Page 67 of Jacob Michaels is Dead

“I don’t know what that means,” Lucas waved her off and turned to me, “Rob, what are we going to do?”

He took my face in his hands, turning my eyes from Oma to his.

“We know everything now.” He said. “What are we going to do?”

“The only way to seal him back in the ground,” I stared at Lucas for a moment, “would be to create another well. Create balance.”

For several breaths, Lucas stared into my eyes.

“That would do it.” Oma offered with a sigh.

Suddenly, a realization came to Lucas.

“No!” He demanded, his hands clenching at me. “You’re not going to do that, Rob! No!”

“What other choice do we have?” I put my hands on his shoulders. “It’s either all of us die, or…or…”

“That would leave me and her!” Lucas jabbed a finger at Oma, but his eyes stayed on mine. “You wouldn’t be saving much, Rob. Everyone in this town is likely dead, having been drained by him. Taking the magic back will kill a person, right? Right?”

He was talking to Oma.

“I reckon so.” She said, chewing at the side of her mouth. “But, I ain’t goin’ door to door to find out.”

Lucas turned back to me.

“You can’t sacrifice yourself just for us.” Lucas shook his head. “I won’t let you.”

“I’m not sacrificing myself for the two of you,” I said, placing a hand on his cheek. “I’m doing it for you. And the rest of the people in the world. I mean…do you think he’s going to stop at Point Worth? That he’ll be happy with that?”

“Rob…” Lucas groaned.

“Give me options.” I offered to him. “Tell me what else can work. I’m willing to listen.”

“There ain’t no other way,” Oma said sharply. “You meet him in battle, and you defeat him. Or he defeats you.”

“Shut up!” Lucas barked at Oma, shocking me, but pleasantly. “What happens then, Rob? Huh? You seal him away; we get a new well…then someone else comes along and uses the power? Then another? And another? Until it’s all gone in a few centuries, and he comes back? Then what?”

“Maybe someone in my bloodline will still be around...” I hadn’t thought of that.

“If you can’t destroy him, you can’t let yourself be destroyed.” Lucas shook his head. “This is an impossible problem.”

“How can he be destroyed, Lucas?” I asked him, pleaded with him. “As long as there is magic up here, there’s…Bloody Bones.”

The ground shook. Oma gasped, and Lucas grimaced.

“That ain’t supposed to happen,” Oma mumbled. “Bastard already crawled up out of Hell.”

“Again,” I snorted, “totally shocked that the portal to Hell was in this town.”

Lucas gave a tight smile as the ground settled. We looked into each other’s eyes as Oma stood in the middle of the garden, looking around as though she might come up with a solution. Or maybe she was looking for a place to bury me if my plan didn’t work. Who was to say? Lucas stared at me, different emotions flashing across his face in succession, as though he was trying to think of something to say—or maybe how to say it.

“What is it?” I asked softly.

“Rob,” Lucas said, “I saw you coming.”

“Point Worth was on fire,” I replied. “And I’m a fireman.”

“And I saw how this ends.”