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
“H ey, 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.
They were out of school and ready to rumble.
Jez had always thought, from the day she and Morgead began picking these kids up, that the Night World was making a mistake in treating them like garbage. They might be young; they might not have families, but they had power. Every one of them had the strength to be a formidable opponent.
And right now they were looking at her like a group of wolves looking at dinner. If they all decided to go for her at once, she would be in trouble. Somebody would end up getting killed.
She faced them squarely, outwardly calm, as a quiet voice finally broke the silence.
“It’s really you, Jez.”
And then another voice, from beside Jez. “Yeah, she came back,” Morgead said carelessly. “She joined the gang again.”
Jez shot him the briefest of sideways glances. She hadn’t expected him to help. He returned the look with an unreadable expression.
“…she came back?” somebody said blankly.
Jez felt a twinge of amused sympathy. “That’s right,” she said, keeping her face grave. “I had to go away for a while, andI can’t tell you where, but now I’m back. I just fought my way back in—and I beat Morgead for the leadership.” She figured she might as well get it all over with at once. She had no idea how they were going to react to the idea of her as leader.
There was another long moment of silence, and then a whoop. A sound that resembled a war cry. At the same instant there was a violent rush toward Jez—four people all throwing themselves at her. For a heartbeat she stood frozen, ready to fend off a four-fold attack.
Then arms wrapped around her waist.
“Jez! I missed you!”
Someone slapped her on the back almost hard enough to knock her down. “You bad girl! You beat him again ?”
People were trying to hug her and punch her and pat her all at once. Jez had to struggle not to show she was overwhelmed. She hadn’t expected this of them.
“It’s good to see you guys again,” she said. Her voice was very slightly unsteady. And
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
“H ey, 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.
They were out of school and ready to rumble.
Jez had always thought, from the day she and Morgead began picking these kids up, that the Night World was making a mistake in treating them like garbage. They might be young; they might not have families, but they had power. Every one of them had the strength to be a formidable opponent.
And right now they were looking at her like a group of wolves looking at dinner. If they all decided to go for her at once, she would be in trouble. Somebody would end up getting killed.
She faced them squarely, outwardly calm, as a quiet voice finally broke the silence.
“It’s really you, Jez.”
And then another voice, from beside Jez. “Yeah, she came back,” Morgead said carelessly. “She joined the gang again.”
Jez shot him the briefest of sideways glances. She hadn’t expected him to help. He returned the look with an unreadable expression.
“…she came back?” somebody said blankly.
Jez felt a twinge of amused sympathy. “That’s right,” she said, keeping her face grave. “I had to go away for a while, andI can’t tell you where, but now I’m back. I just fought my way back in—and I beat Morgead for the leadership.” She figured she might as well get it all over with at once. She had no idea how they were going to react to the idea of her as leader.
There was another long moment of silence, and then a whoop. A sound that resembled a war cry. At the same instant there was a violent rush toward Jez—four people all throwing themselves at her. For a heartbeat she stood frozen, ready to fend off a four-fold attack.
Then arms wrapped around her waist.
“Jez! I missed you!”
Someone slapped her on the back almost hard enough to knock her down. “You bad girl! You beat him again ?”
People were trying to hug her and punch her and pat her all at once. Jez had to struggle not to show she was overwhelmed. She hadn’t expected this of them.
“It’s good to see you guys again,” she said. Her voice was very slightly unsteady. And
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