Key of Knowledge
Page 78
“Tell you what.” Zoe draped an arm around her friends’ shoulders. “When we don’t have a bunch of guys cluttering things up, you can tell me, and each other, every detail. We’ll have a little celebration at Indulgence in the morning.”
“Works for me,” Dana agreed. “I’m starved, and I don’t want a bunch of onions and mushrooms messing up my pie.”
AN hour later, Dana was polishing off her third piece. She stretched out on the floor beside Simon and Moe and said, “Ugh.”
“On that note,” Flynn began, “let’s talk about finding this key.”
“Simon, why don’t you take your book upstairs? That’s all right, isn’t it?” Zoe asked Flynn.
“Sure. He knows the way.”
“You and Moe can hang out. I’ll call you when it’s time to go.”
“How come we can’t hang out here while you talk about the magic stuff?”
“Where do you get that?” Zoe demanded. “Simon, have you been eavesdropping?”
“Jeez, Mom.” He sent her an insulted, sulky frown. “I don’t have to go sneaking around, I just have to have ears.” He pinched them between his fingers, wiggled them. “Hey, look! I’ve got two of them.”
“We’ll talk about your ears later. Upstairs, to that horrible prison with a TV and a dog. You can write a letter of complaint to your congressman tomorrow.”
“Man.” Though his lips twitched, he rolled his eyes for form, then they widened and focused on what Brad held in his hand. “Holy Cow! WWF Smackdown!”
“Maybe you want to borrow it, take it for a few rounds.”
“Yeah? Smackdown! It really kicks—” He caught himself, swallowed back the word that would get him in serious hot water with his mother. “Really kicks,” he amended. “Thanks.”
“No problem. This way when we go mano a mano and I humiliate you, you won’t be able to whine that you didn’t get to practice.”
“Yeah, sure, right.” Simon took the video disk. “This is so way cool. Thanks.”
He streaked off, hooking his book bag under one arm and calling for Moe.
Zoe folded her hands in her lap. “That was very nice of you.”
“He may not think so when I trounce him in the upcoming match.”
“I don’t want you to feel obligated to—”
“I don’t.” Brad cut her off, coolly, firmly, then deliberately looked at Dana. “You want to get this rolling?”
“As long as I can start it from the supine position. As previously discussed, Jordan wrote up the sequence of events.”
“He gave me a copy,” Malory interrupted. “And I made copies for everyone. I’ll go get them.”
“She’s something, isn’t she?” Dana commented as Malory left the room. “Our own Debbie Detail. Since Mal’s already read it, and the rest of you will, I’ll just say that it puts everything into a comprehensive and cohesive form. It’s helpful to see just how everything’s unfolded to this point. Malory, Zoe, and I getting the invitation to Warrior’s Peak, meeting there for the first time. Our first contact with Rowena and Pitte, and hearing the story of the Daughters of Glass. Though we didn’t know they were called that until Flynn stepped in.”
“There’s the way Flynn met Malory, and became a part of the quest,” Jordan continued. “The fact that each of you was at a crossroads, jobwise.”
“We were in trouble, jobwise,” Zoe corrected. “And that made the offer of twenty-five thousand dollars for agreeing to look for keys—keys I don’t think any of us really believed in—that first night too tempting to pass up.”
“It’s more than that.” Malory came back in and distributed manila envelopes, neatly labeled with names. “There was the financial incentive, yes. But there was also a sense of mutual frustration, of being in flux, not knowing what we were going to do next. And that almost instant connection between us. Jordan caught that, very clearly, in writing it out.”
“Add to that how those tendrils spread out,” Dana went on. “How they hooked Jordan and Brad in. Connecting them to us, to the quest, to Rowena and Pitte, and to the daughters. I think that’s an important point. Each of us has a role, each of us has to be here for this thing to go through.”
“Then there’s Kane.” Malory slid her copy out of the envelope. “The way you describe him, Jordan, it’s so spooky—and so accurate. As if you’d seen him through my eyes.”
“Seeing him through my own was enough. I think we need to look at him as more than the bogeyman, more than a foe. He’s another element to the quest.”
“I agree with that.” Brad nodded. “He’s as essential to this as the rest of us are. In the end, I think, it’s not going to be just a matter of outwitting him, as Malory did, or twisting his game to our advantage, as Dana’s done so far. It’s going to be a matter of destroying him.”
“How do you destroy a god?” Zoe demanded.
“I don’t know, but first I’d say by believing you can do it.”
“Maybe. But right now I’ll settle for getting my hands on the key.” Dana sat up. “I’ve only got a few more days. And here’s what I know. While I may have to find it on my own, Jordan is essential to the search. Kane has tried to separate us or pull us apart, and it’s not just because he doesn’t want us to live happily ever after. What he did, however, was push us closer together. He’s not going to be pleased by that.”
She reached over, peeled a round of pepperoni off a slice of pizza and nibbled. “And he miscalculated by showing me the past. That was one of the steps I had to take, and might not have, at least not as decisively, if he hadn’t thrown me back in time. Past, present, and future. I’ve resolved and accepted the past, I’ve made my peace with the present, and . . .”
She held up her ring hand. “I’m looking toward the future. This is important stuff, not only to me personally but to what I’m meant to do. One of the constants in those three time frames is Jordan.”
“Thanks, Stretch.”
“Don’t get all puffed up. Some of this is just fate. Now if you read some of this stuff . . .” She plucked the copy out of Malory’s hands. “You start to feel it, see it, even if you weren’t part of that particular event. You get a good, clear picture. Here—that blue fog that took over Indulgence. The bone marrow chill of it, the oddness of the light, the color, the texture. You start to feel it creeping over your skin.”
“Works for me,” Dana agreed. “I’m starved, and I don’t want a bunch of onions and mushrooms messing up my pie.”
AN hour later, Dana was polishing off her third piece. She stretched out on the floor beside Simon and Moe and said, “Ugh.”
“On that note,” Flynn began, “let’s talk about finding this key.”
“Simon, why don’t you take your book upstairs? That’s all right, isn’t it?” Zoe asked Flynn.
“Sure. He knows the way.”
“You and Moe can hang out. I’ll call you when it’s time to go.”
“How come we can’t hang out here while you talk about the magic stuff?”
“Where do you get that?” Zoe demanded. “Simon, have you been eavesdropping?”
“Jeez, Mom.” He sent her an insulted, sulky frown. “I don’t have to go sneaking around, I just have to have ears.” He pinched them between his fingers, wiggled them. “Hey, look! I’ve got two of them.”
“We’ll talk about your ears later. Upstairs, to that horrible prison with a TV and a dog. You can write a letter of complaint to your congressman tomorrow.”
“Man.” Though his lips twitched, he rolled his eyes for form, then they widened and focused on what Brad held in his hand. “Holy Cow! WWF Smackdown!”
“Maybe you want to borrow it, take it for a few rounds.”
“Yeah? Smackdown! It really kicks—” He caught himself, swallowed back the word that would get him in serious hot water with his mother. “Really kicks,” he amended. “Thanks.”
“No problem. This way when we go mano a mano and I humiliate you, you won’t be able to whine that you didn’t get to practice.”
“Yeah, sure, right.” Simon took the video disk. “This is so way cool. Thanks.”
He streaked off, hooking his book bag under one arm and calling for Moe.
Zoe folded her hands in her lap. “That was very nice of you.”
“He may not think so when I trounce him in the upcoming match.”
“I don’t want you to feel obligated to—”
“I don’t.” Brad cut her off, coolly, firmly, then deliberately looked at Dana. “You want to get this rolling?”
“As long as I can start it from the supine position. As previously discussed, Jordan wrote up the sequence of events.”
“He gave me a copy,” Malory interrupted. “And I made copies for everyone. I’ll go get them.”
“She’s something, isn’t she?” Dana commented as Malory left the room. “Our own Debbie Detail. Since Mal’s already read it, and the rest of you will, I’ll just say that it puts everything into a comprehensive and cohesive form. It’s helpful to see just how everything’s unfolded to this point. Malory, Zoe, and I getting the invitation to Warrior’s Peak, meeting there for the first time. Our first contact with Rowena and Pitte, and hearing the story of the Daughters of Glass. Though we didn’t know they were called that until Flynn stepped in.”
“There’s the way Flynn met Malory, and became a part of the quest,” Jordan continued. “The fact that each of you was at a crossroads, jobwise.”
“We were in trouble, jobwise,” Zoe corrected. “And that made the offer of twenty-five thousand dollars for agreeing to look for keys—keys I don’t think any of us really believed in—that first night too tempting to pass up.”
“It’s more than that.” Malory came back in and distributed manila envelopes, neatly labeled with names. “There was the financial incentive, yes. But there was also a sense of mutual frustration, of being in flux, not knowing what we were going to do next. And that almost instant connection between us. Jordan caught that, very clearly, in writing it out.”
“Add to that how those tendrils spread out,” Dana went on. “How they hooked Jordan and Brad in. Connecting them to us, to the quest, to Rowena and Pitte, and to the daughters. I think that’s an important point. Each of us has a role, each of us has to be here for this thing to go through.”
“Then there’s Kane.” Malory slid her copy out of the envelope. “The way you describe him, Jordan, it’s so spooky—and so accurate. As if you’d seen him through my eyes.”
“Seeing him through my own was enough. I think we need to look at him as more than the bogeyman, more than a foe. He’s another element to the quest.”
“I agree with that.” Brad nodded. “He’s as essential to this as the rest of us are. In the end, I think, it’s not going to be just a matter of outwitting him, as Malory did, or twisting his game to our advantage, as Dana’s done so far. It’s going to be a matter of destroying him.”
“How do you destroy a god?” Zoe demanded.
“I don’t know, but first I’d say by believing you can do it.”
“Maybe. But right now I’ll settle for getting my hands on the key.” Dana sat up. “I’ve only got a few more days. And here’s what I know. While I may have to find it on my own, Jordan is essential to the search. Kane has tried to separate us or pull us apart, and it’s not just because he doesn’t want us to live happily ever after. What he did, however, was push us closer together. He’s not going to be pleased by that.”
She reached over, peeled a round of pepperoni off a slice of pizza and nibbled. “And he miscalculated by showing me the past. That was one of the steps I had to take, and might not have, at least not as decisively, if he hadn’t thrown me back in time. Past, present, and future. I’ve resolved and accepted the past, I’ve made my peace with the present, and . . .”
She held up her ring hand. “I’m looking toward the future. This is important stuff, not only to me personally but to what I’m meant to do. One of the constants in those three time frames is Jordan.”
“Thanks, Stretch.”
“Don’t get all puffed up. Some of this is just fate. Now if you read some of this stuff . . .” She plucked the copy out of Malory’s hands. “You start to feel it, see it, even if you weren’t part of that particular event. You get a good, clear picture. Here—that blue fog that took over Indulgence. The bone marrow chill of it, the oddness of the light, the color, the texture. You start to feel it creeping over your skin.”
