Morpheus Road 03 - The Blood by D.J. MacHale Read Free Book Online

didn't you tell me?" Marsh asked. "You could have come to Stony Brook. The crucible could have pro tected all of us!"
    "I considered it," Ennis admitted. "A few times I even left for the train station. But each time I was turned back by . . . circumstances."
    "Damon," Sydney said with a gasp. "He's keeping you isolated."
    "Why don't you answer your phone?" Marsh asked. "Because I never know who might be calling," was his sober answer.
    Marsh knew what that meant. He'd gotten plenty of unwanted phone calls courtesy of Damon the Butcher.
    "Have you told your father about Damon?" Ennis asked.
    "No," Marsh answered quickly. "And I'm not going to. The more who know, the more will be in danger. I've heard that way too many times, and I believe it."
    "You cannot battle this alone," Ennis warned.
    "I'm not. I've got Sydney . . . and Cooper."
    On hearing the name of Marsh's dead best friend, Ennis's eyes opened wide.
    "You must tell me all that has happened," he implored.
    They sat down, though Sydney and Marsh chose the floor over the soiled mattress. It took only a few minutes for Marsh to relate the story of his battle with Gravedigger and Cooper's adventure in the Black. Ennis listened without interrupting. He soaked up every word. Nodding. Under standing. Every so often he winced, mostly when Marsh told him about what his mother had been through in the Black.
    Marsh's tale ended with Sydney's near death at school, and their plan to find Damon and destroy him.
    Marsh finished with, "Hearing it all like that makes it sound so incredibly impossible."
    "Yet we know it is not," Ennis said, tired. "Words can not begin to express how miserable I feel over what I so foolishly started."
    "Don't be sorry," Marsh declared. "Help us."
    He took the golden ball from Sydney, held it up and continued, "You discovered the poleax and the crucibles in the tomb that protected the Rift. There were six. Three are broken. This is the fourth. Do you know where the other two are?"
    Ennis looked uncomfortable, as if it were a question he didn't want to answer. He stood and went to the window to peer outside in case someone might be listening in, even though they were ten floors up. Satisfied, he closed the blinds and then went into the bathroom to splash water on his face.
    Sydney whispered to Marsh, "He's gone off the deep end."
    "We all have," Marsh replied.
    Ennis came back into the room and said, "I do not know where they might be. When I left the tomb in Greece, I brought out only three."
    "You told me the one I broke belonged to my mother and you promised her you'd give it to me to keep me safe. But that wasn't how it happened, was it?"
    "No," Ennis admitted. "I told you that so you would appreciate its importance. I did not divulge the whole story because I was holding out hope that you would not be touched by this horror and never learn the truth. It was foolish of me to think it would be that simple."
    Sydney said, "So what about the other crucibles?"
    Ennis rubbed his chin nervously.
    "One has to be with the poleax," Marsh declared. "That's why Damon can't see it. My mother believes you took the weapon out of Damon's tomb, Ennis. Did you?"
    Sydney and Marsh stared at Ennis, waiting for a response.
    Ennis kept his eyes on the floor.
    "C'mon, man," Sydney blurted out impatiently. "Did you take the poleax and hide it with a crucible or not?"
    Ennis frowned and nodded. "I did."
    Hearing those words and the reality they revealed made Marsh's head spin. "My god," he said, stunned. "All this time. Damon's been coming after me but you're the one who knows."
    "And I will not tell you where it is," Ennis added. "That knowledge would only put you in more danger."
    "More danger?" Sydney bellowed, and jumped to her feet. "Are you serious? How can we be in any more danger than this?"
    "You have no idea, miss," Ennis said. "Look at me. I can not sleep because he invades my thoughts with such horri bly vivid visions that it is impossible to know if I am awake or