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The downpour, the lightning, all of the weirdness—over. For a moment—deep quiet. Nothing but a soft hiss of rising steam and a light, ominous crackle like crushed cellophane. The van had wrecked in a residential neighborhood. Old houses, square and neat, ascended a low hill below a water tower. The houses had blackened—not burned, but converted to a dark, glassy substance, like obsidian. The water tower sprayed liquid from all its seams. Knee-high shining black spikes filled the roadway. As Jack stood by the curb, more spikes shot up, shoving aside his feet, kicking the van around and piercing two of its tires.
The air sparkled with an absence of color, absence of sense. It smelled burned, as did Jack—burnt by a cold, timeless fire.
Inside the van, Glaucous was gasping for air between harsh, guttural yells. The yells became an awful, continuous screech.
Then—nothing.
Everything that Jack looked at hurt his eyes, his brain. The muscles in his neck twisted, fighting over which direction they would or would not turn. He flung up his arm.
Against his better judgment, he looked again.
The not-colors had been filled in like gaps in a coloring book, but the burnt smell remained. The water tower gurgled and spewed its last few thousand gallons. The spikes melted into the asphalt. Rainwater cascaded from overflowing gutters.
The houses had returned to a kind of normality.
Shaking out a bruised shoulder and favoring a wrenched ankle, he lurched toward the van. He knelt by the shattered windshield. Wet and unable to fly, the last of Penelope’s wasps crawled along the crazed edge of glass, twitching and buzzing. Each cast flickering duplicates that peeled away, then returned to merge again.
He looked at his hands—the same stuttering shadows. Something huge had just happened. Time was vibrating like a plucked string.
Jack peered into the van. The driver’s seat was empty.
Both seats were empty.
Nobody left to save.
CHAPTER 51
Ellen drove Miriam’s old Toyota. Agazutta rode shotgun. Farrah sat in the back with Gi
Even now, water slopped along the gutters and spilled from over-passes and off-ramps, slowing their progress.
Things had once again crossed the line from puzzling to inexpressibly weird. She was surrounded by spooky, middle-aged women. They were all so curious, but however much they seemed to care, however much they seemed to have a plan, they were just as reluctant as Bidewell to answer big questions. Too many wait and seemoments. She felt tied to their destinies in a way that made her suffer like a caged animal.
The storm had been hunting. That’s what the women had argued about before taking the West Seattle Bridge. Storms didn’t do that, of course.
Agazutta looked over her shoulder. “What do you feel?” she asked Gi
“You tell me. I’m just riding along.”
Ellen said, “The storm might not be the only unusual event today. You might be able to help us save someone else, someone as important as you. So please, Virginia—tell us what you feel.”
“We’re like a log that’s fallen out of the fireplace,” Gi
Farrah rubbed her nose. “It doessmell burned.”
“Are you reallywitches?” Gi
Agazutta snorted. “That’s a joke, dear. If we had any realpowers, do you think we’d have allowed this to happen?”
Ellen said, “If anyone has magical powers, it’s probably you, or Bidewell. Not that we’ve seen much evidence of it lately.”
“Those books,” Farrah said.
“Fabricated,” Agazutta said.
“They’re old,” Farrah countered.
Ellen made a sound between a tosh and a splutter. “We have to trust him. We don’t have a choice. And we have to trust Gi
“She’s sullen,” Farrah said.
“So were you, in the begi
“Hell, I’m stillsullen,” Farrah said.
“Are you a lesbian?” Gi
A brief but chilly silence followed. “There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding,” Farrah said.
“Someone explain to the girl.”
“Fundamentally, it doesn’t matter,” Ellen Crowe said. “Except for me—”
“Except for her,” Agazutta emphasized with some resentment.
“…this group is sworn to celibacy,” Ellen finished.
“Which explains why we drink so much and read steamy novels,” Farrah said.
“Why aren’t youcelibate?” Gi
“It has nothing to do with magic, but a lot to do with fishing,” Agazutta said. “You’re not the bait, my dear. Ellenis the bait.”
“No one believes me when I say it’s all—” Ellen began, but Agazutta interrupted.
“Is that him?” she asked.
Ellen peered through the windshield at a ski
“Such a bedraggled puppy,” Agazutta said.
From behind he looked like the one Gi
Ellen braked the car with a short squeal. This caught his attention and he looked sharp left, then broke into a run.
“You scared him,” Agazutta said.
“Well, excuseme—”
“He’s getting away!” Farrah cried. “We’ll lose him. He’ll jump!”
They all seemed to know what that meant. Agazutta was glancing up and around as if expecting a 747 to fall from the sky, or a tree to march out in front of them.
“He can’t,” Gi
“Can’t what?” Ellen asked.
“He can’t escape,” Gi
The car caught up and Gi
Ellen stopped the car.
“Child safety lock,” Farrah reminded her, and she hmmedand pushed the release button. The door swung wide and Gi
“Please don’t,” she said. “Please stay.”
His outline firmed, and he faced her with fingers and arms flexed. “Why?”
“We’ve met before,” Gi
Jack glared at her.
“The storm was chasing you, wasn’t it?” Gi
“I don’t know,” Jack said.
“We can’t escape,” she said. “There’s a warm place and friends—I think they’re friends—not far. Come with us.”
“Your car is full,” Jack observed. “Unless you want me to ride in the trunk.”
Farrah opened her door and thumped her hand on the roof. “Squeeze in. You’re ski
“Get out of the wet, Jack,” Ellen said. She waved with a reassuring smile. Jack stood and peered through the windshield. He pushed aside his wet hair. “Now you’re scaring the hell out of me.”
“I met most of them today,” Gi
“Who are yousupposed to be?” Jack asked.
“I don’t know,” Gi
CHAPTER 52
The Green Warehouse
Jack stood behind the warehouse gate, staring at the gray ghost of First Avenue South and shivering in the ashen chill that oozed through the chain-link fence. Ellen had parked the car and the women had gone up the ramp into the warehouse, leaving him to stand by the fence. He told them he needed a moment to adjust.