Irritable, she’d called him. Maybe that was part of the reason why. It was, in his opinion, a damn good reason for being irritable. It was ludicrous, he decided, and started to pace the guest room instead of checking his e-mail as he’d intended. It was absolutely insane to start thinking about long-term, about commitment, about being part of a couple instead of going solo.
But he was thinking about it. That was the kicker. And he could imagine it, could see how it might be-the potential of it-with Cybil. He could imagine the two of them exploring the world together without the weight of it on their shoulders. He could even imagine having a base with her somewhere. New York, Vegas, Paris-wherever.
A home with her, somewhere to come back to.
The only place he’d ever had to come back to was Hawkins Hollow. And not by choice, not really by choice.
But this could be, if he took the bet.
It might be fun talking her into it.
There was time left, he thought, enough time left for him to work out a game plan. Have to be cagey about it, he mused as he sat down at his laptop. He’d have to find just the right way to tie her up in those strings they’d both agreed they didn’t want. Then once he had, he could just tie a knot here, tie a knot there. She was a smart one, but then so was he. He’d lay odds he could have her wrapped up before she realized he’d changed the game-and the rules.
Pleased with the idea, he opened an e-mail from Professor Linz. And as he read, his belly tightened; his eyes chilled.
So much, he thought, fatalistically, for planning futures. His was already set-and it had less than two weeks to run.
Eighteen
ONCE AGAIN, GAGE CALLED FOR A MEETING AT Cal’s office. Just his brothers. He’d made certain he’d been up and out of the house that morning before Cybil so much as stirred. He’d needed time to think, time alone, just as he needed time now with his two friends.
He laid out what he’d learned from Linz in calm and dispassionate terms.
“Screw that,” was Fox’s opinion. “Screw that, Gage.”
“It’s how it ends.”
“Because some demon academic we don’t know, who’s never been here, never dealt with what we’ve dealt with says so?”
“Because it’s how it ends,” Gage repeated. “Everything we know, everything we’ve found out, everything we’ve dealt with leads right up to it.”
“I’m going to have to go with the lawyer’s technical terminology on this,” Cal said after a moment. “Screw that.”
Gage’s eyes were green and clear; he’d made his peace with what had to be. “I appreciate the sentiment, but we all know better. None of us should have made it this far. The only reason we have is because Dent broke the rules, gave us abilities, gave us a power source. Time to pay up. Don’t say ‘why you.’” Gage tapped a finger in the air at Fox. “It’s all over your face, and we’ve been over that part. It’s my turn, and it’s my goddamn destiny. It stops this time. This is when and how. Upside is I’m not going to have to haul my ass back here every seven years to save you guys.”
“Screw that, too,” Fox said, but without heat as he pushed to his feet. “There’s going to be another way. You’re looking at this in a straight line. You’re not checking out the angles.”
“Brother, angles are my business. It’s either destroyed this time, or it becomes. Fully corporeal, fully in possession of all its former power. We’ve already seen that begin to happen.”
Absently, Gage rubbed his shoulder where the scar rode. “I’ve got a souvenir. To destroy it, absolutely take it out, requires a life from our side. Blood sacrifice, to pay the price, to balance the scales. One light for the dark, and blah blah blah. I’m going to do this thing one way or the other. It’d be a hell of a lot easier if I had you behind me.”
“We’re not just going to sit back and watch you take one for the team,” Cal told him. “We keep looking for another way.”
“And if we don’t find one? No bullshit, Cal,” Gage added. “We’ve been through too much to bullshit each other.”
“If we can’t, can I have your car?”
Gage glanced over at Fox and felt the weight drop off his shoulders. They’d do what needed to be done. They’d stand behind him, just like always. “The way you drive? Hell no. Cybil gets it. That woman knows how to handle a car. I need you to lawyer up that kind of thing for me. I’d have that off my head.”
“Okay, no problem.” He shrugged off Cal ’s curse. “And my fee’s a bet. One thousand says we not only off the Big Evil Bastard, but you walk away from the Pagan Stone with the rest of us after we do.”
“I want in on that,” Cal said.
“That’s a bet then.”
Cal shook his head, absently rubbed Lump under his desk as the dog stirred from sleep. “Only a sick son of a bitch bets a thousand he’s going to die.”
Gage only smiled. “Dead or alive, I like to win.”
“We need to take this back to the women,” Fox put in, then narrowed his eyes at Gage. “Problem?”
“Depends. If we take it back to the women-”
“There’s no if,” Cal interrupted. “There are six of us in this.”
“When we take it back to the women,” Gage qualified, “the three of us go in as a unified front. I’m not going to be arguing with you and them. The deal is, we look for another way until time runs out. When time runs out and there’s no other way, it’s my way. Nobody welshes.”
Cal rose, preparing to come around the desk to shake on the deal. The office door burst open. Cy Hudson, one of the fixtures of the Bowl-a-Rama’s leagues, rushed in, teeth bared, and madly firing a.38. One of the bullets plowed into Cal ’s sternum, took him down even as Gage and Fox dove at Cy.
His enormous bulk didn’t topple, and his sheer madness flung them off like flies. He aimed at Cal again, shifted the gun at the last moment as Gage shouted, and Lump bunched to attack. Gage braced for the bullet, caught Fox rising up like a runner off the mark out of the corner of his eye.
Bill Turner came through the door like fury. He leaped onto Cy’s back, fists pounding even as Fox went in low and the dog sprang, jaw snapping. The four of them went down in a bone-breaking tangle. The gun went off again even as Gage shoved up and grabbed a chair. He brought it down, brutally, twice on Cy’s exposed head.
“Okay?” he said to Fox as Cy went limp.
“Yeah, yeah. Hey, boy, good dog.” Fox hooked an arm around Lump’s big neck. “ Cal?”
Pushing up again, Gage dropped down beside Cal. Cal’s face was bone white, his eyes glassy, and his breath came in short pants. But when Gage ripped his shirt open, he saw the spent bullet pushing up through the wound. Sidling over, Lump licked Cal ’s face and whined.
“It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re pushing it out.” He gripped Cal ’s hand, sent him all he could. “Give me something.”
“Smashed a rib, I think,” Cal managed. “Ripped hell out of me in there.” He struggled to even his breathing as Lump nosed his shoulder. “I can’t exactly tell.”
“We’ve got it. Fox, for Christ’s sake, give me a hand.”
“Gage.”
“What! Can’t you see he’s…” Furious, Gage whipped his head around. He saw Fox kneeling on the floor pressing the blood-soaked wad of his own shirt to Bill’s chest.
“Call for an ambulance. I’ve got to keep the pressure on.”
“Go. God.” Cal pushed breath out, drew more in. He fisted his hand in Lump’s fur. “I’ve got this. I’ve got this. Go.”
But Gage kept Cal ’s hand tight in his, drew out his phone. And with his eyes locked on his father’s pale face, called for help.