When All is Null and Void

Chapter Nineteen

The nurse clapped the door closed, shutting herself into the room with the infected man. Titus stared at the wood, eyes unfocused. The blackness of that gaze, continued to drill into him. Killer of the consumed. Did he know what Titus had done?

Again, his mom's arm on his shoulder.

"We should go," she said.

His entire body quivered now, hot and cold chills assaulted him from every side. "No," he said. "I want to see more." I need to.

He'd been taking this all for granted.

Now it meant something.

"How does Natalee help with this?" Titus asked, forging down the hallway.

Each step was slow and deliberate, and Titus took in as much as he could. He opened every door he passed, but each Timewalker beyond lay prone. "Natalee is asleep somehow. I'm still not sure why that is, but her blood, when mixed with a Void sick Timewalker's, creates the same sort of sleep. It only lasts a short time, but if we stay up on the dosage, they don't wake up."

"What about the one back there?" Titus didn't look back. He wouldn't.

"Sometimes we get the dosage wrong. No Voidsick is the same."

"Oh."

They came to the last door, and Titus had only just placed his hand on the knob when his mom murmured his name.

"What?"

The ghost of a shadow passed over her face. "They don't all become as rabid. There are a few who can control their facilities."

Titus squinted. "What do you mean? They don't murder?"

His mom tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before saying, "They know what they're doing. It's like..." she trailed off. "Open the door."

Titus wasn't sure he wanted to, but he did so. He had to.

This room was different from the others. No single bed and tile flooring and medical supplies. Instead, a lit fireplace. A chair and coffee table. And in the chair—chainedto it by effervescent gold links—a man.

Titus recognized the Timewalker instantly. Jacob Paulson, one of the twin Timewalkers had known since he was a child. Jacob's eyes were not consumed by darkness. In fact, they were the same sky blue he'd always been drawn to. "Jake?"

"Hello, Titus," the Timewalker said. "Are you here to let me out?" Something in his tone... this wasn't the same Jake Titus had always admired.

"Don't trust him," his mom whispered.

"Why?" Titus asked.

"Yeah," Jacob said. "Why shouldn't he trust me?"

Rhea strode across the room, and, sliding a leather glove from her pocket and onto her hand, touched Jacob's forehead. He screamed. Not in pain, but in a curdling sort of way that pressed Titus against the wall.

"You dare to touch the anointed of Loss!" It was no longer Jacob's voice.

Rhea stepped back and dropped her hand. Jacob drooped in the chair.

"What did you just do?" The words croaked from Titus' throat, and his mom led him from the room.

"Somehow this... Losstook control of Jacob. Instead of being a rabid dog he's much more than that. Like he's somehow been possessed by something much worse."

"How does that happen?"

For the first time in Titus' memory, he saw his mom bite at her fingernail. "I don't know."

"Were those chains the same gold as our rings?"

"Yes. Jacob isn't wearing his ring. He took it off. The rings affect him—and others like him. It's different though. Those chains...they keep him here."

Titus chewed on his lip. "How can we help Caleb get better quicker?" Titus hated Caleb, but he also trusted that his mom had her reasons for choosing him, for trusting he was the one who could help them finally close the Void.

"Caleb is going to collect an artifact for us. If it goes smoothly, and I know it will, we'll move on to training him to close the Void leaks. Alexander told me how you acted when you went, and you can'tdo that anymore. You're going to be training him."

Titus' stomach plummeted, halting his protest. "I'm sorry," he stammered. "I don't know what--"

But his mom held up her hand. "I don't like it, and I expect better from you. And I know you won't disappoint me."

Titus ducked his head and crossed a single arm over his chest.

"There isn't a quick way to do this. We have to be patient."

Titus bit his lip and nodded. "Okay."

Rhea held out her hand, and when Titus grabbed it, the world bent around them.