The stranger handed the dynamite over to the captain. Matt felt panic rise in him. Whatever the captain was going to do to his dad, he was sure it wasn’t benign. He could not stand by and watch. He had to do something. Anything.
“Stop!” Matt shouted as he jumped forward and then quickly retreated. The stilled droplets of rain poked and sliced him when he came against them, like hundreds of glass shards dangling in the air.
“Mateo!” Captain Vincent said, in his congenial but oily voice. “How glad I am to see you.” Santiago, sitting on Captain Vincent’s shoulder, hissed at Matt, his traditional greeting for him. “Come now, Santiago. Aren’t you glad to see our friend Mateo? Or is it Marius Quine now?” He turned back to Matt. “Are you going by your true identity yet? I am not entirely sure when that change happens.”
Matt felt the blood drain from his face. He knew. Captain Vincent knew he was Marius Quine. How did he know? What did that mean? He didn’t have time to work that through his brain. There were more important things at stake in this moment. “Don’t touch my dad,” Matt said. He tried to step forward but got jabbed again with the shards of rain.
Matt touched his cheek and winced at the sting. Bright blood smeared on his fingers.
“Be careful, Mateo,” Captain Vincent said. “The world is a precarious place even outside of time. For mortals, at least.” He took a white handkerchief out of his jacket and held it out to Matt. Matt hesitated, wondering if there was some trick in this.
“I’m not trying to trick you,” Captain Vincent said. “Here.” He tossed the handkerchief. Matt caught it and pressed it to his bleeding face without taking his eyes off Captain Vincent. He was closer to him now, and they weren’t traveling, so he had a better view. At first glance he looked the same as he always had ever since Matt had first met him. A handsome man with dark hair and eyes, a neatly trimmed beard around his chiseled jaw, wearing his usual black clothing and red Converse. But Matt could see the differences too. They were subtle but unmistakable. He had a strange aura about him, a sort of bluish glow that seemed otherworldly. Anyone else might mistake it for an effect of the light, or your own failing eyesight, but in the dim light of the storm it was noticeable. The other thing Matt noticed was the scar, or rather the lack of it. The captain was supposed to have a scar on his right cheek, where Matt had sliced him with a sword. Granted, it could have been any number of years for the captain since that time, but Matt was certain he had cut him deep enough to make a permanent scar that no amount of time would heal. But the scar wasn’t there. There wasn’t even a trace of it.
Captain Vincent, seeming to know what Matt was staring at, reached up and brushed the spot where the scar should have been. “Another benefit of the Aeternum,” he said. “I don’t bleed anymore. Nothing can hurt me. The Aeternum truly does mend all that is broken.”
Where was the Aeternum? The compass? Matt searched for the gold chain and the small bulge at the captain’s left sleeve where he usually kept it, but he didn’t see it. His compass did not heat up against his skin like it always did when it was in its own presence. It remained cool and lifeless around his neck.
“It’s gone,” Captain Vincent said, once again seeming to read Matt’s thoughts. “Or I should say it’s a part of me now. No one can take it from me. I am the Aeternum. And now I’ll be able to fix everything to how it always should have been.” He took his eyes off Matt and glanced toward Mrs. Hudson.
Matt instinctively took a step toward her. Both she and Mr. Hudson were reaching out toward Corey. They looked like wax statues, something from Madame Tussauds. “What did you do to them?”
“Nothing,” Captain Vincent said. “I simply stopped time. Humans are highly attached to time. But not you and me. We are different.”
Matt was reminded of Quine’s words. “We have always been different. We have different rules.” How was he different? He didn’t have the Aeternum. Even when he had it, he hadn’t known what it was, hadn’t known how to use it. He was pretty sure he wasn’t immortal. He could bleed. He was fairly certain he could die.
“What about him?” Matt nodded toward the stranger. He’d been completely silent and almost as still as everyone else. He barely glanced at Matt when he spoke.
“He is a regular human being,” the captain said, “though an intelligent one, I’ll grant him. He knows how to choose sides wisely. We look forward to the time you join us.”
“I’m not joining you,” Matt said, disgusted.
The captain smiled at him like he was an obstinate toddler. “I know you think I am your enemy, Mateo. But I am not. I never have been.”
“Fine,” Matt spat. “Then go away and leave us alone. We won’t bother you if you won’t bother us.”
Captain Vincent chuckled. “I’m afraid that’s not the way this is going to work. There won’t be any kind of truce or compromise. I’m simply going to make things right. You’ll understand eventually. One day you’ll come to me and tell me just about everything I need to know in order to succeed. You know how I know? Because you already did.”
“What are you talking about? No, I didn’t!”
Captain Vincent just shook
