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Offering an apologetic smile to them both, I continued to assess the raging fire, as if I needed to get more details before I could begin.
How was I going to explain to them that the only thing standing between their town and certain obliteration was a wee little cumulus cloud? That I wasn’t strong enough to answer their prayers because the sky was too fucking blue.
Even I knew how much that would sound like a pathetic excuse.
After a few more minutes standing in silence, watching the fire inch its way towards Lovelock and everything these people cared about, I was struck by a very bad idea.
Normally I’d wait.
It was a rare day when there was no cloud cover at all, and if I held out a couple hours, we’d probably see something. The issue here was I didn’t think these guys had a couple hours.
There was going to come a point very soon when Lovelock would need to be evacuated. A point where their property would start being destroyed plot by plot. The longer I sat around waiting, the longer their prayers would go unanswered.
I didn’t think that was really an option.
“I need to consult with my partner in private,” I announced at last, tugging Leo’s shirtsleeve and making my way back down the hill.
“Partner, is it now?” He smirked, but I could tell the scene laid out before us was making him as uneasy as it was making me. The air around us smelled like campfire, and it might have been pleasant if I hadn’t known why it smelled that way.
“Hey, if you’re along for the ride, I’ve got to call you something. I figured partner was better than sidekick. I can correct myself if you want though. Maybe call you my lackey?”
“No. Partner is fine. Did you drag me down here to make it look like you have a plan and you’re hoping they think we’re sorting out the details, rather than talking about what my professional label is?”
I let out a hiccup of laughter. “You seem to think you have me pegged pretty well already, don’t you?”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Two points.” I held up one finger. “First, what kind of horrible monster do you think I am to fake like I have a plan in front of the people who have paid handsomely to bring me here?” Just as he was looking crestfallen, I raised my second finger and said, “Two, that’s brilliant, and I’m glad you’re with me now so I can use that plan in the future. But, no. I have an actual plan, and I’m going to need your help.”
Leo regarded me with barely concealed distrust. This from a man who had spent our first hour together stealing wallets
and watches from strangers on Bourbon Street even after I told him his life was in danger.
Seemed like a strange time to get cagey about trust.
Granted I’d also dragged him through the underworld and we both nearly died, so maybe he was right to be a bit suspicious of my plans.
“I’m going to hate this.”
“Maybe.”
We took a few more steps away from the group on the crest until we were back at my car. I got in, and he followed my lead, but I didn’t start the car. We weren’t actually going anywhere, I just wanted the illusion of privacy to do what it was I wanted to try.
“Sometimes, if I need a direct channel to Seth, I can use Fen as a conduit. I can’t bring enough energy through him to make clouds appear, but I can…well, I can call Seth, sort of.”
“Sort of. You mean your fennec is a weird cell phone to the gods?”
I grimaced, hating how clichéd and silly that phrasing made it sound. In fact, it was a lot more like two tin cans on a string, crossing between dimensional boundaries, but that was hard to explain without coming across like an insane person.
“Maybe a walkie-talkie is a better example,” I said.
“Okay, great. So let’s go back to the hotel and get the little bastard, you call up Dad, we make it rain like it’s the champagne room at a strip club, and we get the fuck out of this weird town.”
“I have something different in mind.”
“Whatever you’re going to do I doubt I have much say in the matter, so you might as well get it over with.”
For the first time on this trip I took a really good look at Leo, trying to read what was going on behind his laissez-faire exterior. He had this ability to appear as if he didn’t care about anyone or anything, like he was constantly laughing at his own private joke. I hadn’t stopped to wonder how all these major life changes he was going through might be impacting him.
