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“I’m not all that honorable at the best of times, to be honest,” Marla said. “And I’m
certainly not above lying to my enemies if it helps me get what I want.”
“I’m supposed to believe you?” B said.
“I think, if you really look at me, you’ll be able to tell whether or not I’m lying, B,” she
said. “Look at me with those seer’s eyes of yours, look deep, and tell me if I’m telling
the truth.”
B stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. “I believe you.”
“Good. Because I like you, and you’ve been surprisingly useful, and I’d hate to break
up our fellowship over a little misunderstanding like that.”
“But, ah, I do have another question,” B said.
“Shoot.”
“How exactly are we supposed to get off this train?” B asked.
Marla rolled her eyes.
“Seriously,” B said. “Last time I looked, there were frogs all around the foot of the
stairs, like they were trying to figure out where Mutex went. If there were only a
handful we could avoid them, but there are lots of them out there. And the way the
poison you sweated out ate through the carpet, I don’t think the jeans and sneakers I’m
wearing are going to be sufficient armor against them.”
“You two should have some faith in me,” Marla said, taking a last hunk of meat off a
turkey leg. “All right. Time to show you some honest-to-gods magic, the kind of shit
there’s almost never time for in the heat of battle, which is why it’s good to learn how to
kick people’s teeth in without any magic at all, if you were wondering. Open up all
these iceboxes.”
Rondeau wrinkled his nose, sighed, and nodded. “Give me a hand, B. Marla always
makes me do the dirty work.”
“You don’t have to take any of the meat out,” Marla said. “You just have to let out the
cold.”
They broke open the half-dozen iceboxes. Cold air wafted out, and the iceboxes began
to hum strenuously as they struggled to refrigerate the entire car. “All right,” Marla said,
“now be quiet for a while.” She closed her eyes. This was going to be tricky. She’d
practiced a lot with fire, and had an affinity with it, but she’d never been as good at
dealing with cold. She opened herself to the air around her, trying to make herself a
vessel, and the cold flowed into her from the machines. The iceboxes hummed, then
squealed, then shorted out, one after another, as Marla drew their cold into her. Her
bones felt made of ice, and once she felt her core temperature lowering dangerously, she
flung the coldness out of her body, away from the train, out onto the platform beyond.