darkly.
“Yeah. Chardis is dark matter. He can make it do whatever he darned well wants.”
Jareth stills, and Tristan looks away. Chardis’s ability to manipulate dark matter is how he killed Zarius and Tess. All he had to do was contract the matter holding together the cells of their hearts…
Shoving away the memory before it can shred him all over again, Tristan clenches his hands. “As far as we can tell, he wants to use that power to take over the Universe and rule the galaxies.”
“For what end?”
Tristan blinks. Of course, Jareth would ask another question he can’t answer. “We never found out. I suspect it has something to do with the fact it will make him the most powerful being in the Universe.”
Jareth crosses his arms. “And I’m guessing wormholes are made up of dark matter.”
Tristan shrugs. “They’d have to be, just like everything else in the Universe.”
“So, it stands to reason that Chardis could manipulate one.”
Jareth says the words more as a statement than a question and Tristan’s glad he doesn’t have to answer. It would’ve been a rhetorical one, anyway.
The buzzing energy is suddenly gone, and Tristan flops back into his chair. “Yeah. We could have a situation…”
“We don’t know who sent the message, do we?”
Tristan shakes his head. He should’ve followed the boy, tried to get some more information out of him. Namely, who wanted to make sure he knew this? “The bottom line is, we can’t afford not to take it seriously.”
Jareth spins around to his computer screen, typing quickly. He squints at the screen as he scrolls through the information that he brought up. “From what I can tell, a wormhole is a tunnel with two ends in different points in space.” He glances at Tristan. “It says a wormhole could connect extremely long distances such as a billion light years or more, short distances such as a few meters, or different Universes.”
Different Universes.
“So, if the message is true, Chardis is creating a shortcut.”
Tristan wants to drop his head in his hands, but he stops himself. Jareth needs him to be strong right now.
Tristan blinks. Just like Zarius was for him.
“I can see why you miss Zarius,” Jareth says quietly.
Tristan winces, although he’s not surprised at Jareth’s perceptiveness. They both live with the grief of losing their parents.
But not only did Tristan lose his father, he lost his guiding light. Which means it’s up to him to be that for the Zodiacs, now.
Straightening his shoulders, he levels Jareth with an unflinching gaze. “He believed in the Zodiac Guardians, and so do I.”
Jareth wipes his hands down his face. “I suppose that’s something.”
Tristan wheels over on his chair so he can slap him on the back. “That’s the attitude we’re looking for!” Shoving off, he zips back to his desk. “First things first, we need to find out everything we can on wormholes.”
They have no idea what Chardis could be sending through his interstellar shortcut.
Jareth turns back to his own screen. “My mother would’ve liked you,” he murmurs.
Conscious of the compliment he was just handed, Tristan grins at Jareth. “She sounds like a wise woman.” He sobers. “If she knew the truth about you, would she have believed in the Zodiacs?”
Jareth’s response is instantaneous. “There would’ve been no doubt in her mind that good would prevail over evil.”
Tristan nods, his smile back. “Yep. A wise woman.”
Jareth shakes his head, his own lips twitching at the edges, but before he can say anything, his cell rings.
Tristan rolls his eyes. “Oh, Jareth,” he chimes in a terrible falsetto imitation of Veronica. “It’s been, like, twelve minutes. I miss you!”
Jareth glares at Tristan as he picks it up. “Hey.”
Although he doesn’t use Veronica’s name, his voice takes on the husky edge it always does when he’s talking to her. Tristan blows him a kiss and flutters his lashes.
Jareth spins so his back is facing him. “What’s up?” His spine straightens so fast Tristan wonders how it doesn’t give him whiplash. “He’s what?”
The alarm in Jareth’s voice has Tristan stilling. He watches as Jareth hunches over once more, as if he’s wrapping himself around his cell phone. It’s a protective move, a worried move.
Jareth nods several times but doesn’t say anything. Uneasiness slithers it’s way up Tristan’s spine, wondering if this has anything to do with Veronica’s father, Jack. He’d hoped the truce they established when McNary was captured would’ve lasted a little longer…
Turning back to face Tristan, Jareth raises his gaze. His eyes are wide, and the panic that