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"We&039;re about forty miles from the next town," she said "I don&039;t like it out here-too open, too o, you&039;ve gotta go" She fu like roadkill in the space between the seats, fished out a s on to it Yours was probably toasted, right?"

"Right" Cell phones had gotten smaller and cooler since the last time I checked Hers flipped up like a Star Trek communicator, complete with color screen and more controls than a 747 "Thanks"

"Just to be safe If we&039;re gonna split up, even for a few ot the 911 security blanket" She applied brakes and eased the Land Rover over to the shoulder in a hiss of gravel; the cattle truck she&039;d passed blasted by us with a car-shaking gust Star airass prairie and toward a stand of scrub trees "Hope you&039;re not picky about acco"

"Hey, you said pit stop, I&039; you a pit stop Besides, drivers have to pee, too" Star put the truck in park and hopped out to the cheery acco On the passenger side, David did the same, then opened the back door forhe did;to his hand for a few seconds until muscles firht

Star turned, and the sunlight fell down full on her face

Even though I&039;d seen it dozens of tiold, perfect; the other half was seared and scarred the color of old liver They&039;d given her a left eyelid, after a fashion Her lips twisted into a curl on the burned side, and the scar continued down into the neck of her white peasant blouse I knew it dripped down past her waist on the side and back It looked like eous, huh?" she asked There was no hurt, no surprise, no disappointment in her voice Certainly no embarrass ie"

She turned on her heel and limped her way toward the scrub trees I realized I was still holding David&039;s hand, al it, and I kept ed "At the hotel? I don&039;t know I blacked out when the lightning hit When I woke up, she was there, pulling you out of the car" David atching her, too, and I couldn&039;tbut worry "She kept the car fro fire until ere both out Otherwise I think you&039;d be dead"

I took a breath, let it out, and nodded "Does she know about you?"

"I don&039;t think so I&039;ve been careful"

That didn&039;t unknot the tension from my shoulder blades "Yeah, well, keep it up I love her, but-you be careful"

I went after Star toward nature&039;s Porta Potti She was already taking advantage of the lack of facilities, and she looked absolutely co it, but then she was the outdoorsy LL Bean type Me, I circled around, looking for a coround free of any hint of fire ants, wasps, or other hazards to my exposed behind Star finished up and went back toward David I skinned down my pants

"Is this a bad time?" a voice asked me when I was halfway to a crouch I yelped and scrambled back up, tripped over my pants and almost fell "Over here, Snow White"

I turned while I yanked up my waistband Paul&039;s Djinn, Rahel, still in her sunshine yellow suit, sat prio ahead," she invited "You&039;re not bothering me I have all the tiured I knewThis hat I&039;d been dreading Marion, for whatever reason, hadn&039;t used her Djinn againstand able to do so-Paul, for one I couldn&039;t take Rahel in a straight fight Nobody could, except another Djinn

Which hy there weren&039;t a lot of territorial disputes at the upper levels of the Wardens I orn out, et into this He was depleted, and he was masterless; she&039;d break hiers

"Your attention, please," she said, and clicked her nails together They looked glossy and sharp Her hundreds of braids rustled as she turned her head towardthe wrong way"

Not what I&039;d expected I was braced for a fight, and the lack of one threw me "Excuse me?"

Rahel hopped down froht the ale to back up; round "I saidyou&039;re goingthe wrongway Snow White Go back where you were told to go"

I was feeling difficult "Or?"

She lunged at ht in front of me, claws out an inch from my eyes "There is no or, fool You do what I tell you, when I tell you"

I kept my chin up and looked past those razor-sharp, carefullyso with her lips, but it had only a superficial resemblance to a s Behind you lies opportunity"

"Opportunity for what?"

"To choose as you wish"

I didn&039;t get it "Did Paul tell you to be deliberately obscure, or is this just a personal preference with you?"

No answer Just that steady, predatory stare

It clicked together in my head Duh "You&039;re not Paul&039;s Djinn at all, are you? I just assuht?"

"Yes" Teeth flashed "Now you can decide which question I&039;ve answered"

"Doesn&039;t ain You&039;re not Paul&039;s Djinn at all, are you?"

"You can&039;t outrun what&039;s co Go back You must make a choice"

"Third time&039;s the charm, sunshine You&039;re not Paul&039;s Djinn at all, are-?" Before I could finish asking the ritual third, her hand was around ed, tried to pull free, and couldn&039;t Her eyes were full of fury

"Ask me no questions," she purred, "and I&039;ll tell you no lies, Child of Demons Go back the way you caulp in a breath and ask, "Why should I?"

Rahel let go of ers "You have two paths ahead of you One lies down One goes up Choose"

"Which one gets rid of you?" I croaked, and rubbed h with the Sphinx act Just tell me what I&039;m supposed to do Are you Marion&039;s Djinn? Did she send you to getup Not yet"

Rahel stopped and beca before, they were downright creepy now

"You are a fool," she said very softly "I have done all I can You have been set on the path, you have been given signs"

"Yeah? Like what? The radio in Westchester, telling ht of a confession I sed hard and kept going "The salt shaker back at the diner? Why send me into a trap?"

This time, she shook her head "If you can&039;t see the yellow brick road, little Dorothy, then you are a fool, and there is no saving a fool I only wish you weren&039;t taking hiender involved in this I didn&039;t knohich one she was talking about

Before I could ask, brush crackled behindthrough the trees It was David, and he didn&039;t look surprised to see her Or happy He said soe I didn&039;t understand, liquid and war and sparked with harsh accents

They glared at each other, stiff with tension, and then Rahel just-vanished No showy exit, this ti at the place where she&039;d been, I wondered if she&039;d really gone "Rahel," he said finally "Here"

"I&039; that&039;s bad? Look, who&039;s Djinn is she?"

He didn&039;t answer me Didn&039;t look at me "Hurry" He turned and walked away, back toward the truck