“Genevieve says twenty-four hours with you did more good for my control than a month of training,” she said without any kind of hello or how are you. Although the latter was probably pretty obvious. “She says you’re Earth to my Air, whatever the hell that means.”
“Current and grounding.” I knew that much about Talent, anyway. Air was current, earth was…well, earth. I looked down at the pastries in my hand, and saw not Valere‘s hand in this, but Sergei’s. I didn’t think well in the morning, but even I knew something was up. “Why are you here?”
Ellen turned and stared at me from across the entry foyer of my apartment. She seemed to suddenly notice that I was considerably underdressed, let her gaze drop to my feet, flushed slightly, and then kept her gaze trained on my face.
“It’s all random,” she said. “What I see, what I hear, it’s not God sending a message, or people picking me because I’m me. There’s no point to it except whatever meaning I can give it.”
If she’d figured that out, she was well ahead of most of the world.
“So, I see the dead. No.” She collected herself, started again. “I see those who’re going to die, violently. I can’t stop that, for whatever reason. And Genevieve…she can’t help me, not with that. It freaks her out a little. It freaks everyone out. Except you.” She swallowed hard. “I don’t know why you’re not scared of me, but you’re not.”
Maybe because I didn’t understand it, all the potential she carried inside her, the way other Talent could. Maybe I was an idiot. But she was right: I wasn’t scared of her, or what she did, or what she could do.
I should have been. If I’d any sense…
No, that wasn’t right. I had plenty of sense. Maybe even too much of it. And Valere – and Didier – knew that. Fuck.
“I’m no mentor,” I said.
“I have a mentor.” She stared at me, not arguing, just waiting for me to figure it out on my own.
This was a really bad idea, on so many levels. I worked alone, she had no training, no license. No idea what she was asking for.
“This job hurts,” I said. “Rip-your-guts-out hurt, sometimes.”
“I know. God, I know. I don’t want this. I never wanted this any of this. But I can’t just,” and she waved a hand in the air, unable to articulate whatever it was she couldn’t do. “I can’t not.”
We stared at each other, while I tried to find a comeback to that, and failed.
“Only one way to screw up this game, rookie.” My partner’s voice, my first day on the street. “And that’s thinking whatever you do don’t matter. Because everything we do, matters.”
“Fuck.”
I may have said that out loud, because Ellen almost cracked a smile. I remembered the pastry box in my hand, and handed it to her. “Kitchen’s over there. Go put these on plates and pour me some coffee while I put some damn clothes on.”
Looked like my shadow was going to stick around.
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Acknowledgements
with thanks to the Early Patrons and meerkat minions
Copyright & Credits
Miles to Go
Laura Anne Gilman
Book View Café Publishing Cooperative
Cedar Crest, NM
October 2013
ISBN: 978-1-61138-270-9
Copyright © 2013 Laura Anne Gilman
www.lauraannegilman.net
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For information/permissions, contact [email protected]
Cover design by Tiara Lynn Agresta
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About the Author
Laura Anne Gilman is the author of the popular Cosa Nostradamus novels for Luna, and the Nebula award-nominated The Vineart War trilogy from Pocket, and a wide range of short fiction from many fine publishers.
In 2012 she dipped her pen into the mystery field as well, writing the Gin & Tonic series as L.A. Kornetsky
Ms. Gilman is represented by Barry Goldblatt Agency and is a member of Book View Café Publishing Cooperative.
If you enjoyed Miles to Go please consider reviewing it on a blog or at an online bookseller, or mention it on your favorite social media. Find Laura Anne Gilman online at LauraAnneGilman.net.
Also by Laura Anne Gilman
Retrievers
Staying Dead
Curse the Dark
Bring it On
Burning Bridges
Free Fall
Blood From Stone
Paranormal Scene Investigations
Hard Magic
Pack of Lies
Tricks of the Trade
Dragon Justice
Vineart War
Flesh and Fire
Weight of Stone
The Shattered Vine
Gin & Tonic Mysteries (as L.A. Kornetsky)
Collared
Dragon Virus
From Whence You Came
Tales of the Cosa Nostradamus
Visit Laura Anne Gilman's website for more information.
About Book View Café
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