All That Lives Must Die - Eric Nylund [292]
“No,” Aaron told him. “I will not debate this without Audrey present.”
“You will do as this Council tells you,” Lucia said.
This was a mistake. Push Aaron, and he pushed back. Push him a second time—and he was likely to push hard enough to end the matter.
Aaron’s hands curled into fists, but then he relaxed and gazed at them all. He smiled—turned, and strode from the temple.
“If you leave in the middle of a session,” Lucia told him, “I will remove you from this Council.”
“Remove this.” Without turning to face her, Aaron held up his hand and made a gesture most ancient.
“So be it,” she murmured. “We shall vote in a new member to replace him.”
“Maybe,” Gilbert told her. “But we’re done for today. We no longer have a quorum.”
Lucia sighed with frustration.
A ping sounded from Cornelius’s computer tablet. His simulation to predict which side would prevail in a conflict with the Infernals ended.
The result flashed at the bottom of the screen: zero divided by zero. That was an unbounded result, one in which there is never enough information to define a true value as it bobbled between all values between zero and infinite.
There had been no programmatic error.
So what did it mean?
Dread congealed within Cornelius as he feared this meant that neither side would prevail. That only ashes and the primordial chaos would remain when they were done.
70. Cronos was offspring to the primordial entity and then self-proclaimed “ruler of the universe,” Ouranos. At the urging of his mother, Gaia, Cronos and all his brothers gathered to ambush their father. Only Cronos had the courage to do so. Even as he wept over his father’s body, the young Titan Cronos was proclaimed leader over the first generation of his kind. Gods of the First and Twenty-first Century, Volume 4, Core Myths (Part 1). Zypheron Press Ltd., Eighth Edition.
85
CEREMONIES
There was tension in the air. It made the hair on the back of Eliot’s neck stand. Something was about to happen—why else had Miss Westin canceled their last class and marched every freshman into the Grand Spring Ballroom? They all stood facing a podium . . . waiting.
From the grim silence that solidified around even the chattiest girls (Tamara Pritchard and her elite social circle)—Eliot knew this couldn’t be good.
Fiona stood next to him, arms crossed over her chest, looking annoyed and nervous and bored all the same time.
Where was Jezebel? Sealiah had said she would be back for the last day at Paxington. She had to know about the weird time effects in Hell.
The floor-to-ceiling curtains in the ballroom had been opened, and sunlight streamed through, warming Eliot’s face.
Why couldn’t he relax?
Everything had turned out okay. They had even made it through the school year (provided they passed the exam at the end of the summer).
And okay, sure, Mitch was gone, but he had been an Infernal who was out to draw Fiona into his world. That didn’t mean he deserved to die, though.
Amanda wasn’t dead, at least. He turned and spotted her at the back of the room.
She saw him looking, and glared back.
Miss Westin entered the room. She wore a white linen summer dress—which shocked Eliot after seeing her in nothing but those high-necked things all year. Her skin was the palest he’d ever seen. A spiderweb of blue veins traced her bare shoulders and neck. She smiled at the assembled students. Another first.
Mr. Dells, Ms. DuPreé, Mr. Ma, and a dozen other teachers Eliot had never seen before trailed in behind her.
Miss Westin went to the podium and faced them. “Salutations and congratulations,” she said. “I wish to extend my regards to those of you continuing at the Paxington Institute.” She took a deep breath. “And to those who will not, you did your best, and know that even surviving a single year at Paxington is an achievement to be proud of.”
She opened her little black book and gazed at it. “Will the following students come to the front of the room: Donald van Wyck, Lilly Orrins, Benito Harris . . .” She read off twenty-six names.
These were the students who had failed, been expelled,