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The problem was& well, there were a lot of problems. I wanted to know exactly what Coin and his people
were capable of, but my brief lessons in riders and qi and magic pretty much confirmed that was going to take a lot
more time than I had. I could rely on Kim and Chogyi Jake to give me their best guess. I didn t know how good
that would be, but I didn t have anything better. I wanted to know what Coin s plans and intentions were so that I
could navigate my way around them, but it wasn t like I could ask him.
I wanted to misdirect him, to point over the Invisible College s collective shoulder and sucker-punch them
when they turned to look. But I couldn t even do that.
My eyes flew open as the thought came to me.
Or maybe I could.
I got up, dug my laptop out from under a pile of old clothes, and stared at it without opening the case. My
fingers twitched toward it. They hadn t tracked me the last time I d talked to the fake Ex. I hadn t admitted that I
knew he was a fake. Maybe there was a way. Maybe I did have a way to lie to Coin and the Invisible College. I
opened the screen, my finger hovering over the power button. Was this stupid? Was this something I needed to
talk to the others about?
I put on my robe, tied it in a square knot at my waist, and stalked out to the main room. Midian was on the
couch with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.
 I thought I said not to smoke in the house, I said.
 You did, the vampire said.  I ve only been doing it when I was pretty sure you wouldn t see me.
 I let you guys make the calls last time, and we failed.
 Old news, kid.
 I m not doing that anymore. Eric left everything to me. Not you, not Aubrey or Chogyi Jake or Ex. Me.
This is my show now.
Midian took a long, slow drink from the can, then held the cigarette to his mouth. The ember went bright as
he inhaled, then back to its dull orange glow. The yellowed ivory eyes narrowed.
 What s bugging you?
 I m making a decision, I said.  I think it s the right thing to do.
 But?
 But if I m wrong, I might tip our location to Coin and get us all killed.
 You want to talk about it? Roust tofu boy and what s-her-name out of bed, chew it over.
 No, I said.  I d only convince myself not to do it.
 So was there something you wanted from me?
 No, nothing, I said.  I just thought I should tell someone that I m making the decisions now.
 Even the risky ones, he said.
 Especially the risky ones.
Midian looked up at me from the couch. Almost imperceptibly, he nodded.
 You sound like the old man when you say that, he said.  Welcome to command, General.
I nodded curtly, drew myself up an inch or so.
 Put out the cigarette, I said, and went back to my room.
There were two hundred spam messages, but Thunderbird killed ninety percent of them, and I deleted the
rest by hand. There was a note from my little brother, Curt, asking how and where I was, but the tone of it seemed
more like his usual whine than something urgent. I pulled up my chat program.
There were half a dozen people online just then that I knew, mostly from ASU. Including my old boyfriend.
His screen name showed he wasn t idle, so he was talking to someone. Just not me. Extojayne, on the other hand,
had been listed as idle for days.
JAYNEHELLER: Ex! Where the fuck have you been? Why the fuck haven t you been calling? We ve been out of
our minds here!
I sat back on the bed. This was stupid. This was a mistake. I should never have done it.
Someone on the other side started typing.
EXTOJAYNE: Complications. Nothing serious. I m fine. Sorry I ve been out of touch. What s the status there?
I flexed my fingers like claws. I shifted the mouse over and turned on the logging feature. Better to have a
transcript of this so I could keep my lies straight. And I might as well start with something they already knew.
JAYNEHELLER: The rabbit thing fell through. You were totally right about that one. Sorry I gave you grief. The
big news is we tried to get Aubrey, but it was a no-go. The Invisible College folks are on that place like white on
rice. We barely got away.
EXTOJAYNE: We?
JAYNEHELLER: Me and Kim. The others weren t there. I don t think we re going to be able to get Aubrey out of
that. I hate to leave him behind, but I just don t see what else we can do.
EXTOJAYNE: I understand. I m not happy about it either, but you re probably right. What else? What s the news
on Texas?
I grinned. He was buying it. All vestiges of exhaustion were gone. I felt like I d just had eight cups of coffee
and a jelly roll. I could keep going with this bullshit all night.
JAYNEHELLER: Texas looks good. If we can get to Mexico, I think we ll be all right. You keep them distracted
for a few more days, and we ll be just about ready to make a run for it. Cool?
EXTOJAYNE: I can do that. But let me know the details. I don t want to do something that would get in your
way.
JAYNEHELLER: You betcha.
Hey, Coin. What s that over your shoulder?
Go ahead.
Look.
Twenty
The second report came from the lawyer in the morning, about half an hour before Aaron and Candace arrived.
I had cut the conversation with the fake Ex off after about fifteen minutes with the promise that I d be in
touch again soon. Afterward, it had been hard to sleep, so I didn t drag myself out of bed until almost noon. My
eyes felt gritty and my mind was stuffed with cotton, and the scent of Midian s coffee was like the promise of
spring in February. I struggled with last night s square knot on my robe, gave up, and pulled on a pair of blue jeans
and one of Eric s white shirts. It was a little too sheer for polite company and the only bra I could find was way
past laundry day, so I put one of his suit jackets on too. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]