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I stopped struggling Erik let round "It&039;s Star," I said "She&039;s turned on us We have to stop her"

Her eyes widened "Joanne, I expected so on the only friend you have left Star&039;s the one who told us you were co her won&039;t s any better"

She slid her eyes pastdidn&039;t do anything but make him squeeze harder and cut off halflike a scared kid Marion opened the back door of the Nissan, and I gotand pushed, hard

Shirl, who&039;d come up on the other side of the truck, leaned over and touched ht in the face with a snap that sent her rolling Marion went after her Erik staggered as a fresh gust of wind hit him squarely in the back

I reached for that wind, whipped it around round He squawked like a chicken, and his grip loosened; I twisted the wind faster, spinning us in et Higher Higher Marion was reaching up toward us, but whatever , there was so much potential in the air, soto counter her

I split the mini-funnel into halves, stabilized myself in midair, and let Erik continue to turn and flail

Faster The bastard had almost crushed my ribs Faster He was just a blur of flesh and cloth, screa

With just a little in to peel that pale flesh down to red meat and bone

Jesus I flinched because so its lips at the taste of that fear, that blood

I let Erik drop into a heap on the concrete and helddown Shirl called fire, but Marion stopped her before the wind could whip it out of control

"Your move," I called down The wind blew cold and harsh around ly easy I&039;d never felt so powerful, not even with a borrowed Djinn at my command No wonder Bad Bob had let hiood

Marion knew better than to start a war here, next to a town full of innocent lives So did I

That didn&039;t mean ouldn&039;t do it

She slowly lowered her hands to her sides and gave me one short, sharp nod

"You know I could blow you away, don&039;t you?" I asked She looked ready to bite the head off a nail, but she nodded to that, too "You know I have the power to bury the three of you right here"

"Do or don&039;t, it&039;s your choice"

I was sick of everybody preaching toaround, Marion Don&039;t try to smile to my face and stab me in the back, because I pro after Star You can either coet in that canary-yellow piece of crap and go ho me with you"

Her eyes were ice, ice cold "It seeht thing"

"Well, it&039;s all in the perspective" I waited, hovering, while she thought about it "What if I can provide proof that Star&039;s corrupted?"

"Then I&039;ll take steps"

We kept up the standoff for another few minutes, and then Marion nodded Just once

"Follow et in my way"

She bundled Shirl and Erik into the Nissan, then climbed up into the driver&039;s seat I lowered h theSo blazed through the sky Sensitized as I was right now to the power, I felt it go through asm She must have read that in me, because for the first time-ever-I saw a flicker of fear in Marion&039;s eyes

"Try to keep up," I said I touched down on the concrete and let the wind slip fro lot, sla loose stones like a spoiled brat

I stayed cool until I got in the Viper and then sat there, shaking, and felt the De inside me

"I won&039;t be like that," I promised ht seriously about killing hirees now, of those slow descending steps to beco what Bad Bob had been

A monster

I let the Viper foldto run, and I illing to let her The first heavy drops of rain were falling around us as I sped out of the gas station, followed by the Day-Glo Nissan Xterra We roared up the access ra for the heart of Oklaho a proble toward reen; the light looked different seen through the was a constant, hidden flicker soe It looked deceptively compact, but I kneent up into the sky for thirty, forty, fifty thousand feet, apressure cooker of force and power Twothe road in sheets Mona&039;s windshield wipers worked on full speed just to keep the lane markers visible; lucky for me, there was no traffic except for the dih to be driving

Now that it was here, the green-and-gray pinwheel hanging so close over nized it It had a personality, this stor-and it was probably true-that this was the storm born of seeds I&039;d scattered on the coast of Florida in ht with Bad Bob Whether it came from me or had been birthed fro up to its oer and presence Sentient Able to control itself, alter its course, e to inflict, and where There was no longer anybodythe aetheric to control it; in fact, I could see lines of force constantly jabbing at it fro to disrupt its patterns and all failing

The more I looked at it, the more fa Fed by ed here by my subconscious, or my bad luck

Overhead, the storm shifted and rumbled, and I felt it focus on me Fine At least this was an eneht I looked into its black, furious heart I openedbut a tortured howl of agony Come on, you bastard Come and take your best shot

When I stopped, there was silence The storm muttered to itself and kept its oary counsel; I&039;d surprised it, at least, even if I hadn&039;t scared it

I couldn&039;t stop the storh rowth and burn away at as left of h the storbetween me and Oklahoma City now Between me and Star, me and David

The storm stared at me I stared back

I pulled Mona off the road and got out of the car

The Nissan ghosted to a caution-yellow stop behindup at this child of o to war"

It started sainstat the heh ot out of the SUV behind me I didn&039;t turn around "Better take cover," I said Maybe she did;I could spare attention to check

Overhead, the storether They spawned cone-shaped formations that twisted and turned on their own Counterclockwise, all storms turn counterclockwise on this side of the world The colors were incredible, gray and green and heart&039;s-night black Flashes of livid purple and pink fro point to point across the sky

I waited