Sixteen

JJ died on the operating table around the same time Qindra had touched Katie. I’d bet money it was within seconds. Jennifer called me to let me know. Wendy had to be sedated. Her parents were coming up from Lacey to take her home with them for a few days, to let her find some balance. It was all so damned useless.

Melanie knew one of the nurses at Harborview who told her that it was like JJ’s head exploded. They were prepping him for surgery when a piece of his skull the size of a quarter erupted, spraying the operating theater in blood and brains. No one had ever seen anything like it. Except maybe from a bullet. There was no bullet, though. Not a physical one, that is. More like a psychic magical trigger of some sort. She said several pieces of the equipment were also fried at that exact same time, like a power surge. Really bizarre.

I know the book had something to do with it. It may not be the cause, but it was involved. The way it pulsed in time with Katie’s heart beat freaked me out a little. Part of me wanted to burn the book. I just didn’t know what would happen.

This was so far out of my league.

What the hell was I going to do? I knew deep down I was going to have to open that book, explore the pages within. The very thought scared the crap out of me. If me mucking around hurt Katie, I couldn’t live with myself.

In the meantime, I’d try and keep life as normal as possible for Jai Li. What else could I do? I’d figure something out, eventually.