"Grasshopper, please, do it."
"Maya," Zeke moves forward, then pauses when Jade cocks his gun with a loud click. Zeke's face darkens. "Maya, you shouldn't let these people be. Or to forgive our agreement…"
I close my eyes for a moment. This situation… everything wrenches my already torn heart in a different direction.
"Please," I say, not knowing whom I ask. Zeke? Jade? Grasshopper again? "Just… Wasn't there enough death? Enough bloodshed?"
For a long minute, no one speaks or makes a move. The silence is tenser than a drawn bowstring, and it isn't quiet. Faraway clicks of the Ascended permeate it like ticks of a clock that measures lives of people.
With a soft sigh, Zeke kneels next to me. "I wouldn't trust just anyone with something as subtle as human dreams. Let me put the spell on her, my Maya, and ensure that she won't suffer a heart attack from nightmares."
