“Oh my god, don’t be so dense!” I said, my exhaustion making me forget who I was talking to. “If we were faking it, his luck wouldn’t have helped us. But it did help us. That means we really were helping him. Now is the point when we can actually give that help, so we have to do it. From how the luck shook out, we already know what decision we make at this point. We’re just following through with what we already know happens. Got it?”

Williams stilled and focused on me. I felt like one of those red dots from a laser sight had appeared right between my eyes.

Callie interceded. “I don’t really understand it either, John, but I think we should let Beth decide. It was her idea, and it did work.”

If looks could kill, the one Williams gave me would have. It also would have cremated me and scattered my ashes at sea.

I didn’t realize I’d tightened my grip on Callie until she started saying my name and patting my arm with her other hand.

“Sorry,” I said, letting go.

Don’t make him angry, I reminded myself. Maybe he wouldn’t hurt me with Callie right here, but she wasn’t going to be with me 24/7.

After an uncomfortable silence, I said, “So, any ideas on how to wake Graham?”

Williams hauled himself up and, ignoring Callie’s protests, came over and gave Graham a couple kicks. Jesus, what a monster.

Graham groaned and rolled over, holding his side. Then he saw us, and froze. He looked entirely different than the person I’d come to know over the past few days. The confident, friendly, flirty guy was gone. What I was seeing now was a man stripped of everything — horrified, desperate, like an animal in a trap. It hurt seeing him like that, however much of a liar and user he might be. At that moment, for the first time, I really wanted to protect him.

“Here’s what’s happening,” I told him. “Lord Cordus suspects you of scheming to keep the strait open. You are so deep on his shit list I’m surprised you can breathe. We looked into the opening and saw the other end. We’re going to let you call and tell Lord Cordus about our success. You can take credit for managing the operation.”

“Tell him it’s closed,” Williams added.

Was it really? I hadn’t realized. I looked back at the wreckage. I couldn’t see any flames, but the firefighters were dousing it again. Maybe they’d finally knocked it back.

Graham knelt there silently for a while, eyes shifting back and forth among us.

“Why are you letting me call him?” he finally said.

“Because we’re just that nice.” No reason to clue him in on his gift’s loophole.

He thought about it, then nodded. Clearly he didn’t see a way out. Being on Cordus’s shit list must be very bad indeed.