“Yeah,” I said slowly, not convinced.

Jenks grinned. “You learn how to do this, and you could get back at the Howlers. You still have those tickets for next Sunday’s game, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said cautiously.

Jenks strutted down the page, his wings a red blur in excitement. “You could make them pay you, and since you have Edden’s paycheck coming for your rent, you could get a nice oak shoe rack or something.”

“Ye-e-e-eah,” I hedged.

Jenks eyed me slyly from under his blond bangs. “Unless you’re afraid.”

My eyes narrowed. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a real prick?”

He laughed, rising up with a glittering sunbeam of pixy dust. “If I had a quarter…” he mused. Flitting close, he landed on my shoulder. “Is it hard?”

Leaning over the book, I swung my hair to one side so he could see, too. “No, and that’s what worries me. There’s an incantation, and I need a focusing object. I’ll have to connect to a ley line. And there’s a gesture…” My brow furrowed and I tapped the book. It couldn’t be this easy.

“You gonna try it?”

The thought that Algaliarept might know I was pulling on the line flitted through me. But seeing that it was daylight and we had an agreement, I thought it was safe enough. “Yeah.”

Sitting straighter, I settled myself. Reaching out with my second sight, I fumbled for the line. The sun completely overwhelmed any vision of the ever-after, but the ley line was clear enough in my mind’s eye, looking like a streak of dried blood hanging above the tombstones. Thinking it was really ugly, I cautiously reached out a thought and touched it.

My breath hissed in through my nose and I stiffened.

“You okay, Rache?” Jenks questioned, launching himself off my shoulder.

Head bowed over the book, I nodded. The energy flowed through me faster than before, equalizing the strengths very quickly. It was almost as if the previous times had cleared the channels. Worried about using too much, I tried to push some of it down through me and out of my feet. It didn’t do any good. The incoming force simply filled me back up again.

Resigned to the uncomfortable feeling, I mentally shook my second sight from me and looked up. Jenks was watching me in concern. I gave him an encouraging smile, and he nodded, apparently satisfied. “How about this?” Jenks said, flying to my stash of water paint balls. The red sphere was as big as his head, and clearly heavy, but he managed it all right.

“It’s as good as anything,” I agreed. “Toss one up, and I’ll try to shift it.”