“I have news,” her most faithful servant said.
A fire roared in the brick hearth, a luxury Jane loved even as the coolness of winter faded into spring. She pulled a few sparks out with her power and lit the huge candles scattered throughout the room. The glow showed an eagerness on Frazier’s face that lifted her hopes.
“Have a seat and tell me what you’ve learned.” She pointed to the chair across from her. “I don’t have to tell you how
. . . disappointing further bad news would be at the moment.” She let the expression on her mask turn to anger for a second before bringing it back to smooth calmness.
Frazier nodded, the barest hint of a smile flashing across his face as he walked over and sat down on the edge of the chair next to her. “I think you’ll like what I have to say.”
“Then get on with it.”
“Yes, Mistress.” He leaned forward, his elbows on knees, hands clasped. “Over the last few hours, we’ve sent people to all the Realities to gather as much data as possible. We, um, had to send out quite a few, because they kept dying in all the chaos. More than half, actually.”
Jane’s first instinct was to snap at Frazier for wasting time about such an unimportant detail, but she kept her cool. “Yes, a worthy sacrifice, I’m sure. Whatever it took to learn what we needed.”
“Yes. Yes, of course. Anyway, the devastation we saw here was universal. Massive earthquakes, catastrophic storms, tornadoes, you name it—it all happened in each and every Reality. Lasted for a good hour or two. Killed, um, millions of people.” His eyes flickered to the floor at this last part.
“Feel no shame, Frazier. Remember, we knew there would be collateral damage in our mission for Utopia. For Chi’karda’s sake, if the Blade had worked today like it was supposed to, six billion people would’ve died! What’s a few million? Keep your focus! We don’t have time to mourn the losses along the way.” In truth, she felt a constant, choking swell of guilt, but had learned to accept it and live with it.
Frazier composed himself and continued his report. “We know the destruction was widespread throughout all the Realities. But it seems to have stopped, everywhere. Maybe we’ve avoided the complete meltdown you feared.”
“‘Meltdown’?” Jane repeated. “That seems too sweet a word. What worried me was that we’d set off a chain reaction that would wipe us all from existence. I still sense something wrong in the air, in the Chi’karda, like a bubble that’s about to burst. Don’t be too confident that we’re in the clear just yet.”
“At least it’s calmed down for now. That first hour or so, I was ready to accept my fate and make my peace. I don’t know—I feel like we’re good now. I think we’re going to be okay.”
Jane scoffed at him. “You trust your instincts over mine? Not a smart way to go about things, Frazier. What you’re feeling is just the natural relief after a close call. We are not safe yet—trust me on that. If you’re going to be my right-hand man, I need you to stay pragmatic and sharp and not fall for whimsical feelings of comfort and safety.” How she hated being mean to this man, but she could never restrain herself.
“I understand, Mistress. And I promise we haven’t let down our guard in the least. Our people are winking back and forth, constantly giving updates. If anything bad starts up again, we’ll know right away.”
“Good. What else? I have a feeling that smile you couldn’t keep off your face walking in here wasn’t for this alone.”
Frazier grinned enough to show his teeth. “Observant as usual. You always know—”
“Get on with it.”
“Yeah, sorry. Um, well, I think I have some news for you that none of us could’ve expected this soon.”
Frazier paused, staring into the eyeholes of her mask like a lover. His confidence and courage shocked Jane. Surprisingly, it didn’t anger her, only made her more eager to hear what he had to say.
“Word has come from the Sleeks guarding the forest at the Factory. They’ve captured three Realitants. They’re not quite to the Factory yet, but one of the Sleeks rushed to get the news to us. The prisoners will be locked up and ready for you to interrogate by the time you arrive, I’m sure.”
Jane felt a pleasant tingle wash across the severely damaged skin of her entire body—something she hadn’t experienced since the Dark Infinity incident. She didn’t know she still had the capability for such things—for pleasure.
Almost forgetting herself, she leaned forward like an eager schoolgirl wanting to hear about a boy she liked. “I know what you’re going to say next. I know who they’ve captured, or you wouldn’t be so excited. Tell me I’m right, Frazier.”
He laughed, surprising her again. “You are. Higgin-bottom and two of his friends. We got ’em.”
Jane leaned back in her chair, then realized her mask had transformed into a giant smile. She quickly erased it, but that’s how she felt. When Atticus had disappeared back at the Blade tree, she’d had a thousand troubling thoughts flash through her mind. The worst one was that the Haunce had gotten involved, and if that had been the case, very bad things could have happened. But there had to be another explanation if the Sleeks had captured the boy again so soon, so easily.
So . . . easily.
Her brief elation vanished. “Frazier, why in the world would those people come to the Factory? Why come to the Thirteenth Reality at all? Something’s wrong here.”
Frazier’s face so quickly melted into distraught panic that Jane felt sorry for him. “I . . . don’t know, Mistress. I . . . but . . . if we have them, does it matter? We caught them. Whatever they were trying to do, we stopped them!”
Jane stood up. “It’s too easy, too simple. Tell the Sleeks to guard them with every creature they can spare. I want every weapon on the grounds gathered—send more if necessary. Search the entire area. Something is wrong!” She pulled up the hem of her robe and started marching toward the door.
“What . . . where are you going?” Frazier called from behind her.
She swiveled sharply to look at him, her mask full of rage. “No more chances, no more mistakes. The boy must die—he’s too dangerous! We’ll have to be careful so as not to accidentally ignite the powers inside him. But I’m going to kill him till he’s dead, dead, dead!”