I can give you back your boy. And I can give you back your wife. You can release her. Start anew with Zack by your side.
Eph held his breath in his mouth before exhaling, hoping to slow his rising heart rate. The Master knew how desperate Eph was for Zack’s release and return, but it was important to Eph that he not appear desperate.
He is unturned, and will remain that way, a lesser being, as you wish.
And then, out of his mouth came the words he never thought he would utter: “What is it you want in return?”
The book. The Lumen. And your partners. Including the Born.
“The what?”
Mr. Quinlan, I think you call him.
Eph frowned at his reflection in the helmet visor. “I can’t do that.”
Certainly you can.
“I won’t do that.”
Certainly you will.
Eph closed his eyes and tried to clear his head, reopening them a moment later. “And if I refuse?”
I will proceed as planned. The transformation of your boy will happen immediately.
“Transformation?” Eph trembled, sickened, but fought to suppress his emotions. “What does that mean?”
Submit while you still have something with which to bargain. Give yourself to me in your son’s stead. Get the book and bring it to me. I will take the information contained in the book … and the information contained in your mind. I will know all. You can even return the book. No one will know.
“You would give Zack to me?”
I will give him his freedom. The freedom to be a weak human, just like his father.
Eph tried to hold back. He knew better than to allow himself to be drawn into this conversation, to be lulled into an exchange with the monste
r. The Master continued to poke around his mind, looking for a way in.
“Your word means nothing.”
You are correct, in that I have no moral code. There is nothing to compel me to uphold my end of the bargain. But you might consider the fact that I keep my word more often than not.
Eph stared at his reflection. He fought, relying on his own moral code. And yet … Eph was indeed tempted. A straight-up trade—his soul for Zack’s—was one he would make in a minute. The thought of Zack falling prey to this monster—either as a vampire or as an acolyte—was so abhorrent, Eph would have agreed to nearly anything.
But the price was far greater than his own tarnished soul. It meant the souls of the others as well. And the fate, more or less, of the entire human race, in that Eph’s capitulation would give the Master final and lasting stewardship of the planet.
Could he trade Zack for everything? Could his decision be the right one? One he wouldn’t look back at with the greatest regret?
“Even if I were to consider this,” said Eph, talking as much to his reflected self as he was to the Master, “there is one problem. I don’t know the location of the book.”
You see? They are keeping it from you. They don’t trust you.
Eph saw that the Master was right. “I know they don’t. Not anymore.”
Because it would be safer for you to know where it was, as a fail-safe.
“There is a transcription—some notes I have seen. Good ones. I can deliver you a copy.”
Yes. Very good. And I will deliver to you a copy of your boy. Would you like that? I require possession of the original. There is no substitute. You must find out its location from the exterminator.