Chapter 288

[Jude]

I've been prepared for this day for weeks now. It was waiting to see how far Magnus would take things before she was pushed hard enough to seek the truth.

Cordy is a smart woman. I knew she would eventually figure out how to draw Magnus out and force him to show his hand.

I only wish it had been a little sooner. Even with treatment, Jasper isn't doing well.

"Hey there, little guy," I gently lift him from his crib. He's sleeping, but these days he's almost always sleeping, his lungs are too weak to allow him to do much more. "I'm going to take you to your mommy now."

Scooping him up, I place a set of infant-sized sound-canceling headphones on his tiny ears and swaddle him carefully into the baby carrier on my back. He's getting too big for this carrier. Even with his weak lungs, he's been gaining weight. In my right pocket, I place several vials of his current medication. In my left pocket, a detonator for a device I put together from lab equipment. It will create a spark in