance made him cringe and hunch his shoulders. As they stepped inside, he accidentally bumped against Emily, jostled by nondescript, scowling people.

“Do they ever smile?” he whispered to Emily as they boarded the train.

“Yes, but not usually in public.”

A few minutes later, a short announcement blasted through the overhead speakers, and Emily informed him that they were getting off at the next station.

“Good,” he said, taking her hand and leading her to the door.

The train stopped, and they got out, threading their way through the labyrinth of people. “Do you think,” Jason asked, turning back towards Emily, “that we might—”

He froze, his eyes riveted to a spot just behind Emily. A swirling mass of blackness had swept in like a whirlwind from out of nowhere and now slid a little closer, prompting cold sweat to break out across Jason’s forehead. A shadow. It—No, he was getting closer. Jason found himself being swallowed up again, traveling to another mind, hunting—

To kill Emily.

Her body convulsed in agony, her delicate features distorted with the crushing pain, and Jason felt his mouth curve in a feral smile.

In a panic, Jason wrenched away from Emily’s hand, then stood between the shadow and Emily, blocking her from danger. Blood roared through his veins as the shadow was getting closer and closer.

That same second, a train on the other side of the tunnel clattered in. Jason’s eyes stung from the draft, and he blinked to clear them. When he opened them again, the shadow was gone.

Emily walked around and looked up at him, frowning. “What’s up?”

“The shadow.”

Emily’s frown changed to one of disbelief. She shook her head, smiling slightly. “It’s impossible. I’d have felt a Sighted long before they entered the Subway.”

“Maybe not. Because it was there, following us,” Jason persisted.

Emily’s smile vanished, and she looked around. The crowds were dwindling, and Jason felt uneasy.

She took his hand again and squeezed it. “Let’s get out of here. We have to get to that place as soon as possible, then leave.”

Her hand soothed, but didn’t relieve the nagging sensation of being followed. The suspicion and the tight space unnerved him. “Where is it?”

“It’s not far,” Emily said, tugging him to the escalator. They ascended the stairs, taking two steps at a time, and soon disappeared in the throngs of people. For a change, Jason felt safe in the crowd.

He followed Emily under the arch of an old brick building, then into the yard beyond. The façade of the house was well kept and painted a pale ochre, but the rear seemed to have been left unattended for years, even decades. Bleached and graying from the rain, the building seemed to gape at Jason and Emily with despair.

“It’s on the third floor,” Emily told him.

The ancient door crumbled at its edges, then groaned with effort when Jason wrenched at the handle. Emily paused on the threshold as if unsure whether or not she should enter.

“A fifteen-year-old boy named Alexei is missing.”

Jason’s palms were suddenly slick at Emily’s words. A fifteen-year old boy was gone because of him.

“Let’s go,” Emily said.

They climbed the disintegrating stairway carefully, led by what scant light the cobwebbed windows allowed. The gray walls were splintered in places, as if it had barely survived a bombardment, and most of the tiles were missing from under Jason’s feet, turning the floor into an unfinished puzzle. Nice setting for a horror movie.

They reached the third floor, then faced the cracked face of an old door. Emily pressed the button by the frame, and a muffled bell rang on the other side. Jason listened intently for any sound, but heard only silence. Emily pressed the button once more.

“Idu! Idu!” The voice sounded exasperated, but also alarmed.

“She’s coming,” Emily translated, then the door opened a crack, and a gaunt, colorless face appeared.

“Zdravstvujte,” Emily said in greeting, then spoke more in the woman’s language.

The woman pursed her lips but listened. Jason could understand nothing of what Emily was saying to the woman, but he saw suspicion and despair quickly replace her initial spark of hope. Casting a distrustful look at Jason, she finally nodded and removed the safety chain to let them in. An intense stink of cabbage and fried potatoes hovered in the stale air, and Jason felt closed in on all sides. Not even one window was open, and all the curtains had been lowered to shut out the light.

The woman raised a hand, inviting them into a tiny kitchen, then pointed to two rickety chairs. Tears glistened in her eyes. “Prisazhivajtses,” she said, then shuffled out of the room. “Ya sejchas.”

Jason glanced at Emily. “Well?”

“She said to sit down and that she’ll be back soon. I’ll fix it so you’ll understand her Russian, and she’ll understand your English.”

“Where’d she go?”

“I made her think she needed to get her handkerchief.”

The woman’s footsteps grew louder, and soon she reappeared. “I’m sorry,” she said in Russian, though Jason understood her perfectly. “You see, it’s my son. I have no idea where he has gone,” she muttered, putting a kettle on the stove and lighting a match. “I thought maybe you …” She turned to stare at Emily. “Do you think he’s alive?”

“Yes, I’m sure he is,” Emily lied, leaning closer and reaching for the woman’s hand. “Can you show us the mark that appeared after his disappearance?”

The woman cringed at Emily’s touch, unused to such gestures of sympathy. “It is still in Alexei’s room. I don’t go there often.” She stood up. “Follow me, please.”

They went down the narrow corridor, and the woman gestured for them to step into a small room. The place was what Jason would call the epitome of chaos, but only the amount of chaos one would expect from a fifteen-year-old boy. Clothes, books, and CDs were strewn around, the single bed was unmade, and a bookshelf hung aslant on the opposite wall. The curtains were torn and neglected, paled over time by sunlight. And there, on a massive wooden wardrobe, shone a mark.

Jason’s heart raced. He’d seen the marks in the pictures of dead victims. Now he saw one in reality. He stared at it, then stepped closer, entranced. He moved yet closer, and Emily grabbed hold of his sleeve.

She turned to the woman cringing in the doorway behind them. “Can you leave us for a minute?”

The woman nodded and stepped away without saying a word.

Emily quickly drew the curtain aside, letting light seep through, and making the mark flare.

“We don’t have much time,” she said, moving closer to the mark. “Come here and press your hand on it.”

Jason recoiled. “What? Are you sure?”

She nodded. “As soon as you saw it, you felt its pull, didn’t you? Now touch it. That’s what we’re here for.”

“Why? Do you think that if I touch it I can become Sighted?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but there’s a small possibility.”

Needing no further encouragement, he stepped closer, and the mark burned with a more intense light. When he was close enough, he could discern two letters flaring in the center: CD.

The first letters of the owner’s name, Jason guessed.

He stretched his hand towards the mark, then applied his palm to the letters. The mark felt cool, and, incredibly, seemed to squirm under his touch. Jason flinched at the strange sensation, but didn’t pull away.

“So?” Emily asked.

“Nothing,” he said. Then several things happened.

Visions rushed in: living, burning fusions of a boy being hurled through a tunnel. Closer to the Circle. He screamed, pleading for help, but no one was there.

Jason jerked his palm from the mark, and the window beside Emily exploded. Jason went cold with panic, and raised his arms to shield his face from the jagged shards of glass. His perception of reality sharpened, and the tiny pieces that pierced his skin thickened, feeling more like nails. And all the time this was happening, his mind worked frantically, knowing he had to get to Emily. Had to save her. With his eyes squeezed shut he battled the wicked onslaught, then bolted towards where he knew she had been.

But as soon as he took the first step, the entire world faded to black.

Where was she?

“Emily!” he screamed.

Like a blind man, he stretched his hands forward, trying to get hold of something. Of anything. But they found nothing. Just as he was about to scream again, his left shoulder burst into flames, and he fell to his knees.

This is what death feels like, was his last thought.

The pain let go, and Jason sprawled onto the floor, studded with shards of glass.

Chapter 22

“Jason?” a melodious voice sang through the curtains of blackness. The voice was somewhere close. “Jason?”

A light touch on his shoulder made him groan at the effort of waking. His face and hands were alive and tingling before he’d even opened his eyes. His head rocked with pain.

“Jason, wake up,” Emily whispered.

Light filtered through translucent curtains, their weak material rippling in a slight breeze. Jason’s eyes watered and stung. He raised his arm to shield them from the torturous light, and saw his hand was covered in dried blood.

“What happened?”

“It was a trap,” Emily said, combing Jason’s disheveled hair with her fingers. The sensation was pure magic, and Jason closed his eyes. “As soon as you touched the mark, one of the shadows sensed it and attacked. You were right. They were watching us, waiting for us to come.”

“I saw them. I saw the shadows.” Jason tried to prop himself on one elbow, but his body seemed filled with lead. “They hurled a boy through a tunnel. They were going to kill him.”

“Alexei,” Emily said, and her eyes were sad. “The mark worked, but not in the way I wanted. You’re still Unsighted. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It could have worked. You didn’t know.”

Silence settled, and Emily lowered her gaze to her lap.

“What happened when the shadow burst through the window?” he asked after a moment. “Why did everything go black?”

“She attacked me from behind, trying to catch me off guard. But I was faster.” Emily’s expression was tight, her skin pale, as if reliving the memory sucked powers out of her.

“She?” Jason’s eyes opened wide.

“Yes. Remember the mark? It said CD. That mark belongs to Catherine Delacroix, one of Pariah’s favorites. She was trying to transport us into the Dark Tunnel, but I managed to get rid of her and transport you here. But …” She frowned and her eyes flicked over Jason’s face and body. “I’m confused. I can’t make your wounds heal.”

“It’s all right,” Jason said, clenching and unclenching his fists. He glanced carefully around the room. “What is this place?”

“It’s an apartment I found. The owner is away most of the time, so we can stay here a few hours. But if you’re wondering where we are geographically,” she said, offering a small smile, “we are in Paris.”

“Wow,” Jason groaned. “That’s mind-boggling.”

She nodded vaguely, her gaze traveling past him. “Yeah, except somehow I got us to the wrong side of Paris. And now …” She creased her brow, frustrated with her failure. “I can’t do anything. The journey took too much of my Energy.”

“This place seems just fine to me.” He managed to roll to one elbow, then squinted at the sunlight filtering through the window.

“Yes, but it’s not as safe as it should be.”

The bedsprings squeaked as Jason got up and trudged to the window, every inch of him burning with slices from the broken glass. He couldn’t imagine how he looked, but thought it was probably pretty grim. If she hadn’t been able to get them out of there …

A tall tree took up most of the view from the window, but Jason could make out the sharp spires of an ancient cathedral rising above the buildings. How ironic that he was finally in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and he couldn’t even step outside.

“I made breakfast while you were sleeping,” Emily announced, and Jason’s stomach gurgled.

He followed his nose into a tiny kitchen and was rewarded by the sight of bacon and eggs served on two plates.

“Mmm, I’m starving,” he growled enthusiastically, grabbing a knife and fork. Breakfast had never tasted so good. “It’s perfect.”

“Well, it’s not much, but—”

He smiled up at her as she sat beside him. “No, no. Everything is perfect. To end up in Paris and have breakfast with you … it’s like a dream. A good dream for a change.”

Emily blushed, and they ate in silence until Jason asked, “You mentioned something about being born in Paris?”

“Yes, my grandparents and mother are French, so I spent my childhood not too far from here.”

“What about your father?” Jason asked.

“He was Irish. His greatest passion—his second greatest, after my mum—was traveling. He actually met her on a train to Paris.” Emily smiled and combed back her thick hair, her hands moving with an impossible elegance. Jason wanted to touch her flawless image, stroke her soft cheeks or neck, but he was afraid to ruin this beautiful moment. Instead, he sat back and contented himself with listening to Emily tell stories about growing up nearby.

Eventually she said they had been in one place long enough, and they would have to leave the apartment, a fact which brought them both back to the moment. Jason tensed. What if Catherine Delacroix returned and chased them down?

“Don’t worry,” Emily assured him, as if reading his thoughts again. “She’s nowhere around here. I’m going to take you to a special place, and we should be safe there—at least for a while.”

Emily spoke French perfectly, and it was simple for her to flag down a taxi and tell the driver where to go. The driver, a bulky man with deep wrinkles lining his forehead, growled good-naturedly to Emily while she chirped something in French. Jason listened, trying to understand at least some of the words, but it was a lost cause. He gave up and gazed out the window instead, watching France pass by.

He lost track of time along the way and hadn’t paid attention to when they reached the forest. But as he looked out and saw tall beech and oak trees edging the road on both sides, he realized they were not going to Paris, but away from it. Half an hour later the driver turned left into a branch-shielded gravel lane that was hardly noticeable from the road. The trees encroached upon the track as they went deeper into the forest, their low branches banging the car roof in protest. The car bumped and rocked as they tested the cab’s springs on all the potholes.

When the trees finally drew aside, a clearing came into view. Jason glanced at Emily, and though the sunlight was fading with the day’s passing, he could see her face lighting with happiness and relief. They drove slowly past untended gardens, thick with wild plants and flowers, heading towards a two-story building. The estate had obviously been neglected for a long time, but the structure still looked impressive. They pulled up alongside the house, then the driver made a U-turn and parked. Emily and Jason climbed out, Emily paid the amount on his meter, and the driver wished them good luck.

“Merci beaucoup, monsieur Blanc. Que vous êtes bon! Au revoir,” Emily said, then waved as he reversed his car. Soon it disappeared among the trees.

Emily had become as cheerful as a child, more wonderful than ever, and he felt an overwhelming need to cuddle and protect her from the outside world.

“It turns out that Monsieur Blanc was an old friend of my grandfather’s,” she explained, then spread her arms to indicate the house. “This is my grandfather’s estate. I haven’t been here since I was ten years old.”

“Why not?”

Emily sighed. “It’s a long story. Let’s go in and make ourselves comfortable, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

Though the house had been vacant for many years, it was in a fairly good state. But it was difficult to imagine the place ever having been comfortable or cozy. The remaining windows, bare of curtains, stared sightlessly down at a withered garden, and the foundation and walls were cracked, the plaster flaked off in places.

Emily climbed the stairs and pulled the door handle, which opened easily. Emily disappeared into the dark with Jason right behind. When he was safely inside, the door closed with a forbidding bang, and everything turned black.

Emily started to glow. As Jason watched, her entire body pulsed with a steady, opalescent yellow-green light, occasionally becoming red or blue. Her hands swept gracefully in the air, slender fingers bending and straightening, emitting Energy. The light showed Jason the dusted and faded old-fashioned furniture, but when her energy landed nearby, it became fresh and new again. An old chandelier shot suddenly upwards and attached itself to the ceiling, and any holes in the rotted floor filled with new boards. He watched in silent awe as the floor covered itself with shining parquet, and the ancient portraits of men and women in gilded frames emerged from under gray shrouds and took their places on the walls. A large wooden table appeared out of nowhere, and fresh red curtains without a speck of dust tied themselves to cornices with thick green cords.

Emily’s hands danced, rewinding time to decades before, when the walls of the house had vibrated with laughter and cheerful voices. Her energy caught, and the room glowed with the lights of the chandelier as well as with the candles on the table and walls, and still Emily’s light prevailed. The earlier atmosphere of desolation and discomfort evaporated in less than a minute.

Eventually things began to move more slowly, in accordance with Emily’s hands—until the room froze into perfect stillness.

Jason paced towards the middle of it, his steps echoing off the varnished parquet floorboards. On the left, a fireplace burned, its logs crackling a merry song. Above the fire flickered five long, red candles, illuminating the portrait of an elderly person on the wall, almost bringing him to life. Jason studied the man more closely, then looked at Emily, noticing a similarity. Her grandfather, he thought.

While Emily was busy with inspecting her handiwork, Jason entered one of the nearby rooms and looked around. It appeared to be a study, judging by a heavy oak desk and numerous well-stocked bookshelves. An open book lay on the desk; even a cup of tea steamed on a coaster nearby. The room seemed untouched by time, as if someone had only just left the room and would return within moments.

Emily entered, and Jason shook his head, smiling. “Fascinating,” he said.

“Now it looks more like a home. I wish I could do the same about people,” she said, crossing her arms. “I mean … bring them back to life.”

“The more time I spend with you, the more I’m surprised by you, Emily,” he said, “and to be honest, I want to spend a lot more time with you.” It dawned on him how empty and meaningless his life would become if she wasn’t in it. She had become as important to him as Matthew and Debbie. Except there was something more, too. When she was around him, he felt almost … intoxicated.

“I feel the same about you,” Emily confessed, and in the candlelight he saw the shine of tears in her eyes.

She stepped back, breaking the awkward tension. “Let’s go have some supper. You must be hungry.”

“Famished,” growled Jason. “There’s food here?”

“Come on. Let’s see what I can put together.” She waved a graceful hand, inviting him to follow, and he realized he would follow her anywhere just so he could see her amber eyes, watch the curving paths of her long brown mane.

Emily apparently found plenty of food, because the kitchen table brimmed with fruits, vegetables, meat, and wine.

“Can you make things appear out of nowhere?” he asked, staring at the feast.

“No.” Emily gave him a wide smile. “But I can renew them by injecting live Energy into them. There were loads of foodstuffs left since my last stay here, and I was too little to care about things like that back then. So everything stayed here all these years.”

Jason grimaced and dropped the bread he’d picked up. Everything looked perfectly fine and smelled delicious, but Jason wasn’t convinced. “You mean this food is almost as old as you and me? Are you sure it’s edible?”

“Try it out. This is perfectly safe.” Emily laughed. “I guarantee it.”

“Ladies first,” Jason suggested, but she playfully shook her head.

She laughed even louder when Jason prodded a piece of veal with his fork, sniffed it, then took a tentative nibble. He chewed slowly, waiting for something terrible to happen, then realized she’d been telling the truth. The food was incredible.

Emily didn’t seem hungry at all, though she nibbled at a thing or two in order to convince Jason it was okay. Along with the meal they enjoyed a superb bottle of wine. He smiled to himself, thinking of Evelyn’s words when she’d told him he needed time off work. “Take a break and go somewhere.” Well, he’d definitely been somewhere, that was for sure. His mind flashed on the amazing Hall of Refuge. And now Paris? He’d never have considered that, either.

He picked a grape from the bunch and started playing with it, rolling it between his fingers. “When did the gift come to you? The gift of the Sight, I mean.”

Emily sighed. “I would call it a curse rather than a gift,” she said in a somber tone. “Most people acquire it when a tragedy happens to them. A tragedy influencing their whole lives. The false reality—as I usually call the world you know—fades away, and a new one comes out. That’s how I got it.”

“A tragedy?”

She nodded. “Yeah. My parents and grandpa died in a terrible car crash about thirteen years ago. A head-on collision. They were trying to pass a car when they collided with another one in the opposite lane.”

“I’m so sorry,” Jason said, laying his hand over Emily’s.

She flipped her hand so it was palm side up, then squeezed his fingers gently. For a brief instant Jason wondered if she could sense the same warmth and comfort that he felt pulsing through her hand.

“As soon as I found out what had happened, I fell into a sort of trance. I started talking, chanting, but even I didn’t understand what I was saying. It turns out that what I thought was gibberish was my first Prophecy. What I’d said came true years later.” She swallowed, and the gentle gaze in her eyes hardened. “But an hour or two later I recovered, and they took me away.”

“They?” asked Jason.

“The Darksighted. The greatest enemy to the Lightsighted,” she said. “Their main purpose is to wreak havoc all over the world. Now they have become the most influential creatures on earth. Even the power of the Light Ones cannot match the power of the Dark Ones.

“There are numerous legends concerning the Sighted,” she went on. “Some say all people were once Sighted. Everyone possessed a unique aura and could use their Energy to work miracles. But something happened in between, and almost everyone lost their ability to enter the Sight. Why that happened no one remembers, but it was a rough time for all people. There were only a few chosen ones left. They were the strongest, yet most of them were afraid to show their abilities because of the persecution they knew would be unleashed on them. Over time people started to forget about Energy and the Sight, and they had to comply with the harsh laws of an existence devoid of Energy.

“But the Sighted survived. New ones appeared, though it was rare. From then on, the Sighted divided into Light Ones and Dark Ones.”

Emily positioned her hands palm side up, indicating a scale. “The forces of Light and Darkness exist in a never-ending clash. During the last five decades the world became bogged down with disorder, and nowadays the Dark Side is becoming more and more powerful.”

“Where do the Dark Ones get their power from?”

“From people,” Emily said. “From you, from a lady in the supermarket, from anyone who has positive emotions inside them.”

Jason knitted his eyebrows. “How?”

“They tempt you to sin and cause misery. Violence, bloodshed, war, famine, drought—it’s all their doing. Lots of negative Energy is being created at this moment and it’s very contagious. The Dark Ones seek to destabilize the Librium through the Unsighted, and we Light Ones are the only ones capable of stopping them.”

“But how do the Dark Ones benefit from all this?”

“From the very beginning they wanted to control the course of history, alter it to their liking. They want to have absolute power over people, suck their Energy and turn them into slaves. They’ve achieved that to a degree. Now we know the Darksighted have learned to create and destroy Energy Threads, and to make Energy Patterns, which means they’ve grown stronger. They produce Energy Streams and even Whirlwinds, which are disastrous fluctuations of Energy that help them exert influence over mankind. The more enslaving Threads exist around people, the less control people have of their own actions. The more positive Threads are destroyed, the edgier people become. The Darksighted abuse this ability to make their profit, and we are left no choice but to resist them. The forces are uneven, and our side is losing.”

“Why exactly are they called Darksighted?”

“They see the world differently from how other humans see it. Darkness lures them, just like a rainbow calls to an ordinary person. They delight in it. When a person is enraged, they put out strong Energy. The Darksighted track the most violent positive Energy explosions, then destroy those people.”

“Hmm, so I’m like one of those explosions?” Jason asked. “That’s why they came after me? In the fusions I couldn’t see their faces because they were hidden under something black.”

She shook her head, confused. “Black smoke? I don’t know. It’s amazing that you could see them at all. I don’t know how it happened, but when your Energy was added to the Energy of the victims it might have created such an effect. You weren’t supposed to see them. Unsighted can sometimes feel their presence, but they never see them.”

“How do you plan to defeat them? What’s the plan?”

“So far, we’ve directed our attempts at spreading the Energy of Light, so people would feel emotionally positive. Our goal is to create a shield of Positive Energy, dangerous to the Dark Ones. The combined Energy of everyone in the world—although practically nothing in contrast to the Energy of the two archenemies—means quite a lot. It’s not real war we’re waging. It’s more like waiting for the enemy’s fatal mistake. I guess we can call this the lull before the storm.”

“War? They are preparing for war? Do they reinforce their troops or something?”

“Kind of. They recruit people, brainwashing them with Énergie Psychotique, or Insanity Energy, turning them into soulless puppets and making them into weapons for what they need done, like assassinations, terrorist acts, launching bacteriological warfare—anything that sows fear in people’s minds. That’s mostly the job of the Mindbroken, the ones whose minds are the most susceptible to the Darksighted’s suggestions. There are thousands of Mindbroken all over the world. They’re like viruses undermining the stability of other people. I’ve already mentioned the Legates, the assassins and servants of Pariah. They control the Mindbroken but fulfill the orders of the Gifted Ones.”

“Gifted Ones?”

“Yes. Those Sighted who possess phenomenal charges of Energy and are capable of lots of things.”

“And Pariah is above them all?”

She took a deep breath, then let it out. “Yes, he was among the first who acquired the ability to see reality as it is. For decades he nurtured his power, studied Energy, so that now he’s among the very best of us. And the most conceited, I might add. Conceit and thirst for power took possession of his mind, I think, and whenever new gifted Sighted appeared he tried to dispose of them if he deemed them dangerous.” She winked. “So you can imagine his rage when he heard about the coming of the Beholder.”

“How do you know all these things?”

“The Darksighted told me some of it.”

“And they came after you when you were only ten?”

“Yes. They told me I had a special gift. Apparently they spotted an outburst of Energy around me that occurred when my parents … you know. I spent a few years with them before I realized I was just one of their puppets. So I left, tired of being their spy. Unfortunately, as you know, Pariah found me the other night.”

“And now you are on the side of Light?” Jason asked.

“I’m neither for nor against Light. I’m fighting against the Dark. That’s what I’m supposed to do. Prophecies guided me when I desperately needed to know where to go next. If something dark was going to happen, I went there.”

“Have you ever had a Prophecy concerning yourself?”

“Yes. One of them was about me and my friend, Tyler. And if you remember from the Prophecy I told you, I said I would find you. And I did. All I need to do now is show you how Energy works.”

Jason shifted in his seat, troubled. Despite everything, he still didn’t feel as if he was anything extraordinary. And if that were so, he’d never get into the other Reality. What would have to happen in order for him to see? What had changed Emily? Tragedy.

“To you, the Sight came after the accident. Can it happen in another way?”

“Of course. That’s not the only way to become one of us. Some are born with it, others acquire the Sight during their lifetime, but it’s not necessarily after a disaster. Sometimes it happens unpredictably. Theoretically it could take place when a person’s body is in a place of an infinitely and immeasurably small dot with ultra rarefied Energy, where large quantities of the Librium to be restored flow in all at once and penetrate the point and the person. But this happens only once in a millennium. To be honest, I doubt that will happen to you. I think that’s how Pariah entered the Sight, though. Whether he wanted to or not, he somehow got into that infinitesimal dot.”

Emily’s face lightened for a brief moment. “Everyone in the world has at least one chance to see reality in a different light, and that happens immediately before death, before their brain is dead and their soul is set free from the body. A soul is a Bundle of Energy with its own path of either evolving or degrading.” She glanced at Jason, whose mouth was hanging slightly open, and smiled. “But that’s another story.”

Jason listened, mesmerized. The more Emily talked, the more he wanted to listen. Almost nothing remained of the candles on the table, and the black veil of night hung over the other side of the windows. Now that Emily had cut her story off, he became aware of his body’s many aches and pains. He couldn’t hold back a yawn.

“It’s late,” she said. “You need to sleep.”

“But—”

“We’ll talk tomorrow. I want you to know everything I know. The one thing I want you to remember for now is that this will only work if you believe it is possible for you to become one of us. You belong here. I see it. But your brain isn’t in the Sight yet. The hardest part of all this is leaving behind the doctrine of Unsighted people. But I know you’ll manage it.”

“I’ll try,” he promised.

Emily got to her feet and pushed in her chair. “Come with me. I’ll show you to the guest room.”

More exhausted with every step, Jason dragged his leaden feet upstairs then collapsed onto a large, soft bed.

Before leaving, she whispered, “No one will find us here. Good night, Jason.”

Chapter 23

They were walking through a forest, sheltered by an elaborate pattern of low and heavy branches. Though they had to bow their heads to pass underneath, the branches didn’t bother Jason. He was distracted, his gaze lost in the magic of Emily’s amber eyes. Each time she turned to him they changed to a different hue of brown, like the predominantly yellow-brown amber they were now. Not as dark as they had been in the fusion … where he had been in her head.

Emily teased as she went, and her smile made her face even more appealing. Where are we going? Who cares? The only thing that mattered was her light footsteps beside him.

“Catch me if you can,” Emily said, then broke into a run among the weighty lattices of boughs.

Jason ran after her, admiring her nimble movements, and just when he’d almost caught her, she tripped and fell into a pile of leaves under a massive beech tree. He tripped, too, and rolled into the foliage beside her. Emily turned to him, her cheeks flushed as she giggled. They were so close to each other, closer than ever before. Her gaze met his fascination, and his fingers drew invisible lines, sliding from her forehead to her nose, then lower. His fingertips reached her lips, so alluring, so soft. He felt her hot breath and leaned in to kiss her—

Knock-knock-knock. Her lips were so close to his. Almost there—

Knock-knock-knock again, louder and more persistent.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Emily called through the door.

“Not now!” he muttered, still half asleep.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said with a groan. “I’m coming.”

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, then looked out the window as he stretched his muscles awake. Just like the house, the garden had bloomed overnight, becoming a completely different place from the neglected nest of weeds he’d seen the day before.

Clean, ironed clothes had been laid on an armchair near his bed. With a smile, Jason pulled on the white cotton shirt and flannel trousers, pleased to discover they were exactly the right size. She’d even placed a toothbrush and toothpaste in the washroom for him. Clean and refreshed, Jason headed downstairs, his mind still on the near-kiss. He wasn’t surprised to see the kitchen table already set with toast, croissants, orange juice, strong black coffee, milk—whatever he might want.

It was a beautiful day, and he poured himself a coffee before stepping into the sunlit garden. Emily was there already, wreathed in smiles, dressed in a clean, sleeveless shirt and purposefully crumpled shorts. If it were possible, she looked even more beautiful than she had the day before.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked, leaning forward to snap off a dead bloom.

I sure did, Jason thought. “Yep,” he said, the dream still vivid in his memory.

“Any dreams?”

He flushed, thinking the interrogation seemed awfully suspicious. She knows!

“Sort of,” he said, matter-of-fact. Two can play at that game. “But no nightmares. I see you’ve rearranged things around here. Looks great.”

Emily’s teasing smile was deliciously wicked. With a wink, she turned and walked among the flowerbeds, trailing her fingers along the bright dahlia petals, bending down to admire the daffodils and vermillion tulips along the way. She smiled the same ingratiating way as in the dream, making Jason’s heart hesitate for a moment before it started up a feverish drumming.

“Thank you for breakfast,” he said. “Croissants and coffee were yum. This is beautiful. How did you find time to do it all?”

“You’re welcome. And the garden, well, yeah. I worked on it last night. I just couldn’t get to sleep. I tried to return to my childhood years so I could remember what it looked like back then.”

“You look happier today. This makes you happier.”

She nodded. “There’s still a bond between me and this place. There will always be part of me here.”

“Yesterday you said it was protected. Don’t they know about it? Didn’t they come here years ago?”

“Yes, they did,” she replied. “I was here at the time. My parents’ and grandfather’s Threads, which led to the house and to me, disappeared. Mine got erased, probably because I was too inexperienced in controlling my Energy. During all those years I wanted to return here, but I was scared the Darksighted would follow me and take it away. Fortunately, the estate is located deep in the forest, and no Sighted has stumbled across it in years.

“I asked Tyler to find it for me,” Emily continued. “Since the Energy Threads were gone, I could only see this house through a dim veil, as if all my memories were a blurred dream from someone else’s life. I tried to explain to him where it might be, and he found it. Said he had to break the shield to get in. I actually didn’t want to return here, but we needed a hideaway. This place is perfect.”

They walked for a few minutes, listening to the birds and soaking in the peace of the garden.

“If Sighted are able to project things, how do you hide us from the eyes of the Dark Ones?” Jason finally asked.

“‘Project things’? That’s an interesting term,” Emily said with a smile. “Well,  when we put a place under protection, we create a Fraud Energy Image. It’s just an image of something that isn’t really there. The Image has to be convincing, because our Sight is like scanning. So if it’s done well, you can scan the place but only see the Image, not what is actually there. When Tyler found the estate he created an image of an impenetrable forest over it, just like the rest of the trees that surround this clearing. It’s like another dimension. You can only enter if you know where the Entrance is, and only if you are allowed to be here.”

“Why could I see it?”

“Because I let you and the taxi driver in. The driver knows the way here, but he will never be able to find this place again, because I shielded the Entrance.”

A ladybug perched on a petal, and Jason urged it onto his finger. “Here,” he said, nudging Emily. She turned, then smiled and held out her own finger. The little creature obliged, crawling onto her soft skin.

“How do you open the hidden dimension?” Jason asked.

Emily lifted the ladybug to eye level, watching the tiny legs navigate through the even tinier lines on her finger. “If you want to take something, you have to be ready to give something of your own to the hidden place,” she said, then puffed lightly on the ladybug, who took wing and disappeared into the garden.

“Give what?”

Her amber eyes glowed. “Kindness. Sincere and genuine kindness.”

Jason nodded, ingesting the information. When he really thought about it, the whole concept was ingenious. For a Darksighted it would be a trap.

“Tell me again why we couldn’t stay in the Hall of Refuge.”

“Because the Energy coming from you and me and the rest was practically the same as the Energy of the Shield. If we had stayed there any longer you might have broken it and exposed us. Exposure of the place would mean a complete disaster. We wouldn’t be able to use it anymore, because the Dark Ones would know where to find us. That’s one of the reasons Tyler and I decided to split into two groups.” She looked back at the house, and Jason could see its windows were no longer forbidding. “Fortunately, this estate has a solid Energy Shield for you and me.”

So they were sort of in another dimension, he thought. To all the other uninitiated people it appeared to be just a forest. It was difficult to believe, but then again, why not? After everything he’d seen, he was beginning to accept how illusory the real world was.

“Why do we have to return? We could just stay here.”

Emily stopped walking, and met Jason’s eyes directly. “Pariah will never stop. He’ll keep searching for you and killing innocent people along the way. That’s his favorite game. Until he finds you, he will seek and destroy. To him, the more people dying, the better.” She sighed. “Don’t forget—your dreams are not over yet.”

“But … what if I can’t stop him?”

“You are the only one who can put an end to these beasts.” Emily’s voice hardened and her fists clenched at her sides. “But I’ll do everything I can to help you. We just need to be careful,” she said, then continued her walk along the flowers. He followed, watching her fists loosen with each step.

Two trees stood ahead of them, lonely against the dense background of the forest.  The leaves of one had yellowed and dried slightly, and its bark was patched with white. The two seemed connected by a rope of some sorts.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing.

She beamed, suddenly carefree again. “Oh, that was my favorite place here when I was little. Let’s go. I’ll show you.”

Jason set his cup on a huge stone then had to jog to catch up. The rope, he discovered, was actually a hammock, sheltered from the cheerful warmth of the sun by the trees, turning the place into a sanctuary for really hot days. Emily stood by the tree with dried leaves and fondled the bark softly with the tips of her fingers.

Jason stood beside the other tree, thinking his new life was like a fairytale, made even more incredible by Emily’s presence. If only it could go on forever.

“When you live in a city all your life, a place like this seems like paradise,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever imagined myself on a hammock, and especially not since the nightmares began.”

“Get on,” she said, giving him a friendly shove towards the hammock. “What are you waiting for?”

They both sat—or at least they tried to. Emily leaned too far over, and if it hadn’t been for Jason’s quick reaction, she would have fallen off.

“Whoops!” she exclaimed. “Nearly keeled over. I’m so clumsy.”

“You are so gorgeous,” Jason corrected her, then pulled her close, surprising them both.

“What did you dream about last night?” Emily asked quietly, her eyes smiling.

“You.” He couldn’t pretend anymore. “I’m sure that’s no secret. You knew from the very beginning.”

“How would I know that?”

“Because you can do anything you want.”

Her voice dropped even lower, and her lips parted slightly. “You can do anything you want right now.”

“I wish I could,” Jason whispered, holding her tight. He slid his right hand over her hair, tucking back the strands that curtained part of her luminous face.

“A lot of things have happened to me recently, things that I’ve never experienced before,” he said. “Nightmares, murders, amazing new worlds …” Emily listened without saying a word, mesmerizing Jason with her stare. “But there’s still one thing missing.”

“What is—”

His lips were quicker than her words. In that moment his dream came true, and he swept her into a tender embrace. Her lips responded enthusiastically.

When he opened his eyes, hers were still closed. In comparison with her beauty, the rest of the world around her faded, became colorless. She opened her eyes, and Jason saw amber lakes in which he could drown. Then they both became aware of tiny drops falling from the sky, tingling on their faces and hands. The sun beamed overhead, but a whisper of a drizzle fell through the canopy of the trees.

“Rain in the sun,” she cried. “It’s a sign of good luck!”

Before he could stop her, she’d leaped off the hammock and started running, arms stretched towards the sky. The sight was something sublime, something that made all Jason’s past troubles worthwhile. It was a scene from another world, full of magic and innocence and beauty. Emily beckoned as the rain picked up, the drizzle becoming a sunlit shower, and he didn’t make her wait. He took off his shoes and rolled up his trousers, then darted towards her. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her high, then spun, whirling and laughing until he lost his balance and slipped. With a little shriek, Emily fell on top of him, her fall broken by his body.

The grass beneath him was already wet, and the rain grew stronger, but Emily rolled so that she lay beside Jason on the damp ground. Raindrops dotted her skin, ran in little rivulets down her cheeks, and the sun made them twinkle like tiny suns.

Emily glowed, and in her eyes Jason saw the reflection of his own desire. Her finger touched Jason’s forehead, nose, and lips, and the contact was an exquisite delight. He lay watching as she propped herself on one elbow then leaned in until her hot lips touched his cold ones.

“When all this is over,” Jason said softly, “we’ll have years ahead of us to be together.”

Emily lay silent, her eyes sad. “And yet even with all those years ahead of us, I wish we’d met earlier.”

Chapter 24

They returned to the estate, and after changing their clothes, Emily made them another wonderful meal. Jason sat back with a sigh, feeling as if he were in his very own Parisian restaurant.

“You should be a chef,” he told her, after swallowing a bite of pear drizzled with a caramel sauce.

Emily sipped at her crystal glass of red wine, then set it gently down again. “That’s what my grandfather told me I should do. I loved spending time in the kitchen and helping my mother cook.” She shrugged, then grinned. “I guess I’d do it if we weren’t so busy saving the world from evil.”

When they’d finished, Emily took Jason by the hand. “Come with me,” she said.

“What?”

She winked. “You’ll see.”

They strode out of the kitchen and along a murky corridor lined by a row of doors on both left and right. Jason hadn’t been to this part of the building before, and he was vaguely surprised at the length of the corridor. Emily turned the knob of the last door on the right, then opened the door wide. The spacious room gleamed with floor-to-ceiling mirrors along one wall, and large windows opposite that overlooked the forest. The mirrors reflected the greenery, creating a sort of green penumbra in the room so it appeared as if they were in the middle of the forest.

“It’s a dance hall,” Emily explained. “My grandpa used to teach me dancing. It was like he wanted to teach me everything, but he ran out of time.”

“So we’re going to dance?” Jason asked.

Emily raised her eyes to look into Jason’s, and giggled. “No. We are going to fight.”

Jason frowned. “What? Are you kidding me?”

“Why not? Are you scared of me?” Emily’s eyes danced.

“How can I fight you?” Jason asked.

“Ah. So you are scared.” She tilted her head, seeming to assess him. “Well, try punching me then. If you can.”

He shook his head. “I’m not going to hit a lady.”

“You’d better. Otherwise you’ll never learn.”

“Really?”

She nodded, smiling with anticipation. After a moment’s hesitation he made a tentative step towards her. When she was at arm’s length he struck a halfhearted blow, not wanting to hurt her. But as his hand moved in the direction of her shoulder, she flickered like a hologram, blurred, then disappeared. His neck suddenly burned with pain, and a second later he lay sprawled on the ground, gasping for oxygen. Emily crouched over him, holding him tightly in place. She looked angry.

“What was that? I told you to punch me,” she said, looking disgusted. “Come on. Don’t spare me. I’m faster than you, remember?”

She released her hold on his neck, and Jason took a deep breath before rising and moving in her direction with more determination this time. Just as he was about to strike her, Emily blurred then reappeared behind him. But Jason was ready. He struck with his elbow this time, but all he managed to hit was thin air. Emily reappeared on the other side of the room. She didn’t look angry anymore, but she still frowned.

“Better, but you need to be faster,” she said. “You need to get it in your head that you can do anything. The only thing that holds you back is your certainty that your abilities are limited. You need to break that belief. It’s a chain that holds you back. Crush the reality you believe in.”

Jason clenched his fists in frustration. “I’m trying, but it’s not that easy, you know.”

Emily stepped towards the mirror and waved at it, her hands moving like those of an orchestra conductor.

“Hey!” Jason jumped back when the mirror suddenly exploded, sending shards flying in his direction. He shielded his face, expecting the pieces to pierce his hands at any moment, but nothing happened. When he lowered his hands, he saw the shards … floating in the air before him.

Emily stood with her right hand stretched towards the pieces. “See? There are no limits. Anyone can do it, not just me. Now think of what you saw in your dreams.”

Jason didn’t ask questions, just reluctantly let his thoughts go to the shadows from his dreams, envisioning the dark forms pursuing, catching, killing.

The pieces of the broken mirror started trembling. Jason raised his eyebrows at Emily.

“This is your Energy,” she told him. “Strong emotions influence everything around you. All you have to do is to learn to control reality with your thoughts.”

Jason blinked, and the pieces dropped to the floor, jingling like wind chimes.

“That was good for a start,” Emily said. “Let’s try again, but this time you need to really concentrate on the shadows and their victims. You need to look at reality the way the Sighted do.”

He didn’t want to go there, didn’t want to remember the dream that haunted him every time the Sighted approached him. And he feared the ending, which still hung unseen in his mind. It was the dream where Pariah chased Emily, and he knew exactly how it went. If he could hide away from that dream forever, he’d be a happy man, but right now Emily was waiting expectantly, one hand on her hip.

Jason exhaled, resigned. “Okay, let’s try.”

Emily tilted her head. “Punch me.”

Jason shoved his body forward, each muscle tense and aching for action. Emily shot upwards to dodge Jason’s strike, but this time her body didn’t blur. To his amazement, he could follow her every move.

Her eyes blinked with mild surprise at his new skill. She shot sideways and landed on the pieces of the mirror. They crunched under her weight, then suddenly flared so that she seemed to be standing on light. She started glowing, shedding rays of blue light from her body, trailing a thin vapor trail behind to mark the trajectory of her flight. Her Energy seemed to grow further, turning the walls into liquid light.

And when Jason looked at his hands, he realized he was glowing as well. “What the—?” he asked.

Without warning, Emily ran in his direction and shot her hand in his face. Jason darted to the left, just in time to evade her shot, and saw liquid Energy whistle past his ear. He jerked his torso and head backwards, blocked her hand with his, and stepped quickly back.

The pieces of broken mirror lifted into the air and swirled around Emily in a slow, lethal whirlwind. “Welcome to the Sight, Jason,” she said, her smooth voice flowing across the room and echoing from the walls, making her Energy vibrate.

The floating pieces shot at Jason like lightning, and he held his ground. He stretched out his hands, and shouted, “No!”

A frail curtain dropped, hanging between him and the menace. When the pieces struck the curtain, they turned to dust. Then his radiance disappeared, and Jason fell to his knees, trembling with exhaustion.

“That was beautiful,” Emily said, sounding slightly awed as she came towards him. “You are amazing! You slowed time and moved so skillfully.”

“Did I?” Jason gasped between deep, labored breaths.

“Yes. It was wonderful.”

“So I—”

“No, you can’t enter the Sight on your own yet. That was training, and I passed some of my Energy to you so you could enter artificially.”

“I can’t? But it seemed so real!” He couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.

“No, not yet,” Emily replied. “But you will very soon, I’m sure. Now you need to rest, and get emotionally ready for our return.”

Emily waved her hand at the dust and glass littering the wooden floor, and everything floated obediently towards the wall, reforming back into place. As he followed Emily towards the door, he paused by the mirror, examining it, looking for the lines where it had broken, but there were none. Suitably impressed, Jason shot a final glimpse at himself, then looked again, wondering if he really had just seen a small silver light flickering in his eyes.

When he took a closer look, the light was gone.

Chapter 25

She was right. At the time it had seemed an odd thing, saying he had to prepare himself ‘emotionally’ for their return to New York, but it turned out it was true. Anxiety was getting the better of him, his tension growing exponentially. Emily was distracted as well, and he assumed it was by the impending moment of truth. She said she needed to be on her own for a while and went upstairs.

Now that he was alone, Jason began to worry about Matt and Debbie, wondering where Tyler had taken them. Were they in danger? Had Pariah already destroyed them so the coast was clear to kill Emily and Jason? The hardest part was not knowing.

Jason paced the entrance hall, then headed towards the study where Emily’s grandfather had worked. He sat in the upholstered chair by her grandfather’s writing desk, then leaned back, soaking in a sense of calm. He didn’t feel alone in here, and that gave him security.

Eventually he got up to examine the rows and rows of books lining the wall shelves, scanning the impressive collection of classics. A slim, well-worn volume of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales and poems caught his attention, and he ran his eye over the contents page, reading the titles of the short stories. The images and atmosphere of gloom Poe created in his stories reminded Jason of his own life. How strange to read about someone’s horrors and experiences, then have something similar happen in real life. Terrifying, yet magnetic. Danger had consumed his life, and he was about to plunge headfirst into an epic battle against evil. In his mind he saw himself as character with a lead role in a book, the main hero who is forced to fight evil despite not knowing the ending.

Jason sensed Poe’s pendulum swinging over him, saw himself helpless, bound hand and foot in pitch darkness. The inexorable blade of sharpest steel came closer and closer—and he understood it was the same pendulum Pariah held over Jason. He shut the book and slid it back where it belonged.

Only when I believe I can do it will I enter the Sight, he told himself.

Most of the library was comprised of heavy nonfiction books, including volumes of encyclopedias. Curious, he drew the “E” volume from the shelf and put it on the desk, then flipped through the gilt-edged pages until he found what he’d been seeking: Energy. The article was much longer than he had expected, taking up about seven large pages and including signs and symbols. He leafed through it but didn’t find anything particularly interesting, since Emily had already enlightened him on the most crucial facts. What was he looking for?

Of course there was no mention of the Lightsighted or Darksighted, since the books had been put together by Unsighted. Another thought struck him and he went back to the shelf. This time he pulled the“S” volume and turned to: Sighted→ see Darksighted, Lightsighted.

Startled to find anything at all, he started with “D”, but when he reached the page he wanted he stared at it in confusion.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

He set his finger on the title: Darksighted (also the Dark Ones), then ran it down the length of an empty page. The words had been deleted. By whom? When was it done? Does Emily know?

The “L” volume had the same blank space where the Lightsighted article should be.

“Damn!”

What had been in there that someone wanted wiped clean?

It had to have been a Sighted who had put the article in print to begin with, because he would have had to be aware of the fifth and ruling element: Energy. But who … Jason leafed to the beginning of the book, reading the tiny print. There, at the bottom of the page, were printed three names: Editor-in-chief: Nicolas Bertrand, Assistants: Douglas Ethan, Rebecca Ethan.

Jason stared. The names belonged to Emily’s grandfather and parents. Why would they print something like this? Realizing he was going to need help understanding all this, he decided to tell Emily, but when he turned back to the bookshelf, the books were gone. In fact, the books had moved inwards … revealing a small room. Jason stood rooted to the spot, staring at the wall.

Someone else must be in the room besides him. How else could that opening have appeared? Sweat beaded his forehead, and he listened hard, but apart from his loud breathing he didn’t hear anything. So he was alone. That meant it had been he who had moved the shelf … but how?

After a brief hesitation, Jason stepped towards the room and stale air enveloped him as he stepped on the threshold. On the doorframe he noticed an inscription:

To close the door put the Books of Light and Darkness where they belong.

That explained how it had been opened to begin with. When he’d touched the “D” and “L” volumes, the shelf had moved.

“That’s a neat trick,” Jason said quietly, impressed.

Intrigued, he ventured a step into the room, and could tell immediately that no one had been there for a very long time. A small desk at the side of the room was piled high with old books and magazines, and Jason ran his index finger along its surface, drawing a clear line in the dust. He flicked the dust off his finger, then bent to take a closer look at the books littering the desk. Cautiously, he thumbed through the ones on top, but saw nothing of interest.

Maybe it was just a storage room. The walls were unadorned: no wallpaper, no pictures, and the ancient plaster was flaking, revealing raw, red brick. A small, round opening in the wall attracted his attention, and when he reached inside he found two pieces of faded paper.

Using his sleeve, Jason cleared a thick layer of dust from the paper and discovered a photo torn in two. Both parts showed people smiling and standing close to each other. On one he saw a middle-aged man, standing with his hands behind his back. The other half of the photo was of a young couple.

But when Jason put the two parts together, they didn’t match. There had to be a piece missing. Jason rummaged the hole in the wall, but found nothing. He frowned and turned the pieces to see if anything had been written on the back. To his surprise, he found a letter scribbled on each piece. One said A, and the other said S.

Outside the secret room, the front door of the house creaked opened then slammed shut. Jason froze, listening intently. Emily wasn’t expecting any guests, as far as he knew.

He dropped the pieces of the photo onto the desk, exited the concealed room, and slid the volumes into their places on the shelf. Without a sound, the shelf shifted back to its original position.

Whoever had come into the house spoke loudly in the entrance hall, but Jason couldn’t make out any words. Then he became aware of slow, heavy footsteps approaching the study, and he knew without doubt they were not Emily’s. The doorknob turned slowly, and the door opened just a crack.

Chapter 26

Emily was locked in her own room, oblivious to any danger. She swayed in the rocking chair she had loved so much as a child, her eyes wide open and fixed on one point, though she didn’t actually see anything. Silent tears coursed slowly down her red cheeks, blurring the room. Jason didn’t know this Emily: feeble, hopeless, and helpless.

“I’m so tired,” she murmured. “I just wanted revenge. That’s all. Why did it all have to go so wrong?”

When she had seen Jason for the first time, everything had changed. His pure blue eyes, his dark, unkempt hair, his perplexed expression—she’d managed to catch all the details before he had totally upended her world.

More tears welled in her eyes. “It’s gone too far,” she whispered through gritted teeth. “If I lose him there will be no reason for me to live.”

She was like a fallen leaf on the river surface, circling with the currents. The farther she glided, the clearer it became that a waterfall loomed ahead. It would thrust her into the turmoil of violent water, and she would be crushed by the torrents.

I need to be strong and patient, a braver side of Emily thought. There isn’t much time left.

“I’m so sorry, Jason,” she whispered, then focused on something in her mind’s eye. Anything but the pain in her heart.

Someone rapped at the door, and Emily sat rigid, instantly alert. She was certain Jason wouldn’t have bothered her, especially by knocking so hard and persistently. She shifted her Sight, needing to see the Energy of the one standing behind the door.

Chapter 27

“Jason?” the voice behind the door said. Jason frowned, thinking he recognized the voice. “Jason?”

There could be no mistake. The door opened, and Matthew appeared. Jason folded him into a hug so quickly he barely saw his friend’s face. A second later Debbie entered the study, and she was crushed by another embrace.

After the hugging was through, Jason stood back and eyed them both. They looked healthy, relaxed even. In particular, Debbie sparkled with happiness, her smile brighter than the sun.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked.

“Tyler told us.”

They were clad in new black leather clothes which Jason eyed with envy. “You look fabulous,” he said.

“You like?” Matt asked, grinning and performing a dramatic pirouette. “Tyler took part in our image change.”

“Where is he?”

“Upstairs.” Matt jabbed one finger towards the ceiling. “He went to see Emily.”

“So? What’s up?” Jason demanded. “Where have you been all this time? I missed you!”

“So did we, Jase. So many things happened! Tyler is an awesome guide and storyteller. We’ve practically seen the whole world, and he told us so many legends and tales about the places we’ve visited. Oh, and Debbie fell head over heels for him.” A wide grin stretched across his tanned face. Though he sounded cheerful, Jason could help but see his eyes glistened with jealousy.

“Matt!” Debbie scolded and punched his arm. “Stop jabbering on.”

“See, Jase?” Matt teased, and Debbie blushed like a child.

Jason grinned. “I missed you guys so much.”

***

Tyler paused near the door, then used his Sight to look into the room before he knocked, wanting to make sure Emily was in. Just as he lifted his hand to knock, he froze, sensing something wrong about her aura. It felt strange. Almost the same, but not quite. Softer. Vulnerable. Tyler frowned and pursed his lips, then knocked.

Emily’s aura instantly returned to normal. She welcomed him in and pretended to be surprised, but of course she had already seen Tyler through the door.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s me who should ask that question,” Emily replied. “What happened? Why are you here? We were supposed to meet in New York tomorrow.”

This game of denial didn’t appeal to Tyler. It wasn’t like Emily to behave this way. “What’s wrong with you?”

She sighed. “I’m fine. Just tired. Have you seen the garden?”

But Tyler wasn’t easily misled. When she turned towards the window he saw circles under her eyes and moisture on her cheeks.

“Were you crying?” he asked.

Emily turned away to hide her emotions, but she was bad at it. “I was just thinking,” she said. “I haven’t been here since my parents died, you know. I miss them so much. It’s just … I wanted to have some privacy for a while.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Emily. Of course it’s hard for you to be here. I’m so sorry,” Tyler came up and held her close.

She put her arms around his neck and pressed her damp cheek to his shoulder.

“Why are you here?” Emily murmured into his shirt.

He stepped back, his hands still on her arms for support. “I took Matt and Debbie all over the place because I saw Dark Ones tracking us. They kept getting closer. I managed to create a false trace, and they went in the wrong direction.”

She nodded, listening intently. “But there’s something else, isn’t there? What happened?”

“Another Doomed One has gone missing. The Dark Ones are too fast for us. I think we should return together. We’re a greater force when united.”

Emily remained silent, thinking. “Perhaps you’re right,” she said at last.

“Let’s go downstairs,” Tyler suggested. “Matt and Debbie are looking forward to seeing you. I told them lots about you and me, and about reality as we see it. I like them a lot, and I think if they got Energy Charge they might be talented among the Sighted.”

“Yeah, I think so, too,” Emily said quietly, her eyes closed.

Tyler smiled. “I still can’t get used to the blinding light Jason emits. If the defense here wasn’t so strong, all the Sighted within a thousand miles would feel his presence.”

“But he’s still Unsighted.”

“Yeah, well, he’s a miracle like the world has never seen before. What will happen when the Sight comes to him?”

“I want to know when it will happen. What is a different question altogether.”

Tyler smiled and squeezed Emily tighter. “He won’t let us down.”

***

Emily could hear Debbie’s muffled voice from downstairs. “That’s how these killings might have happened,” she was saying. “They can stretch time and compress space. So while we thought the killings and kidnapping occurred millions of miles away from each other, they could actually be carried out from one spot. Tyler told us that’s possible.”

“So the mark has been found in Okayama?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” Debbie replied.

Matt chuckled. “Now Tyler’s ability to transport us from one place to another doesn’t seem all that crazy, does it?”

“They’re able to stop time and compress the north and south poles. It’s no big deal for them to overcome reality and change it to whatever they like. The problem is, as Tyler says, if you don’t believe you can do this stuff, you won’t do it,” Debbie said. “I wish we could revise our whole attitude to what is around us, but I just don’t see how it’s possible.”

“Nor do I,” Jason said sadly. “Even after Emily’s lesson I can’t enter their reality. There were no signs of supernatural vision—”

“Except the dreams,” Matt corrected.

“So what?” Jason exclaimed in frustration. “The dreams are meaningless. Sometimes it seems like they come to me by mistake.”

Tyler pushed open the door, and the trio inside fell silent.

“Hello, everyone,” Emily volunteered. “Is anyone hungry? There’s a whole store of food in the kitchen.”

“We’re okay,” Debbie assured her.

“Uh-uh,” growled Matt. “I’m starving.”

As they left the room Jason took Emily’s hand and whispered in her ear. “Don’t tell Debbie where all this food comes from. She’ll freak out.”

“Don’t worry,” Emily whispered back. His soft touch made her head spin. She barely heard what he said.

“Emily?”

“Yes?” She gave a start.

“Your eyes make me crazy,” Jason whispered then pressed his lips to her temple. She could barely breathe with the sensation, but when he put his arm round her waist she felt like her heart grew stronger.

At the table, Emily sat beside Matt and Debbie. They seemed a little awkward around her at first, so after a while she leaned in and whispered, “Don’t believe all the stuff Tyler told you about me.”

Matt’s eyebrow shot up. “Debbie?”

Debbie smiled, waiting. “Yes?”

“Can you remember any ordinary person fighting against the most evil creature in the world?” He waved his tattooed hands with just the right amount of sarcasm.

“Tyler did it, too,” Emily protested.

“He claims you’re the best person he’s ever met. He told us about how you found him and rescued him, so don’t be so shy.”

Emily darted a furtive glance at Jason, standing with his back to them while he spoke to Tyler. He turned and smiled at her, as if he had sensed her gaze. The images from that morning flashed through her mind.

You burn and revive my soul, Jason, Emily thought. You are my heaven and hell. I’m a moth, and you are my flame. I can’t resist you, Jason. I’m too weak to resist you.

Chapter 28

The air grew heavy, bringing with it the sense that it was time for the group to leave the estate. As if dark had taken possession of the outside. As if the house urged them to go. For Jason, leaving was almost as hard as it was for Emily. He loved it there, and he loved the time he’d spent alone with her. All he could hope was they would return one day, together, when everything was over.

“We’ll set off shortly,” Emily announced. “As soon as we leave the protection of the estate, we’ll become extremely vulnerable. The enemy may trace us because of Jason’s brightness, though Tyler and I will do our best to shield it.  There’s a chance they won’t pinpoint our location. But if they catch up with us, we’ll be left with no option but to fight.”

She took a breath. “I think Tyler told you,” Emily said, looking at Matthew and Debbie, “about the dead sprouts of Énergie Morte.”

Both nodded.

“Good. In case of a fight, we’ll protect you from the sprouts, all right? But Tyler and I aren’t as valuable as the three of you. On the other hand, there’s a chance the Dark Ones may be wary enough not to attack, since they don’t know whether or not Jason has acquired the power of the Beholder yet.”

“That’s a pretty a slim chance,” Tyler said grimly.

“Yeah,” Emily admitted. “Let’s not count on it.”

Jason had never seen her so tense. She was all business, the lighter, sweeter side gone for now.

“We’ll be fine,” Tyler said. “The flight will only take a couple of minutes.”

“The flight?”

“Sure. We’re flying,” Tyler said, then turned to Emily. “Didn’t you tell him?”

Debbie put her hands on Jason’s broad shoulders. “Oh, don’t you love flying? Isn’t it amazing?”

Jason frowned. “You don’t mean—”

“We didn’t actually get to that yet,” Emily muttered apologetically.

Debbie squealed. “Oh, you’re going to love it,” she said, but Jason only grimaced.

“As soon as we leave the boundaries of the estate, we fly,” Emily went on, ignoring Jason’s expression. “Our goal is to reach New York. To guard ourselves against meeting the Mindbroken and the Legates, we will compress the space we need to cover, which will include manipulating physical laws. That’ll be an arduous experience for the three of you.”

After a while, Jason glanced at the wall clock and shook his head with disbelief. It was already time to leave.

“Oh, I nearly forgot,” Emily recalled. She went into the next room and came back carrying a black folded cloth.

“It’s for you to wear so you won’t freeze,” she said, offering it to Jason. “When we fly at high speed you should wear this.”

He held the cloak before him, admiring the smooth, strong leather, the same as that which Matt and Debbie now swung over their shoulders. He folded it neatly again, still annoyed at the fact that he was the only one in the room who hadn’t yet flown.

“And you have to wear these, too.” Emily offered him a pair of huge goggles.

That’s where he drew the line. “Are you kidding?” Jason exclaimed. “I don’t want to look like a ninety-year old granny!”

To his surprise, Matt and Debbie pulled identical goggles from their pockets with a sigh of exasperation.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Jason asked them.

“We’ll create a capsule of air around your bodies so you can breathe,” Tyler said, ignoring his protests. “The capsule will slow the real motion so your blood won’t boil, but you’re unprepared for flying without taking the necessary precautions. Your eyes will water and could even be permanently damaged because of the speed and the wind.”

Jason scowled at him. “Okay, okay. I guess looking stupid is better than being blind or dead.”

“You got that right.” Tyler smiled. “Let’s go.”

Emily waved one hand, turning off all the lights in the house as they stepped outside and walked towards the dark forest. The waning moon provided feeble light, but it was enough to help Jason and the other Unsighted see the way. Barely audible noises of shuffling and gravel crackling underfoot were the only sounds in the night. When Jason turned back for one last look at the estate, he noticed with regret that he couldn’t see it anymore.

They struggled quietly through low-hanging branches, blindly fighting back as the trees lashed and scratched the Unsighteds’ faces. Emily and Tyler switched on flashlights that pierced the dark, but they barely helped Jason see where he was going. Once or twice he tripped and nearly fell, and he heard the same sounds coming from Matt and Debbie.

Finally they stopped, and Emily got everyone’s attention. “We are about to come out of the defense,” she said. “Put on your goggles.”

Jason hesitated, but after one glimpse at her expression, he fit them onto his face.

“Matt and Debbie, you hold on to Tyler. You know what to do. Jason, you stand behind me.”

He did as he was told, then smiled to himself as she reached back and wrapped his arms around her.

“Hold really tight,” she said. “It’s more extreme than a motorcycle ride.”

“I believe you,” Jason whispered, then gave her a brief, secret kiss on the side of her neck. “Don’t worry. I have no problem hanging on to you.”

But Emily was all business again, and Jason took a deep breath, preparing himself for the unknown.

“On the count of three,” she announced. “One, two, three!”

They took one quick step forward, shot out of the defense, and Jason saw light at last. He squeezed his eyes shut behind their protective goggles, because now that he realized they were actually going to fly, he was also pretty sure he saw his impending death.

“No! Holy—!” he screamed as they zipped up in the sky.

It took a moment before he realized he was squeezing his face against Emily’s slender back, his thick goggles probably denting her skin with his desperate grip. He lifted his head just a little and dared himself to open his eyes.

Tiny dots of light emerged in the distance, and a second later the dots turned into Paris. The city was approaching them at a mind-blowing speed. That was when he admitted to himself that the goggles and the cloak had been a great idea. After one more second they’d passed through the whole city, and Jason felt a brief pang of disappointment that he had actually been in France, yet hadn’t had a chance to see the Eiffel Tower, the Hotel des Invalides, or even the Notre-Dame.

Emily flew like a rocket over the dark ocean, seeming unaffected by his added weight. The waves of the Atlantic rose high, but he didn’t hear their sound because the wind was howling madly in his ears. To his left he spied a black lump, speeding as fast as they were, and he assumed it was Tyler, Matt, and Debbie. Becoming more comfortable, he tipped his head upwards and myriads of stars flickered back at him.

Emily changed altitude, coming closer to the water’s surface, gaining speed with each second, then she swerved to the right. A blinding beam of red light shot towards the place where they had just been, causing a violent wave, and thunder crashed, making Jason cringe.

“They tracked us,” Emily cried, then smoothly froze in mid-air.

Another flash ripped through the air, but this time it was aimed to the left of Emily and Jason. Four spheres of bright red Energy appeared in the sky, luminous and pulsing with menace. Jason’s stomach filled with dread. He’d witnessed a fight between two spheres when Emily and Pariah had faced off, and it had been a horrible sight to behold. Now he would be a helpless, inert participant.

“Too many,” he heard Tyler grumble from nearby.

A thought occurred, and Jason leaned towards Emily’s ear. “Can you pass some of your Energy to me so I can enter the Sight? The way you did in the dance hall.”

Her eyes were wary. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

The enemies swiftly drew closer, and an immense ball of light appeared close to the ocean’s surface, where Jason knew Tyler waited. In the same instant, Jason’s body filled with an indescribably warm, soothing sense of comfort, and he realized he was feeling Emily’s protection. Tyler had extended his protection around his friends, but Jason could see them through the shields, looking like two bewildered pearls sheltered within a pair of huge seashells.

Everything flared at once. The ocean and the figures hovering above its vast waves emitted the same surreal light he had seen in Times Square as well as in Emily’s dance hall. Without thinking, Jason let go of Emily, sensing suddenly that flying felt as natural to him as walking.

The Darksighted shot rays of red light, and Jason lunged forward to help Tyler. His cloak billowed in his wake, and Emily followed close behind, her warmth giving Jason strength.

The four Darksighted floated for a moment, gathering their Energy and preparing to attack. Then one dove straight down, heading towards the trio, and Jason flew into action. With speed and strength he never imagined he had, he accelerated until he was face to face with the Dark One. He pulled back his fist, then punched the creature with all the force he could muster. Everything swirled, chaos twisting with rays of deadly light. Emily was immediately by his side helping him, skillfully dodging the rays. Her hands moved constantly, sending blinding silver rays in all directions.

Light whirled past Jason and was swiftly answered by Tyler, who had joined the fight, and now fought with a lethal fury that seemed to startle the Dark Ones into a slight retreat. Jason tried to shoot the same kind of light that the other Sighted used, but his was feeble and rarely hit a target, so he relied on his fists instead.

The night sky was a dazzling cobweb of different colors and shapes of Energy Threads. Emily’s shield still blanketed him in warmth, but Jason could feel he was reaching the limits of his endurance. Nausea rose within him, and he prayed for the flying roller coaster to end. Fortunately, the two brightest spheres, Tyler and Emily, seemed invincible.

Out of the night, a Dark One blindsided Jason and delivered a crushing strike to his head. Pain shot through his body like lightning, and the world dimmed as his connection to the Sight severed. His limbs went numb, and he found himself falling, helplessly diving towards the raging ocean. An explosion, bright enough to sting Jason’s eyes even through the goggles, shook him in midair, and he closed his eyes.

“I’ve got you,” came Emily’s voice, and her arms connected, wrapping around him.

With relief, Jason opened his eyes again and saw the intensity of the light had subsided. The ocean was on fire, and red tongues of the turbulent water stretched up, attempting to sear Emily and Jason with lava. The heat was almost unbearable, and Jason realized there was no longer a shield of protection around him. Emily no longer emitted sprouts of Energy, and she was flying very low, maneuvering amidst the surges.

Tyler was nowhere to be seen. What about the others? Jason scrutinized the inky skies, trying to discern Tyler, but thick black pitch had spread all over. Though she was right there, he could hardly even make out Emily’s features.

“They are all right,” Emily shouted. “But we’re getting out of here. I’m not going to let you get into any more trouble!”

From out of the blackness appeared a star, luminous and liquid. It slowly descended, illuminating the sky with an unsteady flickering, and when it touched the salty water the darkness was gone, as were the spheres of fire. The fight was over, and they’d survived.

Time sped by as they flew towards New York, and it seemed only minutes before night turned to morning and the coast came into view. Emily’s body tensed, and he knew she was wary of another trap. New York’s shining lights, flickering beneath a heavy layering of clouds, smeared a colored patch along Jason’s failing consciousness.

The whole world shook in that moment. As if reality exploded. Jason stared in mute disbelief as the hovering clouds began to crumble and fall on New York. The onslaught began sluggishly, as if in slow motion, then accelerated, falling onto the travelers. Jason closed his eyes again, certain he and his friends would be squashed and swept away. Emily shot towards the skyscrapers.

A fraction of a second later Jason lay on his back on a cool surface, gasping for air. The flight was over, and nothing could have been more comforting than the simple act of lying still on a steady surface. He lay in a dark room thick with the smell of neglect, lit only by a hint of outside light. When he could breathe normally, Jason pulled himself together, then cautiously sat up and looked around. It was a nondescript place with dingy wallpaper, furnished with a moth-eaten couch, a few chairs that didn’t match, and an old desk stacked high with heaps of magazines.

He glanced at Emily, who stood nearby, hands on her hips. Before he could ask, three bodies popped out of thin air. Matthew and Debbie lay as he had, sprawled on the floor, panting for breath. Tyler loomed above them, appearing almost menacing, while Jason struggled to his own feet so he could help them sit on the threadbare couch.

“Could have done it quicker,” Emily snapped. “You need more practice.”

“I went as fast as I could,” Tyler said, sounding offended.

“What the hell was with the sky?” Jason asked.

Emily stared, amazed. “You saw?”

“How could I not see?”

Tyler was watching them both, his brow heavy with puzzlement. “You did try to shield him from Insanifictia, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” Emily said, frowning accusingly at Jason. “Seems I can’t control him anymore.”

Tyler gave a little snort. “Huh,” he said, almost to himself. “And yet he’s still sane.” He turned to Jason. “Are you sane?”

“I’m not really sure,” he replied, smiling ruefully.

He staggered towards a window and peered outside. As he’d thought, Emily had brought them to the top of a very high building, and now he looked down on the city. “Then again, I’ve questioned my sanity for a while now.”

In the past, Jason had watched movies of adventure, some of which were based around the end of the world. He’d never imagined he’d actually see that kind of picture in real life. But the New York he saw now was the perfect setting for such a movie. The skyscrapers stood in a broken line, some of them crumbling to the ground as he watched, forming clouds of thick white dust. Others still stood, but their windows were smashed and roofs had gone missing, as if the city had been neglected and uninhabited for a hundred years.

The sight made him angry, as did all the mystery behind it. “Can anyone tell me what’s going on?”

Tyler sighed. “They used one of the weapons in their arsenal,” he said. “Insanifictia. It’s one of the most ancient and most effective. It doesn’t even have to kill—”

“—because it turns an Unsighted person irreversibly insane,” Emily finished.

Jason spun towards his friends. “But they’re okay, aren’t they?”

“D’you think so?” Matt asked, still out of breath.

Emily nodded. “Yes, don’t worry. They’re all right.”

“Why?” Jason asked, staring at Matt and Debbie. “Why didn’t it—”

“—because I created a Fraud Energy Image around them,” Tyler explained.

Silence fell in the room as they each digested what had just happened. It was Emily who broke the quiet. “You’re getting stronger, Jason.”

He scowled, unconvinced. The last he’d noticed, she’d been carrying him around like a useless lump of black cloth.

“What was that flash over the ocean?” Matt asked.

Tyler joined Jason at the window, gazing sadly down at the devastation. “We killed one of them,” he said without turning around. “The intensity of light showed how much Energy was discharged into the outside world.”

Emily looked bothered by that. She wrung her hands and looked at the floor. Tyler hadn’t sounded particularly pleased, either.

“But that’s a good thing, right?” Debbie asked. “It can’t be bad.”

“The uncontrolled release of so much Energy,” Emily explained, “brings various forms of disaster. Especially in, let’s say, parts of the earth where there are rarified Energy zones.” She crossed her arms and started pacing the room. “It could be a tsunami, an earthquake, a deluge … anything. We’ll be lucky if no one gets killed. Thanks to Tyler, some of the explosion wave was extinguished, but—” She froze, all color draining from her beautiful face. “Oh no,” she whispered.

Tyler had paled as well, and his jaw was set. “I feel it too,” he said quietly. Jason shook his head, waiting for an explanation. “They set all their hunters free. And we’re trapped here.”

Dread crept through Jason, tingling in his hands and feet, making him dizzy. “All their hunters? That doesn’t sound good.”

Emily shook her head. “Pariah is furious. We crossed his path this time, and they are out to kill.” Emily sat beside Debbie and Matt on the couch, massaging her temples in little circles. “What are we going to do?”

“Aren’t they afraid someone will notice them?” Debbie asked hopefully.

Tyler scoffed, stepping away. “People don’t see this kind of Energy. Plus, their memory is easy to erase or modify.”

Jason leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window, resting his hands on the dusty windowsill. He closed his eyes, listening to the quiet drumming of rain on the window. When he opened them again he realized it wasn’t just simple rain. A solid, slanted wall of water banged against the window, demanding entry. The skies wept, their tears sobbing in streams down the outward surface of the window. As if in agreement, the wind began wailing, and the window glass fogged around Jason’s face as the outside temperature fell.

Matthew and Debbie stood by Jason, their eyes reflecting the disasters they saw. Debbie opened her mouth to speak, then stopped.

A dark shape appeared in the air and hovered, darker than any storm cloud, studying the side of their building. When the shape reached the level of their window, it froze in mid-air and its blood red gaze stared into Jason’s eyes.

“Don’t move!” Emily whispered.

Five statues stood, barely breathing in the semi-dark. The room seemed dead. A second later the enemy soared away, and Tyler sighed.

“That was close! Next time we may not be so lucky.”

“Didn’t he see us?” Matt asked.

Emily and Tyler glanced at each other, then Emily smiled weakly. “Nope,” she said. “This apartment is hidden in the same way the estate is. Instead of us, the Darksighted saw a Fraud Energy Pattern of a middle-aged couple and their dog. Tyler’s idea.”

But Jason wasn’t convinced. He was positive the hunter had been staring directly at him. Every instinct in him screamed, “Get out of here! Pariah is coming!”

He turned from the window. “We need to get out of here. Pariah is close!”

Four pairs of eyes stared at him. Debbie shook her head, looking like the last thing she wanted was to go on the move again. “Jason, the hunter didn’t see us,” she said. “He’s gone.”

“Yes,” Jason agreed, speaking slowly, knowing to the marrow of his bones that he was right. “For now. He’s gone to alert all the others that we’re here. They will be here in less than a minute.”

Emily collapsed to the floor with a gasp of pain, and Jason lunged forward to catch her, but Tyler stopped him just in time. As her lips moved, golden words started writing themselves around her, carving letters into the floor and onto the walls.

Darkness descends to eclipse the Light

Death will take the lives of many, sparing no one.

In deaths of the Doomed, Light shimmers:

The Light that will set the Beholder free.

A thick fall of hair hid her face as she spoke, and Jason watched helplessly, wishing he could stop her chanting, stop the torture he saw in her eyes. Instead, he nodded with grim satisfaction, knowing his words had been proven true.

“We need to get away from here,” he repeated slowly, trying to ignore the panic that roared through him. “They’re coming for us.”

Chapter 29

Emily recovered quickly, then she stared directly at Jason. “We’ll go by motorcycle, you and I.”

Jason frowned. The motorcycle again? Now that he knew they could fly, it seemed ridiculous to resort to slow, regular modes of transportation. But Emily’s expression was set.

“Okay. Where is it?” Jason asked.

Tyler grinned. “I parked it in the basement. Emily had a feeling we might need it.”

“What about us?” Debbie cried.

Emily glanced towards the window again, checking, then went around the room, folding up the black flying cloaks and goggles in case they were needed later. “Tyler will take you,” she told Debbie, stuffing everything into a bag she pulled from under the couch. “It’ll be less risky this way.”

“Where are we going?” Matt asked.

“McAlester’s. That’s our only chance,” replied Emily.

McAlester’s was a safe house then. That explained a lot. Why else would McAlester have hired a trio of little known designers to work on his beautiful restaurant? Slightly disillusioned, Jason realized they hadn’t just been brought in for their talent. Being in his building allowed McAlester to watch them and make sure they were out of danger.

Matt apparently reached the same conclusion. “So Mr. McAlester is one of you.” He smiled and shook his head. “I’m hardly even surprised about that.”

Tyler confirmed Matt’s theory with a smile and a slight nod.

“Amazing,” Jason whispered, then focused on Emily. “But the motorcycle isn’t fast enough if we want to outrun them.” Ultrafast, yes, but only according to human criteria.

She shook her head once. “Believe me, we’ll make it. Right now it’s safer to ride a bike than fly, and you’ll need it again pretty soon anyway. Plus we need to save our Energy.” She blanched suddenly, then whispered, “They’re here! Go!”

The apartment shook as if it had been bombed, and the walls crumbled. Emily grabbed Jason by the sleeve, and the room vanished. They fell, plunging straight through the apartments below, but there was no evidence of any destruction as they broke through the floors. Evidently, the owners didn’t even see them. At one point, Jason thought he’d actually landed right on top of one of them, then fallen through the floor without the man even noticing. In what seemed like no time at all, they touched down on the floor of the cool basement. The motorcycle waited nearby, its smooth lines standing out against the dimness of the place.

Tyler held Debbie’s hand, standing to the side while Emily pushed Jason towards the bike. Jason caught a glimpse of Matt running in a different direction, but he didn’t have time to see where he’d gone. He threw himself onto the motorcycle, then waited for Emily’s reassuring grip around his waist.

“Key?”

Tyler tossed the key into his palm, and Jason switched on the ignition. The motorcycle growled with enthusiasm, and Jason’s mind filled with confidence. He was in his element again. The back wheel screeched and they shot towards the exit, roaring into the very heart of the worst storm New York had ever experienced.

Before they reached the outside, Emily yelled, “I scanned the streets. There’s no traffic outside. None at all. The Unsighted have all been removed. As soon as we get outside, the Legates are going to pursue us, so you better keep this baby moving.”

“But what about—”

“Just drive. I’ll take care of the rest.”

The motorcycle leaped from the basement and landed in a nightmare. Bolts of lightning carved through the blackness, possessing the city’s skies. The rain was a solid, gushing waterfall. As Emily had said, no one was in the street, and no traffic was stuck in the storm; the labyrinth of New York’s streets looked desolate and lifeless within the deluge.

They rode into the street and turned right. In five seconds the speedometer showed nearly a hundred miles per hour, but it seemed to Jason they were barely moving. The rain dragged him down, pulling at his heavy, wet clothing. If it hadn’t been for the endless forks of lightning, he wouldn’t have had any idea where he was going. It was as if he were driving blindfolded. Must be nice to be able to see in the dark, he mused, thinking of Emily. Streams of water got in his way, making riding even more difficult, and though he accelerated all the time, it seemed to make no difference.

Suddenly Emily’s hands released his waist, and the bike darted forward more easily, as if it were a stallion whose reins had been cut. The rush of water seemed no longer to be a problem, because the vehicle glided smoothly along the road between two completely separate streams that didn’t touch him. The dial hand switched to one hundred and thirty, and Jason glanced back at his passenger. Her hands were stretched to either side, her Energy aimed at the violent downpour.

Though it was easier to move now, the atmosphere grew more oppressive with each second. McAlester’s was still far, maybe a mile or two, and he should have been relieved that there were no hunters in sight. Strangely, that fact made him even more nervous. Where were they?

As quick as lightning, a vision flashed. It was short, but the picture was clear. Hundreds of hunters clung to the skyscrapers, like bats on tombstones, biding their time before they dined on their preys’ blood.

They are here, watching us.

Did Emily see them? Why were they just watching? Why hadn’t they attacked?

“Emily! The hunters are—”

Jason glanced back and saw to his horror that Emily no longer rode behind. He was alone on the motorcycle. Emily was above him, just ahead, performing elaborate maneuvers. As torrents of water tumbled over her, she shot upwards with a dizzying twisting movement, turning the rain into a spiraling foam. As he watched, she blocked the enemies’ hail of Energy blows and sent waves of her own blue sparks in response. The sky now swarmed with hunters, closing in around Emily. The impressive, intimidating army had been lurking in the dark, waiting to strike a lethal blow.

But Emily wasn’t easy to intimidate. She moved with quickness and grace, rising higher and rotating in the air like a figure skater. The sparks she threw hypnotized, creating a sight so spellbinding Jason didn’t want to look away.

Then, when it appeared she’d had enough, she froze, quickly absorbing all the Energy within reach. In the next instant, the air around her exploded like a supernova, and the hunters close to her were blown away.

When the sky blazed, Jason was brought out of his daze, and he remembered he was still moving tremendously fast. For a second he felt disoriented, realizing the speed was too high, but he swallowed the panic, steadied his hands, and kept going.

He figured the incredible light of Emily’s explosion would have been visible within several hundred miles, but there had probably been no witnesses to the splendor, other than the Sighted. The bright light lasted for half a minute at least, then died away, to be replaced by a veil of mauve. The nebula settled over the city, creating a perfect night sky with constellations of tiny stars embedded into it. Emily was an artist; heaven was her canvas.

It was still raining—though the deluge had dwindled to little more than a drizzle—but when Jason gazed into the sky, he no longer thought it beautiful. The hunters had reappeared: countless black, poisonous dots piercing Emily’s nebula. They approached on all sides, infuriated and thirsty for revenge.

It was time to get away. The engine roared, but he could go no faster. No matter how hard Jason tried to move away from the swarm of hunters, they were getting ever closer.

The sound of another engine came from behind, catching his attention. He recognized the purr of Debbie’s VW Beetle, and when he glanced back he saw Matt behind the wheel, Debbie in the passenger seat, and Tyler … standing on the shining hood. His long, fair hair flew in the wind, and his black leather cloak billowed over the roof of the car. He was staring at the sky, at Emily, the pallid skin of his face glowing with the mauve that inundated the night. His light gray eyes had changed, and now they somehow glowed a pale blue, like two opaque pieces of the moon. The mask of Tyler’s face twitched as he stared straight ahead into the distance, his expression changing to one of curiosity. Jason followed his gaze.

A fork of lightning—followed by a devastating peal of thunder—shook the skies and illuminated something massive standing far in the distance. At the sight of it, the hunters stopped in mid-air, as if an invisible glass dome prevented them from unleashing any further revenge.

Three silhouettes stood perfectly still in the middle of the dark road ahead of them, visible only when bolts of lightning slashed the skies. Their auras throbbed, radiating a dark, malevolent red that felt thick and powerful even at such a distance. Jason felt instantly sick, as if someone had dealt him a terrible blow to the stomach, and he braked to a stop.

Matt braked, too, and Tyler was carried forward by inertia. Instead of crashing to the ground, he controlled the slide and soared gracefully into the air, then landed gently on the ground.

Jason assumed the thunder came from the sky, but soon realized the noise came from the trio ahead. The moment his motorcycle stopped, the silhouettes stirred and began walking towards them. Emily landed between Jason and the Darksighted, blocking the path to what the Dark Ones sought. The distance between the two sides was shrinking, and the Dark Ones’ auras grew more tangible, vibrating through Jason’s body and making his left shoulder prickle with invisible needles. Jason looked towards the sky and saw the hunters still hadn’t moved. Some hovered above them, but many others had taken up posts on the skyscrapers where they appeared to be awaiting orders.

The most frightening thing about the three approaching figures was their calm and insidious manner. It was impossible to predict what might happen. Jason watched intently as the man in the middle stopped and raised his hands. The sleeves of his black robes tumbled loosely back, and fallen rainwater hissed into a froth at his feet.

“Emily Ethan,” he pronounced genially. “We meet again.”

Emily stiffened. “Alas, we do, Damien Bale. Perhaps someday I’ll kill you and spare you the trouble of crossing my path again.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed in disapproval, and he shook his head purposefully, his long black hair swaying from side to side. “I came here on Pariah’s order. You and your friend killed Erica Hamilton. Pariah demands an apology.”

That was a woman? Jason wondered.

Jason didn’t see Emily’s face, but her voice was calm and steady. “She attacked, and we defended. They were sent to hunt and kill us. What should we apologize for? Saving our own lives?”

Again Damien shook his head. “Pariah sent the servants to hunt and kill them.” Damien raised his chin at first towards Jason, and then to the people in the car, his stare fixed longer than necessary on Debbie. A chill of revulsion slithered down Jason’s spine. “You got in our way, Emily. Could you be so kind to explain why?”

“You know perfectly well why,” Tyler burst out. “Give Pariah our warm regards. Funnily enough, we’re not inclined to stay here any longer.”

“Calm down, my friend.” Damien didn’t bother to look at Tyler, as he was apparently unimpressed by the outburst. “We won’t touch you. We require only one of your company in exchange for Erica’s life.” He sighed, overly dramatic, as he watched Emily. “She was an excellent fighter, wasn’t she?” The man’s expression hardened. “So now, Emily my dear, which one would you like to give up?”

Emily’s fists bunched at her sides. “We won’t give up anyone,” she hissed.

“You go too far,” Damien scolded. “You don’t want to anger the greatest Darksighted in history, do you? Come now. Just do as I tell you, then say farewell for a while.”

“You’ll have to kill us first,” Tyler spit.

“And me as well,” came a new voice.

William McAlester came from behind Jason, gave him a reassuring nod, then stepped to the front to stand beside Tyler and Emily. He no longer looked like the good-natured manager of McAlester’s Jason had known him to be. His expression was different, the lines hard and concentrated, as if carved from stone. As he passed, clad in a black sleeveless T-shirt and trousers, Jason swore he felt a breeze emanating from the big man.

“Ah! Look who’s here!” the girl to the right of Damien crowed.

Damien’s eyes flashed with recognition. “I’d hoped to never see you again.”

Calm and seemingly unafraid, Mr. McAlester nodded once. “Good evening, Catherine.”

He turned to Damien and addressed him in a cold, impersonal voice. “Take your people away from here. You cannot kill in this territory. No trespassing will be tolerated in the Guarded Road.”

The man on Damien’s left growled. “I hate to admit it, but he’s right. However, the Guarded Road rule is only valid for twenty-four hours.”

Damien hesitated, reluctant to leave. But he had no other options. “Fine.” He leaned closer to Emily, his burning red eyes flaring at her. “See you later,” he said, spitting on the road by her feet. Emily didn’t budge, and Damien grinned. “It doesn’t matter to me when we kill you. But here is your warning: you have one day. After that, we’ll be back. If you and your friends don’t show up, we’ll destroy New York and all its citizens.” He straightened and flared his nostrils as if scenting the air, then gave Emily a conspiratorial wink. “Don’t worry, dear Emily. The end is near.”

He turned to go, and his shape blurred. His companions and the entire dark army of hunters followed suit, taking with them the gloom of the night.

Matt and Debbie got out of the car, their faces iridescent with the reflection of the sky. A majestic dome arched over a quietly sleeping New York, its protective surface twinkling with stars.

“Hey, William,” Matt said cheerfully, his hand extended. “Good to see you. Excellent timing.”

They shook hands. “Wouldn’t have missed it,” William assured him, clapping him on the shoulder.

Matt gestured at the place where Damien and the others had stood. “Looks like you arrived at just the right time. What the hell was that? He wanted to take one of us?”

William nodded quickly, looking annoyed. “Yes, but we have no time for explanations right now,” he said. “We need to get to the restaurant.”

Chapter 30

When he reached the restaurant, Jason cut the engine of the motorcycle and kicked up the stand. Mr. McAlester’s voice, sounding unusually high-pitched, drew his attention and he followed it inside.

“The image of Aurora Borealis, Emily? And above New York? You must be out of your mind.”

“It’s no big deal, William. Besides, that was the only chance I had to get rid of them—at least for a while.”

“But what will the Unsighted think when they wake?” he grumbled.

Emily’s smile was warm. “The Aurora will distract them from what is really happening in our world.”

“But—”

“People will think it’s a miracle,” Emily continued, diffusing William’s arguments as Matt and Debbie came inside the building. “A huge amount of positive Energy will be emitted as a result of it. Don’t kick up a fuss.”

William shrugged reluctantly, then waved for the trio to follow him to the far end of the building. When they were all through, William locked the door behind them. Jason, Debbie, and Matthew automatically headed for the staircase leading to the second floor, but Mr. McAlester shook his head.

“Nah,” he told them, then pointed to a door in the corner. Jason knew it led to the kitchen, and he wasn’t surprised to hear his stomach voice its approval. He was starving. “We’re going this way.”

“Where is everyone?” Debbie asked as they followed McAlester through the quiet restaurant.

“Most of them were made to stay at home,” he said.

“And … I’m guessing New Yorkers are unaware of what Emily did with the hunters, right?” Matt chimed in.

“That’s right. All the Unsighted were, anyway,” William said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emily asked, sounding suspicious. “There are other Sighted in New York besides us?”

“Not yet, but they’re coming,” William replied. “That’s why I’ve been away all this time. I had to try to persuade them to come. Few agreed, actually, until they heard about Jason.”

Emily stopped, frowning with irritation at William, then caught up to them. “What did you tell them?”

“That he is the Beholder. When I told them you’d found him, they rushed here to see him.”

Still unconvinced, Emily narrowed her eyes. “Are they going to help us fight?”

He shrugged. “We’ll see. They think the Beholder will be able to cope with all the hunters and Pariah without their assistance. They believe in him.”

Great. No pressure, Jason thought.

“Of course they do,” Emily said, sarcasm thick in her voice.

“However, they did say they’d take some of the stray people away from here.”

“Better than nothing.”

“Here we are,” Mr. McAlester announced, ushering everyone into the kitchen. A gleaming set of pots and pans hung from the ceiling, and the stovetop shone as if it were brand new. Jason’s mouth watered. The procession moved to the middle, and William touched a spatula resting on a countertop.

“Who’s cooking?” Matt asked. “Emily’s really good at that.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time to eat right now. This is another Fraud Image,” William clarified as he shifted the position of the spatula a bit. “Here.”

It started with the spatula, trembling in place. Then the pots overhead started moving, clanging against each other as the entire kitchen started to quake. Jason corrected himself: it wasn’t actually the kitchen itself, but the fraudulent image of it. The ceiling and the wall tile began to peel away, revealing a new ceiling and walls. The countertop vanished, along with the casseroles, frying pans, cooking utensils, and Jason’s hope for a meal.

They found themselves in a long hallway … in another dimension. The walls and ceiling were covered in bright velvet, emblazoned with intricate symbols unfamiliar to the trio, and accented by black statues of chimeras and demons which stood on both sides of the passage which led from the former kitchen. Jason was fascinated by the colors and the atmosphere they created in the room.

“Come in, please. We’ll soon be safe,” Mr. McAlester said, inviting them towards another door. “We’ll have a little time to rest before the inevitable begins, but first we’ll take a walk.”

He touched the door lightly, and it slid silently upwards like a portcullis. The ornate structure beyond looked like it could have been the nave of a Catholic church, only multiplied many times. Jason’s eyes followed an endless, velvet-arched corridor, admiring the two parallel rows of curving partitions which stretched upwards and met at the peak. The group stepped over the threshold and saw the same glowing, inscrutable legend was inscribed there as well. The door shut behind them.

Jason passed the first pair of arches and looked left and right, noticing they were dark, with feeble lights flickering at each end. On the left, soft golden light flickered gently at the end of a long trail of black. Like candles burning in the dark of night, he thought. Whenever he looked down a passage, the light blazed for a moment, then it weakened and died down. He felt a strange pull to the corridors, as if someone within was calling his name. In fact, at one point he thought he could actually hear someone whispering, and he had to fight the urge to enter one of them.

The arches of darkness on the right had the opposite effect, and he stepped away from them. The light flickering within those arches was vermilion red, like the Energy he’d seen coming from the Darksighted above the ocean. And when Jason squinted into the darkness, he swore he could see movement within. Like shadows.

“What are those archways?” Matt asked.

William was walking straight ahead, his eyes never straying to either side. “They are reflections of your feelings,” he said. “Joy, surprise, fear, pain, sorrow, hatred. If you look closely into any gap on the left, you will see yourself experiencing one of the positive feelings in its most intense, pure way. The right side reflects all the fears and doubts you carry within, whether explicit or implicit. You should never concentrate on either side, because the left takes what you have, while the right one gives you some of the negative it contains. Both are fraught with peril, so don’t let them suck you in.”

“And what does the light at the end have to do with it?” Matt asked.

“The light in each arch comes from a vial containing a particular feeling. The brightness shows the strength and intensity of each feeling. You may step into the darkness that guards the vials and remain unharmed, but if you touch a vial, unpredictable things may happen. And some of the lights emanate from fraud vials.

“I can’t tell you the secret of how to acquire one of them without destroying yourself, because I don’t know it. But what I do know is that only a person with pure intentions may take them.”

As they moved on, Jason noticed archways with no light at all.

“There are black gaps here without light,” Debbie said. “Does that mean someone has removed the vials?”

“Do you think that’s what it is, Debbie?” William asked, his eyebrows lifting. “What’s another possibility?”

Debbie was lost in thought for a moment. “Could it be that the vials are there, but we don’t see their light? We can’t see it?”

“Correct.” William clicked his fingers. “These vials give off a different kind of light: dark light.”

“Can you see them?” Matt asked. Jason noticed that, like William, neither Emily nor Tyler looked into the darkness.

“Sighted are extremely vulnerable to the influence of the vials,” McAlester explained, measuring every word carefully. “They make us weaker. We have powers that attract both good and evil. A long time ago I had a real problem with that. I was willing to give up everything for just one vial. I’m not sure how I managed to resist the temptation, but I did.”

“Which one?” Debbie asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” he replied tersely. “These are samples of all emotions in their original form, unblended with other emotions. If you handle them right, they can help. These feelings are timeless. In the world outside, feelings are more fragile. They come and go, too transient in the world of the Unsighted. People lack the necessary knowledge of how to channel their emotions properly.”

“Does this place have a name?” Debbie asked after a quiet moment.

“It’s just a passage you have to get through in order to enter the Choice Room. It’s just one of many.”

“There are lots of these places?” Matt asked.

“Hundreds, actually. A passage is a test you have to take before you can enter the Choice Room. It’s designed to make sure you have no evil intentions.”

While Mr. McAlester was talking to Matt and Debbie, Jason lagged behind, drawn to a dark spot on the right side. He had heard Mr. McAlester’s words, but one particularly narrow gap attracted his attention. What is so peculiar about it? he asked himself. He stopped to watch, and someone moved in the dark, much closer to him than other shadows had been. He heard a noise and took a step closer in the hopes of understanding what bothered, yet lured him.

Then he realized it was his own voice, saturated with so much pain he felt ill. He stretched his hand towards the darkness, and the shadow within came alive. A mutilated image of him emerged from the dark, and a slimy hand gripped Jason firmly by the neck. The pain he’d heard in the voice now ran through him like blood, and he gagged, his throat constricted.

The cold fingers pulled Jason’s face towards his hideous reflection, and his forehead touched on a clammy and cool sort of mirror. The reflection’s mouth was distorted, its skin sallow, body slumped, and its hollow eyes bored into him. Jason’s own voice, barely recognizable, slipped through the shadow’s lips, an icy breath sweeping over Jason’s face.

“Do you feel it?” whispered the voice. “Do you feel the pain? It will be yours. It will be the essence of your existence. You’ll become pain. You’ll become me.”

Panic stricken, Jason struggled hard, trying desperately to escape his ugly twin’s embrace, but the bone hard fingers gripped his neck too firmly. Just when he was sure his skull would crack and his neck would break, the reflection released him, then vanished. Jason collapsed in agony onto the floor, and the pain was gone almost immediately. Instead of the cold, hated fingers, he felt arms wrapped around him, bringing warmth and love.

He looked up into Emily’s concerned gaze. “I know I shouldn’t have done that.”

Only the two of them remained in the passage. The others had already gone. Emily shook her head gently.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. “Let’s go. We need to get some rest. Do me a favor? Don’t look into the blackness again.”

“I won’t,” he promised, but had to work hard at not glancing back. When they were far enough away, the voice disappeared, and silence settled in. Jason followed her out of the passage, and relief swept over him after they’d taken several steps away from the arch. He stopped walking and slumped, exhausted.

Emily seemed to understand. She hugged him again, pulling him tight against her, and he wrapped his hands around her waist.

“I just want everything to be over,” he whispered into her ear.

“I know. I want the same thing.” She held him a moment longer, then kissed his cheek and let him go. “Come on. We’re almost there,” she said.

The passage ended at another door, its threshold adorned with more intricate signs. The others had already gone through, so Emily touched the door, and it slid upwards as the other one had. They entered a vast, semi-dark room that reminded Jason of a huge library, but instead of books, the endless rows of shelves towering all around were stacked with boxes. The shelves were lit by electric light, but the top of the shelves disappeared into the murk, and Jason couldn’t see a ceiling. Most of the boxes were neatly placed, but in one of the passages the floor was littered with boxes negligently strewn around. He passed rows and rows of dusty shelves, curious as ever.

“What are these?”

“Don’t touch anything,” Emily warned, and he lowered his hand to his side. “William made this room. The boxes take you to particular destinations.”

Jason craned his neck to try and see the top of the shelf, but the dark swallowed it up.

“We need to go this way,” Emily said, leading him to one of the rows. She stopped beside a large, open box overflowing with old clothes.

“Touch the cloth lightly so we don’t leave traces for Pariah to find us,” she said.

Jason did, and without warning he and Emily shot upwards through the ceiling, dousing them both in bright light. A few short moments later they were at the entrance to a stately, high-ceilinged chamber with enormous windows that invited sunlight. They walked to the middle of the room, their steps echoing off the varnished parquet floor. Emily put one finger to her lips, warning him to step quietly, then pointed.

“Make yourself at home,” Emily whispered, smiling. “They have.”

William was already asleep on a beautifully upholstered couch, his breaths a low, rumbling snore. Matt and Debbie were also sleeping, having claimed a throne-like padded armchair and an expensive-looking silver sofa. Tyler was nowhere to be seen.

Tiptoeing lightly across the room, Jason gazed out one of the numerous arched windows. “Where are we?” he asked.

“Somewhere in Scotland. Tyler was born not far from here, and he knows this place really well. We are actually in the ballroom of a castle. Beautiful scenery, isn’t it?”

“A castle?”

She nodded.

“Yeah. That’s cool.” His eyes scanned the grassy meadows and hills, lit by the sun. The smooth surface rolled like gentle waves, uninterrupted by trees. “You know what’s bad? Lately I’ve experienced so many new, exciting things that I’m afraid soon I won’t have anything left to get excited about.”

Emily drew closer and looked up at him, her amber eyes reflecting the sunlight. He was as mesmerized as ever. “Are you saying you’re getting tired of me?”

Jason almost laughed, but he held it in. He shook his head and touched her cheek with one finger. “No, not you. Never. There’s no way I could ever get tired of you. You are—if you’ll forgive the corny comparison—the sweetest nectar the gods have ever created. They’re probably afraid I’m going to drink it all.”

Emily smiled, blinking with a slow, hypnotic effect. “Drink as much as you wish.”

“I’ll sip gingerly, if you’ll let me.”

“You are always welcome,” Emily said, then shook her head. “But … I have no idea why you see me that way. I think sometimes you’re a little crazy, and blind—especially for the Beholder. You don’t see me the way I really am.”

“Oh yes I do. I’ve seen you in the Sight. And I look forward to doing that again more than anything else,” he said.

She shook her head. “You are much more impressive in the Sight than I am.”

He followed her to the opposite side of the chamber where the scenery wasn’t quite so grand. It was still beautiful, but in contrast it looked harsh and wild. Clouds were gathering in the distance, a thick ominous mass, and it wasn’t clear to Jason whether they were drawing near or moving away from this place.

“Where is Tyler?” Emily muttered to herself. She folded her arms across her chest, looking uncomfortable.

“What is it? Is something wrong?” Jason asked.

“I’m not sure. I don’t feel him. Either he’s very far from here or …” She blinked up at Jason. “But why would he leave? I don’t understand.”

She looked away, then frowned, staring hard at something Jason couldn’t see. After a moment she exhaled in obvious relief, and all the little lines of worry melted from her brow.

“He’s all right. I just detected him. He must have just touched the wrong box and turned up somewhere far away.”

She was right. It did seem strange for him to be gone. After all, Tyler knew this place, she’d said. That meant he knew about the boxes and what happened if you came into contact with them. Why would he have made a mistake like that?

“Emily, you’ve never told me how you and Tyler met. How did he get his power?” He crossed his arms. “You know, I wish I knew more about your kind. You should tell me more if I’m supposed to become one of you. It’s only fair.”

Emily hesitated, then agreed. “I’ll tell you, but when the Beholder wakes up in you, you’ll understand all of my words were a waste of time. You’ll see everything in everybody’s traces.” She gestured towards another room. “Let’s not disturb the others’ sleep. The next room’s empty, so we can talk there.”

Chapter 31

“It happened a long time ago, when I was with the Darksighted,” Emily said, staring out at the monster cloud sprawled over the skies. She and Jason were facing the huge arch of the window, comfortably seated in upholstered armchairs set close to each other. “That was when I was just starting to be aware of my real powers, though by that point I was able to handle my Prophesying ability.

“I was only twelve, but even at that age I knew how to keep secrets from Pariah. If he planned to destroy somebody who, in my mind, wasn’t dangerous, I interfered. But he never knew it was me.”

Jason watched her with fascination, saw how quickly the curl of her lashes flicked when she blinked, how she bit her upper lip when she was unsure. Now she was in her element, sharing a story she had known for far too long, and the telling of it soothed her into something like a trance. It was beautiful to watch.

“Pariah was worried the new Sighted might get more power than he had, but he still wasn’t afraid of me.” She shrugged in a light, unconscious gesture. “Maybe he thought I was too gullible. Anyway, once I eavesdropped on part of Pariah’s conversation with his servants. Something had caused an inconceivable outburst of Energy, but they hadn’t known there were witnesses. Pariah’s followers came to him with the news of someone wandering aimlessly in search of the Sighted like himself, and when they told him where the trace started, he knew that person had seen something that put him and the Dark Side in jeopardy.

“The followers were really curious about that Sighted person. They followed him for a long time without getting in touch. According to their theory, the huge mass of discharged Energy had come from the Dark Power, and instead of dispersing it had infiltrated that person, making him into one of us. Pariah was concerned a stronger Sighted would come, and his own followers would abandon him, so he planned to turn the wanderer to the Dark Side, then bind his mind. If that plan failed, he’d kill him.”

“And you interfered?” Jason ventured.

Emily’s chin jerked upwards, startled out of her reverie. “Yes.” Her eyes sparkled. “When I saw Tyler’s aura, I knew he belonged to the Light. There wasn’t even a speck of evil in him. For me it was wondrous, to witness a person with absolutely no evil in their heart. I mean, all people have light and dark within, even you. But not him.”

The remark hurt, and Jason’s expression tightened, though he tried to hide it. Emily noticed. “That’s all right, you know. We should have a choice. It should be up to us to decide whether we want to be kind or unkind, tender or harsh, loving or detesting. It’s just that, well, Tyler doesn’t have that.” She lifted one eyebrow. “And trust me, it’s not as great as it sounds.”

“What happened to the evil in him?”

“It left, but he had to pay the price. Have you ever wondered why he wears such a high collar, even when it’s hot?”

Jason nodded. He’d just figured Tyler had a rather strange fashion sense.

“It’s to hide a scar. He has a really bad gash on the left side of his neck. But that’s not all. If only it was just his neck.” Emily sighed, sounding sad. “His back and part of his chest are covered in scars. When evil left his body, it left indelible marks on Tyler’s skin. No Energy can heal them.”

Jason was impressed. “Was he as young as you were?”

“Yeah, he was fourteen. He didn’t remember where he had gotten the scorched trace on his body, or how he had become Sighted. I showed him some of my knowledge, and after a while his real talent developed. Now our world is his home.”

“Did he ever remember what happened?”

She shook her head. “Not yet, but once I prophesied that he would. The down side to that is it may allow evil back inside his soul. He is still expecting it to show, but up to now nothing has happened.”

Jason closed his eyes, lulled by Emily’s voice. He couldn’t understand how she still seemed so wide awake, and assumed it was because of her Energy. Maybe someday he’d be able to do that, too. But for now …

His last conscious thought was of Emily kissing his forehead and whispering, “Sweet dreams.”

***

From here, he looked so perfectly regular. The soft, smooth lines of his face, relaxed in sleep, brought a smile to Emily’s face, and she let herself stare. Meeting Jason and finding the Beholder in him had been the greatest event in her life. Now her only fear was that she would lose him. That he would never understand why she acted like she was about to act.

She got up noiselessly and took a light blanket from the back of her chair. She needed to leave, didn’t want to be so near him, in the same room, while she had these thoughts.

“Sweet dreams, Jason,” she whispered, then kissed him on the forehead. She laid the blanket over him, light as a breeze, then headed for the room where William, Matthew, and Debbie were sleeping.

The transformation of the Beholder was about to take place. She sensed it approaching and knew it would happen soon. It should have been such an incredible event, a moment in time they could all celebrate. But Pariah had given them only twenty-three hours. He had set his evil mind on searching for the remaining Pillars protecting the Beholder.

She would take William, Matt, and Debbie away from Jason, she decided. That was the only way to guarantee their safety when the transformation happened. If it got out of control with them nearby, it might even kill one of them. But she’d have to hurry. The game had already begun, and she would have to comply with the rules.

If she wanted revenge, she would have to be cruel.

Her expression was hard when she saw it in the full-length mirror, her mouth tight with purpose. “It’s too late for revenge,” she whispered. “I’m already dead.”

Chapter 32

Pariah strode along the dark street, followed by three cloaked shapes. They seemed in a hurry, and when Pariah tilted his head towards a small opening between the buildings, the cloaked trio moved synchronically ahead of their leader, disappearing in the murk. Pariah followed. A flash of light filled the darkness with blood red, and Pariah turned down an empty street, striding soundlessly towards a lone, inconspicuous house.

The door opened silently at the first shadow’s touch, and the others followed him into a dark antechamber, then a spacious living room. The red cast of the air around them switched all at once to black, lit only by a faraway flash of lightning.

Pariah stopped and glared at the three, his expression twisted with fury. “Why did you bring us here?” he snarled.

Darkness hid the trio’s faces, then one cautiously stepped closer to their leader and another flash of lightning lit the pale white skin. “We caught another one. At least …” He held Pariah’s gaze while the other shadows shifted nervously behind him. “At least we hope we did. You’ll have to take a look.”

Pariah nodded, and the tension eased. “Good job, Damien.” His eyes narrowed. “I’ll need to make sure, but if it’s another fraud …” He stretched a hand towards Damien, and the two shadows behind him stepped towards the middle of the room.

“It wasn’t I who found him,” Damien said. “It was Catherine. She’ll get us there.”

Pariah’s nostrils flared with suspicion, then he nodded again. The four locked hands and the foundation of the house started rocking. Then they were in a small room, its cold, damp air clogging their lungs. Water dripped somewhere, its tireless drip drip drip the only sound in the stillness.

“Here,” Catherine said, leading them to another door.

As soon as they entered, the room raged in flames of bright silver, threatening to blind Pariah and drive him insane. He searched the cell for the source of the light and found it in the darkest corner. A frail form cowered, its terrified eyes glistening in the dark.

“It’s him,” Pariah said, allowing himself a smug smile. “It’s another Doomed One.”

In a second he had grabbed the man and squeezed the fragile throat with a vise-like fist. His victim struggled madly, gripping Pariah’s massive hand in a futile attempt to loosen the fingers, but within seconds the man’s arms hung lifelessly at his sides. Pariah tossed the body across the room like a broken toy, sending it crashing into the wall, its aura waning.

Dead, yes. But only human dead.

“Damien,” he said, turning to the group. “You know what to do now.”

Damien’s eyes lit with a kind of hunger as he crouched beside the body. He applied his hand to the Doomed One’s left shoulder, and his dead eyes opened. Damien’s hand burst into flames as it scorched a mark into yet another victim, and it wasn’t until his hand stopped burning with light that he retreated. In the prevailing dark of the cell, a DB seal glowed on the man’s left shoulder.

Pariah smiled. “Good,” he whispered. “There’s only one more soul we must take before we return.”

The trio watched him raise his hands to the ceiling, their expressions focused on the blinding red light Pariah emitted in spirals around him, their hungry rays licking the walls. The cell vanished, leaving them to whirl in a myriad of lights until they arrived in a room shimmering with blue light. In front of a mirror sat a young girl, combing her long, wavy hair, oblivious to their arrival.

Pariah’s mouth curved into a wide grin, and he stepped towards the girl, who looked up with alarm. She clutched the comb, holding it tight against her body, as if she were afraid the man before her would take it.

“You are the next,” Pariah muttered, and the girl’s mouth opened into a small “O”.

She raised her bluebell eyes to meet Pariah’s satisfied smile, then began to cry, blood seeping from her eyes and flowing in a thick stream down her cheeks. Her cries changed to screams as bone-deep cuts began to appear all over her body, slicing of their own accord.

***

The vision stopped, leaving Jason’s mind in disarray. He stood on top of a skyscraper, his black cloak flapping as the gale caught its edges. Darkness hung low over the city, rumbling with thunder while forks of lightning pierced the heavens like jagged teeth. He surveyed the blackness below, feeling a hypnotic pull as it shivered, snatched at his life. Its pulse pounded inside of him, beating in perfect syncopation with the thudding of his own heart.

A crushing pain lodged in his throat, as if a slipknot had coiled around his neck and pulled tight, strangling him. The pain intensified, cutting off his breath, bringing stars to his vision, and he jerked his hands to ward off the attack.

There was nothing there.

The pain persisted, reluctant to let go. His breathing ragged, Jason staggered back from the edge, but it was too much. In agony, he paced to the edge of the roof, then plummeted into the abyss.

Chapter 33

Jason awoke, and every cell of his body tingled. It was impossible to tell whether it was day or night, since any sunlight had been swallowed up by a massive black storm cloud.

They have killed again, he thought, his brain working slowly through the throbbing pain in his temples. Only one victim left. The game, as Pariah had called it, had begun.

Jason untangled himself from the blanket and got up, feeling weak. He grabbed for Emily’s armchair to catch his balance, and noticed it was empty. He had to tell her what he’d seen. She’d know what to do. He stepped away, but the air in the room seemed to have been sucked out, and he couldn’t catch his breath.

“Emily!” he tried to scream, but only a hoarse whisper escaped his parched lips.

He staggered closer to the door, then stumbled across the room. Weak and dizzy, he tripped halfway across and ended up crawling to the chamber where he’d left Matt, Debbie, and William. He shoved the doors open, and saw to his horror that the chamber was empty.

“Emily?” he called. “Matt! Debbie! William! Emily!”

No one answered.

Then something exploded inside him and spread like wildfire through his body. That was the moment when he first saw fine silver lines floating in the air around him, appearing without anyone else’s influence. The strong silver light grew, filling the chamber, flooding the floor, the furniture, the ceiling … even traveling beyond.

It was the beginning. He closed his eyes and became aware of tiny bits of truth reaching out to him, flooding through channels unknown—or at least unknown by any ordinary person.

They could only be seen by a Sighted One.

Chapter 34

Jason opened his eyes when he heard the noise.

His neck was trapped in a cold vise, and someone held him firmly around the waist. Any movement hurt like hell. But the most disturbing thing of all was looking straight ahead and seeing himself standing there. It seemed to be a perfect image of what Jason wished he could be, though the image’s expression looked stunned, the eyes disbelieving.

The pain from the grip around his neck began to dull, allowing Jason to move his head slightly. The room looked familiar, but it was littered by scattered splinters of plastic and glass, making it unrecognizable.

He gasped when he saw Matt sprawled on the floor, and the grip on his neck doubled. Then he heard Emily’s voice, as if she were two steps away on the right. He wanted to reach for her, hold her, but couldn’t move.

Then she started to speak. Her voice was cold and hard. Lifeless. “Come forth, Pariah,” she said, making the hair stand up all over Jason’s body. “Finish what you began centuries ago. Come and wreak havoc over the world.”

At first Jason thought he was mistaken. It couldn’t be her. It was an outrageous mistake. When the vise loosened again he turned his head and saw her face.

It was Emily.

But this Emily was a stranger to him, a graven image of the merciless Dark Ones. Her complexion was of someone who had been dead for a long time, so different from the vital Emily he knew. But what if … No.

He was struck by a thought that he didn’t know the real Emily, and he never had. The Emily he had known had been a lie from the start.

And if that were true, then how could he possibly know who the Jason standing in front of him really was? It was surreal: being apart from his body, yet so close. Then again, it wasn’t all that different from the sensation he’d had before, when he’d been inside another person and seen himself standing at the side. But he had no time to dwell on that now. During this terrible hour, that was the least important matter.

Why? Why would the Dark Ones need Debbie? He remembered Damien glaring intently at her when he’d been trying to take one of their trio, after Emily and Tyler had killed one of the attackers. She meant something to him, but what?

The vise that held his neck tightened again, and Jason heard a low chuckle behind him. He suddenly knew it was Damien who held him there. The cold fingers slithered tighter and tighter around his neck, cutting off his air supply, and threatening to crack his spine.  Jason gave in to the pain and prayed for the dream to end.

His prayer was answered. Everything faded to black, and darkness enveloped him, but this time the darkness was made of cold water. He couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive, and toyed with the idea that perhaps he was somewhere in between. When he thought about it, he wasn’t all that afraid, only curious. It all seemed familiar for some reason. Not that he had seen it before, but … he had heard about it. Heard it from her.

He was going under, swirling through the darkness to a world where there was no pain.

***

Jason opened his eyes to a new world. His eyes, his skin, his mind, his soul—all of it reached out to touch the pulsing new reality that had seemed so unreal to him before. It couldn’t be a dream. What he saw was a hundred times clearer than what he’d seen in his fusions with Emily.

It wasn’t madness, either—though what an appealing form of madness it would be! Thin threads of light blue, red, and yellow swirled around him, filling his world with Energy. He became aware of a pillar of bright light, far more intense than the colorful threads, and realized it was his own aura—the aura of the Beholder.

Jason didn’t move, though everything around him did. He was painfully aware he had no control over what was happening and was afraid any movement might cause something terrible to happen. The outlines of the chamber became more clear as his Sight grew, and though it was still unstable it expanded steadily until he could see much farther beyond the chamber. Energy vibrated wildly around him, as if adjusting to the disruption he had caused by finally turning into the Beholder. Curious, he concentrated his thoughts on a particular person and endeavored to harness his new power.

Tyler.

Using his Sight, Jason started scanning the world for signs of Tyler. When those signs appeared, the sensation felt as natural as if he’d seen his friend in the flesh. He was far north and speeding towards him. As he stared into the distance, Jason could see and feel Tyler’s lightning-like approach. Now he found he could slow down the vision of Tyler’s crossing the ocean in several seconds, and see him from this chamber.

Jason took a step closer to the exit, and the world started vibrating. Still nervous, he moved cautiously, smiling to himself.

Adjusting to this reality will take time, he thought.

To make sure he still could, Jason let himself return to his normal reality, hoping to get a little breather from his wild adventure. But the world to which he returned was a withered black-and-white picture, as entering the Sight had been like entering a magical world.

A picture flickered before his eyes: Matt lying motionless, Emily saying words that chilled his soul … and he entered the Sight again, sending a clear message to Tyler so he understood where he needed to go. Tyler’s eyes widened, then he abruptly changed his route.

“Message delivered,” Jason said quietly, smiling at his achievement.

He needed to return to the place where his story had begun. Seconds counted, even though he now knew how to make time slow down.

“Just believe you can do it. Believe that it’s possible,” she had said.

But even with everything I can do now, I might be too late. The Prophecy returned, clear as the words she’d originally shared, her small hand quivering over a hungry flame.

Death’s scythe, hanging over him,

Will not forget to slash at the crack of dawn.

Everything would be finished before the crack of dawn.

Jason scanned the room, remembering that he and Emily had originally entered the chamber through a door that led to a mysterious blackness. The Sight now provided him with the answer to that mystery. The blackness behind the door became a circle of swirling silver threads. That must be the entrance, Jason thought, stepping cautiously towards the silver light. As he did, the threads started to move faster, as though they were aware of his presence.

When he held out one hand, his fingers trembled, and a thrill shot through him. I understand this. I am a part of this. I am of this world.

“There are different kinds of Energy, live and dead.” Emily’s voice filled his head.

Why had she even bothered to tell him all this?

Holding his breath for courage, he reached forward and stroked the threads tentatively, and they gave him their warmth, tickling the tips of his fingers. His hand edged farther in, and Energy Threads sprung alive at the Beholder’s touch, welcoming him. Swallowing back his fears, he dove through, and found himself back in the dusty old room with overloaded shelves piled high with boxes. Jason was walking along the wide aisle, studying the rows, when he noticed the distances between the rows becoming shorter. As he sped up his steps, the rows started screeching, sliding closer together.

“Damn!” Jason exclaimed, thinking hard.

Emily had touched one of the boxes to transport them to the castle. But there were thousands of them, all alike. How could he possibly tell the difference? He grabbed one of the boxes at random, then realized he was still in the same room, holding a dusty box in his hand. What did that mean?

The distance between the aisles continued to shrink, and Jason realized the only way out was through the velvet vestibule with the candlelit archways. Still pulsing with the Sight, he broke into a run, scanning the shelves as he went. The door loomed at the end of the room—an ominous red, nothing like the dancing silver threads in the chamber. When he saw the red and put the facts together, he realized it made sense that the shelves were toppling towards him. Someone had blocked the entrance, wanting Jason to stay trapped forever.

Just as the shelves were about to crash, Jason reached the end of the aisle and stopped in front of the door. The red threads started hissing venomously when he reached his hand towards them, and he took it as a test for the Beholder. It was a laughable attempt to stop him, considering the force he had become. With confidence, he pressed his hands against the door, and it started to decompose, the threads sizzling at Jason’s touch. When it had weakened, he wrenched at the enfeebled bundle of threads and smashed the door with his fist, turning the obstacle into tiny fragments of useless wood.

The threshold shimmered with the symbols he had seen before. But now the incomprehensible words from before were a clear legend stretching the length of the corridor.

Never re-enter me if your designs are ill.

Never use the samples if you want them to serve you.

If your thoughts are ill, they will destroy you.

Interesting, but hardly a compelling reason for Jason to stop. The corridor had been treacherous before, and he wasn’t sure how it would behave now, but he had no time to weigh his options.

In the Sight, the velvet corridor looked different, more hypnotizing. Thin trails blurred through the space, apparently having been left by him and the others several hours before. Their edges were visible but indistinct, like fog dispersing without a breeze. The corridor was not unfriendly, but he knew it was too dangerous to step behind the veils. He also knew there was no time to find out what was behind the archways. Darkness stirred its tendrils towards Jason, and the light flickered in a warm breeze.

The wind, he surmised, is created by my presence.

He took a deep breath, then bolted through the corridor, shooting past with lithe, calculated movements. With every step he concentrated on each separate arch, collecting the contents of the dark spaces with his hyperactive mind. As he gathered the Energy from the vials, huge amounts of new Energy were released, setting off explosions in his wake. Exalted, reveling in the power that coursed through him, Jason ran faster, becoming more invincible with every step.

Finally the partition he’d waited for appeared on his left. The reflection of Jason’s dead self approached, its clammy hand extended to grab him, but Jason roared past, smashing the apparition with his fist without even looking. The slimy reflection couldn’t stand up to the force and shattered like a fragile glass statue. With that fear destroyed, crumbled into a pile of ash and dust, Jason lunged towards the exit.

Having collected all the samples of Energy along the way, it took no effort at all for Jason to open the entrance door, then seal it so all the raging Energy still inside the corridor couldn’t break loose. The door closed just in time, and Jason found himself in the vestibule overlapping the kitchen of McAlester’s. Leaning towards the door, he spotted more symbols shining at him.

There is no pure good, and no pure evil.

You may find unexpected things in places where you would never expect.

Emily had read those lines, understood their meaning so well, then had moved on without a drop of remorse. How could she do this to all of us?

At the end of the velvet room a tiny sphere of Energy revolved slowly in mid-air. When he approached, the lightning ball shook and hissed, and Jason followed the urge to ask the thing to return him to the place he had known as the ordinary world. The vestibule vanished, and the empty kitchen came in sight. He made way for the door, stepped out of the empty building, then set eyes on a New York he had never seen before.

That was when he actually understood what it meant to be a Sighted. Before the Sight had come to him, his mind had concerned itself with small objects. Now his attention was riveted on the whole city, like a blast wave after a nuclear explosion as it sprawled and covered everything. It was amazing, standing still and letting his Sight wander, penetrating all physical obstacles and seeing farther than he ever had before. His gaze traveled through skyscrapers and saw through the murkiest corners of the Big Apple.

A few people wandered the streets, leaving barely visible Energy Trails, and he sensed the frozen auras of the Unsighted. He also sensed the wicked charges of dark Energy, seething and sinister, creeping through the streets at will. For the first time in his life Jason realized evil wasn’t just a word, but matter, strong and repulsive.

Densely concentrated amounts of evil announced the presence of the Legates and Mindbroken. That’s how they found me, he thought. I’m as repulsive to them as they are to me. Now they awaited him, perched expectantly by the hundreds on the ground, on buildings, seemingly everywhere.

The motorcycle stood where Jason had left it, near Debbie’s parked car. With everything else going on, Jason had completely forgotten about the vehicles, but now Emily’s words came back to him through the haze.

Right now it’s safer to ride a bike than fly, and you’ll need it again pretty soon anyway.

Why could he hear her so clearly? How did he remember the messages she had given in haste so long before? He couldn’t trace her with his Sight, yet her voice permeated his mind as if she were helping him. The vision of her, encouraging Pariah, her voice cold and commanding, kept coming back, sending a shudder through him. Why would she bother to help him? It made no sense. Using the Sight, he tried harder to find her, but it was as if she had simply disappeared. The same applied to Matt and Debbie.

He couldn’t wait any longer. From what she’d said, she thought he’d need the bike … but did he? With the force he now had at his disposal, Jason could easily travel without the Honda. But the Energy Threads led him to the bike, and he saw it in a new light. The chrome sparkled with rainbows of colors, and the fireball pattern on the gas tank burned with crimson flames against the black shining surface. The leather seat was inviting, and the wheels called for adventure. Yes, he would take one last ride.

The other reality spilled into Jason’s mind from all directions, bringing the world into a whole new focus. Emily’s Aurora Borealis reflected in his blue eyes when he looked up, and he wondered again: why would she have created this? If he had seen his most recent dream right, why would an aura this breathtaking now hover over New York? Someone with so much treacherous evil in her couldn’t have done it, couldn’t have created such pure beauty … or could they?

Maybe, just maybe, he had seen the dream wrong. Could it have been a horrible misunderstanding?

He mounted the Honda, bolstered by a presence he sensed coming from beyond the boundaries of the city. It warmed his insides, and he realized it came from the Energy of Light. William had said there were Lightsighted out there, too, and now mellow rays rolled with Energy, like mirrors directed at the sun and reflecting its radiance. Jason took more strength from knowing he wasn’t alone. Dozens of them existed, and their light was beautiful to behold.

The Light auras sighed, telling Jason they were in the process of something, and after a few moments of concentration Jason saw they were creating a subconscious whispering, calling for the Unsighted to leave the city. They were removing regular people from New York, encouraging all innocents to leave before the impending battle.

Jason started up the engine and rushed towards the truth.

Chapter 35

Large drops heralded the beginning of rain. Hardly a surprise, Jason thought. It had been raining forever, it seemed. But in the Sight even the rain looked beautiful. Drops fell from the sky in thin, golden threads, each one carrying minute charges of Energy. When they landed, tiny sparks of colors bounced into the air.

The jigsaw puzzle was coming together, yet some pieces still hadn’t fallen into place no matter how hard he tried to squeeze them into the picture. He had to discover what was missing, or at least why these pieces had incompatible contours. Before this moment, all he had wished was that the fusions would stop. Now he was about to make some of them real.

The roof, the rain, the skyscraper, and the abyss below. Was Pariah there, waiting for him? The astonishing intensity of his dream throbbed in his veins even now, pushing him forward. The Energy yearned for battle, filling him with a need to get onto the roof and seek out the one who wished him dead.

Dream and reality were about to become one and the same.

Jason wrenched at the handgrip, accelerating hard, and the back wheel screeched. As he roared down what Mr. McAlester had called the Guarded Road, a dark, hungry presence closed in around him, ahead and on both sides. Hunters lurked everywhere, no longer heeding any rules. The farther he rode into the midst of them, the more his insides rolled with revulsion. He hoped they felt the same way about him. The Sight helped him see where each particular hunter was located, and he watched every move. Clenching the accelerator, he sped faster still, advancing on a small group ahead. The hunters, standing close to each other, formed a barricade, but Jason never stopped. Blood pounded in his temples as he slowed time, triggering the act just before ramming into the throng of Dark Ones. With all the force he could muster he scattered them, and the ones closer to the epicenter of Jason’s blow were crushed like hard clay. The others writhed and hissed in agony, like snakes. A part of his mind and peripheral vision registered the hunters catching fire. But he felt nothing. As he collided with the small army, he was joined by a dozen or so Lightsighted, who appeared out of thin air to fight alongside him.

With the rampart destroyed, Jason braked sharply and turned the Honda to face the party who had helped him. They stood in a circle close by, and while most of them watched the hunters swirl above them, the tallest—a blond man with broad shoulders—stared in awe at Jason.

“So it’s true!” he exclaimed. “The Beholder has come!”

Jason regarded the group, a million questions racing through his mind. He grabbed the nearest of them. “Who are you?”

“I’m Dave,” the man said, and when he met Jason’s gaze his eyes reflected the red auras floating above. He stretched out his hands. “These are my companions. We came to take New Yorkers away from them.” He gave Jason a wide smile. “We felt your Energy, but we had to make sure it was really you.”

A nearby building exploded as it was attacked by another group of hunters.

“You have to go,” Dave screamed through the roar. “We’ll hold them back.”

Jason didn’t have to be told twice. He gripped the handgrips and made a U-turn on the spot, then sped into the rapidly worsening storm. Warm rain pelted his face while lightning flashed, exposing the world, but Jason never hesitated, only sped towards his final destination.

If he could trick time and space—and he had just proven he could by rushing the hunters—maybe physical laws could be nullified. The idea appealed. The skyline was getting higher, the tall downtown buildings looming closer with every second, and Jason stared up, wondering how he could get on top of it. In the Sight I can do anything, he assured himself.

When he arrived in the familiar area of the Evelyn & Laurens building, he scanned the area, expecting to find more Darksighted, but there was no one in the vicinity. He looked back up at the roof, shielding his face from the driving rain.

He needed to focus, to figure out how to break the laws of gravity. He slowed, then set his feet on the pavement on either side of the Honda, letting it purr quietly as he thought about what to do. Jason stared at the skyscrapers, waiting for something, some idea to come to him. What was the clue? How could he get on the roof?

Ask the Energy, he heard.

It was all Jason had, so he needed to make the most of it. He wrenched at the handgrip, and the back wheel began to smoke. Energy Threads streamed out of Jason and glued to the ground, holding him steady. He released the motorcycle’s handlebars, and the front wheel rose in the air. As he approached the wall, the Energy Threads clung to both him and the motorcycle, moving both upwards. Gravity shifted with a jolt around Jason as he moved along the wall, now traveling rapidly towards the roof. The edge came closer, and when the lines of the building ended, Jason plummeted downwards. He panicked, unsure of how to change gravity back, but when he closed his eyes in concentration the Energy pulled him back to the rooftop. The wheels of the motorcycle crashed against the hard surface, and Jason braked sharply, coming to a halt right before the brink.

Here it was: the vision he had seen not long ago, when he had been with Pariah on top of this building. But there was no one here now except him.

New York glowed with the lights of the Sighted battle, surges of silver Energy crossing over and under layers of blood red in an incredible display. To the west, Jason saw more of his own dragging the citizens of New York away from danger, the mass of people shimmering with auras which were dim in comparison to the ones they couldn’t see.

Jason came out of the Sight, and the vision of the galaxy vanished, instantly fading to black. The world became more harsh, the weight of the motorcycle heavier.

With a sickening lurch, he realized it hadn’t been Pariah in his last vision. It had been him alone, in battle with himself. Jason, the Beholder.

With a sudden decisive movement, Jason pushed the Honda forward to the edge and over. He watched it fall, rolling over and over into the abyss, until it merged with the dark. With all his new strengths, he knew he didn’t need it anymore, but the machine would provide one final use.

Amidst the turmoil of everything around him, Jason stood on the skyscraper roof, feeling as insignificant as a speck of dust, rain trickling in tiny rivers down his face. Through Unsighted eyes he studied New York, as if to imprint its beauty onto his soul. The city was enveloped in a pall of darkness, interrupted only by tortuous forks of lightning scarring the inky canvas of the night sky. Beneath him, the abyss beckoned, sending a hypnotic pulsation that coincided with the pounding of his heart.

Pain burned in his throat, as if something invisible and unpleasant coiled up around his neck, but when he jerked his hand to check, there was nothing there.

He couldn’t wait any longer. It might already be too late. He took a step forward and leaped into the dark, engaging his Sight as he fell. With a thought he slowed—then stopped time, though he continued to plunge downwards. A web of Energy Threads spread its tendrils all around him, and he reached for the Honda, frozen far below him at what he estimated to be the twenty-fourth floor. Thrusting his right hand down, he let out a stream of destructive energy that reached the Honda, followed by a deafening explosion. The blast blinded those waiting for him, earning him an important couple of seconds.

A strange thought crept into Jason’s mind: he couldn’t feel anyone’s presence within the building. It was like a capsule sheltering the interior from his gaze. But the Energy pushed him to keep doing what he was doing.

Jason returned time to normal, and it ticked again at its regular pace. He fell faster and faster until his left hand created an Energy that drew and bound him to the wall of the building, slowing his speed. The Energy yanked at the building, making the wall snap and crumble, and pieces poured down—along with Jason—creating a violent hail and leaving a luminescent trail in his wake, like that of a comet.

Jason started counting down.

The 30th floor …

27th …

25th …

Releasing the crumbling wall, Jason leaped into the blinding light of the E&L office building.

Chapter 36

Jason hadn’t expected an immediate confrontation. He had planned for the Honda’s explosion to throw them off guard, but it hadn’t. Instead, a flash of malevolent light flew in his direction. Without thinking, he blocked it, and the blinding light died.

But the attack left him doubting his newly acquired sense of invincibility. Drained, Jason came out of the Sight, then looked across the office and discovered the deadly wave had been sent by Damien. Not only that, but the Dark One now gripped Debbie’s throat with his hand. Though her eyes were almost closed, her mouth showing no expression, he knew she was still alive … just sleeping somehow.

Jason tried to reenter the Sight, needing to equalize himself with Damien’s powers, but nothing happened. The world continued in its usual drab, normal condition.

Get a grip, everything’s fine, he told himself, hoping it was just a lag in his Energy and he’d soon regain it, but try as he might, there was no improvement.

The office was a disaster, evidence of the building’s recent run-in with the Dark Ones. Paper, lamps, furniture … everything was scattered and covered by a thick layer of dust. Jason knew where their desks used to be, but now there wasn’t one piece of undamaged furniture in sight.

As he’d seen before, Matt lay on the floor a few paces away. His face was pale, and his twisted frame seemed too still for a living person. Jason gritted his teeth, trying to resist the urge to run towards Matt, because Damien and Catherine stood by his body, smug satisfaction on their faces. And the one he most feared to see, the one who had tricked him so skillfully, stood behind them.

Emily.

Damien’s hand coiled around Debbie’s neck, her face pale as the moon. She wouldn’t be able to resist his grip long; Jason needed to come up with something quickly.

He looked at Emily, shocked at the changes he saw in her beautiful face. Blue circles under her eyes seemed so out of place, and her skin was so pale she looked ashen. For the first time since they’d met, she looked haggard. He stared at her, pleading for her to make a sign—at least to wink or something, to let him know this was a trick and she had it all under control. But the amber eyes he’d loved had gone hollow, offered him no light.

If it had been possible, he would have pitied her, but this was not the time for comfort or sympathy for traitors. Suddenly sure of what she’d done, he realized he wanted her to feel the pain, the soul-splitting, agonizing pain he had endured during the last three and a half weeks. In that moment of hate, he thought that if he were able to enter the Sight, he would have turned them all to ashes and dust.

Behind Damien, Catherine, and Emily waited their imposing servants. Tall, broad-shouldered men stood alongside rough-looking women with tousled hair, all wearing scowls of distaste. No one moved. No one had uttered a word since his appearance.

Jason felt reality once again weighing him down with its stale pressure.

“De-Energization. No entrance into the Sight for a while,” came a dead voice, ripping the silence. Jason’s eyes went directly to the speaker: Emily, her voice faintly familiar, yet distorted.

From the look on Damien’s face, he wasn’t pleased about that at all. “Fine,” he growled. “We’ll wait. Besides, there are some things my friend Jason and I can talk about while we wait,” he said, using his other hand to grab Debbie even tighter around her waist. From what Jason could see, Debbie’s eyes were dull, her head lolled against the fist at her throat. In contrast, Damien looked complacent, triumph twisted on his face. Jason desired to crush the loathsome creature’s skull.

“Oh really? Like what?” Jason asked, trying to sound bored.

“Don’t you want to listen to the real story of what happened? How you got tricked so easily?” He shrugged lightly. “Unfortunately, it’s not as funny as I’d expected it would be.”

“The real story?” Jason asked, confused.

He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to know what Damien meant, but if he was going to hear it, he’d like to find out the truth from Emily. And he wanted to look her in the eyes while she told him.

As if he read Jason’s mind, Damien turned to Emily. “Will you tell him, or shall I?”

Jason waited, but no one moved in the crowd. He wrestled with the truth, feeling overwhelmed by a violent gagging sensation and unable to find air. He was suffocating, the sensation uncomfortably familiar. It was the same fear he had experienced when his own slimy reflection from the dark passage had reached out and pulled his face towards itself. Jason burst out in icy beads of perspiration and steeled himself for what he knew was coming next.

Do you feel it? Do you feel the pain?

He did. His sickening reflection reached inside and sliced at his organs, burned his tissues with acid, drained him of blood. He’d felt it all before, too many times.

It will all be yours. It will be the essence of your existence. And you’ll like it. You’ll become pain. You’ll become me. His own voice filled his head with exultant whispering, impossible to escape.

So it was the end. One second he’d had hope, in the next it was eradicated from his mind.

Damien smiled triumphantly. Emily was silent.

How? How could she? How was it possible?

Damien grinned. “How is it possible, you ask? It’s not all that difficult, actually. Roger and Rebecca Ethans knew way too much about us and our plans, as did Emily’s grandfather. Pariah wanted them dead.”

Emily didn’t move.

“An unfortunate car crash took care of that problem,” Damien went on, and Jason’s attention was drawn by the sudden hardening in Emily’s eyes. Eyes which were no longer an intoxicating shade of amber, but a pure, bottomless black. “No one got suspicious. Car crashes occur rather often, don’t they? We killed all the Ethans at once—except Emily.

“Pariah wanted her under control when she became Sighted, because her Energy was enormous and her talent undisputed. She could have become the darkest Sighted ever.” Anger flared in his narrowed eyes. “We had her for a while, but Emily had been born to the Lightsighted and it took a while before she returned. And when she did,” he said, a slow smile returning to his features, “she brought with her some precious secrets and was happy to share.”

Jason tried to remain calm on the outside, but rage, blind and fierce, was building in his aching chest.

“You killed the Ethans. All right. Why did you kill the other people?” he asked. “The Doomed Ones?”

“Oh, Jason. Sometimes I forget this is all so new to you.” He smiled complacently, as if Jason were just a little boy. “That was because of the Prophecy,” he said. “Emily’s Prophecy. It was so powerful that violent waves of Energy were released into the world. There they turned to vortices which hovered over the planet for a while, seeking refuge in people’s souls. Only one vortex belonged to the Beholder. Only one contained real power. The other eleven were exact copies protecting it. And only one really knew about it, because she was Sighted. That was Emily.”

Damien turned Debbie towards him and lifted her into the air by her neck. Debbie’s eyes bulged, but she still seemed unaware. “One of the vortices settled in Emily,” Damien explained, “and another in your girlfriend here.

“Of course we attempted to annihilate you first, but it didn’t work out. The Prophecy gave us some hints to work with: especially auras. So we knew we had to get rid of those protecting you. That’s when we started to track the others.” Damien was clearly enjoying this prelude to their fight.

“I saw Emily in a dream,” Jason said through gritted teeth. “Through Pariah’s eyes.”

“What are you talking about?” Damien raised his eyebrows, and his smile changed to a look of bewilderment. Jason liked the way the expression looked on him. “He blocked himself from you.”

“Pariah is a coward,” Jason hissed.

He shot a furious glance at Emily, who still avoided his gaze. How could you betray us?

“Why didn’t you include Emily in your riddle?” Jason asked. “You’ve obviously killed the spirit she was.”

Damien frowned. “Riddle?”

“With the country names of the Doomed Ones you murdered.”

Light dawned in Damien’s eyes, and his smile returned. “Oh, the ‘Fear me Jason’ riddle. That was Pariah’s idea. You and your friends were getting on his nerves, so we decided to use them to our advantage.” He grinned at Debbie’s beautiful, oblivious face. “It was I who showed your lovely friend the articles with the news of people disappearing. Otherwise she wouldn’t have got them.” He glanced at Matt’s still body. “It was I who made him come up with ideas he never would have thought of by himself.”

Jason was getting fed up with his inability to do anything. He was tired of standing still, listening, waiting. His muscles burned, screaming for release. At least Damien’s revelations postponed the key moment during which he would be all alone.

“Once we’re able to come into the Sight again, we’ll finish you and your friends.” The Dark One promised. “And we will rise to an inconceivable power.”

Jason had to keep Damien talking, keep soaking in the answers to all his questions.

“Tyler is Sighted,” Jason said, tilting his head towards Emily. “Why didn’t he see she was a traitor?”

Emily raised her lifeless eyes and gazed sadly into his. Damien didn’t seem to notice the movement. “Guess he’s not as strong as he thinks he is.”

Again the smug smile, the evil lust for victory crackling in his eyes. Damien’s complacency and pride were so excessive it was impossible for Jason not to hate him.

The air around Jason quivered, like electricity flickering before it returned. It was time for the questions to end. Only one remained.

Jason turned to Emily, letting her see the hatred and pain in his eyes. “How could you betray us?”

Jason craved blackness and oblivion. He closed his eyes, and his mind filled with subtle patterns of lines and dots. These Energy lines and dots became Energy Traces, and he realized Energy Vision and the Sight had been restored. De-Energization had come to an end.

That was when he heard Damien’s voice, speaking in the Sight, “Emily, summon him.”

Jason opened his eyes and watched Emily’s parched lips move, remembering a better time, when those lips had been warm against his, when they’d spoken of … love. But now they spoke of something completely different. “Come forth, Pariah. Finish what you began centuries ago. Come and wreak havoc over the world.”

Her voice was chilling, but something worse slithered from behind her. Black vapors of smoke, sinewy as a snake, fluid as water, wound around Emily and Damien, then materialized in front of Jason, revealing the true form of Pariah.

He appeared to be older than all the others combined, and the sheer evil of his expression ran worlds deeper. His pitch black eyes bore neither pupils nor whites but shone with twin coronas of white light resembling lunar eclipses. They bored into Jason as if trying to hypnotize him, read all his thoughts, but Jason felt no fear.

Pariah thrust two lashes in Jason’s direction, but at that moment two Sighted flew into the office at blinding speed.

Tyler and William! Excellent timing, Jason thought.

Pariah screamed to Damien, “Finish the girl!”

Dodging the lashes, Jason lunged towards Damien, striking the Darksighted’s right temple with all the force he had. Damien let go of Debbie’s heavily bruised neck, and she tumbled to the ground in a lump. Then Damien was gone, and all the Legates turned into whirling smoke as Jason had seen them in fusions, and he rushed onto them.

Tyler sent a bright ray of light into Emily and she stumbled back, looking too weak to defend herself. William sent a wave towards the first four ominous sentinels behind Pariah, then went after the others. Jason was fascinated to see that when McAlester’s Energy reached the hunters, the blackness swirling around them vanished. The smoke had evidently been their protection, and without it, the hunters were vulnerable. Jason helped William finish the foursome by sending Énergie Morte into them, then he moved Debbie and Matt as far away from the fight as possible.

Pariah’s lashes were the most dangerous threat. Jason studied the creature’s movements, watched how the relentless tendrils danced around him. Grabbing his one opportunity, Jason darted to Pariah and used an Energy wave to rip one of the lashes from its owner. In that moment everything was bleached with a flash of white, and Pariah screamed in both agony and rage. He whipped the remaining lash around him, and Jason had a hard time dodging a deadly charge of Energy as it rushed his way. He ducked to evade the lash, and it burned through the framework of the building, causing the entire place to shake violently. Dust rained down on them from the ceiling.

Jason had to act quickly, or else he and everyone else would be crushed under tons of concrete. He focused on the damage done, and his Energy went to work, weaving Threads around the ruined walls and welding them back together.

Tyler was battling one of the Legates who was blocking his numerous Energy strikes. Obviously frustrated, Tyler sent fiercer and fiercer blows, culminating in the most power Energy wave he could muster, and the Legate conjured up a reflecting shield to deflect it. The wave bounced off, but Tyler managed to escape the mortal light. Instead, it struck another one of the Legates in the back, and the reflected wave of deadly energy welded with William’s.

Both fell instantly to the ground, lifeless.

“No!” Tyler and Jason screamed together, and just as Jason turned towards William’s prone body, he saw Emily approach Tyler from behind. There was nothing Jason could do as his friend collapsed, drained of life.

The room was quiet for a moment, as if it took a breath after so many sudden, shocking tragedies. Jason stepped backwards and looked around, devastated by the sight of Matt, Debbie, William, and Tyler, all lying motionless and covered in dust among the debris of the office, together with the bodies of dead Legates.

The Beholder’s mission had been a complete failure.

Death’s scythe hanging over him

Will not forget to slash at the crack of dawn,

When the Energy demands for the Librium to restore.

The words were about to come true, and in a horrible, grief-stricken thought, Jason wished Pariah would just finish him, the quicker the better. The next treachery, he was sure, would come from Emily. He was ready for that.

But he was not ready for what happened instead.

Pariah’s remaining lash sliced through the air, aimed directly at him. It was too fast.

But in the moment that Pariah’s attention was focused on Jason, Emily was there, her gaunt face flushed and furious, amber eyes alight with vengeance. She flew at Pariah, hurling a great white light at him, and throwing him back against the wall as if he weighed no more than a rubber ball. His expression was incredulous, black eyes wide with surprise, and though his mouth moved, no sound came out while he fought to catch his breath.

“You killed my parents,” Emily hissed, looming over him like an avenging angel, the silver air around her crackling with Energy. “You killed my grandfather, a good man who never hurt a soul. You dragged me through your dark world, and you showed me your fear: that the Beholder would come and replace you. Well, I have brought you the Beholder as you asked.” Her voice dropped lower, until it sounded almost like a growl, and Jason wondered if he’d ever really known her at all. “But you made a very grave error, Pariah. You were too shortsighted. You underestimated me.”

A stream of lethal silver light jolted from her hands, but Pariah wasn’t as stunned as he appeared. The lash whipped up again, licking the left side of Emily’s neck. And yet, though the burn ripped into Emily’s throat, pain tore through Jason, as if lightning had cleft his neck in two. Helpless, he watched Pariah fling her lifeless body out the window, watched those slender, graceful hands fly wide apart like a star, her long tangles of dark hair tangle over her ashen face.

Then she was gone. Not even her aura remained. Jason searched, but couldn’t trace her in any direction. It was as if she’d been nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

“Now only you and I are left.”

Pariah’s voice echoed through the room, dark and loathsome. What he said was true: no one remained but them. Good and Evil. Light and Dark. One would soon be dead.

“Let’s finish it,” Jason said, and took the first step.

He stepped past his friends, past the people he loved, past the window where his brave, beautiful Emily had been tossed, and his emotions overwhelmed his sanity. Pariah will regret he ever met the Beholder, Jason promised himself, then fought for everyone he’d loved and lost. He lunged forward, his first strike smashing into Pariah’s chest. Air ripped out of the creature and Jason’s second strike hammered against its skull. The Evil One withdrew, suffering from the blows.

“You will pay for everything,” Jason promised, his voice a low promise.

Panic flickered in Pariah’s eyes, then suddenly he vanished. Jason’s Sight showed the monster falling to the lower floors, going through the floors. Jason, seething with hate, followed suit.

Reality was an illusion, and Jason had to bring it under control. His heart raced as he went after Pariah, but now Jason was faster, in his element again. He finally understood that there was no one stronger or quicker in the whole world. No one’s Energy shone brighter.

As they fell, Jason recalled the samples in his pocket, the emotions he had gathered from the corridor earlier that day, and knew it was time to make use of at least one. He ripped the sample of Fear from within and threw it at the dark figure of Pariah. The monster howled, sounding terrified, then ran towards a window, clearly planning to leap.

Jason leaped forward and grabbed Pariah before he could jump. Using everything he had, he smashed the Evil One until he could feel Pariah losing his spirit and strength, until he no longer blocked Jason’s blows. Then Jason’s last punch went amiss, grazing Pariah’s shoulder, shooting pain through Jason’s arm and hurling the two Sighted men apart. Both plummeted to the ground, squirming in agony.

Just before they hit the ground, Pariah vanished, and Jason slowed himself so he landed safely in a pool of water, though pain still sliced the knuckles of his fist.

He didn’t move. He wished he’d never have to move again. Pariah was gone, and the fight was over for now. But he couldn’t stay here. He had one more task to perform. In spite of the pain, Jason got up and rushed back to Floor 24.

Chapter 37

Jason reached what was left of his office and let go of the Sight, then immediately regretted it as the shattering pain of reality returned. His neck burned, his hand throbbed as if huge nails had been hammered into his flesh. But his physical pains were nothing compared to the fear of finding his friends dead.

Their bodies lay sprawled around the room, and Jason knelt by the closest one. William McAlester lay perfectly still, bewilderment frozen forever in his wide open eyes.

“I’m so sorry, William,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.” Very gently he pressed his fingers on his old friend’s eyelids, then closed the dead eyes out of respect. He pressed those same fingers against his own closed eyes, trying not to let tears out.

A sound caught his attention, and hope fluttered in Jason’s heart. It came from the center of the room, from where Matt lay. Jason ran to Matt’s side, incredulous.

“Matt! Are you all right? Say something, buddy!”

Matt groaned again, then very slowly shook his head. “I think I’d rather be dead right now. God, I feel awful. Is it over?” he managed.

“Yes, for now,” Jason muttered. “Don’t move.”

Jason took a few steps in Debbie’s direction and carefully turned her onto her back. Her fragile hand felt cold, but when he pressed, the vein in her wrist responded with a light pounding, though Jason feared it was too shallow and erratic. A glint of gold distracted him, and he scooped up the necklace he and Matt had given her for her birthday, then closed his fingers tight over it.

“I believe in you,” he whispered into her ear. “And I’m not gonna let you get away from me and Matt this easily, no matter how annoying we are. You’re going to have to put up with us for years.”

He entered the Sight, and her aura flared, identical to his own. It vibrated unsteadily in a light blue, clinging to her body. Jason looked past it, seeing her inner organs, witnessing the beating of her heart and blood coursing through her veins. Though it had been invisible in the ordinary world, Jason could now see that her neck had been badly damaged by Damien’s grip. Dark Energy still wrapped around Debbie’s throat, squeezing, smothering her.

Jason set his hand against her injured neck, then concentrated on removing all the malignant energy. When he had extracted it all, Jason tore his palm off Debbie’s skin and clenched an iron fist, crushing the particles of evil Energy with all his might. Debbie gasped and coughed, though the sound she made was pitiful. She pressed her hand to her stomach, in obvious pain with each cough. She groaned, and Jason was overjoyed to hear it.

“Jase, what—” Her words were cut off by more coughing, and tears rolled from her eyes.

“Be quiet for a while, Debbie. Everything’s all right.”

But it wasn’t. Not far from them lay Tyler, but Jason’s body shielded Debbie from the view. She caught his expression and narrowed her eyes.

“What is it? Where’s Matt?” she asked.

“Matt’s all right,” Jason assured her.

“Then—?” Debbie’s lips froze in question.

“Tyler is dead.” He lowered his gaze, still confused. Why would Emily have struck Tyler down? “She killed him.”

Debbie’s face paled even further, and she rolled so she could crawl to Tyler’s side. Tears streamed down her cheeks, cutting a trail through the dust on her skin, and when she reached him she lowered her face to his chest.

“Tyler, wake up!” she pleaded, swallowing a sob. “Please, Tyler. Don’t leave me!”

Jason moved to check Tyler’s pulse, but Debbie shoved him away. “Don’t touch him!” she screamed, then thumped Tyler’s chest as hard as she could. “Please, don’t go! Please!”

“Debbie—” Jason started, wanting to pull her away, but he stopped short when he heard an unexpected voice.

“I won’t … as long as you don’t kill me.”

“Tyler!” Debbie exclaimed, then leaned in to kiss him gently on his lips.

Jason turned away, silently celebrating Tyler’s recovery. If they hadn’t lost Mr. McAlester, tonight wouldn’t have been a failure. They’d fought against evil and repelled the attack.

“Tyler?” Jason said quietly. “Why did she strike you?”

“I don’t know, but she didn’t hurt me. Something about her Energy knocked me unconscious, but caused me no pain. It was as if she wanted everyone to believe something—that she was evil enough to kill me. But she could never kill me.”

“Where is Emily?” Debbie asked.

Jason looked away. “She’s gone. She did what she could, but he overpowered her.”

Tyler closed his eyes, looking crushed. “Oh no,” he whispered.

Matt struggled to his feet and moved towards McAlester. “He was a good man,” he said quietly.

Jason nodded. “If it weren’t for him, I’d be dead.”

Tyler said nothing, but looked even more unhappy. Jason knew he blamed himself for William’s death since Tyler’s ray had been the one which had ricocheted into William.

The Prophecy had foretold death, and it was somewhat of a relief for Jason to realize the part about death hadn’t been about him. But he felt devastated—and angry at having lost Emily. Especially like this. How could she have done all this without telling him? He’d thought their connection had gone so much deeper, but he’d been wrong.

Jason slumped and left the Sight, feeling utterly exhausted and shattered with grief. A torn piece of paper lay among the debris littering the floor, and Jason picked it up, surprised to discover it was the missing part of the picture he had found in the secret room in Monsieur Bertrand’s study. A small girl looked at him from the past, smiling innocently, but now it hurt to look at her face. He flipped the photo over and saw the letter ‘H’ scribbled on the back.

Tired of riddles, he dropped the picture and headed towards a broken window, picking his way around the daggers of plastic and glass sticking from the walls, ceiling, and floor. He crushed one such dagger with his boot, wishing he could do the same to his bitterness and pain. A cool breeze passed through the non-existent window and licked his cheek, and Jason noticed the rain had finally stopped. The first ray of sun pushed through the massive clouds which still dominated the sky, painting their edges a vivid crimson. The dawn of a new day. Jason clenched his teeth against the pain and stared at the sun without blinking. More rays pierced the pall of darkness like gigantic swords, letting the light gush from the dark clouds’ wounds and warm the streets of New York. The buildings, which had been little more than huge tombstones only moments before, transformed back into their proper form.

Then he saw them: small dots in the sky, coming closer. Curious, Jason entered the Sight and stared at the scene before him. About a hundred of the dots soared into the sky, except in the Sight the dots were revealed to be beautiful auras, radiating triumph, and Jason knew they were the Lightsighted, all of them heading in the direction of E&L building.

But their joy was too painful to bear. Jason turned away and went out of the Sight. He couldn’t celebrate, only mourn. Emily was dead. William was dead. Didn’t they know? His vision blurred behind a wash of tears.

Chapter 38

What happened that night changed Jason forever. He felt like a different man—one who had experienced far too much.

The day’s dawn brought an end to his fusions. Apparently he had seen all he was supposed to see. Oddly, that didn’t provide him with much relief. Daybreak symbolized a new beginning, though it was as unpredictable now as it had been in the beginning. It was impossible for Jason to know what might happen in the future, or whether danger lurked behind every corner.

Jason didn’t want to be the chosen one, and yet if he was destined to become the Beholder, he knew he was meant to do something with that power. He was determined to learn about Energy itself as well as its laws. The dangerous past of the Darksighted threatening and killing Unsighted people would be revealed to him.

Emily. Her face never quite disappeared from his mind. Jason closed his eyes, trying to shove the vision away, trying to lose the sickening memory of her helpless body being thrown out the window.

Chapter 39

The following day they buried William McAlester in a brief ceremony. Few words were spoken, because nothing needed to be said. Tyler, Jason, Debbie, Matthew, and a group of black-suited Sighted ones all huddled around the grave, trying to keep warm. The weather was chilly, a cool wind matching the dull, monochrome sky, and only once did the sun manage to break through. The trees rustled in the wind, adding an optimistic glint of green to the day, but the gloom within the souls of the Sighted saw no color but gray.

Tyler looked emaciated, his eyes circled by dark black lines over sunken cheeks. He spoke less now, and his eyes never smiled. He was eaten up with guilt over William, and his heart was heavy with the news that Emily, his best friend, had been killed by Pariah. After the burial Tyler left without telling anyone where he was going or for how long. Debbie fell deep into depression, missing him terribly.

A few days after the funeral, the trio sat in the familiar comfort of Debbie’s living room, talking about the experience.

“You really have no idea what happened before I found you at the office?” Jason asked Matt and Debbie.

“No,” Matt said. “All I remember is entering the chamber and feeling exhausted.”

Debbie sighed. “When I woke up, that guy’s hand was around my neck.” She winced and rubbed at her neck, as if the icy fingers were still there. “Then I saw you, but you looked kind of different from what you normally look like.”

It seemed the missing scenes would remain a mystery to them all. At the sound of the front door latching quietly, all three looked up. They waited in silence, listening to the footsteps draw closer.

“Surprise,” came a familiar voice.

With a squeal, Debbie jumped to her feet and ran to Tyler, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I knew you’d come back,” she said, her cheeks flushed pink. She kissed him lightly, her eyes searching his. “I missed you.”

Tyler gave her a wry smile that deepened her blush. “I couldn’t stand another minute without you,” he admitted.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her longer, and Matt exchanged a laughing glance with Jason. When the kiss finally ended, Debbie stepped away, a dreamy smile on her face. Then her gaze sharpened and she frowned at his neck.

“What’s that?” she asked. “What’s wrong with your neck?” She covered her mouth with one hand while tracing the scar with the other.

Jason hadn’t told the others Tyler’s story, but that was just as well. It was Tyler’s to tell.

Tyler cleared his throat and stood a little taller. “I wanted to show you who I really am,” he said, looking slightly apprehensive. His eyes met Jason’s, and the gray in Tyler’s became wary. “She told you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you mean to say you know about—”

“—the other scars? Yes.”

“Can you tell us now?” Debbie asked, and Tyler forgot all about Jason.

As he told Matt and Debbie in brief about how he had gotten his gift and scars, Jason returned to Debbie’s laptop, scrolling the newspaper articles and thinking hard.

“That’s why you wore a high collar and a cloak all the time!” Debbie exclaimed.

Jason looked up, remembering the end of the story about Tyler. Emily had said the scars had been the price he’d paid to rid himself of all evil. But she had also said Tyler expected that evil to come back someday, that it couldn’t possibly be so simple. She seemed to agree with him, because she said, “Once I Prophesied that he would, and that may let evil back inside his soul.”

The most horrible thing was that Jason knew what had originally made Tyler such a special person—the killing of Emily’s parents and granddad.

“Tyler, do you remember what made you Sighted?” Jason asked.

“No,” he said, his expression getting somber. “Emily told me I’d remember it, but nothing so far.” Something in Jason’s reaction alerted Tyler. “Wait. Do you know something? Did she tell you anything about it?”

“Nothing special,” Jason lied. “Pretty much the same thing you just said.”

Jason gave him a vague smile, then returned to looking through the pictures. He had almost given up when they appeared: the pictures of the victims in the long ago car crash. He saw Emily’s parents and her grandfather, but Emily was nowhere in sight. Then he began to read the article below the pictures, and his eye was caught by a collection of letters, which he identified as the initials of the Sighted engaged in killing and abducting Jason’s protectors. He took a closer look and started mouthing, “EH, DB twice, SC, CD twice, PvdT, DSC.” And then the last, “EE”.

Jason didn’t have a clue as to who the majority of these people were, but assumed “DB” was Damien Bale, and “CD” belonged to Catherine Delacroix. The other was “EE”—Emily Ethan—the two letters that made Jason’s world crumble. But the number of initials was wrong. According to his calculations, there should have been ten marked people and places. He counted twice, then another time, and came up each time with eleven, not ten.

But that couldn’t be, because N—New York—the last letter of the message, had been the eleventh. Debbie was his eleventh protector, and she’d survived.

Jason googled for more information, and one site in particular attracted his attention. While all the other pictures had shown only one mark at each place, he could see a wall in one picture, and it had been marked twice, the initials EE and AHS glowing close to each other.

Why would Emily have done that? he thought. Wouldn’t one mark have been sufficient? And who was AHS?

Something was familiar about the combination, but Jason couldn’t put a finger on it, and the gap in his memory troubled him. He memorized the combinations of initials, then closed the article by pressing the ESC button. How wonderful it would be if he could just press a button and make all the pressure and pain inside of him go away as well. But it refused to let go. Jason pictured Emily again and clenched his fist—the fist he had used to punch Pariah—and a lightning bolt of pain shot through it.

“Ow!” Jason cried, unclenching his hand, but at that moment things got worse. The pain in his knuckles woke a fierce burning in his neck, and he doubled over with a cry.

“What is it, Jason?” Tyler was instantly at his side, a caring hand on his shoulder. Jason looked up and Tyler froze at the sight of his neck. “No way,” he said. “It can’t be. Did you—Goddammit!” Tyler’s look was furious when he met Jason’s eyes. “How could you fall in love with her?”

Jason’s mouth opened, but he didn’t speak for a moment. Then he asked, “How did you know?”

“The scar! You told me that during the battle Pariah had lashed her. He didn’t lash you. How could you possibly have a scar in the exact same place? You two must have formed a bond so strong that—” Tyler didn’t finish his sentence. He combed his fingers through his long blond hair, shaking his head. “This is unbelievable.”

Jason frowned, at a loss as to why Tyler was so incensed. “Is it really that important?”

“Don’t you understand what it means?”

Jason didn’t, so he shrugged and waited for Tyler to go on.

“If she’s dead,” Tyler said through gritted teeth, “you are bound to die as well. It’s a chain reaction similar to the one that happened with William and the Legate he was fighting, just a bit slower.”

Jason sighed and dropped his head. So the Beholder was bound to disappear, just like it had said in the Prophecy. Perhaps that was the way it was supposed to be. In the meantime, he had other problems to solve.

“Tyler, I have a question,” he said. “What happened when you got into the room with the shelves and boxes?”

“I noticed that you’d lagged behind in the corridor,” Tyler said, stroking Debbie’s hair, “and Emily seemed to freak out. She said we should go, then she’d return and get you. She was getting really nervous, and when I tried to calm her down, she snapped. When I approached her she shoved one of the boxes into me, and I got sent into a void passage.”

“Void passage?” Debbie asked, looking him straight in the eyes.

“Yes, some things are even invisible for Sighted. The boxes are the most convenient way to travel over long distances,” Tyler muttered. “You can’t see it even in the Sight.”

“Why didn’t we use one when we went from Paris to New York?” Debbie asked.

“She’s too clever. Every move had obviously been calculated in advance. She told me it was unsafe to show you three to a world invisible at the first level.”

“First level?” Debbie’s eyebrows flew up to her hairline. “Gosh, there are levels?”

“Don’t panic, Debbie.” Tyler smiled. “I just want to explain a few things to you.”

She let out a long, slow sigh. “But the more you explain, the less I understand,” she muttered.

Jason understood exactly how she felt, and from the look on his face, he could tell Matt felt the same. Theoretically it was all right, but in practice it wasn’t. Especially for Matt and Debbie.

“I only wanted to say that it takes longer to get to a place when you don’t intend to go there, and she sent me halfway around the world. When I ended up in Siberia, I knew there was something wrong. But for some reason I had no access to the Sight, which is why it took me so long to get back to New York.”

Jason was hesitant about his feeling towards Emily. One moment he had hoped she was just a victim in the story, as most of them were, but at Tyler’s words Jason became more convinced that she’d been one of the masterminds playing a cruel joke on him and the rest.

“Tyler, what is De-Energization?” he asked.

“What? Why?” Tyler’s face showed sincere surprise.

“When I got into the building and was about to fight, I lost all my power and couldn’t enter the Sight.”

Tyler frowned.

“No one seemed to be able to do it, not even Damien. Emily said it was De-Energization.”

“Well,” Tyler said, perplexed. “De-Energization is supposed to be an overall phenomenon. There are times when our ability to enter the Sight disappears—for example, when solar activity is tremendous. When De-Energization happens, Sighted lose their ability to enter the Energy world. But I’ve never heard of selective De-Energization. William and I didn’t have any problems in the Sight as we were flying towards Evelyn & Laurens.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Which means someone created it around the building?”

“Can that be possible?” Tyler asked, speaking to himself. “I don’t know. But I can find out.”

Since that incredible night, Jason hadn’t entered the Sight again. There’d been no need, and he didn’t want to. It hurt to think about all those things. They brought back memories of her, feelings he wanted to extinguish.

“Are they going to shut down McAlester’s?” he asked, hoping to divert everyone’s attention away from the Sighted world and its mysteries.

“They don’t know yet,” Matt replied. “They’re looking for a person who can take over. William’s project must continue to exist, for his sake.”

Chapter 40

Jason couldn’t sleep that night. Not because nightmares haunted him, though. He was sure there would be no more nightmares. The awareness of everything that had happened kept him awake, as did the question of what the future held, a topic they’d all tried really hard to avoid in their earlier conversation.

On his way home, Jason bought as many newspapers as he could carry, then piled them on the coffee table in his living room. He made himself a strong cup of coffee with cream and opened a pack of croissants to help make reading more enjoyable.

He didn’t have to look long before he came across a number of interesting facts. Among the heap of papers he found one from three weeks before. Part of him wondered if finding it had been just luck—or if an Energy formula had predetermined that he would find it. That didn’t matter, really. But it was there that he found news of a “short circuit” which had ostensibly caused a small fire on the third floor of the E&L building, though there was no mention of a ruined bathroom or of any damage to the neighboring building.

Had they managed to repair it and hide all traces of the fight? Jason knew that would have been a piece of cake to the Sighted, but a strange thought pressed in his mind. What if there hadn’t ever been a fight at all? What if it had all been an illusion set up by Emily or Pariah? No. It couldn’t all be fake. Emily’s boneless flight through the window was too stunning to be fake.

Jason flipped to fresher issues of the newspapers. The headlines were different, some really far from the truth, some closer to what had happened. One reporter even connected—without proof—the events that had happened in New York that night with the other mysterious killings and disappearances.

Jason laid the papers aside and stretched on the couch. He couldn’t close his eyes, because when he did, he saw her face. And her voice … her voice never abandoned him.

“When we came there I couldn’t control the defensive shield for an instant and saw your Light … I think sometimes you’re a little crazy, and blind—especially for the Beholder. You don’t see me the way I really am … The laws according to which our kind lives differ from the laws of common people.”

Bits of phrases she had said, words which would always be with him.

“… the ends justify the means.”

He wanted to know what “ends” Emily meant, but he guessed he probably never would. Somehow he would have to work past this, and the sooner the better. He had to return to work and find oblivion.

Epilogue

Evelyn greeted Jason with a hug, wearing the same wide smile she always wore.

“Are you ready to be back with us, honey?” she asked, stroking his shoulder in a motherly way. The creative work at Evelyn & Laurens was flowing again, their office as good as new. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

“Back at full throttle,” he replied, his lips curved in a smile.

“Very good. We’ve got some work for you three.”

Jason’s days returned to routine, but occasionally he got distracted by the memories of the previous week’s events. Debbie caught him staring out the window at one point, not hearing her at all. She came up behind him and squeezed his shoulder.

“Are you thinking about her?”

“What? No, I’m not,” Jason snapped. “It’s just … I’m afraid they’ll come back. I’m worried about you.”

Debbie clicked her tongue. “You aren’t that good a liar, sweetie,” she said and smiled ruefully. “But thanks for worrying about us.” She came around to his front and gave him a hug. “You’ll get over her.”

“It’s not going to be easy,” he admitted quietly, and she squeezed him tight.

A few days later Jason decided to turn things around. He’d had enough of all the pain and misery which had come along with being the Beholder; he needed a change. So he asked Debbie and Matt to join him for a drive out of town. Debbie eyed him strangely, unconvinced, since the weather was cold and gloomy. But Jason wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Just the three of us,” he said, smiling. “It’ll be worth it. We need to get away.”

The disapproving scowl vanished from Debbie’s face, to be replaced by a look of acceptance. “Okay.”

The car waited in the parking lot, and his friends didn’t ask any more questions as they climbed in. By the time they were ready to go, it had started drizzling, but that didn’t bother Jason. Instead, he smiled.

“What’s so funny?” Matt asked.

A ray of sunlight popped through the pall of gray, hitting the hood of the car. A few minutes later the setting sun’s red circle showed from behind rapidly shrinking clouds.

Debbie squinted with suspicion. “What’s going on?”

“I’m just pulling a few strings,” Jason explained, still smiling.

“It’s you?” Matt exclaimed, mesmerized by the changes happening in the sky. “You’re doing that?”

The quickly spreading palette of colors could hardly be considered compatible—not according to a carload of interior designers—but on the vast canvas of the sky they looked divine. It was as if an artist had squeezed oils onto his palette and added surreal shades of topaz and turquoise along with hues of pink and primrose, spreading color through the overall purity of the blue evening sky.

A few miles outside the boundaries of New York, Jason pulled up on the shoulder and climbed out. Warm wind danced around them, tickling Jason’s neck, lightening the mood further.

“Come on,” he said. “I want to show you something.”

They followed him to a clear area, and when they were out of sight of the road, he stopped and stretched his hands to either side. “Give me your hands.”

The three joined together and watched the sun descending, a gorgeous shining body, majestic and dazzling. Jason closed his eyes and entered the Sight. Warmth coursed down his arms and tingled in his fingers. He squeezed his friends’ hands, bringing them a vision of his own making.

Debbie’s beautiful eyes flashed in his mind, changing to an image of Matt relaxing on a chair, his legs on the table as he flirted with Debbie. His strong, tattooed hands waved as he told a story and made them laugh. Then William McAlester was there, greeting them warmly with handshakes and hugs. In the next moment they all rushed through space until they ended up on top of a cliff, the warm, welcome wind ruffling their hair. Jason opened his eyes to watch the amber sun reflecting off a lake surface.

“Wow!” Debbie whispered. “This is so beautiful!”

Matt looked around in disbelief, lost for words, and Jason inhaled the flower-scented air. “Yes, it is.”

He stared straight ahead, focusing on the light of the sun until he saw a small figure emerge from it. Emily stumbled towards him, unseen by anyone else, and gave him a wan smile then waved goodbye. Her face was divine, even within the deadly paleness of her skin. The dark mane of her hair, as fierce as any lion’s, fringed her beautiful face.

Jason closed his eyes, not wanting to see the light any longer. Emily smiled one more time, her expression soft with wistful mystery, then stepped back into the blackness.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Thank you so much for your interest in The Beholder. I hope you enjoyed it. It’ll mean a lot to me if you post a review on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or Goodreads and let others know what you think of it.

Thank you so much for your time with The Beholder!

Book 2 of The Beholder Series, Path of the Heretic, is to be published soon!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ivan Amberlake is a paranormal/urban fantasy writer, member of Breakwater Harbor Books. In December 2009 he began writing his first novel "The Beholder" and in November 2011 it was selected for review by HarperCollins on Authonomy.com.

Ivan Amberlake loves hard rock music, sitcoms, sunsets and the sound of rain pattering against the roof.

‘THE BEHOLDER is a tight and fast-paced thriller combining the crawling claustrophobia of Stephen King’s “It” and the exciting arcane symbol-hunting of “Celestine Prophecy”’ ~ Joe Kovacs, #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of “Ginger the Gangster Cat”.

For more information about the author visit www.breakwaterharborbooks.weebly.com and www.ivanamberlake.weebly.com

NEW RELEASE

by Breakwater Harbor Books!

THE IMMORTALITY GAME by Ted Cross

Moscow, 2138. With the world only beginning to recover from the complete societal collapse of the late 21st Century, Zoya scrapes by prepping corpses for funerals and dreams of saving enough money to have a child. When her brother forces her to bring him a mysterious package, she witnesses his murder and finds herself on the run from ruthless mobsters. Frantically trying to stay alive and save her loved ones, Zoya opens the package and discovers two unusual data cards, one that allows her to fight back against the mafia and another which may hold the key to everlasting life.

Other BHB books we recommend:

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The Immortality Game, by Ted Cross

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OJW Conversion -

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40