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Prologue

"Honey!" I yelled "Get the phone, would you?" Because it was ringing off the hook, and I was a little busy trying to put out a fire A wildfire, actually, blazing across Alligator Alley along the coast of Florida It had been burning for three long days, sending choking black smoke our way

Never off duty, that was me Joanne Baldwin: Weather Warden by first choice -- if a world-ending storirl My secondary ability -- and second choice -- was to act as a Fire Warden, which as occupyingthings heal and grow, and controlling things like earthquakes and volcanoes -- that was also soh not nearly as reliably or well So far as being co Earth poas still a distant, weird, cautious third

I stood on the balcony ofwind and drifting sic It didn’t look like I was doing one inside, picked up the phone, talked to whatever cold-calling tele frustrated, and I needed to do so, fro burnable underbrush less burnable -- changes that would have to be undone later, for safety, but made dandy firebreaks in thewith Fire Wardens and Weather Wardens ere already doing their assigned jobs Well, that hy I was the boss, right? That hat bosses did Interfere (My bosses always had, anyway Although come to think of it, I hadn’t liked it much when I’d been on the sticky end of the probleht Maybe they’d just given up

The glass door behind me rumbled back on its track I didn’t turn away froled the phone over my shoulder I looked at the phone delivery service, eyebrows raised in silent question, and David just raised his own back in response

David was always fantastic on the eyes, but he was especially great just now, at sunset, when the red sky picked up bronze tints in his skin and highlighted supernatural sparks in his eyes Oh, his eyescurrently the rich dark color of old pennies, but taking on a brighter hue as I watched Because although David was currently wearing human for completely different We call them Djinn, because the old tales of those supernatural creatures able to do humans’ dirty ere somewhat true

Of course, they were also a whole lot not true as well As I continued to learn, daily

David was only half-dressed, in a pair of worn blue jeans riding low on his hips There was a teold-dusted skin on display, and so much to admire, from broad shoulders to abs that would make a Greek statue cry with envy

He usually had shirts on, but then, David was actually more modest than I was At least, in public In privatewell Let’s just say that when David played at being huain, significantly I blinked and took it, thinking that the last thing in the world I wanted just noas to get distracted fro the view "Hello?"

I wasn’t prepared for the volume -- or the tirade -- that erupted out of the phone "Joanne, would you please butt out already? Jeez, woo relax! Do you even own a dictionary? Vacation! Look it up!"

The voice on the other end was Paul Giancarlo, one of theWardens in the country He happened to specialize in weather work; he was also one of ly Jersey-accented bellow, barely contained by the phone’s speaker I held the phone farther from my ear "Oh, hey, Paul," I said "So How’s that fire going?"

"The fire is going fine, and you need to quit screwing around You are not on duty I have coverage on the daht you needed it Because three days is kind of a long ti smoke -- "

"Kid Stop already We’re on top of it!"

I doubted that "Let e buddy and part-tianization who still had the right to telland -- yes, I could admit it -- a little insufferable

"Lewis doesn’t want to talk to you Leants me to tell you to butt out Get it? You’re on vacation Vacate already"

Before I could fire back, Paul hung up on me I stared at the phone, surprised and a little wounded David took it froers, put it on the patio table behind me, and said, "I assuht now No, actually I don’t assume that I overheard"

"Eavesdropper"

"People three doors down heard it," he said "It wasn’t a great feat of supernatural detection"

Busted I glared at hiry at David Especially when he gave ain, anyway, and I heard hio I kno hard it is for you, but you need to let other people handle their jobs That’s why they have theer toward the smoke "Come on, you don’t think they could have been a little ressive about it?"

"You knoell as I do that so how a fire burns isit out," he said all too reasonably, and stepped between ration Not that he wasn’t, you know, burning hot his own self Because he definitely was, and I feltdistracted

"Stop that," I said Not with a lot of strength

"Stop what?" He reached for my hands, and I shivered as a breeze moved across my back, which was left mostly bare by the sky-blue halter top I had on Florida had been kind to e; lots of sun, lots of untroubled cloud-free beaches It was as if the Wardens themselves had conspired to make my vacation uneventful, at least on the weather front, until this fire thing had popped up

And that had been okay, for the first couple of days And then it had just kept on cootten a little bittoo rested

Not that David couldn’t o away; he was pro upain, and a slightly wounded frown

"Making you?"

"You knohat I mean"