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Dorian get up. He sighed. "I think we'd better quit for the day."

"But I swear I had it! I could feel it! I was thinking about water so hard."

"I know you were."

He undid the blindfold, and I looked up. Billowing clouds, colored like lead, inked out the sky. Wind blew at me from the east - not imagined after all - picking up in strength. Great, heavy drops fell around us, landing with loud splashes.

Water at last.

Chapter Nineteen

Dorian wasn't nearly as impressed as he should have been by the storm.

"You couldn't control it," he told me. "It did you no good. Until you master the small things, you'll never control the large ones. They'll control you."

He didn't seem upset; he simply showed that infinite patience and good-natured attitude he always had. Still enchanted by human stuff, he wanted us to take him into the city and show him entertaining things - particularly the aforementioned women with low inhibitions. Considering the car ride would have literally killed him, we ordered pizza instead.

You could tell it was sort of a letdown for him, but he still enjoyed it. He found delight in everything, I realized. Well - except for those extreme moments of boredom that seemed to plague him, although even in those he still managed to find some sort of joke. I didn't know many people like that.

I saw him once more that week, this time at his place. He made me repeat the boring water experiment five times, but it only yielded the exact same results. At least this time I didn't conjure any storms. When I asked if we could do something else next time, he laughed and sent me home.

The day before Dorian's ball, I mustered up the courage to do something I'd been thinking about for a long time now: visit Wil Delaney.

He still left messages with Lara almost every other day, but that wasn't what finally made me go see him again. Ever since my mom's visit, I hadn't been able to shake the idea of her locked away, miserable and alone, in Storm King's castle. The pain of that image transferred to my impressions of Jasmine, and no matter how reluctant the girl had been to leave, I knew she was still a victim. I wanted to do something - anything - to help her but had no idea where to start or even how to do it, considering last time's disaster. Talking to Wil again seemed like a semireasonable beginning.

Kiyo went with me, driving us in his rental car since his poor Spider was out of commission. This car was a brand-new Toyota Camry that seemed pretty nice to me, though it obviously caused him considerable distress.

When we knocked on the door, Wil didn't answer right away.

"You sure he's here?" Kiyo asked.

"Yeah. I don't think he ever leaves. We're probably being thermal-scanned or something."

Kiyo gave me a puzzled look.

"Just wait," I warned.

A minute later, I heard the legion of locks and bolts being undone, and Wil's face appeared.

"Oh, my God," he gasped, face lighting up. "You're back. Wait. Who's that?"

"A friend. Now let us in."

Wil gave Kiyo a hesitant look and finally opened the door wider. As we walked in, I could tell from Kiyo's expression that he was having exactly the same reaction I'd had to the weirdness of Wil's lair. In particular he paused in front of a magazine lying open on a coffee table. An article's large headline read: THEY'RE USING YOUR DNA TO TRACK YOU! WEAR A HAIRNET WHEN LEAVING THE HOUSE!

"I knew you'd come around," Wil burbled out, leading us into the kitchen. "When are we going back?"

"I don't know that we are, Wil."

"Then why - "

I held up a hand to silence him. "I just want to talk right now, that's all."

His face fell, but he nodded and walked to the refrigerator. "You want something to drink?"

"Sure. What do you have?"

He opened the refrigerator. Inside were about ten jugs of water whose labels guaranteed ultra-ultra-ultra purification and refinement against impurities.

"Water," he said. "Most soft drinks are laden with - "

"Water's fine."

He poured three glasses and sat down with us, watching me expectantly.

"I want to know more about Jasmine," I explained. "If we're ever able to go back..." Again, that pale face loomed in my mind. I swallowed. "It might not do us any good if she doesn't want to go. Is there anything about her...anything you can tell us that might sort of explain that?"

The fanatical gleam