{"id":896,"date":"2011-12-02T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T05:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=896"},"modified":"2012-02-13T08:59:51","modified_gmt":"2012-02-13T13:59:51","slug":"day-21-chapter-12-marin-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=896","title":{"rendered":"Day 21 – Chapter 12 – Marin – 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou called her Seer, too,\u201d Rory said in a low voice, suddenly looking at Phelan like he was some kind of insect\u2014or an enemy he was willing and able to dissect.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan blinked at him.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s what she <\/span>is<\/span><\/em>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You know that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His eyes narrowed slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBut why are you\u2014oh.<\/span>\u00a0 Oh<\/em><\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The one that spoke to you, the thing leading those <\/span>camazotzi<\/span><\/em> that attacked you with the gremlins.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>It called her that, too, didn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I made a soft noise to the affirmative.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt was going to kill us,\u201d I said softly, cradling my bowl between both hands.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThom and I both.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan\u2019s brows shot up.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThomas is a Seer?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>You\u2019re sure?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. tossed me a vaguely murderous look and I sighed, shaking my head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat was certainly my impression, and clearly it was one that the thing shared.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I shrugged and sighed again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAs much as these guys would like to think I am, I\u2019m not an expert.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan made a curious noise and rocked back slightly, looking at each of us in turn.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>They were brief, but measuring looks, a few seconds of looking apiece before he cleared his throat.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWell,\u201d he said slowly, \u201cI guess that\u2019ll make a couple of us pretending.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I may know a great deal about all of this sort of supernatural and magical mess, but I don\u2019t claim to be an expert at all.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Given what\u2019s happened, I don\u2019t even know how much good I\u2019ll be in the long run\u2014it seems behaviors are already shifting in ways I wouldn\u2019t ordinarily expect.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou mean the grays,\u201d Rory said.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan\u2019s expression turned grim.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThis is uncharted territory for all of us.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We can barely know what to expect.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>All we can do is operate on what we know, what we think we know, and what we learn going forward to keep all of us alive.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. snorted humorlessly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhich is <\/span>exactly<\/span><\/em> what we\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan shrugged.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAll the more reason for me to stand by my previous statement\u2014you look like you\u2019ve been doing just fine to me.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I rubbed my temple.<\/span>\u00a0 Looking at it in that way, I guess it <\/em><\/span>does<\/span> make sense.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cJust don\u2019t let Thom hear you say that,\u201d I mumbled.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe\u2019s not going to like me much, is he?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. and I exchanged a look.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He shook his head slightly and I smiled wryly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cNo, probably not.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Tala fed a thin stick of wood into the fire, straightening up and studying Phelan with unguarded curiousity.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWho are you, anyway?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I mean, I know, Phelan Conrad, but how did you get here?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>How did you <\/span>find <\/span><\/em>us?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>She glanced at me, then back to Phelan again.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAnd how do you seem to know so much?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Seems like you know who Thom is.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Are you related to him or something?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYes and no,\u201d Phelan said quietly, one shoulder hitching upwards in a shrug.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cDo you know Kira?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Tala nodded slightly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Most of them had met her at least once or twice.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah, she hit the movies with us once.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His cousin, right?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan nodded.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHer husband is my cousin.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Like I told them,\u201d he gestured vaguely to me and the rest, \u201cthey sent me to find you here.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I knew where to look because they told me where to come.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>As for how I got here?<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I walked.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He smiled humorlessly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIt was a <\/span>long<\/span><\/em> walk.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cFrom Chicago?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I said.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYeah, that\u2019s a pretty long walk.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 No wonder he looked so bedraggled by the time he got here.<\/em><\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cIndeed.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>He took a long swallow from his mug.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m just sorry I wasn\u2019t here sooner.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Damn.\u00a0 <\/span>He really <\/span><\/em>does<\/span> feel bad.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>I shook my head a little.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cSorry we came down so hard on you,\u201d I said softly.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>He waved a dismissive hand and pushed himself up to his feet.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cToo late to change that now.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Just have to make up for lost time.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Where\u2019s Thomas?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>J.T. blinked.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Phelan shook his head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey asked me to make sure he was all right.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>To talk to him about\u2026\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>His voice trailed away and he cleared his throat.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The rest of us exchanged a long look.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>We all knew <\/span>exactly<\/span><\/em> what he was supposed to talk to Thom about.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, that won\u2019t end well.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>I frowned and shook my head.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s not a good idea, Phelan.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I shoveled two more bites of my stew into my mouth, chewed and swallowed, then got up.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cCome on.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Walk with me and I\u2019ll explain.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I glanced at J.T.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cCan you keep him busy or something?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe\u2019s busy with the construction,\u201d J.T. said slowly.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cBut I\u2019ll see what I can do.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>I nodded.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 One less thing to worry about.<\/em>\u00a0 <\/span>I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders, looking at Phelan.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cAll right.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>C\u2019mon with me.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>I glanced at the sky.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>The weather would hold for long enough to show him some things, I thought.<\/span><\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Without looking back to see if he was following me, I started walking toward the ravine.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou called her Seer, too,\u201d Rory said in a low voice, suddenly looking at Phelan like he was some kind of insect\u2014or an enemy he was willing and able to dissect. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Phelan blinked at him.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what she … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-12","category-day-21"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-es","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=896"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":900,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896\/revisions\/900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}