Zack gazed outside in absent marvel. “Jesus. I grew up here. The other ‘here.’”
“I can show you around tomorrow, if you want.”
“You think that’s wise?”
Peter flicked a breezy hand. “Some hats and sunglasses and we’ll be fine. It’d be awfully cruel if you folks couldn’t get out once in a while.”
“Wait. Didn’t you tell us the Brooklyn address was compromised?”
“I said our meeting address was compromised. This place is safe. Purchased with cash through two intermediaries. No one knows I’m here. Not even my son.”
Mia snapped out of her addled daze. “Where is he?”
“With my people. He’s safer there. My godmother will take care of him.”
“Can you call or write to him?”
“No. Too risky. I can’t even see him by portal without tipping off Ivy.”
Six brows curled in sympathy as the Silvers realized the extent of Peter’s sacrifice. Amanda held his wrist. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, come on now. None of that. I’ll tell you exactly what I told Liam. This is just temporary. As soon as matters are straightened out with my people, I’m going home and I’m bringing you with me. Quarter Hill is where we all belong.”
“What about the Deps?” Hannah asked. “They’ll be looking for us there.”
“They’ll be looking, but they won’t see. Trust me. Our town was built for secrets.”
David pursed his lips, lost in thoughts of young Freddy Ballad. “You really think the other Gothams will embrace us after everything that’s happened?”
“That’s not . . .” Peter chuckled with forced patience. “First of all, we don’t call ourselves that, ever. Secondly, yes. This whole mess started with Rebel. It’ll end with him.”
“You’re saying we need to kill him.”
“Absolutely not. If we kill him, he’ll become a martyr to the cause. The clan will forever see things his way. No, we have to do something even harder than that. We have to change his mind.”
Zack’s face coursed with hot blood as he rediscovered his hatred. Rebel had murdered his brother and then bragged about it. He nearly shot Mia to death. Even if the man could be persuaded to abandon his jihad, Zack couldn’t imagine waving hello to him at the Quarter Hill Shop & Save.
“I still don’t understand why he’s trying to kill us,” Zack said. “I mean he’s acting like we’re all walking A-bombs, or future Hitlers.”
Peter shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. He’s wrong. None of this is your fault.”
“None of what?” David asked. “What are your people so afraid of?”
The sisters watched Peter carefully as he stared out the window, tapping his lantern jaw. The melancholy in his deep blue eyes was enough to kill their last strand of hope that Evan had lied. They covered their mouths and wept.
Theo leaned forward and rubbed Hannah’s arm. “Hey. Hey. Why are you crying?”
Zack studied Amanda in ardent concern. “What happened to you back there?”
“Someone talked to them,” said Peter.
“I’m asking her.”
“And I’m answering for her. The moment I saw the sisters, I recognized the look on their faces. It’s the same look my people have been wearing for the last ten weeks. Someone told them the bad news. Some bastard gave them the cloud without the silver lining.”
“Silver lining?” Hannah cried, in a wheezing rasp. “How is there a silver lining?”
Mia tugged tissues from a box and passed them to Amanda and Hannah. On her way back to her sofa, David gently pulled her into his easy chair and locked his arms around her like a seat belt. He threw an uneasy nod at Peter.
“All right. Tell us everything.”
The Irishman leaned back into the couch with a long, sorrowful sigh. He’d hoped to wait until they were better rested.
“The future’s a very peculiar thing,” he began. “The best prophets in the world couldn’t tell you what I’ll have for breakfast tomorrow, but they know for a fact that a volcano in Hawaii will erupt in four months’ time. They know a small meteor will punch the Gobi desert next April and that San Francisco will fall to an earthquake in two years. It’s easy as hell to see these things because they’re the same across all timelines. No one can stop them from happening.
“On July 24th, the day you all arrived, the sixty-seven augurs of my clan suddenly got a peek at a whole new future. The vision hit them like acid, the single worst thing any of them had ever seen. Four of them killed themselves before the day was done. We lost a dozen more the following week. And Rebel? He used to be a reasonable guy. You’ll just have to take my word for it.”
The augur in the room could suddenly see where this was going. At long last, Theo understood the lingering dread that clouded the thoughts of his future selves, the same giant sword hanging over all their heads.
David reeled in bother. “I don’t understand. If it’s a second Cataclysm, as you implied, then why the suicidal despair? You’d have months, possibly years to evacuate.”