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

most popular and successful gladiators prepped. Cooper entered the spacious area to see that Zoe had stopped and was standing in the open doorway to one of the cells. Coop skidded to a stop and gulped air that was hot and worse than stale, but he was grateful to be away from the animals and their overwhelm ing stink.
    "We have to make a decision," Zoe said to someone inside. "Now, before Damon returns."
    "Who's in there?" Coop called out.
    A moment later Maggie Salinger stepped out of the cell. Her face brightened the moment she spotted her exhausted friend.
    "Coop!" she exclaimed with joy.
    Maggie ran to him and the two hugged. She didn't seem to care that he was drenched with sweat.
    Coop held her close. It wasn't until that moment that he realized how much he had missed her . . . and how much he wanted to hold her. And protect her.
    "So much has happened," she whispered.
    "I know," he said. "We've got to get out of here."
    "No can do," came a gruff voice.
    Coop looked over Maggie's shoulder to see his grand father, Eugene Foley, stepping out of the cell next to Zoe. "You okay?" he asked Zoe.
    Zoe nodded.
    Foley gave her a grandfatherly pat on the shoulder, then looked to Coop and said, "So? Where've you been?"
    Coop reluctantly pulled himself away from Maggie and went to his gramps. The two hugged with genuine warmth. "Looking for you," was Coop's answer.
    "This Damon fella is bad news," Gramps said.
    "You think?" Coop replied. He glanced into the cell and added, "Where's Ree?"
    The others exchanged dark looks.
    "Not here," Zoe answered.
    "We don't know where Damon took her," Foley added. "He said if any of us tried to return to our own visions, he'd kill her."
    Zoe added, "That is why we cannot leave."
    Maggie looked to Coop with tired eyes and said, "The killing has to stop somewhere."
    Coop pulled away from the group and surveyed the cell area. "So nobody can leave for fear Damon will destroy someone else. He probably said the same thing to Ree."
    "Gotta give him credit," Foley said. "He knows we wouldn't let that happen, so here we stay."
    Agitated growls and barks came from the animal pens. "They're coming," Zoe announced.
    "Get out of here," Coop said, thinking fast. "All of you. Go to Zoe's vision. She's got one of the black swords now. She can protect you there."
    "No," Zoe said flatly. "We cannot endanger Ree."
    "If he wants to kill her, he'll do it no matter what you do," Coop said.
    "But—," Zoe argued.
    "It's not about you guys," Coop shot back. "It's about getting me to do what he wants. That's the real reason he's been keeping you here."
    "What if you're wrong, son?" Foley asked.
    Coop didn't have a quick answer. He wanted to show confidence, but the best he could do was act in the moment and make the best possible choice. "Then I'm wrong. But we've got to take control, and as long as he's got you, he's got power over all of us."
    The others exchanged nervous looks.
    "Zoe, what happened to the other Guardians?" Coop asked quickly. "The ones that survived the battle at the Rift?"
    "They have all returned to their own visions," she answered.
    "What about the spirit swords that were left in Ree's vision when Damon's soldiers went into the Blood?"
    "The Guardians still have them, but what good can the swords do if they are scattered throughout the Black?"
    Coop processed that information, then said, "All right. Go to your vision; take Maggie and Gramps and don't allow Damon to enter."
    "I'm afraid that ship has sailed," Gramps said. "Damon can pretty much go wherever he wants no matter what any body allows him to do."
    "Then find someplace there that you can defend and wait until you hear from me."
    The sounds of shouts and scuffling feet grew louder. "You gotta go," Coop declared.
    Maggie grabbed Cooper's hands and looked him straight in the eye. "What are you going to do?"
    Coop started to give a quick answer, but held back and offered an honest one instead. "I don't know."
    Maggie looked grim and Coop gave her