Chapter 6
Me?
Hugh nodded.
"I'm supposed to stop the end of the world? How?"
"First, I ought to tell you that it's not just me that believes all this about the millennium. It's not even Circle Daybreak that believes it. It's the Night World Council, Jez."
"The joint Council? Witches and vampires?"
Hugh nodded again. "They had a big meeting about it this summer. And they dug up some old prophecies about what's going to happen this time."
"Like?"
Hugh looked slightly self-conscious. "Here's one. It used to rhyme in the original, I think, but this is the translation." He took a breath and quoted slowly:
'In blue fire, the final darkness is banished. In blood, the final price is paid."
Great, Jez thought. Whose blood? But Hugh was going on.
"Four to stand between the light and the shadow, Four of blue fire, power in their blood. Born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision; Four less one and darkness triumphs."
Jez blinked slowly. "What's blue fire?"
"Nobody knows."
"'Four to stand between the light and the shadow...' Meaning to hold off the end of the world?"
"That's what the Council thinks. They think it means that four people have been born, four Wild Powers who're going to be instrumental in whatever's coming, whatever battle or disaster that's going to destroy us. Those four can stop the end of the world-but only if all of them fight together."
"'Four less one and darkness triumphs," Jez said.
"Right. And that's where you come in."
"Sorry, I don't think I'm one of them."
Hugh smiled. "That's not what I meant. The fact is, somebody around here has already reported finding a Wild Power. Circle Daybreak intercepted a message from him to the Council saying that hell hand the Wild Power over to them if they make it worth his while. Otherwise hell just sit tight until they're desperate enough to agree to his terms."
Jez had a sinking feeling. She said one word. "Who?"
Hugh's expression was knowing and regretful. It's one of your old gang, Jez. Morgead Blackthorn."
Jez shut her eyes.
Yeah, that sounded like Morgead, trying to shake down the Night World Council. Only he was crazy and nervy enough to do that. He was stubborn, too-perfectly capable of letting disaster come if he didn't get his way. But of all the people in the world, why did it have to be him? And how had he found a Wild Power, anyway?
Hugh was speaking again softly. "You can see why we need you. Somebody has to get to him and find out who the Wild Power is-and you're the only one who stands a chance of doing that."
Jez pushed hair off her face and breathed slowly, trying to think.
"I don't need to tell you how dangerous it is," Hugh said, looking into the distance again. "And I don't want to ask you to do it. In fact, if you're smart, you'll tell me to get lost right now."
Jez couldn't tell him to get lost "What I don't understand is why we can't just let the Council take care of it. They'll want the Wild Powers bad, and they have a lot more resources."
Hugh glanced back at her, startled. His gray eyes were wide with an expression that Jez had never seen before. Then he smiled, and it was an incredibly sad smile.
"That's just what we can't do. You're right, the Council wants the Wild Powers. But not so they can fight the end of the world. Jez... they only want them so they can kill them."
That was when Jez realized what his expression was. It was gentle regret for innocence-her innocence.
She couldn't believe how stupid she had been.
"Oh, Goddess," she said slowly.
Hugh nodded. "They want it to happen. At least the vampires do. If the human world ends-well, that's their chance, isn't it? For thousands of years the Night People have had to hide, to live in the shadows while the humans spread all over the world. But the Council wants that to change."
The reason Jez had been so slow was that it was hard for her to imagine anybody actually wanting to bring on the Apocalypse. But of course it made sense. "They're willing to risk being destroyed themselves," she whispered.
"They figure that whatever happens, it'll be worse on the humans, since the humans don't know it's coming. Hell, some of the Night People think they're what's coming. Hunter Redfern is saying that vampires are going to wipe out and enslave the humans and that after that the Night World is going to reign."
Jez felt a new chill. Hunter Redfern. Her ancestor, who was over five hundred years old but looked about thirty. He was bad, and he practically ran the Council.
"Great," she muttered. "So my family's going to destroy the world."
Hugh gave her a bleak smile. "Hunter says the Old Powers are rising to make vampires stronger so they can take over. And the scary thing is, he's right. Like I said before, the Night People are getting stronger, developing more powers. Nobody knows why. But most of the vampires on the Council seem to believe Hunter."
"So we don't have much time," Jez said. "We have to get the Wild Power before Morgead makes a deal with the Night World."
"Right. Circle Daybreak is fixing up a safe place to keep the Wild Powers until we get all four. And the Council knows we're doing it-that's probably why that ghoul was following me. They're watching us. I'm just sorry I led it here," he added absently, with a worried look around the room.
"Doesn't matter. He's not telling anybody anything."
"No. Thanks to you. But we'll meet someplace different next time. I can't endanger your family." He looked back at her. "Jez, if the Night World manages to kill even one of the Wild Powers-well, if you believe the prophecy, it's all over."