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."That's why you love me." Stormsong stepped back out of the conversation,becoming elfin again.The last time Tinker remembered talking with Maynard was before she'd beensummoned by the queen.She'd warned him about the oni.Slowly unwrapping thegum, she tried to remember if she had seen Maynard after that.No, the oni hadkidnapped her while she was on her way to see him.Yeah, she could see why hemight be concerned she'd been somehow damaged.That still begged the question of what the hell he expected her to do inregard of negotiating a new treaty.As a business owner, she found allregulations set up in the original one to be baffling, perplexing, mystifying,bewildering.and any other word that meant confusing."Look, I can help with junkyards, hoverbike racing, and advanced physics."She sighed and put the gum in her mouth.For a moment the taste  not JuicyFruit as she remembered but something similar only a hundred times better distracted her.It was like getting kicked in the mouth."Wow." She checkedthe bright yellow wrapper in her hand.Oh yes, she was an elf now, and thingstasted different.Maynard was frowning, waiting for her to finish her point."Um " What had she been saying? Oh yes, her areas of expertise."But I'vediscovered that I know very little about anything else.""You're Windwolf'sdomi.""And this makes me an expert on what? I don't know you well enough to discussmy sex life and quite frankly, the only place I get to see my husband is inbed.""Whether you like it or not,ze domi , that makes you a player in Pittsburgh.There are sixty thousands humans that need you on their side.""Fine, I'm on their side.Rah, rah, rah! That still doesn't give me a cluehow to help.Fuck, I tried to help the elves and look at the mess I made.Youcan't screw up much more than Turtle Creek.""A lot of elves see this as a win-win situation.If you had permanentlyreturned Pittsburgh back to Earth, it would have been perfect.""Some of us would have been pissed," Stormsong said.Maynard gave Stormsong a look that begged her to be quiet."Look," Tinker said."If shit hits the fan, I promise I will move heaven andearth to protect the people of this city, but I am not a political animal.Atthis point in time, I don't even want to try to tackle anything that can't besolved with basic number crunching."Maynard was still gazing at Stormsong, but in a more intent fashion now.Stormsong wore an odd stunned look, like someone had hit her with a cattleprod.Page 48ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Stormsong?" Tinker scanned the area, looking for danger."You will," Stormsong murmured softly in a voice that put chills downTinker's spine."I willwhat ?" Tinker shivered off the feeling."Move heaven and earth to protect what you love," Stormsong whispered."What the hell does that mean?" Tinker asked.Stormsong blinked and focused on Tinker."Forgiveness,ze domi ," she said inHigh Elvish, disappearing behind her most formal mask."My ability is erraticand I'm untrained.I  I am not certain.""If that's the case, I'm satisfied." Maynard acted as if Stormsong had saidsomething more understandable."Forgiveness,ze domi , I must take myleave.Nasadae.""Nasadae." Tinker echoed, mystified.What the fuck just happened? Maynardbowed his parting.Stormsong had gone intosekasha mode.And the conversationhad been in English, so asking Pony would be pointless.Wojo returned with the keys."I see you've found the cause of all ourproblems." He indicated the shrine marking the ley line."As soon as the magicseeped into the area after the first Startup, the whole unit went whacky.Itwas the weirdest thing I'd ever seen including waking up the day before.""Huh?" She was having trouble switching gears.That's it, I'm won't fight anymonsters today and go to bed early.Wojo misunderstood her grunt of confusion."I lived out in West View right onthe Rim  almost didn't come with the rest of the city.My place looked downon I-279.Every morning, I'd get up, have coffee, and check traffic out myback window.That first Startup, I looked out, and there was nothing buttrees.I thought maybe I was dreaming.I actually went and took a cold showerbefore going back and looking again."Tinker added a shower and maybe a nightcap to her 'must get sleep' list  ifshe could find either."I never realized how noisy the highway was until afterwards," Wojo continuedblithely."When the forest is still, its absolute quiet, like the world iswrapped in cotton.And the wind through the trees  that green smell I justlove it."Tinker bet Stormsong would know where to find booze and hot water."But between the wargs, the saurus and the black willows, West View was justtoo isolated  I was way out past the scientist commune on Observatory Hill.It's all ironwood forest now.I have a nice place up to Mount Washington,beautiful view of the city, and it's much safer up there.And hell, with gasprices what they are, it makes sense to take the incline down the hill andtake the light rail over.""Yeah, yeah," Tinker agreed to shut him up and indicated the door."Let's seewhat you have."Wojo unlocked the padlock, freed it from the bolt, and opened the door [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]