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I must have sounded so htly, toward pity

"Someplace safe," she said "You rest, now"

I didn’t want to, but the Djinn reached out and pasta hand over David’s shoulder David let out a sigh and slu from his side slowed, and I saw his color start to return to norh her supernatural surrogate

The Djinn let go and reached for me I knocked his hand away "No," I said sharply "I’ll stay awake"

"Suit yourself," Whitney said, back to her old bad attitude "Want me to pinch you if you drop off?"

"Biteteeth-snapping noise, and I looked sideways at hi a couple of inches closer to David When I was sure I was safe- ish, I looked back at Kevin and Cherise

"You two okay?" I left it an open-ended question, and it was up to them whether that applied to injuries,the world

"I don’t want this," Kevin said, again "I didn’t ask for this It feels--wrong" He licked his lips, his eyes haunted under the emo flop of hair "It hurts when it comes out I don’t think it’s safe"

That ht it was a credit to Kevin’s strength that it only hurt, because using the power of a Djinn Conduit would probably have torn apart most normal people Even many Wardens I wasn’t sure what it had done to him, but Kevin didn’t scare easily, and I felt for him

"Sorry," I told him, and reached over to touch his arm He jerked away "We’ll find a way to do this I swear"

"Well, I don’tthe weather is awesome

I want to doto," I said, which sounded sternly authoritative but was a wet paper sack, so far as enforceo "Cher, you need to stay away from it asyou, but it probably is I don’t want anything to happen to you"

She normally would have smiled in response to that, but instead she just looked away out the"You say that until you needit’ " That didn’t sound much like Cher, and it bothered me

"Hey" I tried to catch her eyes, but she kept looking away "Cher, you know I care about you You know I don’t want you hurt"

This time she did look at me, squarely and calmly "I know," she said "Until you don’t have a choice, and then you’ll do anything you have to do It’s what I always like about you, Jo

That ruthless streak under all the girly polish"

We had that in common, I realized Cherise eet and compassionate, funny and talentedbut she was also, deep down, a survivor, with a broad streak of aht in In another age, sheup coaches atotta do," she said "Right?"

"Right," I said softly "But until we’ve got to do it, don’t Please"

That won a smile, finally "Sure," she said "Have all the fun yourself, then Now--" She yawned broadly and bundled herself ainst Kevin "Now I need some beauty sleep And a shower But I’ll settle for sleep"

The experience , I realized, because both she and Kevin dropped off in under a ed down by exhaustion Made sense Their bodies weren’t made to take that kind of strain I re, when an to surface--it was like horry and tired and bitchy all the ti about how hard everything hen I wasn’t griping about how nobody ever trusted s myself

Cherise had a lot to handle Kevin, even more

I checked David’s side His wound was healed, but still red and infla, and evidently Whitney had decided that bruises weren’t anything requiring first aid He was sleeping peacefully Ahead of us, the road unspooled, lit by furious stabs of lightning and the glow of the headlights The Djinn kept a rip on the wheel and a foot on the pedal

And before I knew it, I’d joined the rest of them in sleep

Chapter Five

I woke up with the sun onfaded fast as I blinked and looked around, out the car’s s

We were still on the road--not a surprise--and I supposed with a Djinn at the wheel we didn’t need to stop for gas Cherise and Kevin were still deeply asleep David, however, ake, and as I moved my head off his shoulder, he reached out for my hand That felt nice

What wasn’t nice was the world outside our speeding car

We were traveling close to the coastline--I could see the gray sh occasional hills--but as ray pall of sh the filter of the car’s vents It gave everything outside an unreal, unfocused look "It’s snowing?" I said as flakes brushed across the windshield

"No," David said quietly "It’s ash"

I sed "Can you see the fire?"

"Not yet But it’s got to be huge to produce this kind of effect"

The radio suddenly slid channels I expected ressive advice from Whitney, for which I really was not in the mood, but instead it landed on a news station Even before I started getting the sense of what they were talking about, I could hear the tension in the broadcaster’s voice

" continues withthe Cuement Area, Masons Corner, Flat Rock, and Skinquarter There are unconfirmed reports of a major explosion and uncontrolled burn near Chesterfield Court House and the Pocahontas State Park If you are anywhere in this area, immediate evacuations are under way Do not reerous situation that is overwhel situations that are splitting the resources of our fire, hout the area Reports are also coe in the Midwest due to torrential rains and flooding, as well as seis critical fault lines The Red Cross is--"

Without warning, the voice dissolved into blank, white static I waited It didn’t come back

I reached out and switched off the radio I couldn’t help it; the feeling of doo I could hear the suppressed panic in the reporter’s voice; I could feel er some kind of survival response

There was nowhere to run Not anymore I was certain that if the broadcast had continued, ould have heardin the rural areas, but ot there

"Faster," I said aloud, to the Djinn "Whitney, if you can hear me, for the love of God--"