Shed just pushed the button.

No! The scream tore itself out of my throat, but I was too late; shed used enough power that a sharp crack formed in the rock where her hand had slammed down. Encouraged, she did it again. She would have done it a third time, but David got to her first, grabbed her from behind, and pinned her arms behind her; even human, he had a lot of strength in those muscles, and as small as Cherise was . . .

She used Earth power, which, dammit, Id taught her how to pull, and threw him off, almost into the fire. I grabbed him around the waist and tackled him down, landing both of us on the hard rocky floor only a few inches from the blaze. I felt my hair cook, and rolled us both as far from danger as possible.

Cherise hit the rock wall a third time.

There was a mystical significance in threes for the Djinn. Ask a bound Djinn any question three times, and theyre forced to answermaybe not the way you wanted, but they have to take action.

Cherise triggered the Rule of Three in a much more active way.

The Oracles fire formed into a huge, white-hot ball, and flew at her. Cherise screamed and ducked, but it was so large that even hitting the floor like me and David, several feet away, wouldnt have saved her.

Kevin saved her.

He stepped into its way, eyes flaring with an unholy Djinn light. He didnt try to put up his hands or fight it, or even stop it. He just stood there.

It was very likely one of the bravest things Id ever seen. And it was Kevin. Surely, one of the primary signs of the End Times.

The fireball slowed, and coasted to a halt, flicking little hissing tongues of flames at his face from a distance of no more than inches. He didnt blink. He didnt back up. It drifted closer. I knew, instinctively, that if it touched him, hed go up like an oil- soaked rag, and dread clenched my stomach into a trembling knot.

The ball lengthened to the vague shape of a manred as lava on the surface, and clothed in fire, but with that same white-hot core shining from its center. It chose the same height and build as Kevin.

And it didnt back off.

Something like a mouth formed in its blind, masklike head, and some kind of sound came out of it, but it was like nothing I could recognize as speech. I thought it was what it would sound like as the marrow boiled in your bones. Threatening and fatal.

Kevin bared his teeth and kept on staring back. Do it, he said. But you go through me first.

The sound from the Oracle stopped abruptly, and the mouth disappeared.

It turnedwell, no, that was how my purely human senses wanted to interpret it. Actually, it just reversed its body, putting its head on the other way, and walked the few steps back to the center of the pit where the pillar of flame had been.

Then it sat down in midair, floating, legs crossed in a lotus position, hands turned palms up.

Kevin blinked, and some of the insane Djinn shine drained out of him. Uhwhats he doing?

Youre asking me? I asked. No idea!

Hes listening, David said. Talk. He offered me a hand up as he rolled to his feet. He was favoring his side again, and I hoped that wasnt fresh blood. Say something.

Me? I asked.

No, he cant hear us, David said. Either of us. Its as ifhuman voices dont register within the range of his ears. Thats the best I can explain it.

But he can hear me? Kevin asked. He was helping Cherise to her feet. She was dusting herself off, shaken but not hurt. Behind her, that dark crack promised escapeto her mindand she kept looking toward it. What about Cher?

Maybe, David said. I dont know. Jo could be heard, but she was a special case. Im not sure about Cherise.

Guess that makes you our spokesmodel, Boy Wonder, Cher said. Go on. Get us out.

Uh, I think we came for a reason first.

Screw that. We need to go. For the first time since Id met her, Cherise sounded like a petulant child, sulky and stubborn and used to having her own way. Now, Kev!

Kevin frowned at her, like he was having the same thoughts I was. Chill, were fine. Look, its not even that hot in here anymore.

Compared to what, the inside of a nuclear furnace?

Kevin looked at me and David, clearly wondering when, as the supposed authority figures in the room, wed step in. David held up his hands. She already tried to kill me, he said. Youre on your own.

I sighed, walked over to Cherise, and put my arm around her. She jerked in surprise but let me do it. You really need to calm down, Cher, I said. She gave me a furious look, and I saw that the panic and instability in her was reaching critical levels. Cher. Deep breaths.

I need out! she wailed, and tried to turn toward the wall.

I wasnt about to let her get us all killed, and I didnt think. I just dropped my arm from her shoulders, pulled my fist back, and hit her with a perfect right hook to the jaw.

She went down like a bowling pin. I caught her before she hit the ground and eased her flat. Kev, I said. Put her out. Now. Because Id hit like a girl, just dazed her plenty, and she wasnt going to be at all thrilled when she shook it off. Kevin wasnt an Earth Warden, but he had Davids power, and that meant he had everything he needed to do as I asked.

If he could access it.

Kevin crouched down and put his hand tentatively on her forehead. Cherise tried fitfully to bat it away. Sorry, he said, and I saw a spark of fire catch green in his eyes as he channeled power. It probably was spectacular on the aetheric level, but here, with my human eyes, I could only see the faintest glow around his fingers.

Cherise went limp, breathing heavily. I checked her pulsestrong and steadyand gave a solid thumbs-up to Kevin, who looked deeply relieved. Dont make me do that again, he said. It feels really weird. What if I get it wrong? What if I put her into a coma or something?

Shed still be alive, David said. She wont be if she unleashes more power in here. The Oracle wont let it happen again. Hell just destroy her.

Kevin swallowed hard, looking at the serene, floating figure, wreathed in flames. Yeah? What about me?

He sees you as Djinn. He expects it from you.

I Kevin stared at David now, with the same kind of alarm hed given to the figure of the Oracle. What?

David tried again, with strained patience. He was leaning against the wall now, and the hand holding his side was subtly trembling. I stepped up next to him to take some of his weight. Also subtly. Or not. Youre the only one here who can talk to him, using the powers that I used to have. So do it. Explain it to him. Oracles see everything, but their context can be far different from ours. He needs to understand what all of it means to us. To humanity. David had never put himself on that side of the us before, except in relation to me. I stared at him in involuntary reaction. He shrugged. I am one of you, for however long it lasts. Itsweirdly restful.

Youre in pain!

Yes, but its a different kind of pain than Im used to enduring. Thats something.

That made about as little sense to me as talking with the Oracle would have, so I shut up. Kevin didnt need side chatter. He was looking sweaty and scared and well aware of the stakes at play here, in this burning furnace of a room.

Hi, he said to the Oracle. Okay, I have no idea how to do this, but Ill try. . . .

Power, David said. Use it.

Kevin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, I saw a faint green shimmer in his eyes. Sort of like the Hulk, getting a little bit angry. Hello, he said in a stronger voice. Can you hear me?

The Oracle didnt make any sign he did. More serene, though extremely fierce, hovering ensued, and the green glare in Kevins eyes brightened steadily, like someone was turning up a dimmer switch in the back of his head. Eerie.