Mercenary little sexless bastard.

The Air Oracle was silent. I hated dealing with eternal beings. No sense of urgency. At least restore Davids powers, I said. He is a Conduit. He can reach the Mother. Maybe he can stop her.

No, the Oracle said immediately, and the single word, the concept, was rich with contempt. He cannot. It is a waste of energy.

Great. David hadnt made a fan out of this Oracle, any more than I had.

Once humans are gone, the Mother will release us, the Oracle continued, with cold and inexorable logic. The world will be ours. As it should be.

I swallowed hard. If you really believed that, why bring us here?

There were no features on that misty face, but I had the impression of a sharks smile, something hungry and merciless. To be sure you dont stop it.

The mist closed in, and this time, it wasnt just suffocating, it was crushing. I had time to gasp in one inadequate breath before the weight slammed into me from back and front, squeezing. When I opened my mouth, the mist jammed itself in, choking me.

No! Im a Weather Warden! This cant happen! But it was happening, no matter how much I wanted to deny it. I had no power to fight an Oracle, no tricks, nothing but the sheer panicked will to live.

And that wasnt enough. Not here.

I felt hot sparks of pain through my body as muscles strained, joints began to fail, bones bent. It was going to smash me flat and leave me a leaking carcass, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. . . .

All of a sudden, a hurricane wind whipped through the mist, cold and clear and edged with ice. It tattered the forces holding me, revealing the Air Oracle looming over me in its faceless, sexless menace. Suddenly, I could breathe. I dropped to my hands and knees, gasping in ragged gulps, and looked around to see what the hell had just happened.

Oh crap.

Cherise stood there, tiny and cute in her flirty dress and perfect tan. She was showing teeth. It wasnt a smile. Maybe it had started out being a confident grin, but as the Air Oracle focused its attention on her instead of me, it became more of a demented, if terrified, snarl. Her blond hair was streaming in the wind, and as I watched, she extended a hand out toward the Air Oracle and pushed force at it.

No! I yelled, and dropped flat on the white, slightly spongy floor, pressing myself as low as I could go. Cherises attack rolled over me, and even as small a target as Id made, I felt it freeze my back as it glanced over me.

Cold air is heavy, and Cherise wielded it like a bat, slamming it into the fragile Air Oracle and scoring a home run. The Air Oracle broke apart into streams of white-hot energy, and its scream echoed through my bones with such force I actually thought something would break inside me.

Cher, stop! I screamed. You cant win this! Stop!

Shut up, she said, and grabbed me by the ankle with both small hands as she backpedaled through featureless white space. What the hell did you get me into this time? Stop kicking!

Stop pulling me like a toy pony! She let go, and I rolled up to my knees and bounced to my feet, driven by adrenaline and sheer terror. We have to leave. Right now.

Yeah, about that, how?

I made a helpless flailing motion with my hands, frustrated beyond any measure. JustI dont knowdo it! Gah! This is not the time for on-the-job training, because that Oracle is going to be

Really pissed, I was going to say, but honestly, that fell far short of what was happening about fifteen feet away, where the Air Oracle was reforming in a black, roiling cloud that glittered with icy edges. It was lit from within by flashes like swallowed lightning, and even as paranormally blind as I was right now to subtle forces, I could feel the menace in the air. It was going to kill us really, really dead, and it wasnt going to screw around doing it.

Out! I yelled, and grabbed Cherises hand. Think about the mall!

Cherise said, in a plaintive little voice, But I dont know whats in this mall. . . .

Oh fuck, we were going to die.

The Air Oracle roared toward us, and the mist closed in, and hope vanished with the open space. I felt Cherises hand in mine but I could no longer see her, couldnt see anything but white, as if the mist had entered my eyeballs and filled them up.

Cherise let out a shriek of pure, full-throated terror, and suddenly we were falling through the floor, as if those imagined white clouds had given way. Ten thousand feet to the killing ground . . .

. . . but we landed on carpet in about six inches, just enough to jolt and send us both staggering a couple of steps. Mist curled off of both of us in thick, milky wisps, and as Cherise dropped my hands and frantically batted at her clothes, it leaked out in streams, sliding down her legs to pool on the carpet and disappear.

Oh my God, that is creepy! she said. Is it in my hair? Tell me its not in my hair!

I couldnt, because it was rolling down in waves down her back. From her hair. She was right; it was creepy and it felt wrong, like some kind of ectoplasmic slime instead of just an innocent water vapor. Ugh. I shook my hands and arms and watched it fly off me to melt in the air.

Then I took a look around. We were in a store. A shoe store, to be precise, and it was empty except for one store clerk whod apparently been in the back, and now came around the counter, having missed the whole appearing-out-of-nowhere-dripping-with-ectoplasm floor show. Hi, can I help you?

Sorry, I said, recovering whatever remained of my composure. Give us a second.

He looked doubtful, but nodded and backed off. I turned to Cherise and dragged her off to admire a rack of shoes neither one of us wanted, at least right at the moment. I have to find David! I hissed. We were together, but we got separated!

Oh my God, hes not still in there . . . ?

If he was, Id just lost him forever. The enormity of it slammed in on me so hard that I literally lost my balance, and Cherise had to grab my arm to keep me from toppling into the size sevens. If you hurt him, I thought to the Air Oracle, if you kill him, I will destroy you. I dont know how, but I will.

It couldnt, I said aloud, and tried to make myself believe it. Davids not just anybody. It cant just kill him. Even Ashan wouldnt ignore that.

Presuming anything made sense anymore. Presuming Ashan, the leader of the Old Djinn, had an identity of his own, still, and was capable of making his own decisions. If the Mother was waking up, the Djinn were lost to us as individuals, and while she might notice and care about the Djinn David, the human David might not even be noticed.

Ill go back, Cherise said.

Are you mental? Youre not going anywhere!

Well, youd go back. And Im kind of you, now.

No, Cher, youre not! JustI told you to stay in the car!

Youd be dead if I had!

Well, she did have a point there. I have to find David, I said.

Yeah, whats your plan for that? Mall intercom?

No, I said. Movies.

We headed out of the shoe store, which was inexplicably halfway across the mall, and made the best possible time back to the multiplex cinema outside the food court. The sign was no longer flashing ENTER HERE, or making dire threats. It was advertising a Disney film.

I turned a slow circle, taking in the standard mall viewtiled floors, towering indoor plants, escalators, elevators, stores, shoppers, food vendors with all their flashing neon. Crying children and harassed clerks.

Someone in a black windbreaker and cheap uniform pants moved past us, walking fast. Mall security, talking on a brick of a walkie-talkie. She sounded tense, although she was keeping her voice down.