see where things might go when we get out of here? After all we've been through, we deserve some romance in our lives-'
Her cold laugh cut him dead. 'Romance?' She smiled icily, her eyes flashing. 'You were so good at your manipulation, Matt.'
'What are you talking about?'
'There is no missing daughter, is there? You couldn't have just forgotten her like you did. If you had a child she would have been on your mind all the time, driving every decision. But you only mentioned her when you used her to win me over… because you needed me to cross over to this place.'
'That's ridiculous! Of course I've got a daughter. And once we're out of here-'
'You never loved me, Matt. I saw through all that, too, because I experienced real love recently, from someone who cared for me more than himself. I'd forgotten what it was like with Grant, so you could fool me for a while, but now, looking back, you were so transparent. Who are you, Matt? Really?'
He made to continue his deception and then shrugged and wandered away to stare briefly into the warp field. When he finally looked back at her, his mind made up, his pleasant features revealed a hidden arrogance.
'Before the Fall I used to be in the Special Boat Service. Where do you think I got all those martial skills? At the local pub? These days… well, more of the same, I suppose. I work for the Government. The new Government, down in Oxford. They're still keeping things pretty much under wraps, but soon everyone will know they're on the case, and then they'll be kicking the arse of all the gods and what have you. We're going to blow them out of the water.'
Jack stared at Matt with mounting dismay. Matt ignored him.
'The Government knows more than you might think. They're smart people, Caitlin. They understand that they need to have all the facts at their disposal before they can strike back. So they've been doing the legwork, finding out all the reasons why the Fall happened, working out who the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons are and why they exist, finding out what those gods do… and how we can hit back at them. They might not know everything, but you'd be surprised at what they do know. Like this Otherworld, for instance. They knew it was here — don't ask me how — and they'd worked out how to get to it. And that was where you came in.'
'How did you know I was going to be at the Rollrights?' Caitlin asked.
'I didn't. I just struck lucky.' He glanced at the Lament- Brood. 'Or maybe not so lucky. Anyway, the Government had one of us camped out at each of the old stone circles, and some of the other places we thought might be crossover points. Our job was to bring back a cure for the plague — yeah, they guessed it was from here, too — and any other information we could use in the fight-back. But we needed a Brother or Sister of Dragons to get us across. We gambled that sooner or later one of you would turn up. I'm sorry I had to deceive you, Caitlin, but the bottom line is, we're on the same side.'
'You really think that?' she said incredulously. 'After all the time you've spent with me, you know me so little?'
He sighed. 'This is exactly why I didn't tell you what I was doing right from the start. Your trouble is, you're too naive. This is war, and in war you have to do things that might not be acceptable in peacetime.'
'Like killing Carlton?'
An audible gasp escaped Jack's lips. Matt looked back towards the warp-field.
'How could you do that? A boy… an innocent boy…'
He shrugged, wasn't going to say anything, but she wouldn't allow him that luxury. 'Go on. I'm waiting.'
'He was too smart… maybe he even read my mind. He was going to tell you what I was doing-'
'That wasn't the only reason.' She had trouble keeping her voice from trembling with the emotion she felt. 'You saw how close I was getting to him… and you knew it was another way you could destabilise me so you could control me. I was getting too independent on the boat, wasn't I? But I didn't make it back to you after the Lament- Brood attacked Sunchaser, so it was all for nothing. You killed a young boy, for nothing. How does that fit with all your lofty aims?'
Jack had tears in his eyes. 'How could you do that?'
'I still don't understand… strategically,' Caitlin said. 'He was special, the key to sorting all this mess out, wasn't he?'
Matt shook his head. 'He wasn't the one — that's some other kid down in Salisbury, and we've already got him in our sights. The things he can do make Carlton look like… some stupid child.' Caitlin visibly winced. 'You're talking about military potential. The death of a child is so painful because of everything else you lose when they die. Who knows how they're going to turn out? They might become some great hero, a champion, or they might turn into you. You didn't just murder Carlton… you murdered his future, the possibility of what he might have become.'
'I had a job to do, Caitlin-'
'Shut up.' Her voice had more of the Morrigan about it than she had expected. In that instant she had the strangest feeling that Carlton knew he was going to die, that he didn't care because he realised he was part of a bigger plan, and in a way he was: if Carlton hadn't died, Caitlin would never have allowed the Morrigan to take over and perhaps Matt would then have achieved all his aims. Something good had come out of the whole mess; perhaps it had even been Carlton's intention all along. Mahalia had been right: he really was special. 'Everything I've learned since coming here has told me you can't trust anything at face value — nothing is as it appears. You see, you believe the enemies are monsters or supernatural threats, but they're not. The real threat looks just like us, and it always has. The real threat has been amongst us since the dawn of humanity — the hard people, the ones who thought they knew better than anyone else, who could make the tough decisions about who lived or died. You think the world would be better with you and your secret Government in charge, rather than all the things we've got now?'
'Of course. You think the current mess is better with all the death and the misery we've seen?'
'And next to that, the death of an innocent boy amounts to nothing, is that what you're saying?'
Again he made not to speak, but this time he couldn't resist, so sure was he that he was right. 'Exactly. Anyone can see. There's no comparison.'
'I used to think no life was more valuable than another, but you've taught me I was wrong.'
He started to smile.
'We wouldn't miss you, Matt, you or any of your kind.'
His face hardened.
Jack drifted up to Matt. In the boy, Caitlin could see the fractured response of a child whose image of his parent had been destroyed. And Matt could see too what Jack was feeling, but aside from an uncomfortable flicker across the adult's face, he didn't place any value on it. Caitlin wondered how she could ever have been fooled by him.
Then, like a snake, Matt moved. Caitlin glimpsed a face that flashed from mild indifference to steel, and in that instant his arm was around Jack's neck, the boy spun round and locked in place, a small blade pressed against his throat.
Caitlin darted forward, but Matt tipped the knife just enough to draw blood. Caitlin was in no doubt that he would kill Jack if he wanted. 'Don't hurt him!' she said. 'It's pointless. He's a boy — let him go.'
'He's not a boy,' Matt said emotionlessly, 'he's a weapon. The biggest and best weapon that ever existed. If I get him back, with what's inside him, then we've got the upper hand. The other side would have to fall in line.'
'What if they don't? What point is a weapon that could destroy all Existence?'
'If you can't have the world the way you want it, there's no need for the world at all.'
'You'd destroy everything? Just because you couldn't bear not to be in charge?'
Matt began to drag Jack towards the first rank of the Lament-Brood. 'It's about freedom — you wouldn't understand-'
'I know. I'm too naive.' Did humanity stand any chance of advancing when there were people like Matt around, the kind of people who always rose into positions of power? What was the point, then, in anything? 'Turn on the power, Jack,' Matt said firmly. When Jack didn't respond, Matt jabbed the knife hard so that the boy howled in pain and then yelled, 'Turn it on!'
The thin light of the Wish-Hex began to leak from Jack's stomach. Matt forced the boy towards the Lament- Brood, using him as a shield while keeping one eye on Caitlin; his face warned her not to make any move. 'They'll let us out,' he said. 'They know what he can do. But more than that, they don't need us. You were the only threat.
