The old one. He hid his smile. Is that how they speak of me? Well, it's true, isn't it? Truer than they imagine.
"Yes, that would be me. Call me Glaeken. Come in."
He nodded his thanks to Julio and ushered Kolabati into his apartment. She stumbled crossing the threshold and almost fell, but Glaeken caught her under the arm.
"Are you all right?"
She shook her head. "No. Not in the least."
He led her to the sofa. She all but fell into it. She rubbed a trembling hand over her eyes and sighed. She looked utterly exhausted.
"Jack told me what was happening to the world," she said. "I thought he was lying, trying to trick me. It couldn't be as bad as he said." She paused and looked up at Glaeken with haunted eyes. "But it's worse. Much worse."
Glaeken nodded, watching her closely. She appeared to be under extreme stress.
"And worse is yet to come."
She stared up at him. "Worse? Outside…one street over…something huge and black and slimy…so big it had to squeeze against the buildings on both sides to get down the street. It was covered with tentacles and it was reaching into the windows and pulling out anything it found. I heard people—children—screaming."
"A long dark night of the soul for the survivors," Glaeken said.
Kolabati shifted her gaze toward the fire and fingered her necklace.
"Did Jack return with the other necklace?"
"Yes."
"Is it sufficient for your needs?"
"No." Where was this leading?
"Then you still need this one?"
"Yes."
"Will it make a difference?" she said.
"It may. It may be too late now for anything to make a difference, but it is our only chance, our only hope. We must try it."
She continued to stare at the fire. Her voice was barely audible.
"All right then. You may have it."
A wave of relief struck Glaeken. The impact forced him to sit down. But before he could speak, Jack burst into the room.
"It is you!" he said, glaring at Kolabati. "Where'd you find the nerve to show up here?"
"Jack—" Her lips curved halfway to a smile but Jack was in her face before they reached it.
"You lied to me! You agree to come back here and talk to Glaeken, then you pull a vanishing act."
Glaeken wanted to stop Jack before he said anything rash, but noticed that Kolabati was unfazed by the outburst. So he kept quiet.
"That's true," she said. "And I am here. And I've been talking to Glaeken."
Jack hovered over her, his anger visibly evaporating.
"Oh. Yeah, but you said—"
"I never said I'd come back with you. I said I'd come back. And I have—but on my terms, not yours. I am no one's prisoner, Jack. Ever."
"But how'd you get back?"
"Do you really believe you're the only one who knows a pilot willing to fly here from Maui?"
Jack jammed his hands in his pockets. "Obviously not."
Glaeken studied Jack and Kolabati as they faced off. He sensed more going on between these two than met the eye, but he had no time to concern himself with that. He jumped into the momentary lull.
"Jack," he said, "Miss Bahkti has agreed to give us her necklace."
"We already have it. You said it wasn't enough."
"No," Glaeken said softly. "The one she is wearing."
Jack's eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"What's the catch?"
"No catch, Jack," she said, her voice laden with exhaustion. "What I've seen on my journey from Maui has convinced me that you were not exaggerating. Everything is falling apart. This is not a world I wish to live in. If I keep the necklace, I'll go on living in it—indefinitely. That would be horrible beyond imagining. So I've decided to give up the necklace to someone who can make better use of it and to end my life the way I've lived it—on my own terms."
"Charity isn't in your nature, Bati," Jack said. "What aren't you telling us?"
"Please, Jack," Glaeken said, offended by the younger man's unyielding hostility. "She's agreed to give us the necklace, the rest is really none—"
"I've always been up-front with Bati," Jack said, half-turning toward Glaeken. "She knows that. She knows not to expect anything less." He turned back to Kolabati. "What's the rest of it?"
She rose and stepped to the window. She stared into the living darkness for a long moment.
"Karma," she said. "What's happening out there threatens the turning of the Karmic Wheel."
She turned and faced Jack. Glaeken felt as if he'd been forgotten.
"You know the stains on my karma, Jack. Kusum shared those stains. The weight of that karmic burden drove him to the acts that led to his death at your hands. I've long feared dying because I'm terrified of the retribution my karma will earn for me in the next life. Now…now I fear living more than dying."
She touched her necklace again. "And perhaps…if giving this up will allow the Great Wheel to keep turning…perhaps this deed will undo all the others. Perhaps this act will purify my karma of its stains."
Jack nodded his understanding. Glaeken, too, thought he understood: Kolabati was making a deal with her gods—forgiveness of her karmic burden in return for the necklace. Glaeken wondered if truly there might be a Karmic Wheel. He doubted it. In all his many years he had seen no evidence of it. But he was not about to say anything that might dissuade Kolabati from surrendering her necklace.
Without warning, she reached both hands behind her neck, unfastened the necklace, and handed it to Jack.
"There," she said, her voice husky, her eyes glittering. "This is what you wanted."
Then she turned and headed for the door.
Jack stared a moment at the necklace in his hand, then started after her.
"Bati, wait! Where're you going?"
"Outside. It will end quickly there."
Glaeken leapt to his feet and followed Jack. He passed him and caught up to Kolabati at the door. He grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"No," Glaeken said. "I cannot allow you to die like that. Not out there. Not alone."
Her eyes were frightened, terrified of what lay beyond, waiting for her.
"Everyone dies alone," she said. "I'm used to being alone."
"So was I. But I've learned to draw strength from companionship. Let the years take you. It will be gentle—far gentler than out there."
"I'll stay with you, Bati," Jack said. "I'll sit with you to the…the end."
"No!" she said, her voice rising. "I don't want you to see me—I don't want anyone to see me."
A proud woman, Glaeken thought. And vain, too, certainly. But that was her privilege.
He loosened his grip on her arm and clasped her hand. It was cold, moist, trembling.
"I know a place where you can be alone and comfortable. Where no one will see you. Come."
As he began to lead her through the door, Jack stepped forward.
"Wait."
For the first time since Glaeken had met him, Jack looked awkward. His cat-like grace was gone. The necklace hung in his hand like a leaden weight. He seemed at a loss for words.
"Please, Jack," Kolabati said, turning to him, "I haven't much time."
"I know. I know. I just wanted to tell you that I've thought some awful things about you for the past few years, but what you're doing now…it takes courage. More courage than I think I'd have if positions were reversed. I think you're the bravest woman I know." He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips. "I…we all owe you. And we won't forget you."