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suggestive outline of stones remained.
He shrugged. "Yeah. Still. Sorry."
Merlin arrived at the same time we did, but
I nodded toward Senna, curious despite myself.
coming from another direction. He looked like a
"What's going on there?"
man who'd just come from chemotherapy. Old.
David looked guilty. Or embarrassed. "I think
Sick. Fragile. He nearly dropped from his horse
she's kind of, I don't know. Kind of stunned,
and staggered into the arms of a burly guard who
maybe."
dragged him into a tent.
"She thought she was bad. She thought she
Christopher spotted me first. "April! You
was a player," Jalil said. "She just got a little dose
okay?" he called out with real concern. "Or are
of reality."
you quite a bit more than okay?" he added, shift-
David shook his head. "You guys have it
ing gears into a leer.
wrong. This isn't her fault. Maybe she tries too
I swung down off the horse. "Thanks for the
hard to control people. She's scared. She's tryirig
ride. Mister... Sir Galahad."
to take all this crap and make it work out."
He nodded absently, already focusing on Mer-
"Say the man who's sleeping with her,"
lin. Worried. Probably he was as glad to drop me
Christopher said dryly.
off as I was to be dropped. He was rubbing his leg
"I didn't. I mean, I don't think." He looked
where I'd been perched.
confused, like he Was searching his memory, find-
ing then losing what he sought. "It was like, I look at me, expecting me to intervene. Well, I was
thought we were going to, and then, I don't sick of them all. Sick of rushing around like a
know." fire-woman armed with an estrogen bucket,
putting out testosterone fires.
I could almost literally see the cynical joke
building up in Christopher's brain, ready to be "Kill each other, 1 don't care," I muttered.
delivered in scathing tones. "You're tired," David said. Like he was apolo-
I jumped in. "She can do that to you. Make you gizing for me. He took a deep breath and made a
not believe what you've seen, or else believe what show of reining in his anger. "Senna is one of us.
never happened." From our world. Our universe. She's in our
Jalil's eyes narrowed. "One of these days, school, what do you people want?"
maybe when her spokesman here is away, you "You people,'" Christopher echoed signifi-
need to tell us what " cantly.
David erupted. He wheeled, pushed his face "She's not from my universe," Jalil said. "My
dose to Jalil, rose as high as he could without universe, people don't do mind-control. My
standing on his toes. "You got a problem with uni-verse, people don't do what April said, make
me, Jalil, you need to just say it to my face, not you believe what isn't and disbelieve what is."
make snide " "Unless you count advertising," Christopher
"To your face, in your face, David, I have a added.
problem with you!" Jalil yelled, not backing "She lies to us, David," I said. "Uses us. I don't
down. "I don't trust you anymore. Is that straight know how, I admit that, but she does, she is. She's
up enough for you?" using us right now, or else planning to."
"The witch has made you her bitch," Christo- He tried to go on looking mad. But it was three
pher said, barking out a harsh laugh at his own of us against him. And against Senna. He saw
wit. "You don't be spending the night with her, himself as our leader, and we'd just voted him out
and being her little sock puppet, and then come of office.
sneaking around us like we're all best buds." "look, if we're going to escape from Everworld,
David looked like he'd been ready to take Jalil she can help us."
on. But now it was Christopher, too. He shot a Jalil snorted derisively. "Don't treat me like I'm
"I don't think David is our main problem,"
some kind of moron, David. You don't want to es-
Christopher said. "Loki's not letting us all walk
cape Everworld. You want to be Galahad, man.
away. Look at Galahad and Gawain and Gareth."
You want to have a castle and some boys working
He nodded toward the three knights.
for you and go around killing dragons and come
Straggling groups of soldiers were arriving in
home to have Senna in her medieval Victoria's
the camp, some wounded. Some on stretchers. The
Secret conjuring up some ribs and cold beer. Who
knights were rounding them up and then send-
do you think I am, some fool who can't see you,
ing them off into various parts of the forest. The
doesn't know you?"
perimeter around the crumbled walls was thinner.
David didn't bother arguing with that. "You
Men were being sent out to locate the bad guys.
hate Senna because she's different from you, Jalil.
I saw Galahad cast a worried look toward Mer-
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