Pulling the plate closer, I started shoveling it in, the clicks of my fork mixing with the ticking of the four clocks. I glanced at one like Cinderella, wondering if I was going to be jerked across the continent when the sun fell below the West Coast horizon. True, Nick was here—unless he’d hopped a plane back to San Francisco—but lots of people knew Al’s summoning name. The council had deep pockets. Not to mention an island full of demon summoners. Dangle a get-out-of-jail-free card in Alcatraz, and I bet someone would jump at it.

My chewing slowed, and elbow on the table, I eyed Pierce past my hanging fork, worried. This wouldn’t be a problem if I could line jump. “How hard is it to travel the lines?” I asked him, and he sighed. “Give me a break, okay? I’m tired of being dragged around.”

“I like coming to your rescue,” he said. “You’re such an independent filly. It does a man good to know he’s needed—upon occasion. No. Al said not to teach you.”

“Oh, I thought you did what you wanted?” I said, and he chuckled, knowing I was trying to goad him into it.

Head cocked, I put down my fork and leaned back with my coffee, a silent statement that I’d not eat any more of his pancakes until he talked to me. My eyes went to the clock on the stove, and back to him. Newt had said it took a long time to learn, and apparently a gargoyle was involved. “Bis said you used him to hear the lines,” I prompted.

Pierce’s smile faded, and he eyed me from around the loose curls hanging in his eyes. “You’re going to get me in trouble with Al,” he muttered, gaze dropping.

“So? You got me in trouble with him. Teach me,” I dared him.

“I can’t,” he said as he hid behind a sip of coffee. “Only a gargoyle can teach you how to listen to the lines, and none has the learning anymore.”

Listen? That was curious. “You taught Bis in a day,” I prompted.

He didn’t even look up from shoving food in his mouth. “Bis is a gargoyle. If you could see ley lines in your mind, you could master it in a day as well.”

Stymied, I fiddled with my fork. “Fine. I’ll ask Bis the next time I see him.”

Alarm made Pierce tense. “He’s not skilled enough to teach you. He’s a baby.”

“Nice of you to notice. That didn’t seem to bother you when you used him to find me.”