Ill Wind Page 0,91

you're so worried about me, there's something you can do to stop it."

I knew what he meant. "I'm not claiming you."

He shrugged and took his hand away. "Then I'll take my chances."

Stubborn, infuriating . . .

Star tapped on the store window and gestured. David moved to the door and held it open for me, head down. I fought an impulse to kick him in the shins. As I walked past, he murmured, "No matter what happens, you always have a choice."

We stepped into cool silence and the smell of old paper. To the right was a wall of corkboard packed with cards and papers of every description, no rhyme or reason to it that I could see; some advertised massages, some were photocopies of newspaper cartoons, some were just plain mystifying. David stepped around her and began to look through books-I thought at first he was stalling for time, but his interest in the contents of the racks seemed genuine. He really did love reading, after all. And I guess even Djinn need a hobby.

"Hey, Star," said a voice from behind me. I turned to see a youngish woman sitting behind a table- well away from the cash register and counter- surrounded by books, a coffeemaker, and a butterscotch calico cat. She had brown hair cut in a shag and watchful cool eyes that struck me as capable and observant. "New romances in-you want to look through the boxes?"

"Not today, thanks, Cathy." Star exchanged what appeared to be a significant look with the woman. "I need the book."

If that seemed odd, asking for "the" book in a store littered with them, the woman clearly didn't think so; she looked spooked, not confused. "I thought we were done with that."

"Almost," Star said. She held out her hand, half-plea, half-demand. "Come on, Cathy, just this once."

Cathy shook her head, got up, and walked to the back of the store. She opened a door marked NO ADMITTANCE.

"The book?" I asked Star. She shrugged, still watching the open door at the back.

"Took me years to track it down," she said. "Cathy finally bought it off the Internet for me. I told her she could have it when I was done with it."

"What is it?"

Star smiled that lopsided smile. It wasn't comforting this time. "It's a surprise. You'll see."

Things thumped, back there. Cathy returned carrying a limp cardboard box, top closed, that looked like it weighed a considerable amount. She dropped it down on the desk and folded back the stained box wings.

"You're sure?" she asked. That silent communication again between them was nothing I could interpret. I didn't know Cathy Ball, but I felt like I should; on an impulse, I reached out and passed my hand over hers.

Glyphs shimmered, blue and silver. A Weather Warden. She looked up sharply and met my eyes; I smiled and showed her my matching set. Nothing eased in her body language. "Star?" she said. "You know I don't like other Wardens around here."

I hadn't been expecting a hug, but this was a bit much; we're generally a pretty chummy group.

"Sorry," Star said, not sounding too sorry at all. "She's a friend. She needs our help."

Cathy shot a look toward David, clearly asking the question. "No," I said. "He's not. What've you got against other Wardens, anyway?"

"Nothing," Cathy said, which vibrated like a lie all along my nerves. "It's just that they're trouble. Bunch of power-hungry, crazy, egotistical jerks, generally. I like peace and quiet." Her eyes narrowed at me. "Take that business in Oklahoma City today. You wouldn't believe what a mess that was. The aetheric was screwed up from here to Kansas, all the way over to Phoenix. Took hours just to get the temperature variances back to normal."

I threw a save me! look at Star, who was busy taking a huge leather-bound book out of the cardboard box and shaking off white packing peanuts. She ignored me, shoved the box off to thump on the floor, and eased the book down to the desk on top of a mound of category romances.

The cat that had been slinking inquisitively around Cathy's plate of doughnuts hissed around and skittered away, shooting past David into the farthest corner of the store. David had paused with the new Stephen King novel in his hands, staring at the book that Star had laid out, and I saw