Sylvia looked back steadily, the candlelight dancing in her purple eyes. "You know what yourbrother told me aboutyou?" she asked musingly."Two things. The first was that you never gave up.
He said, `Maggie's no rocket scientist, but once shegets hold of something she's just like a little bull terrier.' And the second was that you were a complete sucker for anybody in trouble. A real bleeding heart."
She added a few fingernail-sized chips of smoothbark to the mixture that was smoking in the incense burner.
"Which is too bad," she went on thoughtfully."Strong-willed and compassionate: that's a real recipe for disaster."
Maggie had had it.
"What happened to Miles? What did you dotohim?"
Sylvia laughed, a little secret laugh. "I'm afraidyou couldn't guess if you spent the rest of yourshort life trying." She shook her head. "It was toobad, actually. I liked him. We could have beengood together."
Maggie wanted to know one thing. "Is he dead?""I told you, you'll never find out. Not even whenyou go where you're going."
Maggie stared at her, trying to make sense ofthis. She couldn't. When she spoke it was in a levelvoice, staring into Sylvia's eyes.
"I don't know what your problem is-maybeyou're crazy or something. But I'mtellingyou rightnow, if you've done anything to my brother, I am going to killyou."
She'd never said anything like this before, butnow it came out quite naturally, with force andconviction. She was so angry that all she could seewas Sylvia's face. Her stomach was knotted and sheactually felt a burning in her middle, as if therewere a glowing fire there.
"Now," she said, "areyou going to tell me what happened to him?"
Sylvia sighed, spoke quietly."No."
Before Maggie quite knew she was doing it, shehad reached out and grabbed the front of Sylvia's green Gore-Tex jacket with both hands.
Something sparked in Sylvia's eyes. For a moment, she looked startled and interested and grudgingly respectful. Then she sighed again, smilingfaintly.
"And now you're going to kill me?"
"Listen, you..."Maggie leaned in. She stopped."Listen to what?"
Maggie blinked. Her eyes were stinging suddenly.The smoke from the incense burner was rising directly into her face.
"You..."
I feel strange, Maggie thought.
Very strange. Dizzy. It seemed to come over herall at once. There was a pattern of flashing gray spreading across her vision. Her stomach heavedand she felt a wave of queasiness.
"Having a problem?" Sylvia's voice seemed tocome from far away.
The incense.
It was rising right in her face. And now...
"What did you do to me?" Maggie gasped. Shereeled backward, away from the smoke, but it wastoo late. Her knees were horribly rubbery. Herbody seemed to be far away somehow, and the sparkling pattern blinded her completely.
She felt the back of her legs come up against abed. Then they simply weren't supporting her anymore; she was slithering down, unable to catch herself with her useless arms. Her lips were numb.
"You know, for a moment there, I thought Imight be in trouble," Sylvia's voice was sayingcalmly. `But I was wrong. The truth is that you'rejust an ordinary girl, after all. Weak and powerlessand ordinary. How could you even thinkabout going up against me? Against my people?"
Am I dying? Maggie wondered. I'm losing myself.I can't see and I can't move....
"How could you come here and attack me? How could you thinkyouhad a chance at winning?" Even Sylvia's voice seemed to be getting more and more distant. "You're pathetic. But now you'll find out what happens when you mess with real power.You'll learn...."
The voice was gone. There was only arushingnoise in anendless blackness.
Miles, Maggie thought. I'm sorry....Then she stopped thinking at all.
Chapter 4
Maggie was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming, and that was strange enough, but what was even stranger was the fact that she knew it wasn'tan ordinary dream.
This was something...that came from outside her, that was being ... sent. Some deep part ofher mind fumbled for the proper words, seethingwith frustration, even while the normal part of her was busy staring around her and being afraid.
Mist. Mist everywhere, white tendrils that snakedgracefully across her vision and coiled around herlike genii that had just been let out of lamps. She had the feeling that there were dark shapes out inthe mist; she seemed to see them looming out of the corner of her eye, but as soon as she turned they were obscured again.
Gooseflesh rose on Maggie's arms. It wasn't justthe touch of the mist. There was a noise that madethe hairs on the back of her neck tingle. It was justat the threshold of hearing, distorted by distanceor something else, and it seemed to be calling overand over again, "Who are you?"
Give me a break,Maggie thought. She shook herhead hard to get rid of the prickly feeling on herneck. This is just way too...too Gothic.Do Ialways have corny dreams like this?
But the next moment something happened thatsent a new chill washing over her, this time oneof simple, everyday alarm. Something was comingthrough the mist, fast.
She turned, stiffening. And then, strangely, everything seemed to change at once.
The mist began to recede. She saw a figure, darkagainst it, nothing more than a silhouette at first.For just an instant she thought of Miles-but thethought was gone almost as quickly as it came. Itwas a boy, but a stranger, she could tell by theshape of him and the way he moved. He wasbreathing hard and calling in a desperate voice,"Where are you? Where are you?"
So that was it. Not "Whoare you," Maggiethought.
"Where are you? Maggie! Where are you?"