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responsible for that, too.

Was I crazy, or did he look oddly startled for a second before smiling? "No, nothing, don't worry. Listen, love, are you all right? You don't seem...quite yourself." His voice was low and rich with concern, and man, that was seductive. I wanted somebody to care whether or not I was okay, and obviously that wasn't going to be my sister. Disappointing, but there it was.

Sarah twisted in her seat again to look at me. Her pupils were huge. Bigger than they should have been, even in the dark. I wondered if she was on some kind of pain medication. "Well, she did just get out of jail," she said. "Of course she's not quite herself. She's scared, and there's nothing wrong with that. God, what are you doing in Vegas, Jo? You came looking for me, didn't you? I told you I didn't need your help. I told her, too."

"Her?" I repeated blankly.

Sarah's pointed chin lifted so she could look down her thin, patrician nose at me. "You know who. Imara."

My heart thudded hard against my rib cage, rattling to be free. Oh, that hurt. My sister had seen Imara. Imara had been part of my life. Had tried to help Sarah, evidently, for all the good that did. "When did you last see her?" I asked. Because if Sarah had seen her recently, maybe everybody was wrong about Imara. Wrong about her being...gone. Come on, Joanne, say it. Wrong about her being dead.

What, even David? some part of me mocked, more gently than the question deserved. Surely David would know if his child was alive. I didn't have to know a lot about the Djinn to understand that much.

Sarah avoided my gaze this time, turning back to stare out the windshield as Eamon navigated the car through the neon pinball machine of the Strip. "I haven't seen her since I told her to leave me in Reno," she said. "I know you both meant well, but honestly, Jo, she was getting on my nerves. And besides, she was worried about you. She wanted to get back and check on you, even though I told her you'd be okay. You're always okay."

Ouch. That stung, especially delivered in a tone so bitter it could have stripped paint. Apparently having a superhero wizard for a sister wasn't the party-in-a-box that you'd assume. Well, I wasn't finding it all clowns and puppies on this side, either.

"Jo," Eamon said, drawing my attention back to him. "I'm guessing that perhaps in this instance your sister might not have been exactly correct. Right? Things haven't gone as planned?"

"No," I said, and turned to look out the window at passing strangers who didn't notice me, or care. "Not exactly. Where are we going?"

"It's best if we don't tempt fate and stay in the city," he said. "Sarah and I have a small place a couple of hours down the road. If you don't mind?"

I shrugged. I had no money, no transportation, and no real alternatives; seemed like I was stuck with Sarah and Eamon. At least Eamon seemed like a decent kind of guy.

A better person than my sister, anyway.

I wondered if maybe I was internalizing the dislike Cherise had felt for Sarah; probably I was. After all, I didn't have the normal family bonds and memories, nothing that would let me overlook Sarah's flaws and love her anyway. I didn't know her, except on the surface, and the surface wasn't looking very pretty.

Besides, it was fairly clear how she felt about me.

But she bailed you out.

Interesting.

Chapter Eight

EIGHT

Two hours and a boring number of minutes later, we entered a dry, sun-faded little town called Ares, Nevada. Population 318, and no doubt declining. It wasn't a garden spot, unless you liked your garden with lots of thorns and spikes. I remembered-actually, Cherise had remembered-my sister as being impeccably groomed, focused on polish and presentation. I doubted that would get her very far in the social scene of Ares, which probably revolved around the local Dairy Queen we'd passed, and possibly a strip club.

There was one stoplight in town, and Eamon obeyed it at the corner of Main and Robbins, then turned right. Nothing after the next block but some emptied-out stores with soaped windows, and the ruins of a few buildings that hadn't been so lucky or durable. We kept driving. About a mile on, Eamon turned the car off on a bumpy, unpaved side road, and I saw that we were heading