Chapter 1<\/p>\n
I woke to the sound of dogs barking. My eyes drifted open halfway, just enough to register the sun streaming through the open blinds. Nathaniel\u2019s arm was thrown around my waist, his body snuggled into my back. The child inside my belly shifted under his hand. The scent of bacon cooking drifted from the kitchen.
\nMy three dogs, Lock, Stock and Barrel, nosed inside the bedroom door, their nails clicking across the hardwood floor. They came around to my side of the bed, their doggy faces set in mute appeal, tongues lolling.
\nIt seemed like a pretty typical domestic scene, except that there is nothing typical about my life. The dogs weren\u2019t dogs at all, but Retrievers\u2014powerful magical creatures who\u2019d given me their allegiance when I\u2019d freed them from slavery to the Agency.
\nThe man in bed with me wasn\u2019t a man, but the son of an angel and a . . . Well, I wasn\u2019t sure exactly what Puck was, but he was definitely something old and powerful. Besides his lack of humanity, Nathaniel also wasn\u2019t the father of my child. He wasn\u2019t even my lover, or my boyfriend. I didn\u2019t know how to define our relationship status as any other way except \u201ccomplicated.\u201d
\nThe person cooking the bacon in the kitchen was my many-greats-uncle Daharan, brother of Lucifer, dragon shapeshifter, creature of fire and something older than the Earth itself.
\nAs for me, I was the daughter of a fallen angel and an Agent of Death. Lucifer was my grandfather. My baby had the blood of a half nephilim inside his veins, a legacy from his dead father. I had more enemies than I could count. I\u2019d spent the last several months trying to stay alive while those enemies tried to kill me and my very ancient family members plotted around me.
\nWe were definitely not going to win any awards for normality in this family.
\nThe dogs needed walking, but everyone pretended not to notice because no one could control them except me.
\n\u201cI\u2019m coming, I\u2019m coming,\u201d I grumbled, sliding out from beneath Nathaniel\u2019s arm.
\nThis was harder than it sounded. I was only three months pregnant, but it appeared that I was twice that. I\u2019d never fully appreciated the ease and elasticity with which I\u2019d rolled out of bed before I took on the aspect of a hippo.
\n\u201cDo you want me to come with you?\u201d Nathaniel murmured.
\n\u201cNo one is going to mess with me while I\u2019m walking these three,\u201d I said. \u201cBesides, it\u2019s been a quiet couple of weeks.\u201d
\nAnd it had been, I reflected as I got dressed. Since I\u2019d killed Titania, the faerie queen. Since Nathaniel\u2019s half brother\u2014and heir to the court of Titania and Oberon\u2014 Bendith had been killed by his biological father, Puck. Since Puck had tricked me into freeing him from his bondage to Titania.
\nSince I\u2019d had an adventure in another space and time, and discovered the darker places in my heart, the black menace at the core of my magic. I\u2019d worked hard to force that dark- ness to recede, to let my natural personality reassert itself. But it seemed that since I\u2019d tapped into that power, it floated closer to the surface, shadows seeping into my edges.
\nLike so many things that I\u2019d discovered since becoming aware of my ancestry, my new magical abilities were impossible to undo. And my darling grandfather Lucifer definitely preferred it that way. All the better to tempt you with, my dear.
\nLucifer cherished a long-held hope that I would give up my life and become heir to his kingdom. I\u2019d rather eat nails for breakfast than manacle myself to the first of the fallen. Besides, Lucifer\u2019s crazy lover Evangeline was pregnant with his child, and I knew very well that she was angling to put that kid on the throne. If I expressed even the smallest iota of interest in taking Lucifer\u2019s offer, she would set a thousand assassins upon me, regardless of what Lucifer might want.
\nNo, embroiling myself further in Lucifer\u2019s machinations was definitely not at the top of my to-do list. I pulled on a pair of jeans I couldn\u2019t button. The taut roundness of my lower belly protruded over the fly. I pushed a rubber band through the buttonhole, looped it and wrapped the other end around the button to keep the pants from sliding down. A long, baggy Cubs sweatshirt completed this uber-stylish look. I shoved my slippers on and padded out of the room.
\nIn the kitchen, my uncle Daharan was making pancakes and bacon in large quantities and placing them on covered platters I didn\u2019t even know I owned. He\u2019s not your garden-variety uncle. He\u2019s an ancient being, one of Lucifer\u2019s three brothers, and he spends at least part of his time in dragon form. For the moment he was living in the apartment downstairs.
\nLocks didn\u2019t keep him out, and he came and went freely between my place and his. Somehow I couldn\u2019t be irritated about this. There was some quality about Daharan that made me trust him, trust that he would do me no harm. Beezle wasn\u2019t so sure, as he tended not to trust anyone so closely related to Lucifer, but as I entered the kitchen I noticed his mistrust of Daharan did not extend to disdain of his cooking. Beezle was perched on the counter next to the platters filching as much bacon as he could while Daharan\u2019s back was turned.
\nThe dogs trotted ahead of me, down the hall, and stopped before the front door while I paused in the kitchen.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s a whole lot of breakfast for three people and a gargoyle,\u201d I remarked.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re eating for two,\u201d Beezle said before Daharan could answer.
\n\u201cAnd you\u2019re eating for five,\u201d I said.
\nDaharan ignored the byplay. \u201cWe will be having guests this morning.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat guests?\u201d I asked warily.
\nThe last thing I wanted was for one of Daharan\u2019s brothers to show up. Alerian terrified me. Lucifer infuriated me.
\nAnd Puck . . . Well, when I thought of the way Puck had manipulated me into destroying one of the oldest creatures in the universe for his own personal gain, those shadows on my heart threatened to overtake me. I truly thought I could beat Puck bloody with a crowbar and it wouldn\u2019t bother me in the least. Of course, when I had thoughts like that I knew that the darkness was spreading inside me like a cancer. I wasn\u2019t sure if there was anything I could do to stop it.
\n\u201cYou will see when they arrive,\u201d Daharan said.
\nI\u2019d almost forgotten I\u2019d asked a question, so caught up was I in thoughts of vengeance on Puck.
\n\u201cDid you invite someone?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cNo,\u201d Daharan said mildly, but with a finality that let me know he wasn\u2019t going to tell me anything more.
\nLucifer and all of his brothers could see aspects of the future. Daharan was able to see with the most clarity. So someone was coming. Someone whose arrival Daharan had foreseen, but he didn\u2019t want to share with me for some reason.
\nI shrugged and went to the waiting dogs, who panted in anticipation. As soon as I opened the front door they crowded out in a rush, jumping all over one another in their eagerness to leave. They thundered down the steps ahead of me, whining when they reached the closed door at the bottom of the stairs.
\nI trudged slowly after them. I might be imbued with some of the strongest magic in the universe, but I was an ungainly waddler just like every other pregnant woman there ever was. I finally made it to the bottom and opened the door.
\nThe dogs created another bottleneck in the foyer, where a final door, this one clear glass, made the first threshold between me and mine and anything nasty that might come knocking. I managed to herd the dogs to one side so I could get the door open. They ran down the front porch steps and out to the sidewalk, terrifying a nanny walking a couple of babies in a double stroller.
\nThe former Retrievers looked like oversized black mastiffs, and while I was pretty sure they wouldn\u2019t attack an innocent human being, they definitely looked intimidating. She gave me a look like she wanted to chastise me for defying Chicago\u2019s leash law, but then gave the dogs a second glance and obviously thought better of it. She hurried down the street with the kids, eager to get away.
\nI\u2019d tried to keep Lock, Stock and Barrel on leashes. But they would weave in and out and get tangled up, and finally I threw up my hands. They would do what I said\u2014mostly\u2014 so why bother with leashes?
\nThe dogs ran in three different directions to do their business. They each had a preferred spot staked out. I monitored them from the sidewalk in front of my house, wondering idly why supernatural creatures made of darkness and bearing the power to destroy souls needed to crap on the neighbor\u2019s lawn in the first place. Was it because I expected dogs to do such things? The Retrievers had become more doglike as I considered them so. They were connected to me in a way I didn\u2019t fully understand. I could feel their presence always in the back of my mind. It wasn\u2019t as disturbing as it should have been. It was comforting. It kept me secure in the knowledge that they would come to my defense if I needed it. More important, they would come to the defense of my baby.
\nI placed my hand over my protruding belly, secure in the knowledge that my son was safe inside me. I hardly allowed myself to consider what might happen after he was born. At night I was plagued by dreams of him being rent from my arms, stolen and kept by one of my enemies\u2014or worse.
\nMy own family might try to take him from me. Lucifer had made no secret of his interest in the child. Did I have the strength\u2014and the allies\u2014to keep Lucifer from my son? Maybe. But I didn\u2019t want to be forced to find out. I was thinking all these things, lost in my own worries, when the growling of the Retrievers brought me back to the present. 3N
\nThey crowded around me in a protective circle, making horrible noises low in their throats, just waiting for me to give the signal so they could leap, rip, tear.<\/p>\n
A figure approached cautiously, the object of the Retrievers\u2019 suspicion. The person was dressed like a college student, a slouchy gray T-shirt over loose-fitting jeans and beat-up sneakers. But the baggy clothes could not disguise the obvious strength in his body, or hide the muscles flexing in his arms. Nor did the grimy Cubs cap completely cover the gold- blond of his hair or shade the brilliance of his green eyes. BLACK SPRING will be released on October 28, 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chapter 1 I woke to the sound of dogs barking. My eyes drifted open halfway, just enough to register the sun streaming through the open blinds. Nathaniel\u2019s arm was thrown around my waist, his body snuggled into my back. The … Continue reading
\nHe\u2019d veiled his wings, and his eyes were unsure as he stopped a few feet from me. The Retrievers growled more intensely, but I put my hand on Stock\u2019s neck, and they quieted instantly. They were obviously still on their guard, though.
\nThe man before me stood silently, waiting to see what I would do.
\n\u201cSamiel,\u201d I said.
\nEverything was knotted up inside me. I wasn\u2019t sure how to feel. There was happiness, and pain, and lots and lots of anger. Samiel was my brother-in-law, and seeing him again reminded me of happier days, when Gabriel was alive. But I was also reminded that he had left me, left me when I was in need of help, left me after I\u2019d taken him in and sheltered him. He\u2019d left even though I\u2019d risked my life to save him from the court of the Grigori. He\u2019d left knowing I carried his brother\u2019s child, blood of his blood, and knowing that child needed protection.
\nAs I thought these things the anger and the darkness rose up inside me, and he took a step back, like he could feel the pulse of dark magic. The Retrievers crouched, ready to strike.
\n\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d I asked, and my voice did not sound like my own. The effect was lost entirely on Samiel, who was deaf. But he could see my face, and read my lips, and know he was not welcome.
\nHis hands moved tentatively, signing out the words,
\nMaddy, I\u2019m sorry.<\/em>
\nHe meant it. I could see it in his eyes, in the pleading lines of his face. He was sorry.
\nPart of me wanted to unbend immediately, to take the apology that was freely given, to return back to the way things were before.
\nThe other part of me knew that we could never return to who we were before, and that part wanted to hold on to the anger and the hurt, to rage in pain and make Samiel suffer, make him hurt as I had when I thought everyone had abandoned me.
\nAn image of Samiel bent and broken, blood seeping from many wounds, flashed across my brain.
\nThat shocked me out of my anger, made me realize it was wrong, all out of proportion to his crime.
\nThe Retrievers would take him down if I gave the words. They were attuned to my feelings, had sensed the building inferno inside me. I willed that anger away, fought to remember who I was.
\n\u201cStand down,\u201d I told Lock, Stock and Barrel. They immediately sat back on their haunches and let their tongues loll out. I sensed their watchfulness despite their easy posture. \u201cHe\u2019s a friend.\u201d
\nSome of the tension seeped out of Samiel\u2019s body, but not all of it. Am I<\/em>? he signed.
\n\u201cAre you?\u201d I asked, raising my eyebrow. \u201cOr have you come to try and eliminate me before I give birth to this baby, who just might be a monster unleashed on the world?\u201d
\nSamiel looked shocked. I could never hurt Gabriel\u2019s child. And why would you think your own baby is a monster?<\/em>
\nIt was a thought I allowed myself only rarely and briefly. Mostly because I was sure I would still love and protect him, no matter what he was.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s always been a possibility, hasn\u2019t it?\u201d I said. \u201cGabriel was Ramuell\u2019s son, and Ramuell was most definitely a monster.\u201d
\nBut Gabriel wasn\u2019t. And neither are you.<\/em>
\n\u201cAre you sure about that?\u201d I asked, thinking of all the things I had done, the dark compulsion that was becoming more difficult to control.
\nSamiel shook his head. I know who you are, in your heart. I nearly killed you twice. I cut off two of your fingers. And yet you saw how my mother had twisted my love for her. You forgave me. You made me a part of your family.<\/em>
\n\u201cAnd you left me,\u201d I said. There was no anger now, only hurt and sadness. \u201cI trusted you. And you left.\u201d
\nI was confused<\/em>, he signed. It\u2019s not an excuse. I just wasn\u2019t sure what would happen after everyone in the world saw you on television destroying those vampires. And Chloe . . .<\/em>
\nHere he stopped signing and frowned.
\n\u201cI know,\u201d I said. \u201cYou wanted to protect her from the hordes you thought would be breaking down my door at any moment. She\u2019s your girl. I get it.\u201d
\nNo<\/em>, he signed, then backtracked. I mean, yes, I did want to protect her. But she\u2019s not my girl. At least, not anymore.<\/em>
\n\u201cShe kicked you out and now you\u2019re here looking for a roof over your head?\u201d I asked, getting annoyed again.
\nNo<\/em>, Samiel signed, shaking his head. It\u2019s not like that. We broke up because I wanted to come here, to make amends<\/em>.
\n\u201cLet me guess,\u201d I said. \u201cChloe didn\u2019t agree.\u201d
\nYou could say that<\/em>, Samiel said, grinning.
\nI could imagine how that argument went. Chloe has an extremely strong personality. And once she\u2019s decided something, no force in the universe could make her change her mind.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s the heaviest thing she threw at your head?\u201d I asked.
\nA cast-iron frying pan.<\/em>
\n\u201cSeriously? A little clich\u00e9, that,\u201d I said.
\nShe had just finished cooking breakfast, he signed. I thought it would be a safe time to raise the subject since her stomach was full.
\n\u201cAccording to Beezle her stomach is never full,\u201d I said.
\nBeezle should talk.<\/em>
\nAnd just like that, it was all right. I didn\u2019t want to be angry at Samiel. I had enough legitimate enemies without spurning an apologetic friend just to soothe my pride. I stepped forward and he put his arms around me. I felt safe and warm there. He leaned back, his hands on my shoulders for a moment, and looked me up and down, shaking his head.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t say anything about my weight,\u201d I warned. \u201cDon\u2019t say it looks like I swallowed a basketball, or that it looks like I\u2019m about to pop, or ask me if I\u2019m having twins.\u201d
\nSamiel shook his head. I was just going to say you look tired.<\/em>
\n\u201cAnd don\u2019t say that either,\u201d I said. \u201cWhen speaking to a pregnant woman, only compliments should flow from your lips. \u2018You look great\u2019 is an excellent fallback.\u201d
\nEven if it\u2019s not true?<\/em>
\n\u201cEspecially if it\u2019s not true. I already feel like a whale on two legs. I don\u2019t need anybody to tell me I look like one.\u201d I sighed. \u201cI have to clean up after the dogs. Why don\u2019t you stay here for a minute and get to know them?\u201d
\nSamiel crouched warily before the three Retrievers, holding his hand out for them to sniff. I went away to collect the dogs\u2019 leavings, confident that Samiel would make friends with them. Everyone loved Samiel.
\nAnd if for some reason the dogs didn\u2019t like him . . . well, at least Samiel could fly if necessary.
\nI went down the gangway between my house and the next to drop the plastic bag in the garbage can in the alley just outside the back fence. When I reentered the backyard I noticed someone standing there, his back to me.
\n\u201cNo wonder Daharan made so many pancakes,\u201d I said. \u201cApparently it\u2019s my day for a family reunion.\u201d
\nJude turned around, his shaggy red beard and piercing blue eyes as familiar and welcome as Samiel had been. He looked like he couldn\u2019t believe what he was seeing.
\n\u201cThey told me you were dead,\u201d he said hoarsely, taking a step toward me.
\n\u201cI could say that thing about death and rumors and exaggeration, but you probably wouldn\u2019t get it,\u201d I said. Jude was very old, and very serious, and very literal-minded.
\n\u201cI thought you were dead,\u201d he repeated.
\nI realized I\u2019d been a little thoughtless. Jude remembered the \u201cB\u201d in B.C. He also had lived through the \u201cA\u201d in A.D., long ago, when he was called Judas Iscariot and his name became infamous. He\u2019d lost someone he\u2019d pledged his life to, and for more than two thousand years he hadn\u2019t made a pledge like that again. Until me. And he\u2019d thought I died.
\n\u201cJude, I . . .\u201d I began.
\nSeveral things happened at once. The back door flew open. Beezle, Nathaniel and Daharan streamed out onto the porch, all looking frantic.
\nThe Retrievers came howling down the side of the house, chased by Samiel, who also appeared panicked.
\nJude spun to face the new arrivals just as Beezle cried out, \u201cMaddy, get away from him!\u201d
\nAnd then a huge red-and-gray wolf leapt over the neighbor\u2019s fence, into my yard, and tackled Jude to the ground.
\nJude transformed into a matching red-and-gray wolf. The two canids tangled with each other, biting and clawing while I\u2014and everyone else\u2014stood frozen in surprise. Beezle flew to my shoulder.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s not Jude,\u201d he said.\u2028\u201cI figured that out,\u201d I said. \u201cBut is the other one Jude?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d Beezle said, squinting at the two snarling wolves.
\nI knew he was looking through all the layers of reality to see the creatures\u2019 true essence. \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing he showed up when he did. You looked like you were about to hug the fake Jude.\u201d
\n\u201cI was,\u201d I admitted. \u201cSo who\u2019s the fake?\u201d
\nBeezle\u2019s answer never came, for one of the wolves suddenly yelped and then bounded over the side fence into my neighbors\u2019 yard. The other wolf growled and made to follow it.
\n\u201cWait!\u201d I called, then glanced at Beezle. \u201cI\u2019m assuming that\u2019s the real Jude there?\u201d
\nBeezle nodded.
\n\u201cJude, wait,\u201d I said.
\nHe turned toward me, his muzzle streaked with blood, and growled low in his throat. He didn\u2019t want to let his quarry escape. But I hadn\u2019t seen Jude since before I destroyed the vampires infesting Chicago. He\u2019d gone away to attend to some pack business, and he\u2019d never come back. Until that moment, I hadn\u2019t realized just how much I\u2019d missed him.
\n\u201cJude, stay,\u201d I said, and fell to my knees. Beezle fluttered away.
\nJude took a half step toward me, then looked back in the direction of the imposter.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll find him,\u201d I promised. Tears sprung to my eyes.
\nI wiped them away with the heel of my hand. \u201cOnly\u2014 don\u2019t leave. I can\u2019t bear any more leavings.\u201d
\nEveryone in the yard was silent, watching. The last time I\u2019d fallen to my knees in this place I\u2019d covered Gabriel\u2019s bleeding body in the snow. Jude had helped me stand again, pulled me away from the snow and the cold and blood. It was spring now, and Gabriel was gone forever, but Gabriel\u2019s heart lived on inside me, in the beating heart of his child.
\nThe tears fell fast and thick now, and I could hardly see in front of me. Jude\u2019s cold nose pressed against my cheek, and then I buried my face in the thick ruff of fur at his neck. He whined softly in his throat.
\nThe spell was broken by Nathaniel, who abruptly took to the air, flying into the thick leaves of the catalpa tree that grew in the corner of my yard.
\nI heard someone familiar say, \u201cOw! You can\u2019t do that!\u201d
\nI came to my feet and spun toward the tree. Nathaniel emerged grim-faced, holding Jack Dabrowski by the collar of his jacket like a truculent child. He landed in front of me with Jack wriggling under his grasp like a worm on a hook. Nathaniel held a video camera in his free hand.
\nDaharan moved up to my left side, Samiel to my right. Beezle returned to his perch on my shoulder. The dogs crowded around our ankles, treating Jude like he was part of their pack.
\nNathaniel looked at me, then at the camera.
\n\u201cBreak it,\u201d I said.
\n\u201cNaw, you can\u2019t\u2014Oh, man!\u201d Jack said as Nathaniel looked at the camera and it burst into flame. A second later nothing was left but ash, which Nathaniel dumped in the grass.
\n\u201cI told you to leave me alone,\u201d I said to Jack.
\n\u201cAnd I told you that I wasn\u2019t going to stop,\u201d Jack said, his feet dangling above the ground. \u201cHey, can you get your goon to let me down? It\u2019s kind of hard to breathe when I\u2019m in this position.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s kind of hard to breathe when angry supernatural creatures decide to punish you for not leaving well enough alone,\u201d I said, but I nodded at Nathaniel to release Jack.
\nHe did so, but made sure to stand close by and loom over the blogger. Nathaniel looms well. His height\u2014well over six feet\u2014helps with that.
\nJude gave Jack a pointed look and growled. Jack gave Jude a nervous glance and backed away a few inches, which naturally caused him to bump into Nathaniel. He glanced up at Nathaniel\u2019s cold, hard face, muttered, \u201cSorry,\u201d and tried to find a position far from both Jude and Nathaniel.
\nSince we were all crowded around him in our best menacing fashion, this necessitated a lot of uncertain shuffling on his part. I watched him with a mixture of amusement and frustration. He was so far out of his depth, but he refused to be scared away.
\nJack had waited his whole life to discover that all the things he believed in were real. He\u2019d blogged about supernatural happenings in Chicago before anyone had realized there actually were supernatural happenings. And now that normal folk had become aware of things like vampires and angels, Jack Dabrowski had become something of a high priest among the faithful and the true believers.
\nUnfortunately Jack\u2019s hobby conflicted with my own personal preference to stay under the radar as much as possible. He\u2019d decided that I needed to be an intermediary between the magical world and the regular world. I didn\u2019t want this job for numerous reasons, starting with I had enough trouble and ending with I am not a people person. 3N
\n\u201cYou need to leave me alone, Jack,\u201d I said. \u201cEvery time you meet me I break something that belongs to you. So far it\u2019s only been your electronics.\u201d
\nI let the threat hang in the air, hoping it would have some kind of effect.
\nJack made a dismissive gesture. \u201cYou can\u2019t fool me. I\u2019ve been asking around about you since the last time you threatened me. I know you don\u2019t hurt innocents.\u201d
\n\u201cNot on purpose, anyway,\u201d Beezle mumbled. \u201cBut if you\u2019re in her path when the avalanche starts rolling, watch out.\u201d
\nI ignored Beezle. My heart had gone cold at Jack\u2019s words. \u201cWho have you been asking about me?\u201d
\nHe shrugged. \u201cAround online. You know, you have quite the reputation. Did you really kill the High Queen of Faerie?\u201d
\n\u201cGods above and below, you\u2019re not even supposed to know that there is a High Queen of Faerie, much less that I killed her,\u201d I said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how you found out about that, but you need to stop talking about me, especially online. You don\u2019t know who you\u2019re conversing with.\u201d
\nMy mind seethed with possibilities, all of them bad news for Jack. Leaving aside all the creatures that hated my guts and could potentially use Jack to get to me, he might draw the attention of Lucifer. And if Lucifer decided that Jack\u2019s pursuit of me was attracting too much notice to his court, he would squash Jack like a bug.
\n\u201cLike I don\u2019t know how to trace people online?\u201d Jack scoffed. \u201cBelieve me, I\u2019ve verified the identity of every source I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d
\n\u201cAre you crazy?\u201d I shouted. \u201cDo you want to be killed? Do you know how insanely dangerous it is to track down powerful beings who use the Internet for its anonymity?\u201d
\n\u201cDidn\u2019t I say he was too stupid to live the first time we met?\u201d Beezle said.
\nThis was even worse than I thought. He was actively seeking out dangerous people in the name of research. Sooner or later he would stumble into a situation that would get him killed. And I would be responsible, because I couldn\u2019t stop him.
\nNathaniel looked at me. He understood a fair bit of what passed inside my mind without my saying a word. Ever since I\u2019d released his magical legacy from Puck, there had been a powerful connection between us.
\n\u201cYou\u2019ve warned him,\u201d Nathaniel said. \u201cHis fate is in his own hands.\u201d
\nDaharan nodded. \u201cYou cannot save everyone, Madeline.\u201d
\nTheir solemnity penetrated Jack\u2019s bravado in a way my anger had not.
\n\u201cNothing\u2019s going to happen to me,\u201d he said defiantly.
\n\u201cOh, yes, it is,\u201d I said softly. I could almost see it happening\u2014his capture, his torture, his death. A cloak of darkness seemed to settle over him, the resolute hand of the Reaper on his shoulder. We all felt it. We were attending Jack Dabrowski\u2019s funeral.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not going to die!\u201d he said angrily, desperately, backing away from me.
\nNathaniel moved aside so Jack could free himself from our circle, from the relentless certainty of his death.
\nHe held his hands palms up in front of him, to plead, to defend. \u201cI\u2019m not going to die.\u201d
\nJack backed into the fence, fumbled with the gate, stepped into the alley.
\n\u201cI won\u2019t,\u201d he said before the gate slammed shut and we heard his footsteps running away.
\n\u201cYou will,\u201d I said softly behind him. \u201cEverything dies.\u201d<\/p>\n