“Okay.”
I slid in beside him and Astral jumped into the back with Sterling, Raoul, and Cole. We’d put the top up, which meant Bergman’s bal oon kept knocking everybody in the head but him. In fact, “Where’s my bal oon?” he demanded as soon as Vayl slid the Galaxie into the street. We’d agreed he should drive so I could look after the patient. Who was starting to panic. “My bal oon disappeared!”
“It’s on your wrist!” I held his hand up to his face. Just barely thought better of slapping him with it.
“Oh.”
Silence. Not just golden. Jewel-encrusted and brimming with stardust. Vayl drove while the rest of us zipped it. We didn’t even move for fear we’d set Bergman off and make him undo al the work the doctor had put in on him. The tension had just begun to seep out of my toes and fingertips when Bergman said, “Jaz!”
“What?”
“I am so horny!”
I dropped my forehead into my hand as Cole and Sterling broke into laughter. Maybe even Raoul added a chuckle or two, though I couldn’t tel because the other two were honking so loud.
Bergman asked, “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been with a woman?”
“I don’t—”
“Five years! And then I had to pay for it. Which is so humiliating. Although I real y shel ed out the cash so she was supergreat. Like Cleopatra. Only not dead.” He turned completely around to face me, a feat only somebody as heavily drugged as he was could accomplish, considering he was both injured and seat belted. If we crashed he’d probably shoot straight out the top of the thing and smash into the roof. But no way would I worry about him now because he wasn’t even close to done grossing me out. In fact, he was asking me earnestly, “Is it so wrong to want a woman I don’t have to become a criminal to make love to?” I shook my head, wishing I was anywhere but here. Yes, even chasing Kyphas through hel would’ve been a more attractive option.
What are the chances that he’ll totally blank on this conversation in the morning? “That’s reasonable,” I said.
Bergman had clearly thought this out. He pointed to me, which made me gulp loudly, but he said, “Monique would be nice.”
“Okay.”
“Except she scares the shit out of me.”
“Also reasonable.”
“She’s very experienced.”
“And that’s a problem for you?”
“Yup. I’ve done a lot of reading. But, uh, theory is not at al like practice in these cases. I don’t think.”
“I see. So what do you want to do?”
“I have no idea.”
Silence. This time not even close to a precious metal.
Cole leaned forward, began to rub Bergman’s shoulders like he was getting ready for a big boxing match.
“So, uh”—he stopped to clear the laughter out of his voice
—“you want some advice from somebody who’s been there, buddy?”
Of course he’s been there. This was my Inner Bimbo, sizing Cole up like he was a big old cheesecake and she hadn’t had dessert in a year. Then her eyes strayed to Vayl.
Hmm, I wonder if…
Shut up. This is about Miles. Getting with a cougar. Oh crap, I’m imagining it now. I think I’m gonna puke.
Bergman said, “Yeah, okay. What do I need to know?”
“You think too much,” said Cole.
Sterling spoke up. “Waaay too much is my guess.” I looked over my shoulder in time to catch Cole winking at the warlock and nodding.
“Just relax and see what happens, al right?”
“Okay.”
“Great! Now that Bergman’s love life is back on track can we talk about Astral?” I asked.
“What about Astral?” Bergman frowned, picking up first one foot, then the other, like he thought he might find her flattened form underneath one of them. “Here, kitty!”
“No!” I pointed back at the cat, who’d taken her favorite spot on the ledge beneath the back window. “You stay right there, missy.” Thankful y she was programmed to obey my voice above al others, so al she did was flick her tail and half close her eyes at me, as if to say, “I’m too comfortable to move anyway.”
I leaned forward so I could catch Vayl’s eye. Okay, I’m about to give the tech-head here another reason to be in the hospital. Are you sure this is going to be worth it? I asked him silently. He gave me a short nod.
So I told Miles what had happened in the smal est words I could manage. I ended with, “We need to get that map out of Astral. Your equipment—”
“Should do the job,” Miles said, suddenly, remarkably, businesslike. “How far are we from the riad?”
“Perhaps ten minutes,” Vayl said.
“I think I’l catch a nap then. I should try to be as alert as possible when it’s time to do the transfer.” And he promptly passed out.
I watched him slide about five inches down the seat until the belt final y caught him just below the armpits. “Wow.
He is so weird.”
“Yes.” Vayl patted him on the head. “I am final y beginning to see why you like him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
With only an hour until dawn and Kyphas an entire printed map ahead of us, we couldn’t waste a second babying our wounded, morphine-dazed comrade. That’s what I told myself, using Albert’s stern, no-arguments bark to make my point as I watched Vayl carry him upstairs to his equipment-packed room. But as soon as Bergman sat back in the orange cushioned chair he’d drawn up to the desk he’d transformed into computer central in the seating area of his suite, I checked his bandages. No blood had seeped through, so I felt sure the stitches had held.
“You’re the best friend a guy ever had, you know that, Jaz?” Miles said, beaming up at me.
“Yup. You want some water or something?”
“Not around al these electronics. How about a root beer?”
I turned away so he wouldn’t see me smile. “I’l see what I can do. Astral? Get your butt up on the desk. Bergman needs to do some work on you.”
The cat leaped up as ordered, landing lightly between two monitors, and then ruining the effect by sitting squarely on a keyboard, making Bergman say something like,
“Gah!”
I moved to grab her but Vayl was quicker. He murmured, “Raoul needs to speak to you.”
My Spirit Guide hadn’t ever ful y come into the room. He stood outside the door, a party guest who’d realized he couldn’t stay after al . I joined him in the hal .
“I have to go,” he said.
“But… this is it.”
“But… this is it.”
“I understand. However, you don’t need me for it. And I’ve been cal ed away.”
I realized I might be dangerously close to pouting and pul ed my face as close to neutral as I could manage. “Oh.” Raoul reached out, like he meant to lay his hand on my shoulder. But he wasn’t that type. If I’d been feeling nasty I’d have told him Nia probably sensed that and that’s why she’d preferred the cat to him. Then he said, “Others like you are in this fight as wel . They rarely use your colorful language when they cal , but they do occasional y ask for my assistance.”
His smile reminded me that one of those was my twin, so maybe it would be good if I stepped back, took a look at the big picture, and stopped being so damn selfish every once in a while. “Oh! Wel , yeah, then you have to go.”