There was a long, ringing silence. I instinctively put out a hand to touch David's, telling him
without words to hold his temper.
''What did you say?''
Kevin cleared his throat. ''I told them I'd think about it. I figured maybe keeping the bait out
there would help.''
''Good thinking,'' I said. ''Thanks, Kev.''
He shot me a frown. ''Didn't do it for you.''
''I know. But as it seems that they're after me, I still appreciate it. Did they say they'd be getting
back to you? Give you any way to approach them?''
''Yeah. They gave me a phone number.''
Lewis let out a slow, quiet breath. ''Let me have the number.''
''No.'' ''No.''
''What?''
''No. It's my lead. I get to follow it.''
''This isn't a goddamn game!'' I'd never seen Lewis lose his temper, but that was a sharp crack
of anger in his shell of Zen. He stood up, leaning both fists on the table. ''You can't screw with
these people, Kevin. And you'd better not screw with me, either. They want Jo and David dead,
but I don't think they really care how many people they have to take out along the way.''
It was a mistake, a big one, and I knew it the second Lewis raised his voice. Kevin had been
raised by an abusive parent, and he didn't react well to things that dredged up that bitter past.
He said, without looking up, ''Fuck you, Lewis. I'm not your bitch. I don't have to do what you
say.''
Lewis started to reply, but I grabbed him by the shoulder and squeezed hard enough to get my
point across. I used fingernails. He flinched and looked at me, and I saw the light dawn in his
eyes and clear away the fog of anger. He took a deep breath and walked away from the table,
heading for the far corner of the room where Rahel sat in silent witness. Kevin's narrow gaze
followed him, just aching for a confrontation.
I said, very softly, ''Would you be willing to join the Sentinels? Go undercover?''
That brought Kevin's attention back to me with a snap, and for a second he looked his age-far
too young to be so angry and defensive. ''What?'' he asked. On the far side of the room, Lewis
turned and made a move, but then he checked himself with a real physical effort.
''You'd be credible,'' I continued. ''You're strong, you've never really liked the Wardens, and
you're on record as being one of my biggest nonsupporters. They're recruiting you already. Why
not join up? You could be our inside man.''
David touched the back of my hand, just a light stroke of fingers, and I heard him whisper, so
softly it could have been my imagination, ''Are you sure about this?'' I wasn't, but it was the
best chance we were probably going to have to send someone inside the Sentinels quickly.
Kevin abruptly sank back in his chair in a trademark teenage slump, round-shouldered and
boneless. His eyes drifted half closed. ''Yeah,'' he said. ''Why not? They'll probably be better
company than the old farts around here. The Sentinels may be assholes, but at least they have
some backbone.''
A few eyebrows went up around the table, but nobody said anything. They were leaving it up to
me, and I knew-knew-that I was about to make a decision that could cost a young man his
life.
I said, ''Do it. And Kevin?'' He cocked his head to one side. ''If they ask you to kill me, demand
at least five million. That's the current market price. Wouldn't want you getting shorted on the
deal.''
He smiled, and I have to admit, it wasn't a comforting smile at all. ''Maybe I'll do it at a
discount,'' he said, ''because we're such good friends.''
And then he flipped me off.
That ended the first official war meeting of the Wardens.
''I'm putting a stop to it,'' Lewis said an hour later. He'd been pacing for at least forty-five
minutes, with occasional stops at the window to twitch back the blinds and stare out at the city
street. He looked off balance, and it was odd seeing him so out of control. Lewis had always, by
definition, been the guy who held it together in a crisis. ''He's a kid, Jo. You can't send him in
there by himself!''
''I wasn't planning to,'' I said. ''Cherise is going with him.''
He spun and looked at me as if I'd lost what was left of my mind. I didn't blame him; if I'd
meant exactly what I said, he'd have every right to order me a padded jacket in designer fall
colors.
I raised my voice. ''Cherise?'' And sure enough, my cute blond friend poked her head around
the edge of Lewis's office door and gave me a tentative wave. ''Come in. Explain it to Lewis.''
She eased inside, gave Lewis a charming dimpled smile that didn't seem to make him feel any
less unhappy about my idea, and shut the office door behind her. That didn't leave much room.
Typical Lewis: Give him a job as the head of the entire Wardens organization around the world,
and he'll do something goofy like take the smallest office available, even if he has to kick a
junior analyst out to do it. 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