I finished my water, closed my eyes, and thought about God. My mother was a church-going woman, and I had grown up in Sunday school and after-school programs. It hadnt damaged me, but it hadnt altogether satisfied me, either. I wanted to know answers, and religion expected me to have faith.

Maybe religion had been right, and the answers were too vast, too complex, and too hard for me to begin to grasp, but that didnt mean I wanted to stop trying.

Please, I whispered. Please understand who we are, what weve achieved. How far weve come. How far we have to go. Please tell her to stop. Please listen to your children.

If God didnt stop her, I didnt think the Wardens could, but I had to give them a fighting chance. Even if it meant doing something terrible. Something that I would never do under different circumstances.

I heard the car coming up the roadId know that throaty growl anywhere. I stood up, hoisted my pack, and looked around at the barricade.

The fire ants were swarming in a thick, unsettling sheet over the invisible shield, grimly determined to find something soft to kill. I also saw rattlesnakes, and somewhere beyond, a coyote paced, watching me with ravenous eyes. Overhead, birds circled, and as I looked up, a thermal-riding red-tailed hawk spilled air from its wings and began a smooth attack glide, clawed feet ready to slice.

I didnt want to see him crash into the barrier; it would probably kill him at that speed. Instead, I heated a column of air and he flew right into it, lost control of his glide, and had to swing out and flap to regain altitude. Confused, he climbed again.

If only it was that easy all the time.

The Mustang pulled to a halt on the road, and the Djinn opened the passenger side with a wave of his hand. I took a second to think and ready myself, then dropped the barriers.

I felt the anger, then, the furious and baffled rage of the Earth. The ants collapsed in a wave as the barrier fell, and swarmed toward me from all sides. I didnt hesitate. I pulled power out of the ground and jumped from a standing position to an area outside the swarms, and hit the ground running.

Behind me, I heard the coyote howl, and heard his jaws snap on air. Damn, he was close. I could outrun the ants and snakes, but that coyote . . .

His teeth sank into my calf. It felt like Id been stabbed and squeezed in a vise at the same time, and I yelped and went down as his weight dragged me off balance. He was snarling, teeth locked into muscle, and shook his head to try to cause maximum damage. I reached for Earth power and flung a raw handful at him; it hit him like pepper spray, and he let go with a startled yelp, dancing backward as I lurched to my feet.

Ten more feet to the car.

A rattlesnake struck at me without any noisy warning. He was concealed in the shadow between the black-top and the dirt, and there was no way I could be fast enough to dodge; by the time I spotted his movement, he was already there, sinking his fangs into my arm. Jesus, that hurt. I grabbed the snake and pulled him off, flinging him as far as panic would allow, and kicked back at the coyote as he tried another grab for my calf. I got him far enough away that I dove forward, landed belly down on the seat, and scrambled to shut the door behind me.

The coyote got his head and shoulders in the way and lunged, snarling. I smacked him with my fist on the nose, and he backed up, shocked and hurt, just enough for me to get the door shut.

Davids voice was coming out of the radio, but it was just noise right now.

Go! I yelled. The Djinn floored it, and we left the angry delegation from Animal Planet behind.

I immediately turned my attention to the snakebite, which was going to be much worse than the coyotes damage to my leg. Neither attack had hit any blood vessels, at least. The snakes venom hadnt found its way into my circulatory system yet, but it would soon if I didnt slow it downnow. I kept the arm down, below heart level. The pain of the bite was bad, but it was definitely going to get worse; the area around the fang marks was already swelling and discoloring in shades of angry red and mottled white. In terms of bite intensity, probably a three or a four. I didnt think it was quite bad enough to be classed as a five, which would have put my odds way, way down.

I knew enough about snakebites to know that ice wouldnt work, and neither would the old Western cliché of cutting open the wound and sucking out the poison. What would work was antivenin. Which I didnt have.

Well, the good news was that this bite probably wouldnt kill me. It would just make me very, very sick. And I could lose the arm. I licked my lips, hoping that there wouldnt be any major symptoms, such as tingling, just yet. There werent. That was a good sign, I thought.

We were closing the distance fast to the perimeter, and I realized that this was, in fact, perfect. David, I panted, finally settling down enough to put something into words. Dont try to hide us. Take me right to the main gate, dump me off, drive away.

I cant do that! Dammit, Jo, stay still. Im turning the car around and taking you to a hospital.

No. You can stabilize me for now, right? I dont need to be healed. Just do enough to make me functional.

I was wrong about the lip-tingling. It started, and increased, and it felt like someone was sticking pins in my mouth. Very unpleasant. I felt dizzy, too.

The Djinns hand flashed out and closed around the arm with the bite, and I screamed at the flash of agony that ripped through the nerves . . . but then it calmed to a dull, fiery ache, and I could breathe again. Tears stung my eyes from the intensity of the discomfort, but the torturous prickling of my lips and mouth receded, and the dizziness steadied. Keep the swelling, I panted. I need proof. Just get me ambulatory.

This is insane!

No, this is a plan, I said. Im a snakebite victim. They have to take me inside for medical treatment. I need you to take down their external communication systems, so they cant call out an ambulance. Theyll have antivenin in stock, in a place like this. Ill be fine.

I didnt feel fine, not at all. David didnt like my brilliant plan, but then again, he didnt know the extent of it, either. He really wouldnt like the rest of it, and I wasnt planning on enlightening him. Not yet.

Once Im in, you can bring the car in however you can manage it, I said. Including blipping it in there. Ill find you. I wouldnt need the car, because of course the plan was that probably I would never leave. But it would be nice to have the option, in case things changed somehow for the better. Not that I had a single hope they would, but you know hope: it springs eternal.

And having David closeeven virtual David, talking through a radiowould make me feel braver. I hoped Id get to tell him, before the end, why I was doing this. I hoped Id get to say good-bye.

I dont like this, Davids voice said, coming now out of the Djinns mouth. We were coming up fast on the turnoff to the plant, which was protected by a guardhouse and pretty serious fencing. The compoundI didnt know what else to call itstretched on in a sprawl within the fence boundaries. The guardhouse was manned by two men, both armed, and there were more armed men in sight, watching with pointed vigilance as the Mustang coasted to a stop just beyond the guardhouse. Both guards stepped out, hands on their sidearms, watching us with cold, professional intensity.

Youre sure you want to do this? David said.

Im sure, I said, and then, impulsively, I love you, sweetheart.

I opened the door before he could respond, and bailed out in a heap. It wasnt hard, with the torn calf and the venom coursing through me. I felt generally pretty wretched.

The Mustang backed up in a shriek of tires, and the passenger-side door slammed shut as he braked, did a perfect sliding turn, and accelerated off down the road in a blur of dust and smoke. That was probably Whitney. David wouldnt have been as prompt in executing the hell-out-of-Dodge part of the plan.