"Stacey," he said."Thank you for your help."
"It wasn't enough," I said."Not enough by far."
"You did good," Brother Al said.
"Have you seen Eddie?"
"No," Brother Al said, voice terse."His men said one of the giants got him.Tore him straight in two.Right down the middle."
I fell to my knees, clutching my head.My heart felt like whatever was left was being squeezed.I couldn't breathe.I gasped.Inhaled.Exhaled a long wail.
Tamara held my shoulder as I lost it and hugged me as I sobbed.
I was staringat the Crucifix over the entrance.Cursing God.Telling Him in various ways, means, and fashions that I would like for Him to do to himself.
The front doors to the Cathedral opened.Vic staggered in.He looked fried—his hair was a mess, and he was much the worse for wear.He grabbed me by the arm, grip like steel.
"Leave me alone," I said.
"No," he said."Not yet.You and I aren't done."
I slapped at him, but he ignored me as I struggled, pulling me along like I was made of straw, dragging me down and away, deep into the depths of the Cathedral.We took basement stairs I'd never seen, heading down and down and down.
"Nagi's dead.Eddie's dead," I said."I can't.I just can't go on.They're gone for good, aren't they?"
"You want blunt and honest, or kind and misleading?"
"I don't care at this point," I said.
"Good.You and I made a mistake we can't remember.This—all of this—is our fault.I didn't have time to talk to you about it earlier, but there's a chance we can nip this thing in the bud.If we stop Corcoran, we can stop all of this."
I stopped, pulled away from him.He let me go and continued down the steps.
"What do you mean we did this?"I called after him.
"Not us.Another us.Come on, we don't have time."
I hurried down after him.He finally hit a door at a landing.Still, more stairs went down into the depths.I stared down them as he fumbled with some keys.
"This is going to be a mess," he said."You're not going to understand half of it, but you just need to keep up a little.You and I.We created a paradox.I noticed it for a while.Managed to grab it—located it years ago when I first made it here.Paradoxes cause all sorts of havoc in the ether, so we make it a point to sort of… lock them up.Magicians, I mean."
"What are you talking about, Vic?Have you lost it?"
"Stacey, for once I just need you to shut up and listen to what I have to say," he snapped."Look.Brace yourself.It's not pretty."
He opened the door.I stared.There was a glittering spike sitting inside an open safe.It glowed like a beacon.
"Don't touch it," Vic said."Not yet.This is our ticket to fixing things.Fixing everything."
"What is this?"
"It's two things.A withered land wight named Richard Tremblay.And a Paradox.And we're going to harness it to go back in time and try to sort most of this out."
"What are you saying?"
"We've already changed the past once," Vic said."That spike is the Routshammer.It's a cursed item that bestows the soul of its wielder to become nailed in perpetuity to where it's nailed to.Because another you pulled the Routshammer out of this safe in the past, you changed the past.What should have happened was that Corcoran passed the Routshammer to Tremblay and then died for good.What actually happened was you created two Paradoxes.Tremblay himself, which you'll note is the safe sitting before you.And Corcoran himself, who didn't die when he passed the Routshammer to Tremblay.You pulled the Routshammer, which circumvented the curse, and made Tremblay essentially cease to exist and returned the curse to Corcoran.But since we were there to do the things already, the actions stay stuck.Does that make sense?We were there, and we did the thing, and then the thing is done because it's been changed.But the old timeline from before is still there."
"You're losing me, Vic."
