Gale Force Page 0,50

There was a battered desk that still bore scars from the Great Djinn Rampage that Ashan had led through this place, and a couple of slightly-less-than-new chairs, and paperwork. And a sleek new computer that I doubted he turned on much.

With the four of us, it was crowded. I say four, even though David was, to all intents and purposes, a shadow; he hadn't said a word, and he'd taken up a post leaning in the corner, arms folded, watching us with an expression I could only think of as bemused.

Cherise spread her arms and dimpled even more. "You rang?" she asked.

"You have any objection to going with Kevin when he joins the Sentinels? It could be dangerous, you know."

"Ooooh, I live for danger! But do you think they'll believe I won't run back to squeal to you about what's going on?"

"I think just the opposite," I said. "I think they'll keep you as a hostage for Kevin's good behavior, and that also ensures you don't rat them out to me. It puts you squarely in the hot seat. It also makes you the one person they won't be thinking of as a threat. What do you think?"

Her blue eyes widened; she seemed lost in thought for a second, then nodded. "Could work," she said. "Could definitely work."

Lewis lost his cool. "What the hell are you talking about, could work? Look, Jo, I'm iffy about sending a kid in, and I'm damn sure not allowing her to go. She's not even a Warden - "

"Exactly," I said. "She's not even a Warden. If they're going to underestimate anyone, they'll underestimate Cherise. Not that she really is Cherise."

I gave Cherise the nod, and her form shifted, growing taller, darker, the sweetly rounded figure of the beach bunny taking on sharper edges and angles.

Rahel sighed, stretched, and looked down at her clothes as they shifted to her traditional neon-yellow pantsuit. She flicked an imaginary mite of dust from the cloth, and cocked a sassy eyebrow at Lewis.

He closed his mouth with a snap, then opened it again to say, "I didn't know you could do that."

Rahel smiled. "I'm sure, my love, there are many things I can do that you haven't even begun to imagine. " She winked, to top it off.

"Are you sure you're strong enough?" Lewis asked. He was trying very hard to ignore the somewhat intimidating charm she was sending his way.

"Strong enough to impersonate a human?" Rahel flicked her taloned, glossy fingers impatiently. "Please. You insult me if you think otherwise. You are nothing like difficult to imitate."

I thought Lewis found that as profoundly disturbing as I had. I'd known the Djinn could do it, of course; David had pulled it off with me when we'd met, and there was no doubt that he could, when he chose, take on other forms. But he'd told me that Rahel was the master of that sort of disguise, able to perfectly match whatever template she was given - something I hadn't known any more than Lewis had, evidently. I wondered whose form she'd taken on before, and for what purposes.

"You're sure you know what to do?" Lewis asked.

"I will watch out for the boy, and gather information for you. I will deliver it to David as often as I dare to, without exposing the boy to danger. Is that not what you want from me?" Rahel recited it like a laundry list, inspecting her nails for flaws. "Don't worry, Lewis. It will hardly be the first time we have hidden among you, discovering your secrets."

Well, if that didn't make us all paranoid . . . Lewis didn't look happy, but he'd lost some of the stiff, angry body language. "You're sure you can do this," he said. "I'm putting Kevin's life in your hands, Rahel. And in some ways, I'm putting you in more danger than him - these guys don't like Djinn. In fact, it's safe to say they'd just as soon destroy you as look at you. And I'm really not so sure they can't, if they try."

She let a slow, contemplative smile slip across her lips, and even I shivered. "How would they then be any different from most of my so-called friends and allies?" she asked softly. Her eyes had taken on an unnatural gold glow, and there was no mistaking her for anything but what she was: Djinn, through and through. "We have survived the Wardens. We will survive the Sentinels. You may count on