Page 13 (1/2)

Her warainst h very slowly My body began es, but I told it to be quiet Shock felt nice, at the et just now

David reached us a second later, wrapping his arht?" he asked, and looked into my eyes He didn’t like what he saw there, clearly, but he liked what he saw in Venna a whole lot less

I didn’t blame him

"It’s one of the here It can’t be here " The confidence of the Old Djinn in their well-ordered universe had just been shattered, and beings that had never fearedlives looked into the abyss that humans faced every day - the dark chasm of uncertainty of the future

"It’s okay, Venna," I said, and sreat Ghost or not, you coain" Venna looked at David and took a deep breath "It took part of et any of that back Maybe ever" Cynthia Clark hadn’t boarded with a personal trainer, as it turned out In fact, she didn’t re about the entire incident There didn’t see to convince her that she’d been hypnotized into covering up for solass monster She wouldn’t even believe that David and I hadn’t set her roo was right off the table

I staggered away to the nearest public lounge while David tried to settle things to everyone’s satisfaction I was checked out by a small army of Warden medics and Lewis himself - none of ere happy with me, or my descriptions of events, come to think of it - and eventually was told that I was in no i way off

I was still lying there, feet up, grateful to be breathing, when I spotted Aldonza hurrying past, rolling a luggage cart She did a quick jerk of surprise when she saw me, and loitered

"Are you okay, miss?" she asked, which told ?"

I didn’t raise my head from the leather pillow "I’m okay, Aldonza Sorry about the cabin"

"The cabin?"

"Miss Clark’s cabin It’s - ah - kind of a ot a blank, terrified look on her face and hurried on I could hear her horrified cry all the way down the hallway

A half hour later, a whole phalanx of stewards rolled by, carting La Clark’s salvaged baggage and ar her to a new cabin

They moved her into mine, as it turned out I didn’t find that out until I struggled up froging her suitcase and looking half-mournful, half-i to be sleeping in your bed?" she asked "That’s kind of awesome, in a sucky kind of way Anye’re down the hall, and Moses on a motorcycle, what the hell happened to you, bitch?" I was better, really I was I was li - broken bones had been repaired into ed and bloody and looked like soht, and thinking straight again "You should see the other guy," I said, and coughed It turned into a lung-bursting hack like a fifteen-pack-a-day smoker’s I could still taste that awful taint of death, even though I thought that it was all in ht of gross anatoue about it I’d been inclined to think I could walk it all off until I’d walked about ten feet, and then priorities had shifted again, drastically

Rest seeood idea I accepted Cherise’s support, staggering the rest of the way to our new cabin

"Ouch," Cher sighed, as the door swung open on a cra each other "Looks like we’ve been bumped to coach Or maybe servants’ quarters"

"Don’t care" I sank down on the closest flat surface - luckily, it had a mattress - and covered my eyes with otten on the ship? And why? Was it just biding its ti to kill as many Wardens as possible?

Had it killed the nameless Djinn we’d found in the hallway?

Most importantly - were there h not with any accuracy Venna had been able to nuke it, though only at a drastic cost to herself

We just couldn’t fight an ars, and I had the sense that these were just incidental players in Bad Bob’s upco to me?

"Jo?" The e "You crying?"

"No," I lied "Fuck" I sed hard "I can’t do this We can’t do this We’re sailing away into the middle of nowhere with a bunch of innocent people and we’re all going to die, Cher

I can’t stop it God, we’ve screwed this up"

"Hey" She moved ravity that she didn’t look like Cherise at all "What’s going on?"

"Did you hear ot our asses kicked!"

"But you didn’t," she said "You toldto be hard, and people were going to die, because you can’t go to war if you don’t expect casualties You didn’t wantout on me now, Rambette?"

I sniffled "No"

"Good, don’t even You’re a Warden You don’t let anything stand in the way of what you think is right You have the uy I’ve ever seen madly in love with you You have fabulous hair You’re strong and beautiful and s So don’t you fold up on me, Jo" Cherise’s mask slipped, just a little "Because if you do, I don’t think I can keep it together on her than ed her "I’m just so tired I just want to rest"

"Then rest," she said, and let go I settled back on the bed "But don’t you dare think you’re not up to this You’re a hero, babe Heroes don’t wuss"

"Do they whine?"

"Only to their bosom sidekicks" She flashed me her bosom to prove she had the cred

Cherise, ed a weak laugh I didn’t feel like a hero, not at all I didn’t think Venna did, either, and I knew David didn’t He was too worried forloop

I took some deep breaths Then I took some inedblue pool, with cal by overhead The sun arm and soft and kind, and I had on the perfect blue bikini that David liked sothere, suspended, I feltfor relief It healed itself, bit by bit, cell by cell, using power drawn froy around me The temperature of the cabin lowered in response, and I heard Cherise get up and check the thermostat, then break out the blankets One settled over me, thick and soft

"You okay?" Cherise whispered I didn’t open my eyes

"Yep," I murmured "Check it: Heroes don’t wuss"