Cape Storm Page 0,70

Paradise had left the storm behind during the night, although it was following us like a pit bull on a leash, obedient to my every wish.

The ship cut a rapid, hissing passage through the still-high waves, making for the destination I'd identified. Home, part of me said. Not the best part.

Sunlight flooded the promenade, glittering on drops of spray, turning the place into a gallery of diamonds. Watertight doors had opened all up and down the length of the ship.

Wardens who'd been gearing up for the fight of the century, or at least the storm of the century, were left wondering what to do. I didn't seem to be much of a threat, standing at the railing and enjoying the day.

Nothing but sun and fresh wind now. It was a beautiful morning.

I felt the winds shift. Gravity shift, at least on the aetheric level. A heavyweight had arrived.

When I looked over my shoulder, I saw that Lewis had made his way out onto the deck.

Behind him was the Warden army - faces I knew and some I outright hated. Ah, good.

Finally, we were at the showdown. Time to rumble.

I turned to face them.

"You're getting off the ship," Lewis told me. "I'm sorry, Jo."

"Oh no. Mutiny! Whatever shall I do?" I put the back of my hand dramatically to my forehead. "Wait. I know. Kill you."

He didn't look especially petrified. Lewis had healed up some overnight - faster than I'd have thought, but he'd probably had tons of Earth Warden help to accelerate the process.

He looked badass and focused, and whereas I was clean, scrubbed, and dressed for sexy success, he hadn't shaved, showered, slept, or changed clothes.

I was ahead on style points, but I wasn't counting the Wardens out. Not yet.

"You can't win this," Lewis said. "Don't push me, Jo. I'm telling you the truth: You can't." He sounded confident, but then, Lewis always did sound confident when it came to crunch time.

I felt the whispers of wind tease my hair, and the storm - my own personal pet now -

yawned and began to spin its engine harder, preparing for battle.

"You going to talk, or are you going to fight?" I asked. "Because the alternative is hate sex, and I'm kind of over you right now." I noted, on a highly academic level, that I was starting to sound more and more like Bad Bob, even to the ironic dark twist in my tone.

Lewis took a step toward me. Just one. But I felt my skin tighten, and something inside me turned silent and watchful, all humor gone.

"You're talking a good game, but I'm still waiting for you to back it up." I laughed. "Are you begging me to kill you? Seriously? Tactics, man. Look into it."

"No," he said softly. "I'm telling you that deep inside, there's a part of you that's still protected. Still fighting. If there weren't, you'd be walking around this ship like the incarnation of Kali, destroying everything crossing your path. Think about it. You haven't killed anybody. And what is your master evil plan? You're taking us to Bad Bob. That's where we wanted to go."

I froze, staring at him. It was true. I'd lashed out at him, but I hadn't killed him. Hadn't killed anyone, yet. Lots of talk, no action.

And he was right, something inside me had convinced me that the ship should be taken to Bad Bob... but it was the old Joanne, struggling to push me in the direction she considered right.

I opened my right hand, and a tiny pearl of light formed, flickered, and grew, expanding into a white-hot ball.

"Talk's over," I said. "It's time to play."

I threw the ball of fire into the middle of them. Lewis hit it with a blast of cold air along the way, shrinking it, and then casually batted it out over the railing when it reached him.

"Going to have to play harder than that."

I was aware that while my attention was fixed on Lewis, the other Wardens were trying to get to me. Not physically, but the Earth Wardens were messing with my body chemistry.

All kinds of ways the human engine can go wonky - they weren't trying to give me cancer, but they were trying to crash my blood sugar, give me blinding headaches, and disrupt nerve impulses.

I snapped a lightning bolt down. One of the Weather Wardens stepped out and flung up both hands, intercepting the thick, ropy stream of energy and deflecting it, but it left her limp and