As Weezy started toward the door, Jack gripped her arm. “You’ll back me on the anesthesia?”
She didn’t want any walls between Jack and her, but she couldn’t get behind his plan.
“I think it’s a terrible risk but I’m willing to compromise: I’ll shut up and let you see if you can change her mind.”
He gave a curt nod. “Fair enough.”
Eddie gave her a what’s-going-on? look when they returned.
Glaeken said, “Have you settled your disagreements?”
“We ironed out a few things,” Weezy said, “but came up with an interesting question.” She turned to the Lady and pointed to the baby. “Can you think of any way that child can be used against you?”
The Lady sat still a moment, then shook her head. “Not a one. Why do you ask?”
Jack stepped forward. “We’re not sure. But consider what we know: We know the baby is brimming with the Otherness. And we know that Rasalom protected Dawn throughout her pregnancy, then took the baby into hiding right after he was born. He’s not the paternal sort and he’s got a one-track mind that’s fixed on the Change. He can’t effect the Change with you around, so that means…?”
Jack gave Weezy an expectant look, so she turned to the Lady and answered the implied question.
“He must think he can use the baby against you.”
Glaeken said, “Your conclusion has a certain circumstantial logic to it, but in reality…” He shrugged. “The baby has a deep, strong Taint, but is not as full of the Otherness as a full-blown q’qr. The Lady was around when the world was full of q’qrs and they never posed a threat to her. Their blood may be from the Otherness, but they are creatures of the Earth and powerless against her. Maybe Rasalom thought he might eventually find a use for the baby against the Lady, but that is moot now.”
The Lady nodded. “For now I have him.”
Jack and Weezy stared at each other. She was sure Jack’s suddenly troubled expression matched hers. She echoed Gia’s question from the other night:
“Do you think this could have been his plan all along?”
After a long pause, Jack shook his head. “I can’t see how getting caught in an exploding house and being set on fire and almost drowning and having a boat blown out from under you by a Stinger were part of his plan.”
Eddie cleared his throat. “Speaking from an actuarial perspective, none of that eliminates the possibility that his original plan was to return the baby to Dawn.”
“But Dawn is dead,” Jack said.
“True. But isn’t it true that this guy, this One, placed Dawn across the hall from Weezy? Which would place the baby, when returned to Dawn, in proximity to Weezy and, by extension, to the Lady.” He pointed to the Lady, then to the baby. “If so, mission accomplished.”
Weezy gave Jack a look. “Told you he’d bring a new perspective.”
Jack glanced at the baby, then the Lady. “Jeez.” Then at Eddie. “High or low probability?”
Eddie gave an uncomfortable shrug. “Wish I could say. I don’t have enough data.”
Weezy’s mind whirled with all the possibilities and permutations of the situation. “I have to tell you, this is way confusing.”
Glaeken said, “It is indeed. We don’t know what the One’s plans were for the baby, but Eddie, the Lady, and I came up with one of our own while you two were in conference.”
Jack said, “What about my idea?”
“It has merit.”
He dropped into his chair. “Well, that’s a start.”
“But it has serious flaws as well.”
“Like?”
Glaeken leaned forward. “What if the anesthesia is just a tiny bit too light and you hear the name during the ceremony? Or what if your brain registers it and stores it even if your consciousness doesn’t? What if you’re wrong and you don’t have to know the Other Name to allow Rasalom to ‘hear’ it within you? What if simply knowing you’ve been given his Other Name is enough?”
“A lot of what-ifs,” Jack said.
“Then here’s the ultimate what-if: If just one of those what-ifs is true, he will ‘hear’ the name within you. That means he will know where you are every minute of every day. You will never be able to surprise him again. But he will be able to surprise you. Knowing your whereabouts, he can bide his time, make his plans, and then strike when the time is right-for him.”
Weezy could see that struck a nerve with Jack. The idea of someone knowing his whereabouts at all times was bad enough, but when that someone was Rasalom…
She was tempted to speak, but bit it back. She’d promised…
“You’re our spear, Jack,” Glaeken said. “I’d hate to think of you fitted with a locator.”
Exactly.
Jack looked at the Lady. “So you won’t do the naming ceremony.”
“Not on you.”
“Then who?” Jack said. “Glaeken?”
“That was a thought,” the old man said. “I’ve got the least to lose, and if not for Magda, I wouldn’t hesitate. But, even in her present state-or perhaps because of her present state-I can’t desert my wife.”
“Well, forget about Weezy,” Jack said. “No way that’s happening.”
“No, not Weezy,” Glaeken said. “Eddie volunteered-”
“No!” Weezy cried, her heart constricting.
He said, “I’ve lost my home, my business, and I’ve got no strings. I’m perfect, but-”
“But we came up with a better candidate,” Glaeken said. “There is one more in the room you might consider.”
Weezy had a sudden bad feeling about what was coming next. She slowly turned and looked at the baby, gnawing contentedly on its bone.
“Oh, no. You can’t be serious.”
3
During the time the cow had cried hysterically over her fallen pet, Rasalom felt the strength pouring into him. Even when her vocalizations ratcheted down to quaking sobs, the grief that poured from her remained considerable.
All for a dumb animal that was, in many other countries, considered an entree.
“I’m terribly sorry for your loss,” he said when she finally quieted.
She only moaned.
“My goodness,” he said. “I hope it wasn’t my fault.”
Her head snapped up. “What do you mean?”
“Well, just before he died I gave him a piece of my turkey.”
She sniffed. “You did?”
“Yes. I hope it didn’t cause a reaction or anything. He wasn’t allergic to turkey, was he?”
“No, he ate it all the time.” She was staring at him, although he knew he was just a blur to her. “That turkey was to help you regain your strength, yet you gave him some?”
“Well, he seemed like such a sweet, loyal dog.”
She began sobbing again.
Good… good. Keep it up. More. Give me more.
“I’m so happy that-that-that his last memory was of a stranger being kind to him.”
His last memory? The cow was pathetic. That creature had been little more than a quadrupedal appetite.
She broke down again, bending over the dog, placing her cheek against its back.
As Rasalom drank, he lifted the blanket and examined his burns. Healing nicely now.
He closed his eyes and sighed as he feasted. Too bad he couldn’t bring the dog back to life-just for a few minutes, just long enough to let her believe her pet was back from the dead-and then stop its heart again.
In his previous life he’d been so much more powerful. His very proximity could cause people to turn on each other, commit atrocities they would never dream of had he not entered their lives. He’d been able to make the dead move, walk, appear almost alive, even though they were not. But Glaeken had ended that life and Rasalom had been forced to wait until his rebirth to begin rebuilding his powers.
He was not yet powerful enough to make this carcass move. He could end a life, make a life a living hell, but he couldn’t restore a life. Never could. Dead was dead.
At least until the Change. After that, who knew?
4
Weezy had jumped from her seat and gone to the playpen. After recovering from his shock at what Glaeken was suggesting, Jack rose and joined her. He realized he should not have been surprised. Glaeken had wanted the child removed from the picture.