“Nothing is going to happen to you.” He made sure I was looking at him, then added, “You’re going to be fine.”
I snorted. “I’ll worry about me. You keep an eye on her.” I jerked my chin towards Sawyer, who suddenly seemed aware we were talking about her.
“I don’t need a babysitter.” It was so eerily similar to what I’d said to Teddy at the heliport I almost laughed.
“You don’t need a babysitter. You need to be tagged like rogue wildlife.”
She screwed up her face trying to act offended, but couldn’t quite manage it.
I took a steadying breath and lifted my gaze to the clouds above us. I doubted anyone but me would be able to feel their potential.
“All right,” I announced. “Let’s put on a show.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The trickiest part of what I was about to do wasn’t drawing out the lightning. I could call lightning in my sleep, and actually had done so memorably once. My landlord hadn’t been thrilled when the building was struck twenty-seven times in a row, knocking out the power grid.
Oops.
No, the hardest thing I’d have to manage today would be creating the amount of electricity Seth would want, without any rain to accompany it.
I didn’t need the rain to do my job, but rain and lightning usually went hand in hand. I didn’t have to force the rain to come mid-storm; it did that on its own.
But we couldn’t exactly have our captive audience getting soaked to the bone while they watched white-hot light illuminate the sky. People would leave. And it wouldn’t look nearly as impressive if I was performing in front of no one.
Seth wouldn’t be pleased.
So I had to demonstrate that I could do one without the other. The problem with this would be splitting my focus. One part of me would need to concentrate on keeping the rain at bay while the other manipulated pure energy into doing my bidding.
I had to hope the big guy would lend a hand, but I also couldn’t count on it.
This was going to suck for me.
I’d make sure he got a show worthy of all the effort though. Then maybe the temple would lay off for the rest of the week and let me finish figuring out who was trying to wipe the clerics off the face of the planet.
You know, my hobby. The thing I did for funsies when I wasn’t too busy.
A path was cleared through the crowd, and Teddy guided me to my place at the end of the platform. Out here the wind was a bit more vicious, tugging at my hair and clothes. Normally I’d keep my hair in a ponytail because I hated having it whip into my eyes and stick to my lip gloss, but I knew part of the show would be me looking as impressive as possible.
I’d already changed into a dress Sido had sent from the temple, which the clone assistant had handed to me after it became obvious I was going to participate. I’d changed in the back of the car because my only other option was the public bathroom.
I might sleep in dive motels and practically live in my car, but I had to draw the line somewhere, and that involved taking my shoes off in a national park restroom.
The dress was long and regal. The phrase ball gown came to mind.
It definitely wasn’t something I’d have chosen for myself, and it was a lot fancier than my jersey cotton dress hanging up at the hotel.
The material was black lace, but it was so delicate it felt as if I were wearing spider webs. The underlay was a rich, deep-blue satin that seemed to shift colors depending on the light I was in, from royal blue to a stunning purple. Cap sleeves gave me full range of motion with my arms, thank Seth, but the high-necked lace collar also managed to make me look both severe and prim. It was a bit Victorian in its overall aesthetic. But Victorian as imagined by the singer for a goth cello quartet.
To my surprise I liked it. With my hair flowing around my shoulders and the blue managing to bring out the golden undertones of my skin, I looked regal. Both beautiful and a little scary. Precisely how a cleric ought to look if they were going to strike awe and astonishment into the hearts of millions.
Sawyer caught sight of me on my way out to the platform, and her mouth fell open.
I think part of what I liked about the girl was her complete inability to hide what she was feeling. She was the most open of books. If she’d hated the dress, it would have shown in her expression immediately.
Nope, she appeared dazzled.
I also knew this meant any progress I’d made in showing her how bland and boring my life was had been entirely undone in this one afternoon.