12

Gia pulled him inside and wrapped her arms around him. Jack eased the backpack onto the floor and returned the hug.

“You said a couple of hours. It’s been four!”

He felt terrible about that.

“I know. I’m sorry. Things got complicated.”

She looked up at him. “Do I want to know?”

“Most definitely not.”

She tugged him down the hall. “Vicky’s starving.”

A leaden weight sat where his stomach had been.

“I’m not.”

“Neither am I. Every few minutes I feel like running to the bathroom and vomiting. But we’ve got to keep up appearances, don’t you think?”

“Definitely.”

“I wish you hadn’t promised her Amalia’s. I’d have liked to make you something.”

“My last meal?”

“Don’t, Jack. Please don’t.”

“Okay, okay. It’s just… I don’t know how to handle this.”

“I do.” Her lower lip trembled. “I’m going to fall apart.”

He held her close a moment, then, “Where’s Vicks?”

“In the kitchen.”

He pointed to the sitting room. “Then let’s make a quick detour.”

He retrieved the backpack from the hall and carried it to the sitting room couch. He set it on the end table under the reading lamp.

“I want you to take this.”

Gia held back, looking uneasy. “What is it?”

He unzipped the front compartment and spread the edges.

“Take a look.”

She stepped forward and took a hesitant peek. She frowned, then her head snapped back.

“Gold coins? Why?”

“They’re for you.”

“But aren’t they your…?”

“Life savings. Yeah.”

She backed away. “I don’t want it.”

Jack had figured she’d react like this.

“Gia, I want you to have them. I need to go away knowing you and Vicky will be taken care of.”

She began to fill up. “But giving me your life savings means your life is over. I can’t—”

“Hey, don’t look at it that way. I just need someone to look after it while I’m gone. You know… till I get back.”

She began crying and Jack took her in his arms.

“This can’t be happening, Jack. It can’t.”

“Maybe it’s not. Maybe eight A.M. is going to come and go without anything happening and we’ll all be sitting around looking at each other and feeling stupid.”

“You don’t believe that.”

Right. He didn’t.

At least not intellectually. He’d seen the wonders of the Compendium and knew it was no ordinary book. And so far it had been right about everything: the Stain, how it grew, how to transfer it… everything. So why should it be wrong about when the two ends met?

But a deeper, nonrational part of him refused to believe that he wouldn’t be here with Gia and Vicky tomorrow night.

“I can hope, can’t I? But just in case it does happen, I want you to have this stuff to dip into whenever you need to… till I come back.”

He felt her shoulders quake. He had to snap her out of this. He knew she’d keep up a front for her daughter.

“Let’s round up Vicky and get down to Amalia’s before she starves.”

Gia broke away and wiped her eyes.

“This isn’t like me.”

“Well, you’ve never been in this kind of situation before.”

“Neither have you.”

Not quite true. Jack had been in situations where he hadn’t known whether he’d live or die. But those had been different. In those his survival depended on his actions: Make the right move, survive; make the wrong move, gone.

But this… he had no moves, no choices, no decision, no wiggle room. An iron straitjacket.

“Yeah, well… I’m a tough guy, remember?”

Not so tough that he didn’t dread dinner with Vicky tonight. Because in the next hour or two he’d have to tell her he was going away.