Thin Air Page 0,86

of three or four places in his equipment. I heard a cooking sound from inside the electronics.

Nice. I sure did enjoy some things about being a Fire Warden.

"What's wrong?" Simons asked, and moved toward him. Together, with the sound guy craning in for a look, they reviewed the damage. Which, I could have told them, was catastrophic. Yay, me.

I shoved the old flat tire and all the equipment in the trunk, slammed it, and said, "I think the phrase I'm searching for here is 'no comment.'"

Simons stared at me with a grim, set expression as I got in the Camaro and headed off down the road.

When the van tried to follow, its engine blew in a spectacular white cloud of steam.

"I should be ashamed. That," I said to Venna, "was really low. Then again, blowing out my tire was pretty low in the first place, Venna. Shame on you."

"Perhaps," she said. "But you needed to know. So you won't trust your sister again."

"No," I said grimly. "I don't think I will."

Driving is therapy for me. Interesting thing to discover about yourself...There was something hypnotic about the road, the freedom, the feeling of being in control and having a direction. I drove fast, but not recklessly, and if Venna had anything to say, she said it to herself.

I had a lot of time to think. After a couple of hours of that, I said, "Venna. Why haven't you given me your memories?"

She raised her eyebrows. Pint-sized haughtiness. She was still wearing the blue jeans and pink shirt; I was getting used to the less formal look, but I didn't let it fool me. There was nothing informal about Venna.

"You couldn't handle it," she said. "Djinn memory isn't the same as human. We see things differently. We see time differently. It wouldn't make sense to you, the way human memories do."

"But...you can become human, right?"

"We can take human form. That doesn't mean we become human. Not really."

So even though David had fathered a child with me, he hadn't been...human. Not inside. Comforting thought.

I edged a bit more speed out of the accelerator. "You said David would be on her side, not mine. Are you guessing, or do you know that?"

She didn't answer me.

In a way, I supposed, that was answer enough.

The countryside began feeling weirdly familiar. If I'd put together the pieces properly, Sedona had been the last place I'd been seen before my absence from the world, followed by my appearance, naked and memory-free, in the forest. I felt like I ought to remember it.

I was, quite simply, too tired. Sedona had motels, and I had cash, and although Venna was contemptuous of the whole idea, I checked myself in for the day, took a long, hot bath, and crawled into a clean bed for eight blissful hours. When I got up, the sun had already set.

Venna was watching a game show, something loud that seemed to involve people shouting at briefcases. She was cross-legged on the end of the bed, her chin resting on her fists, and she was absolutely enraptured.

"Well," I said as I zipped up my black jeans, "I guess now I know who the target audience is for reality TV."

If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought she was embarrassed. She slid off the bed, and the TV flicked off without her hand coming anywhere near a remote control. She folded her arms. "Are you done sleeping?" she asked.

"Obviously, yes."

"Good. It's such a waste of good time." She moved the curtain aside and looked out. "We should go."

We pulled out of the parking lot and cruised slowly through town. Venna navigated, my very own supernatural GPS, pointing me through the streets until I was thoroughly lost. Sedona looked pretty much like any other town-maybe a little funkier, with more New Age shops and Southwest architecture, but McDonald's looked the same. So did Starbucks.

"Are we close?" I asked. I was still tired, but it was a pleasant kind of tired, and for the first time in a long time I felt like I was going into trouble with a clear mind. The road vibration was almost as good as a massage.

"That way." Venna pointed. I didn't ask questions. We made turns, crawled along a road that led into the hills, and eventually stopped in a parking lot at the foot of a bluff whose definitions were lost in the growing darkness.

The sign said, CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS.

Venna said, very quietly, "We're here."

"Where's Ashan?"

"Safe," she said. "I'll bring