“And that justifies breaking the rules? And his word?”
“It does.” Dominion glanced at Bard. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“I did.” The dean cleared his throat. “This university exists to train Capes and those of us who support them. Damian proved he has the makings of a Cape, and he did so in the middle of a battle that claimed the lives of vastly more experienced Powers. I’m not going to expel someone like that simply because he broke a rule. Even if it was my rule.”
“Then I’m going to repeat Dominion’s question. Why have the trial?” asked Paladin. “Some of us have lives that don’t revolve around your facility.”
“This was for Damian’s benefit, wasn’t it?” realized Macy. “The hearing, the judgement… it’s all just another lesson.”
“Exactly. The fact that I have no intention of expelling him isn’t the point. What matters is that he’s spent two days thinking about what he did and sweating our judgement.” Bard looked at the Powers arrayed around him. “The Academy isn’t just about training someone to use their abilities. It’s about teaching them to behave like a Cape. Damian needs to learn that he’ll be held responsible for his actions.”
“And how will he learn that when you’ve just dismissed any consequences for his action?”
“Did I say there wouldn’t be consequences?” Bard shook his head, smiling. “All I said was that I’m not expelling him. By the time I’m through with young Mr. Banach, he might very well wish I had.”
“Meaning what?” demanded Isabel Ferra. “You’re going to cut his food rations for a week? Maybe limit his Glass privileges? Or force him to spend more time bloodying his knuckles on our students’ faces?”
“Even worse.” Bard’s smile sharpened. “I’m going to give him a job.”
•—•—•
Much later, after Damian had been informed of both his reprieve and his punishment, after Isabel had departed, fury disrupting her usual graceful strides, and after Macy had gone for her nightly ultra-marathon sprint, Dominion, Paladin and Bard remained.
Bard looked to Dominion. “With everything that’s happened, we haven’t had the opportunity to talk. How are you holding up, old friend? I know how close you and Tempest were.”
“Everyone I know dies,” said Dominion, his voice a quiet rumble. “That’s just the way of the world… but it shouldn’t have been her time. Not yet.”
“The whole tragedy should never have occurred,” said Paladin. “I’m told the Security Council wants to take a closer look at everything that happened. Up to and including the president’s decision to open the Hole in the first place.”
Bard shook his head. “President Weatherly and I are far from friendly, but I find it hard to believe he intended any of this to happen. There’s already been talk of impeachment. What if the escape plan had actually succeeded?”
“It wasn’t a total success,” said Dominion, “but it wasn’t a total failure either… and it cost us far too much either way.”
“Has there been any sign of Fallout?”
“None,” said Bard. “But a certain department whose name we’re not supposed to say has dispatched their agents to hunt him down. I hear Midnight is among them.”
“Good hunting to her,” said Paladin, voice firm. “The sooner that whispering bastard is put down, the better.”
“As dangerous as Fallout is—and in some ways, he is a greater threat than Carnage ever was—I think he is the least of our concerns,” said Dominion. He shook his head slowly, a great sigh buffeting the furniture in the room. “I keep returning to the escape plan and all the work that went into it. Someone with access to inmate records was not only able to identify the perfect blend of low-security prisoners to spring the real targets… they were able to track down the relatives of those inmates, bribe them to participate, and supply them with Legion tech. They were able to locate Carnage, persuade him to join a larger assault force, and then somehow bring that entire army to the doorstep of the Hole without anyone noticing.”
“We made that last part easy,” said Paladin with a frown. “Most of the Capes that would have been scouting the area had been dispatched to deal with the other crises.”
“Which is the element that concerns me most,” said the old Cape. “Two large-scale disasters occurred on Remembrance Day, a thousand miles apart, each requiring widespread Cape intervention… intervention that resulted in security being pulled from the Hole.”
Paladin went as white as his costume. “The wildfire is one thing, but… Tezcatlipoca’s attack must have been a coincidence. That creature doesn’t have allies; he has minions or enemies.”
“And yet his attack came at the worst possible time.” Dominion shook his head. “I don’t believe in coincidences like that.”
“Which means someone out there,” said Bard, voice quiet, “was not only able to engineer the bloodiest battle in recent Cape history… they were also able to forge an alliance with our neighbor to the south.”
“And we have no idea who they are.”
Bard shivered. “That puts this little trial of mine in perspective, doesn’t it? Suddenly, I’m far more worried about our country than I am about whatever Damian might do next to make my life difficult.”
“I’d worry less about what Walker does next, and more about what he’s already done,” said Paladin.
Dominion nodded. “You see it too.”
“See what, exactly?” asked Bard.
Paladin shook his head, his expression troubled. “I’ve fought Carnage three times. Every time, I had other Defenders with me, and every time, Carnage escaped. Twice, we were the ones who ran. And your eighteen-year-old Crow kills him? With a touch?”
Dominion nodded again, his face pensive. When he finally spoke, his words were soft.
“There is no way that boy is just a Three.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris began life as a gleam in someone’s eye, but birth and childhood were quick to follow. He’s been fortunate enough to live in Spain, Germany, and all over the United States of America, and is busy planning a tour of the distilleries of
