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"I will"

Was he just huoverly competent just now Too tired, too sick, too much in shock Besides, I was coht off my body hadn’t destroyed the link between , short of ruesomely painful death, would Thatmy own, or be sure that Bad Bob wasn’t hooked intoI’d be perfectly placed for that kind of duty He could use- I could do to stop him

Bad Bob could use anization, not to h my link to David, I compromised their safety, too

"Jo" David h entle "You’re alive Don’t underestih this I don’t"

"You want to be there, with them"

"My place is here"

"Your place is at the front of the battle You’re not Jonathan You don’t sit things out" I couldn’t quite suppress a s the Boss of Bosses doesn’t really suit you, you know

You’reanything out I’m a Djinn I don’t have to be physically present to s happen, you know"

My brain drifted away, randos Wardens didn’t have to be present to h for Fire and Earth Wardens it was certainly a whole lot easier to be in close proxihting their fires

My eyes opened "David," I said "Who’s with Kevin?"

"Don’t worry, Lewis sent a whole teaht I orried about Kevin I struggled to sit up, but hetti David helped me

"What?"

I didn’t know exactly, but I felt so anxiety A conviction that soth e in onanywhere," David said He was right, horribly right; I couldn’t suy to ht But , and I could feel dread boiling up from the pit of my stomach

"What is it?"

" I don’t know!It’s just - "

The whole ship shuddered beneath us I looked at David, horrified, re the lessons of the Titanic all too clearly I could see the sa reflected in his face

"Stay here" He flared white and disappeared

The Grand Paradise groaned like a living thing and heeled ponderously to starboard, rising and then settling back to vertical Our little cabin didn’t have the luxury of a balcony, but it did have a sed uest chair to reach it

I was staring at water That wasn’t possible The deck ere on was far above the waterline - six stories above it, probably How could I be looking at the water?

Were we sinking?

There was chaos outside Shouting, screa to see the captain, which was their standard response to everything fro out of toothpaste to a terrorist attack I keptthe wood paneling, heading for - what? I didn’t know I just knew I needed to get there

Two people were in my way I blinked, because quite frankly, the last two people I expected to see holding on to each other were the cabin stewardess Aldonza and e wasn’t what I expected, either - no subservience froance froether for support and comfort

They turned and looked at me with identical expressions of surprise that turned into concern

"What the devil happened to you?" Cynthia Clark asked, and grabbed my left arm to support me "Mrs Prince?"

That still sounded odd to me "Oh, hell, call me Jo Everybody does," I said I felt sick and dizzy and a little bit high "Aldonza I need a door to the crew area Right now"

"Yes, Jo," she said Finally I’d ive up the formality Just in tilancing back toin her wake The ship seehts were flickering

I looked at Clark, taking the bulk of ht, who seemed composed despite all the chaos around us "Thanks," I said

"You seem to be one of the people who can make sure we survive this," she said "It see"

"Can I have your autograph?"

She smiled, and even now I couldn’t see the strain What an actor! "Maybe later," she said

"I’ll have n them: To the woman who saved my life "

"Well, if you can’t, I’ll let you off the hook for the headshots," I said I was shaking off h not quickly; I felt ,evil

Too bad I was heading for the latter

The subdued, elegant lighting in the hall flickered again, buzzed, and then died After a heart-pounding five seconds of absolute blackness, eens, not flattering to anyone’s complexion, much less when people are distorted with terror And so, rushing through corridors

"Yeah," I muttered to myself "Wish I’d never seen that damned movie" Aldonza paused at a simple metal door labeled PRIVATE, with a key card reader to the side She swiped a card that was hanging fro happened Of course Eulations - all electronic locks would have popped, allowing for easy evacuation I grabbed the knob and turned it, and opened the door on a different world