Durance by Lyn Gala Page 0,15
a hard no either way. Most English speakers use the word guides, so the names should be related to that.” Darren frowned. “I wonder if the evil ifrit will go for someone interesting rather than someone with power. Everyone puts their lives on social media these days, so we could we make a list of people whose hobbies include jumping off cliffs and cave diving?”
Les’s snort made his opinion clear. “I dare you to suggest that to Milton. That man does not have patience for anything he perceives as stupid, and that’s a stupid idea.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Darren scrolled though the synonyms the computer had suggested.
“And face it, we need a name that doesn’t have the baggage ifrit does. We need the general population to think of our guides and any invading ifrit as separate species or the anti-Talent hate is going to get worse. I still miss the way the islanders saw guides as just one more part of nature. When I transferred here...” Les sighed, but Darren had known the man long enough to hear what he didn’t say. He had struggled with the depth of the prejudices that existed in the DC area and even in the rest of the country. Hawaii was its own world.
“Docent,” Darren said.
“What’s that?”
Darren read from the definition. “A person who is a knowledgeable guide, especially one who conducts visitors through a museum and delivers a commentary on the exhibitions.”
Les didn’t answer immediately, which was a good sign. “That works. It’s got a nice boring connotation. No one is irrationally afraid of museum workers. So, for our jail breakers, how about durance?”
“Endurance?”
“Nope, no en. Just durance. It’s an archaic word for imprisonment.”
“I thought you were trying to avoid triggering fear. Bringing up prison seems like the wrong move.”
“Hey, people understand prisons. It’s way less scary than Islamic demons, and if they think of evil ifrit as prisoners then they might consider the docent the good guys who put them in that prison.”
That was brilliant. “Durance it is.”
“Awesome!” Les sounded pleased. “That’s one item off the Armageddon shopping list.
Darren flinched. He wished he could protect his friends, and for the first time, he had a bone-deep understanding of Kavon’s overprotectiveness. Les didn’t have a docent. He didn’t have enough Talent to defend himself. And worse, he had a wasp guide. The two of them would throw themselves into any fight, no matter the cost to themselves. That terrified Darren.
And while they didn’t know whether they were hunting one durance or several, the ice walls of the ifrit prison were cracking.
“So, what’s the next step?” Les asked.
Chapter Six
Kavon parked in the first spot he found. Parking in downtown DC was a nightmare.
“We have about a two-block walk that way.” Darren didn’t look up from his phone as he pointed east. “If our durance left behind the power sink, he must be throwing around some serious magic.”
Durance. Kavon hated that name. However, he could appreciate Les’s concerns “Possibly. We can’t make assumptions. In fact, this could be a trap designed to lure us in.”
“The docent, you mean,” Darren said.
And there was the other word Kavon disliked, although this term had some logic behind it. Kavon got out of the SUV and locked it. The autumn air was brisk and the trees showed off their brilliant colors. Nothing on the street hinted at a coming war, but Kavon felt the tension in his shoulders.
He wished his bull or Darren’s Bennu would show up. Their absence made him suspect that the fight had started somewhere else, an idea Kavon hated.
As they walked down the street, Darren stood out in his jeans and a sweatshirt. Thousand-dollar suits and counterfeit knockoffs dominated this part of town, and Darren dressed like a college student who had ditched class for the day. As a black man, if Kavon let himself go, someone would call him a thug. Kavon did not want to deal with that. The suit was his armor against that possibility.
They walked to the corner in silence before Darren asked, “What about the Monarch hotel? It’s right around the corner, and if I were returning from exile, I might want to go to the fanciest hotel in the city.”
“I don't think our suspects are concerned about room service.”
“No, but they might be concerned about people who are concerned about room service,” Darren countered. “Other than Congress or the White House, I can't imagine one place where you're going to have more power gathering under one roof,” Darren said. “Do