Undone

“I liked that desk!”

“Nobody ever accused you of having taste, man.”

We were making our way, slowly, to Ma

I wasn’t at all sure the police officer had believed any of us. I wouldn’t have, in his place. We definitely seemed suspicious.

We were almost to the car when Ma

“What?”

“The boss.”

He meant the Weather Warden, Scott, who’d been so unpleasant during our last encounter. Scott was striding toward our small group, and his hangdog face was mottled red with fury.

I stepped out in front of Ma

“Are you threatening me?” he barked. I didn’t respond or move, except for the wind lashing my soft white hair around my face. Somehow I knew that my very stillness would be more intimidating than an answer. “Ma

“I don’t own her,” Ma

Scott clearly didn’t want to stoop so low, but he nodded stiffly. “Please step aside, Cassiel.”

I held my place for long enough to make him uneasy, then moved back, beside Ma

Once again, I had acted to protect humans. It’s self-interest, I told myself. Nothing but that.

Some part of me still wondered.

“What the hell happened here?” Scott asked.

Ma

“I don’t know,” he said. “It looks to me like either a Dji

Whatever Scott thought about that, he let it go. “Greta’s out of town, handling a fire around Santa Fe. She’ll be back in the morning. She’ll do the investigation.” He paused for a few seconds, then jerked his head to the side. “Talk to you alone for a minute?”

Ma

“Hey,” Luis said, and his hand touched my arm lightly.

“What?” I frowned at him.

“You look like you want to rip Scott’s colon out through his nose. Thought I should mention it, in case you didn’t want it to be quite that obvious.”

It took a moment for his meaning to sink in. I had not been guarding myself as well as I’d thought, and that was cause for concern. How did humans manage all these complicated feelings, so easily betrayed by their faces and bodies? I’d thought I was learning, but obviously, I had far to go.

Luis was watching his brother and Scott with a cool light in his eyes. “That guy’s a bureaucratic asshole,” he said, “but the biggest danger Ma

“Know something,” I repeated.

“About the fire?”

“I know it was caused by a Warden,” I said, “but I don’t know the Warden’s name. I’ve been assured that it won’t happen again.”

Whatever Luis had been expecting, it had not been that. “What? How do you know that?”

I shrugged. “Dji

He opened and closed his mouth, plainly searching for words and finding nothing. It was a satisfying display, which I watched with interest. He finally managed to gather his thoughts. “Listen, I don’t care what the Dji

“They did.”

He shook that off. “Whatever the Dji

Quintus had seemed very sure about his former master, but it was possible that he was not in possession of all the facts . . . or that he had lied to me. Dji

I did not like the sick feeling in my stomach that came with these thoughts. If he lied to me, I couldn’t tell. That was worse than unsettling. That was devastating.

“I don’t know,” I said, and my voice sounded soft and fragile. “I don’t know if I can find out, Luis.”

“You want to save Ma

“I do,” I said, and then wished I had not spoken at all, because his eyes widened and he looked at me. Saw me as something other than his brother’s a

I felt something inside me respond, a stirring I had not known, except in the dream. It was primal and dark and deep, and it felt . . . good.

I looked away, studying the ground, willing the feeling to subside. I felt warm, and too much in my skin.

“Good to know,” Luis said, his voice carefully neutral. “Looks like my brother’s done getting his ass chewed. Vamanos.”

Luis opened the passenger’s-side door of Ma

“See you later,” he said, and shut the car door.

When I finally did raise my head, he was walking away, hands in his pockets. Another uncontrollable wave of heat flamed through me, and subsided to a banked glow deep inside.

I have no need of this, I told myself. I need no complications. All I want to do is survive.

My body, it seemed, thought differently of the matter.

I was so intent on watching Luis that I flinched when Ma

“Bastard,” he finally said, and turned the key to start the engine. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Are you all right?” I asked.

The glance he threw me was bitter, black, and wild. “Sure. I’m just perfect. Why the hell wouldn’t I be?”

I did not ask again, and we sat in silence as he drove too fast, too recklessly, all the way to his home.

Chapter 6

ANGELA WAS WAITING outside for our arrival—I didn’t think Ma

He kissed her quickly and went inside, which left the two of us standing together.