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I hadn’t asked hiy for the New Djinn Through hiave him some security

I hoped

The list of nunized, a et old anyti It was a real thrill

Talking to the Ma’at, well, not so reat big pain in the ass "We’re well aware of the netic instability," he told me, in that waspish, precise way he’d once commanded me to tell him the circumstances of his son’s death He’d tortured me when I’d refused to tell him Okay, that was ato be done about it The Ma’at don’t interfere in the natural order, Ms Baldwin; you know that to be our guiding principle If you want to twist nature to your will, then perhaps you should call upon your friends in the Wardens"

"News flash, Charles: I’ you to help" I tapped ernails on the chromed surface of the pay phone in frustration "Come on Come out of the shadows The Ma’at have a different take on this, and I for one think they ought to be heard before the Wardens and the Djinn decide what to do Don’t you? Don’t you want a seat at the big table?"

I’d played directly to his vanity, shamelessly Ashworth was rich, white, old, and patrician, and he’d never had anything but a seat at the big table Usually red leather, handcrafted On his own he hadn’t h power to qualify for the Wardens-there were thousands of people every year ere either borderline talented, or just below the line, ere left to go about their lives without Warden interference Most of them never even knehat they had, or what they could do, and those who did couldn’t do ht sorow out-of-season plants, if they were Earth A weak, brief rainstorether with Djinn illingly helped channel it, connect it into a series, you got additive power of a unique kind The Ma’at had been focused on undoing the excesses of the Wardens; they rarely influenced things directly unless forced to it, mostly out of self-defense

But then, they’d never been asked to step up on the front lines, really Not until now

"What do you want?" Ashworth asked

"I want you, Lazlo, and everybody else in the Ma’at you can pull to get on a plane and come to Seacasket, New Jersey The Wardens willyou in froave it to him from memory, another thrill-"and tell the They’ll coordinate"

Ashworth was silent for a few long seconds, and then said, "We won’t do anything contrary to the best interests of the planet You understand that"

"Believeup, Paul was hanging up as well He offered up a big, square hand, and I high-fived it "Right," he said "We got ourselves a party Before nightfall, there should be about five hundred Wardens here, and however many Ma’at Throw in the Djinn, and"

"And you’ve got a real recipe for disaster," I said, not feeling so high-five-ish anymore "This could turn bad so easily"

"But it won’t," Paul said

"How do you know?"

He grinned "Because I’e of it, kiddo"

We took over the Seacasket Civic Center, and we did that s of cash, toted in by Warden security representatives in their blazers, shoulder holsters, and inti on there, we got theh that was the biggest indoor space in town, it wasn’t exactly spacious I’d have rather gathered everybody in the cerubby huer than he had to

It was late, I was tired, there wasn’t enough coffee, and even the Djinn were crabby Not a recipe for sly short order, over soet everyone’s attention It wasn’t easy, because there was a whole lot of shouting going on, quite a bit of cursing, and I strongly suspected so was involved, over where the Wardens and a few of the Ma’at had gotten in one another’s faces to make their points et h, a cherry red honey of a car that ht of it-and, of course, a change of clothing He knehat I liked: a sleek black pantsuit with a close-fitting purple silk shirt And a fabulous pair of elegant three-inch Manolo Blahnik heels that fit like they’d beenthe Djinn worn the shoes, I’d have believed it)

I slipped the Manolo off of ed it loudly on the table in front oftable, covered with the ubiquitous white hotel cloth, and itracket

That didn’t do the job Apparently, Nikita Khrushchev had either had bigger feet or heavier shoes than I did, back when he’d used the sa thesilence, as the electronic squealing died down, Lewis, poker-faced, stage-whispered, "You ner shoes"

"Sit down," I said to the rooave Lewis a look that included hiht crinkle at the corner of his ht I was cute when I wasme from the other side with much more perspective on the subject, and was consequently less i slowly into the folding chairs that had been provided The Ma’at ot the nod fro with Charles Spenser Ashworth II, and two or three other really old guys-in charge of that organization Myron sat on the other side of David, as atLewis, and Paul next to him, there were just the five of us at the head table One step below us, down on the floor, there were round tables draped ell-used cloths, around which sat ss in the world, all keeping to theh particularly between the Ma’at, who felt vindicated by being su, and the Wardens, who felt betrayed by everything they’d ever known Not to mention that the Wardens were terrified to be trapped in the same room with the Djinn

The Djinn had taken over the back half of the rooroup held the New Djinn, like Rahel, Prada, and dozens of others I’d come into contact with over the past couple of years Marion’s tall Aave ment when my eyes met his