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

lives in my hand, including that annoying urchin down there who is about to meet her end. Tell me, Foley, are you willing to risk their eternals souls?"
    Cooper's body tensed as his anger grew.
    "And then of course there is your sister," Damon con tinued. "The poor girl nearly leaped to her death from that burning building. How much longer will her luck, and the luck of Marshall Seaver, last?"
    "It isn't luck," Cooper said. "The crucible is protecting them."
    "For now, but they are young. Most of their natural lives still lie before them. All it would take is one mistake over that lifetime, and they'd be mine. It could be ten minutes from now, or ten years. I am nothing if not patient. And I promise you, they will make a mistake, and when they do, I will be there waiting . . . as I was with Ennis Mobley."
    "Ennis? What about him?" Coop asked, not able to hide his surprise.
    "Didn't you know?" Damon asked with mock surprise. "He has journeyed farther along the Morpheus Road."
    "You killed him too?" Coop declared, rocked.
    Damon shrugged and said, "The choice was his." Cooper took an impulse step toward Damon, but stopped himself quickly. He knew he had to stay in control.
    "You have the power, Foley," Damon continued. "Espe cially now that you can communicate with your friends in the Light. Find the poleax, deliver it to me, and those you care about will be safe."
    They were back to square one. As they stood facing each other under the hot sun, and the hotter gaze of thousands of spectators, Coop knew that there would be no reasoning with Damon. No negotiation. There was only one way to stop him, and that was by doing what Coop did best.
    He looked to the emperor and said, "You have no idea what trouble you're getting into with this guy."
    Emperor Titus shrugged and said, "Perhaps trouble is what I seek."
    That was all Coop needed to hear. He was on his own. Before another word could be spoken, he swooped down and grabbed the spear from the guard he had knocked senseless.
    "Oh must you?" Damon whined with annoyance.
    Coop didn't attack. He ran. Leaping out of the box, he sprinted down the stone stairs, two at a time, headed for the edge of the balcony.
    "Begin the contest!" Damon bellowed to the emperor.
    Obediently Emperor Titus raised his right hand. Trum pets sounded and the stadium erupted with ecstatic cheers. They were going to have their battle.
    Several Roman soldiers ran down the stairs to stop Cooper, but too late. He reached the edge of the balcony, looked over, and saw what he needed. A heavy rope net hung straight down from the balcony to protect the spec tators below from stray weapons that might fly into the stands. Coop used it as a ladder. He tossed the spear over the edge, flung his legs over, grabbed on to the netting, and quickly climbed down.
    None of the spectators moved to stop him. Their atten tion was focused on the arena and the fight that had finally begun.
    As Coop hit the lower level and recovered the spear, a cheer erupted for the big gladiator who was pummeling Zoe. The girl valiantly held up her shield to defend herself against his vicious blows but was hopelessly overmatched.
    Clutching the spear, Cooper sprinted for the brick wall that surrounded the arena. While still running, he tossed the spear over the wall and then hit the bricks, digging the toes of his red Pumas into the mortar seams. He quickly climbed to the top and vaulted to the other side, landing in the dry sand of the arena.
    Several spectators cheered as they realized the game had taken on a new wrinkle. Coop grabbed the spear and sprinted toward the center of the arena, and the battle. The screams from the crowd grew louder. Some cheered him on while others were trying to warn the gladiators that a new contestant was about to enter the fray.
    Coop had no time to plan his strategy. He was a street fighter, not a trained warrior. If he had stopped to think about how to attack the gladiator, he wouldn't have done what he did. Coop