'Night World : Huntress Chapter 10\r'

'Jez held herself absolutely close up, keeping her face conceptualizationless. Her mind was clicking through strategies.\r\n two exits-but to go come in the windowpane stifft a three-story drop, and she probably wouldnt survive that in\r\nher condition. Although, of course, she couldnt leave for each oneway with bulge doing something to sleek over\r\nMorgead-and she wouldnt survive a fight, either….\r\nShe suppressed in both feeling, re inclineed Morgeads gaze, and express calmly, â€Å"And wherefore is that?”\r\nTriumph flashed in his eye. â€Å"Jez Redfern. Thats the key, isnt it? Your family.”\r\n paralytic bear to kill him somehow, she thought, but he was leaving on.\r\nâ€Å"Your family sent you. hunting watch Redfern. He k at a times that Ive re ally launch the batty Power, and he dwells\r\nyou to wank it divulge of me.”\r\n relief spread slow d possessly through Jez, and her tum muscles relaxed. She didnt allow it show.  "You idiot! Of\r\ncourse non. I dont run errands for the Council.”\r\nMorgeads rim lifted. â€Å"I didnt scan the Council. I suppose huntsman Redfern. Hes laborious to steal a march on the\r\nCouncil, isnt he? He postulates the wondrous Power himself. To sterilise the Redferns to the glory of old. Youre\r\nrunning errands for him.”\r\nJez choked on exasperation. so she listened to the part of her mind that was specialiseing her to keep her\r\n humor and echo clearly.\r\nStrategy, that part was feel outing. Hes simply fadeed you the respond and youre trying to smack it away.\r\nâ€Å" exclusively right; what if that is legitimate?” she said at last, her voice curt. â€Å"What if I do come from huntsman?”\r\nâ€Å" therefore(prenominal) you quarter enjoin him to get bent. I told the Council my price. Im not settling for anything less.”\r\nâ€Å"And what were your terms?”\r\nHe sneered. â€Å"As if you didnt know.” When she just stargond at him, he shrugged and stopped pacing. â€Å"A\r\nseat on the Council,” he said coolly, sections folded.\r\nJez weaken out laughing. â€Å"You,” she said, â€Å"are out of your mind.”\r\nâ€Å"I know they wont give it to me.” He smiled, not a nice smile. â€Å"I expect them to offer something like\r\ncontrol of San Francisco. And some military posture afterward the millennium.”\r\n by and by the millennium. Meaning after the apocalypse, after the human race had been killed or subjugated\r\nor eaten or whatever else Hunter Redfern had in mind.\r\nâ€Å"You wish to be a prince in the tender(a) cosmos order,” Jez said slowly, and she was impress at how bitterly\r\nit came out. She was surprised at how surprised she was. Wasnt it just what she expected of Morgead?\r\nâ€Å"I want whats coming to me. All my Life Ive had to abide closely and watch humans get everything.\r\n later on the millennium things will be several(predicate).” He glared at her broodingly.\r\nJez til now felt sick. solely she knew what to say now.\r\nâ€Å"And what advances you think the Council is going to be around after the millennium?” She shook her head.\r\nâ€Å"Youre wreakter off going with Hunter. Id bet\r\non him against the Council any day.”\r\nMorgead blinked once, lizardlike. â€Å"Hes planning on acquire rid of the Council?”\r\nJez held his gaze. â€Å"What would you do in his place?”\r\nMorgeads expression didnt get any sweeter. But she could distinguish from his eye that she had him.\r\nHe staveed away sharply and went to spot unhorse out the window. Jez could practically see the wheels turning\r\nin his head. Finally he cheeked game.\r\nâ€Å"All right,” he said coldly. â€Å"Ill join Hunters team-but yet on my terms. After the millennium-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"After the millennium youll get what you deserve.” Jez couldnt help dazzle back at hi m. Morgead\r\nbrought out all her strap traits, all the things she tried to control in herself.\r\nâ€Å"Youll get a position,” she amended, spinning the story she knew he valued to hear. She was winging it,\r\nbut she had no choice. â€Å"Hunter wants people fast(a) to him in the new order. And if you can prove youre\r\nvaluable, hell want you. But first you consent to prove it. O.K.? Deal?”\r\n â€Å"If I can trust you.”\r\nâ€Å"We can trust each other because we agree to. We twain want the akin thing. If we do what Hunter\r\nwants, we two win.”\r\nâ€Å"So we cooperate-for the era being.”\r\nâ€Å"We cooperate-and we see what happens,” Jez said evenly.\r\nThey stared at each other from opposite sides of the room. It was as if the subscriber pass sharing had never\r\nhappened. They were back to their old roles- peradventure a little more hostile, but the same old Jez and\r\nMorgead, enjoying being adversaries.\r\nMaybe itll be scant(p) from now on, Jez thought. As farseeing as Hunter doesnt show up to blow my story.\r\nThen she grinned inwardly. It would never happen. Hunter Redfern hadnt visited the West Coast for\r\nfifty years.\r\nâ€Å"Business,” she said crisply, out loud. â€Å"Wheres the disorderly Power, Morgead?”\r\nâ€Å"Ill show you.” He walked over to the futon and sat down.\r\nJez stayed where she was. â€Å"Youll show me what?”\r\nâ€Å"Show you the buggy Power.” There was a TV with a videocassette recorder at the foot of the bed, sitting on the double-dyed(a)\r\nfloor. Morgead was putting a tape in.\r\nJez settled on the far end of the futon, glad for the chance to sit.\r\nâ€Å"Youve got the Wild Power on tape?”\r\nHe threw her an cold glance over his shoulder. â€Å"Yeah, on Americas Funniest Home Videos. erect shut up,\r\nJez, and watch.”\r\nJez narrowed her eye and watched.\r\nWhat she was spirit at was a TV movie most a doomsda y asteroid. A movie shed seen-it had been\r\nawful. Suddenly the put to death was interrupted by the logo of a local anesthetic news station. A blond anchorwoman\r\ncame on shield.\r\nâ€Å" fault news in San Francisco this hour. We have live pictures from the Marina govern where a\r\nfive-alarm ardor is raging through a government housing project. We go now to Linda Chin, whos on the\r\n view.”\r\nThe scene switched to a dark- coped reporter.\r\nâ€Å"Regina, Im here at Taylor Street, where force outfighters are trying to prevent this spectacular inferno from\r\nspreading-â€Å"\r\nJez looked from the TV to Morgead. â€Å"Whats this got to do with the Wild Power? I maxim it live. It\r\n happened a couple weeks ago. I was observation that nitwitted movie-â€Å"\r\nShe broke off, shocked at herself. Shed in reality been nigh to say â€Å"I was watching that stupid movie\r\nwith Claire and Aunt Nan.” Just like that, to palaver out the names of the humans she lived with. She\r\nclenched her teeth, furious.\r\nShed already let Morgead know wizard(a) thing: that a couple of weeks ago shed been in this field of study, where a\r\nlocal news station could break in.\r\nWhat was wrong with her?\r\nMorgead tip a sardonic glance at her, just to show her that he hadnt missed her s sass. But all he said\r\nwas â€Å"Keep watching. Youll see what its got to do with the Wild Power.”\r\nOn strain the flames were brilliant orange, dazzling against the background of darkness. So bright that if\r\nJez hadnt known that subject field of the Marina district well, she wouldnt have been able to tell untold about it.\r\nIn prior of the building burn downfighters in yellow were carrying hoses. Smoke flooded out suddenly as one of\r\nthe hoses sprayed a straight line of pissing into the flames.\r\nâ€Å"Their greatest fear is that there ashenthorn be a little mis ardour smooth inside this complex-â€Å"\r\nYes. That was what Jez remem bered about this put down. There had been a small fry….\r\nâ€Å"Look here,” Morgead said, pointing.\r\nThe camera was zooming in on something, rescue the flames in close. A window in the pinky-brown\r\n cover of the building. High up, on the third floor. Flames were pouring up from the walkway below it,\r\nmaking the whole area look too risky to approach.\r\nThe reporter was still talking, but Jez had tuned her out. She leaned closer, eyes fixed on that window.\r\n want all the other windows, it was half covered with a wrought-iron screen in a diamond pattern. remote\r\nthe others, it had something else: On the sill\r\nthere were a couple of bendable buckets with dirt and scraggly plants. A window box.\r\nAnd a face looking out surrounded by the plants.\r\nA childs face.\r\nâ€Å"There,” Morgead said.\r\nThe reporter was speaking. â€Å"Regina, the firefighters say there is definitely someone on the third floor of\r\nthis building. They are looking for a way to approach the person-the little girl-â€Å"\r\n dynamical searchlights had been turned on the flames. That was the only reason the girl was visible\r\nat all. Even so, Jez couldnt distinguish any features. The girl was a small blurry blob.\r\nFirefighters were trying to maneuver some liberal of ladder toward the building. plurality were running,\r\nappearing and disappearing in the swirling smoke. The scene was eerie, otherworldly.\r\n Jez remembered this, remembered sense of hearing to the barely suppressed horror in the reporters voice,\r\nremembered Claire beside her razz in a sharp breath.\r\nâ€Å"Its a kid,” Claire had said, grabbing Jezs arm and digging her nails in, disembodied spiritbeatarily forgetting how much\r\nshe disliked Jez. â€Å"Oh, God, a kid.”\r\nAnd I said something like, â€Å"Itll be okay,” Jez remembered. But I knew it wouldnt be. There was too\r\nmuch fire. There wasnt a chance….\r\nThe reporter was saying, â€Å"T he entire building is line of workatical….” And the camera was going in for a\r\nclose-up again, and Jez remembered realizing that they were truly going to show this girl burning unrecorded\r\non TV.\r\nThe plastic buckets were melting. The firemen were trying to do something with the ladder. And because\r\nthere was a sudden huge tear of orange, an explosion, as the flames below the window poofed and\r\nbegan pouring themselves up with frantic energy. They were so bright they seemed to suck all the\r\nlight out of their surroundings.\r\nThey steeped the girls window.\r\nThe reporters voice broke.\r\nJez remembered Claire gasping, â€Å"No…” and her nails draft blood. She remembered wanting to shut\r\nher own eyes.\r\nAnd then, suddenly, the TV screen flickered and a huge wall of smoke billowed out from the building.\r\nBlack smoke, then gray, then a light gray that looked almost w tallye. Everything was lost in the smoke.\r\nWhen it at last cleared a little, the reporter was staring up at the building in open amazement, forgetting to\r\nturn toward the camera.\r\nâ€Å"This is astonishing…. Regina, this is a complete turnaround…. The firefighters have-either the water\r\nhas suddenly comportn effect or something else has caused the fire to die…. Ive never seen anything like\r\nthis….”\r\nEvery window in the building was now belching white smoke. And the picture seemed to have gone\r\nwashed-out and pale, because there were no more vivid orange flames against the darkness.\r\nThe fire was simply gone.\r\nâ€Å"I really dont know whats happened, Regina…. I think I can safely say that everybody here is very\r\nthankful. …”\r\nThe camera zoomed in on the face in the window. It was still difficult to make out features, but Jez could\r\nsee coffee-colored skin and what seemed to be a calm expression. Then a hand reached out to gently\r\npick up one of the melted plastic buckets and take it inside.\r\nThe picture froze. Morgead had hit Pause.\r\nâ€Å"They never did figure out what stopped the fire. It went out everywhere, all at once, as if it had been\r\nsmothered.”\r\n Jez could see where he was going. â€Å"And you think it was some sort of Power that killed it. I dont know,\r\nMorgeadâ€its a pretty big assumption. And to jump from that to the root word that it was a Wild Power-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"You missed it, then.” Morgead sounded smug.\r\nâ€Å"Missed what?”\r\nHe was reversing the tape, going back to the moment before the fire went out. â€Å"I almost missed it myself\r\nwhen I saw it live. It was lucky I was taping it When I went back and looked again, I could see it\r\nclearly.”\r\nThe tape was in slow motion now. Jez saw the burst of orange fire, signifier by close in, getting larger. She\r\nsaw it crawl up to engulf the window.\r\nAnd then there was a flash.\r\nIt had only showed up as a flicker at normal speed, ea sily mistaken for some kind of camera problem.\r\nAt this speed, though, Jez couldnt mistake it.\r\nIt was blue.\r\nIt looked like lightning or flame; blue-white with\r\na halo of more longing blue around it. And it liftd. It started out small, a bank note spot right at the\r\nwindow. In the following(a) frame it was much bigger, spreading out in all directions, fingers reaching into the\r\nflames. In the next frame it covered the entire TV screen, seeming to engulf the fire.\r\nIn the next frame it was gone and the fire was gone with it. White smoke began to creep out of\r\nwindows.\r\nJez was riveted.\r\nâ€Å"Goddess,” she whispered. â€Å"Blue fire.”\r\nMorgead ran the tape back to play the scene again. ” ‘In blue fire, the final darkness is banished; In\r\nblood, the final price is paid. If that girl isnt a Wild Power, Jez … then what is she? You tell me.”\r\nâ€Å"I dont know.” Jez bit her sass slowly, watching the strange thin g blossom on the TV again. So the blue\r\nfire in the poem meant a new kind of energy. â€Å"Youre bloodline to convince me. But-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Look, everybody knows that one of the Wild Powers is in San Francisco. unrivaled of the old hags in the\r\nwitch circle-Grandma Harman or somebody- had a dream about it. She saw the blue fire in front of Coit\r\nTower or something. And everybody knows that the cardinal Wild Powers are supposed to start manifesting\r\nthemselves around now. I think that girl did it for the first time when she realized she was going to die.\r\nWhen she got that desperate.”\r\nJez could picture that kind of despair; shed pictured it the first time, when shed been watching the\r\nfire live. How it must(prenominal) feel… being trapped like that. clear-sighted that there was no earthly help for you, that\r\nyou were about to experience the most terrible pain imaginable. lettered that you were going to feel\r\nyour body char and your hair bur n like a torch and that it would take two or three endless proceeding before\r\nyou died and the horror was over.\r\n Yeah, you would be desperate, all right. cognize all that might drag a new power out of you, a frantic\r\nburst of strength, like an unconscious scream pulled from the depths of yourself.\r\nBut one thing bothered her.\r\nâ€Å"If this kid is the Wild Power, why didnt her Circle notice what happened? Why didnt she tell them,\r\n‘Hey, guys, look; I can put out fires now?”\r\nMorgead looked annoyed. â€Å"What do you mean, her Circle?”\r\nâ€Å"Well, shes a witch, right? Youre not telling me vampires or shapeshifters are developing new powers\r\nlike that.”\r\nâ€Å"Who said anything about witches or vampires or shapeshifters? The kids human.”\r\nJez blinked.\r\nAnd blinked again, trying to conceal the extent of her astonishment. For a moment she thought Morgead\r\nwas putting her on, but his squirt eyes were simply exasperated, not sly.\r\nâ€Å"The Wild Powers… can be human?”\r\nMorgead smiled suddenly-a smirk. â€Å"You really didnt know. You havent heard all the prophecies, have\r\nyou?” He struck a mocking rhetorical pose. â€Å"Theres supposed to be:\r\nOne from the land of kings long forgotten; One from the hearth which still holds the foam; One from the\r\nDay earthly concern where two eyes are\r\nwatching; One from the twilight to be one with the dark.”\r\nThe Day World, Jez thought. Not the Night World, the human world. At least one of the Wild Powers\r\nhad to be human.\r\nUnbelievable… but why not? Wild Powers were supposed to be weird.\r\nThen she thought of something and her stomach sank.\r\nâ€Å"No wonder youre so eager to turn her in,” she said softly. â€Å"Not just to get a reward-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"But because the little scum deserves to die-or whatever it is Hunter has in mind for her.” Morgeads\r\nvoice was matter-of-fact. â€Å"Yeah, vermi n have no right developing Night World powers. Right?”\r\nâ€Å"Of course right,” Jez said without emotion. Im going to have to watch this kid every minute, she\r\nthought. Hes got no disgrace at all for her-Goddess knows what he might do before letting me have her.\r\nâ€Å"Jez.” Morgeads voice was soft, almost pleasant, but it caught Jezs full attention. â€Å"Why didnt Hunter tell\r\nyou that prophecy? The Council dug it up last week.”\r\nShe glanced at him and felt an inner shiver. Suspicion was cold in the depths of his green eyes. When\r\nMorgead was yelling and furious he was jeopardyous enough, but when he was quiet like this, he was\r\n deadly.\r\nâ€Å"I have no idea,” she said flatly, tossing the problem back at him. â€Å"Maybe because I was already out\r\nhere in California when they judge it out. But why dont you call him and ask yourself? Im certain(a) hed\r\nlove to hear from you.”\r\nThere was a pause. Then Morgead gave h er a look of disgust and turned away. A good bluff is\r\npriceless, Jez thought. It was safe now to move on. She said, â€Å"So what do the ‘two eyes watching mean\r\nin the prophecy?” He rolled his own eyes. â€Å"How should I know? You figure it out. Youve always been\r\nthe refreshful one.”\r\nDespite the heavy sarcasm, Jez felt a different kind of shiver, one of surprise. He really believed that.\r\nMorgead was so smart himself-hed seen that flicker on the TV screen and realized what it was, when\r\napparently none of the adults in the bay tree Area had-but he thought she was smarter.\r\nâ€Å"Well, you seem to be doing all right yourself,” she said.\r\nShe had been looking steadily at him, to show him no weakness, and she saw his expression change. His\r\ngreen eyes softened slightly, and the sarcastic quirk of his lip straightened.\r\nâ€Å"Nah, Im just blundering along,” he muttered, his gaze shifting. Then he glanced back up and somehow\r\n they were caught in a moment when they were just looking at each other in silence. Neither of them\r\nturned away, and Jezs heart gave a strange thump. The moment stretched. Idiot! This is ridiculous. A\r\nminute ago you were\r\nscared of him-not to mention sickened by his attitude toward humans. You cant just suddenly switch to\r\nthis.\r\nBut it was no good. Even the realization that she was in danger of her life didnt help. Jez couldnt think\r\nof a thing to say to break the tension, and she couldnt seem to look away from Morgead.\r\nâ€Å"Jez, look-â€Å"\r\nHe leaned forward and put a hand on her forearm. He didnt even seem to know he was doing it. His\r\nexpression was abstracted now, and his eyes were fixed on hers.\r\nHis hand was warm. Tingles spread from the place where it touched Jezs skin.\r\nâ€Å"Jez… about before … I didnt…”\r\nSuddenly Jezs heart was lacing far too quickly. I have to say something, she thought, fighting to keep\r\nher face impassive. But her throat was dry and her mind a humming blank. All she could feel clearly was\r\nthe place where she and Morgead touched. All she could see clearly was his eyes. Cats eyes, deepest\r\nemerald, with shifting green lights in them….\r\nâ€Å"Jez,” he said a third time.\r\nAnd Jez realized all at once that the silver thread between them hadnt been broken. That it might be\r\nstretched almost into invisibility, but it was still there, still pulling, trying to make her body go weak and\r\nher vision blur. Trying to make her sicken toward Morgead even as he was falling toward her.\r\nAnd then came the sound of someone kicking in the front door.\r\n'