I am not," Claire said.
"Yeah, you are," Jez said, still gently, as if humoring a child.
"I am not."
"You don't even know what it is." Jez looked at Hugh. "You know what? I just realized something. The
Wild Powers are all supposed to be 'born in the year of the blind Maiden's vision,' right?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, I was trying to figure that out all yesterday. And now, it just came to me, like that." She snapped
her fingers. "I was thinking about visions like prophecies, you know? But I think what it meant was vision,
like sight. Eyesight. Aradia only had her eyesight for a year-and that's the year. Seventeen years ago."
Hugh looked at Claire. "And she's "Seventeen."
"So what?" Claire yelled. "So are you! So are lots of people!"
"So am I," Hugh said with a wry smile. "But not everybody can stop a train with blue fire."
"I didn't stop anything," Claire said with passionate intensity. "I don't know what a Wild Power is, but I
didn't do anything back there. I was just lying there and I knew we were going to die-"
"And then the blue light came and the train stopped," Jez said. "You see?"
Claire shook her head. Hugh frowned and looked suddenly doubtful.
"But, Jez-what about the fire at the Marina? Claire wasn't there, was she?"
"No. But she was watching it live on TV. And she was very, very upset about it. I've still got the scars."
Hugh drew in a slow breath. His eyes were unfocused. "And you think it works across that distance?"
"I don't know. I don't see why it shouldn't." They were talking around Claire again, Jez gazing into the
depths of the garage. "I think maybe distance is irrelevant to it. I think what happens is that she sees
something, and if she's upset enough about it, if she's desperate enough and there's no physical way to do
anything, she just-sends out the Power."
"It's completely unconscious, then," Hugh said. "And who knows, maybe she's done it before."
Jez straightened, excited. "If it's happening far away, and she doesn't see the flash, and she doesn't feel
anything..." She turned on Claire. "You didn't feel anything when you stopped the train?"
"I didn't stop the train," Claire said, slowly and with shaky patience. "And I didn't do anything about that
fire at the Marina, if that's what you're talking about."
"Claire, why are you in such total denial about this?"
"Because it's not the truth. I know I didn't do anything, Jez. When you know, you know."
"Actually, I don't blame her," Hugh said. "It's not a great job."
Jez blinked, and then the truth swept over her. Her entire body went cold.
Oh, Goddess... Claire.
Claire's life as a normal person was over. She was going to have to leave everything, her family, her
friends, and go into hiding. From this point on, she would be one of the four most important people in the
world-the only of the four Wild Powers who was identified.
Constantly hunted. Constantly in danger. Sought after by everyone in the Night World, for a hundred
different reasons.
And Claire had no experience. She was so innocent. How was she supposed to adjust to a life like that?
Jez shut her eyes. Her knees were so weak that she had to sit down.
"Oh, Claire ... I'm sorry."
Claire gulped, staring at her. There was fear in her dark eyes.
Hugh knelt. His expression was still and sad. Tm sorry, too," he said, speaking directly to Claire. "I don't
blame you at all for not wanting this. But for right now, I think we'd better think about getting you
someplace safe."
Claire now had the look of somebody after an earthquake. How could this happen to me? Why wasn't I
paying attention before it hit?
"I... have to go home," she said. But she said it very slowly, looking at Jez in fear.
Jez shook her head. "Claire-you can't I-" She paused to gather herself, then spoke quietly and firmly.
"Home isn't safe anymore. There are going to be people looking for you-bad people." She glanced at
Hugh.
He nodded. "A werewolf tried to run me down with a car, then jumped me. I think he must have
followed me from the station. I knocked him out, but I didn't kill him."
"And there's the vampire from the platform," Jez said. "He got away-did he see the flash?"
"He saw everything. We were both right there, looking down at you. After that, he took off running. I'm
sure he's going back to report to whoever sent him."
"And they'll be putting everything they have on the streets, looking for us." Jez looked around the garage.
"We need transportation, Hugh."
Hugh gave a tiny grin. "Why do I have the feeling you don't mean a taxi?"
"If you've got a pocketknife, I can hotwire a car. But we have to make sure nobody's around. The last
thing we need is the police."
They both stood up, Jez reaching down absent-mindedly to pull Claire to her feet.
Claire whispered, "Wait. I'm not ready for tins-"
Jez braced herself to be merciless. "You're never going to be ready, Claire. Nobody is. But you have no
idea what these people will do to you if they find you. You... just have no idea."
She located a Mustang across the garage. "That's a good one. Let's go."
There was a loose brick in the wall near the car. Jez wrapped it in her jacket and broke the window.
It only took a moment to get the door open and another few seconds to start the car. And then
everybody was inside and Jez was pulling smoothly out
"Take Yanacio Boulevard to the freeway," Hugh said. "We've got to head south. There's a safe house in
Fremont."
But they never made it out of the garage.
Jez saw the Volvo as she turned the first corner toward the exit It had its brights on and it was heading
right for them. She twisted the wheel, trying to maneuver, but a Mustang wasn't a motorcycle. She didn't
have room. She couldn't slip out and get away.
The Volvo never even slowed down. And this time there was no blue light. There was a terrible crashing
of metal on metal, and Jez fell into darkness.
Everything hurt.
Jez woke up slowly. For a long moment she had no idea where she was. Someplace-moving.
She was being jolted and jarred, and that wasn't good, because she seemed to be bruised all over.
Now, how had that happened... ?
She remembered.
And sat up so fast that it made her head spin. She found herself looking around the dim interior of a van.
Dim because there were no real windows. The one in back had been covered from the outside with duct
tape, and only a little light came through at the top and bottom. No light came from the front. The driver's
compartment was closed off from the back by a metal wall.
There were no seats in back, nothing at all to work with. Only three figures lying motionless on the floor.
Claire. Hugh. And... Morgead.
Jez stared, crawling forward to look at each of them.
Claire looked all right. She had been in the backseat with a seat belt on. Her face was very pale, but she
didn't seem to be bleeding and she was breathing evenly.
Hugh looked worse. His right arm was twisted oddly under him. Jez touched it gently and determined
that it was broken.
And I don't have anything to set it with. And I think sbmething else is wrong with him-his breathing's
raspy.
Finally she looked at Morgead.
He looked great. He wasn't scraped or bruised or cut like the rest of them. The only injury she could
find was a huge lump on his forehead.
Even as she brushed his hair back from it, he stirred.
His eyes opened and Jez found herself looking into dark emeralds.
"Jez!" He sat up, too fast. She pushed him back down. He struggled up again.
"Jez, what happened? Where are we?"
"I was hoping you might tell me that."
He was looking around the van, catching up fast Like any vampire, he didn't stay groggy long.
"I got hit. With wood. Somebody got me when I left my apartment." He looked at her sharply. "Are you
okay?"
"Yeah. I got hit with a car. But it could be worse; it was almost a train."
They were both looking around now, automatically in synch, searching for clues to their situation and
ways to get out They didn't have to discuss it The first order of business was always escape.
"Do you have any idea who hit you?" Jez said, running her fingers over the back door. No handles, no
way to get out
"No. Pierce called to say he'd come up with something on the Wild Power. I was going to meet him
when suddenly I got attacked from behind." He was going over the metal barrier that separated them
from the driver's cabin, but now he glanced at her. "What do you mean, it was almost a train?"
"Nothing here. Nothing on the sides. This van is stripped."
"Nothing here, either. What do you mean, a train?"
Jez wiggled around to face him. "You really don't know?"
He stared at her for a moment. Either he was a fantastic actor, or he was both innocent and outraged.