"Well, she's a witch, right? You're not telling me vampires or shapeshifters are developing new powers like that."
"Who said anything about witches or vampires or shapeshifters? The kid's human."
Jez blinked.
And blinked again, trying to conceal the extent of her astonishment. For a moment she thought Morgead was putting her on, but his green eyes were simply exasperated, not sly.
"The Wild Powers... can be human?"
Morgead smiled suddenly-a smirk. "You really didn't know. You haven't heard all the prophecies, have you?" He struck a mocking oratorical pose. "There's supposed to be:
One from the land of kings long forgotten; One from the hearth which still holds the spark; One from the Day World where two eyes are watching; One from the twilight to be one with the dark."
The Day World, Jez thought. Not the Night World, the human world. At least one of the Wild Powers had to be human.
Unbelievable... but why not? Wild Powers were supposed to be weird.
Then she thought of something and her stomach sank.
"No wonder you're so eager to turn her in," she said softly. "Not just to get a reward-"
"But because the little scum deserves to die-or whatever it is Hunter has in mind for her." Morgead's voice was matter-of-fact. "Yeah, vermin have no right developing Night World powers. Right?"
"Of course right," Jez said without emotion. I'm going to have to watch this kid every minute, she thought. He's got no pity at all for her-Goddess knows what he might do before letting me have her.
"Jez." Morgead's voice was soft, almost pleasant, but it caught Jez's full attention. "Why didn't Hunter tell you that prophecy? The Council dug it up last week."
She glanced at him and felt an inner shiver. Suspicion was cold in the depths of his green eyes. When Morgead was yelling and furious he was dangerous enough, but when he was quiet like this, he was deadly.
"I have no idea," she said flatly, tossing the problem back at him. "Maybe because I was already out here in California when they figured it out. But why don't you call him and ask yourself? I'm sure he'd love to hear from you."
There was a pause. Then Morgead gave her a look of disgust and turned away. A good bluff is priceless, Jez thought. It was safe now to move on. She said, "So what do the 'two eyes watching' mean in the prophecy?" He rolled his own eyes. "How should I know? You figure it out. You've always been the smart one."
Despite the heavy sarcasm, Jez felt a different kind of shiver, one of surprise. He really believed that.
Morgead was so smart himself-he'd seen that flicker on the TV screen and realized what it was, when apparently none of the adults in the Bay Area had-but he thought she was smarter.
"Well, you seem to be doing all right yourself," she said.
She had been looking steadily at him, to show him no weakness, and she saw his expression change. His green eyes softened slightly, and the sarcastic quirk of his lip straightened.
"Nah, I'm just blundering along," he muttered, his gaze shifting. Then he glanced back up and somehow they were caught in a moment when they were just looking at each other in silence. Neither of them turned away, and Jez's heart gave a strange thump. The moment stretched. Idiot! This is ridiculous. a minute ago you were scared of him-not to mention sickened by his attitude toward humans. You can't just suddenly switch to this.
But it was no good. Even the realization that she was in danger of her life didn't help. Jez couldn't think
of a thing to say to break the tension, and she couldn't seem to look away from Morgead.
"Jez, look-"
He leaned forward and put a hand on her forearm. He didn't even seem to know he was doing it. His expression was abstracted now, and his eyes were fixed on hers.
His hand was warm. Tingles spread from the place where it touched Jez's skin.
"Jez... about before ... I didn't..."
Suddenly Jez's heart was beating far too quickly. I have to say something, she thought, fighting to keep her face impassive. But her throat was dry and her mind a humming blank. All she could feel clearly was the place where she and Morgead touched. All she could see clearly was his eyes. Cat's eyes, deepest emerald, with shifting green lights in them....
"Jez," he said a third time.
And Jez realized all at once that the silver thread between them hadn't been broken. That it might be stretched almost into invisibility, but it was still there, still pulling, trying to make her body go weak and her vision blur. Trying to make her fall toward Morgead even as he was falling toward her.
And then came the sound of someone kicking in the front door.
Chapter 11
Hey, Morgead!" the voice was shouting even as the door went slamming and crashing open, sticking every few inches because it was old and warped and didn't fit the frame anymore.
Jez had jerked around at the first noise. The connection between her and Morgead was disrupted, although she could feel faint echoes of the silver thread, like a guitar string vibrating after it was strummed.
"Hey, Morgead-"
"Hey, you still asleep-?" Several laughing, raucous people were crowding into the room. But the yelling stopped abruptly as they caught sight of Jez.
There was a gasp, and then silence.
Jez stood up to face them. She couldn't afford to feel tired anymore; every muscle was lightly tensed, every sense alert She knew the danger she was in.
Just like Morgead, they were the flotsam and jetsam of the San Francisco streets. The orphans, the ones who lived with indifferent relatives, the ones nobody in the Night World really wanted. The forgotten ones.
Her gang.