Wizards at War, New Millennium Edition by Diane Duane Read Free Book Online Page B

of the driveway, staring with all his eyes at the sky. They all looked upward to see what he was looking at, but nothing was immediately obvious.
    “It’s a long way there, and a long way back,” Dairine said, looking back at Kit and Nita. “It’s not somewhere I’ve been for a while, except virtually. Not enough energy available for the transit. But now”—she laced her fingers together and cracked her knuckles—”now it’s a whole new ball game.”
    “Don’t do that,” Nita said. “You know it’s bad for your hands.”
    “Like the state of my finger joints is going to matter if the world comes to an end?!” Dairine said.
    Nita made a face. Kit had to admit that Dairine had a point. “Doing your own spell to get there’s going to cost you a lot of power,” Nita said.
    “It would if I was going to do one,” Dairine said. “But why should I, when the visitors’ worldgates in the cellar are fully subsidized?” She grinned at Roshaun.
    “And on checking mine,” Roshaun said, “I find that as of your Seniors’ talk with us, the subsidy has been extended indefinitely. We’ve retro-engineered those gates before.”
    “Yeah, but this is going to be a much longer jump,” Dairine said. “If you’re not careful how you restate the spell’s power statements, you’re gonna make a mess. Better let me handle it.”
    Roshaun frowned. “I should remind you that when I restated them last time—”
    Kit took Nita by the elbow and steered her casually away; they headed down to the end of the driveway. They’re at it again, he said silently. How many times is this now since we got back?
    Don’t ask me. I stopped counting yesterday.
    They looked up and down the street, while behind them the argument started to escalate. “What’s your dad going to make of all this?” Kit said.
    Nita shook her head. “He’s already dealt with the houseguests saving the solar system. After that, maybe saving the universe won’t seem like such a stretch.”
    But she didn’t sound certain, and the uncertainty was catching. Kit looked around at the maple trees, the street with its potholes, the across-the-street neighbor washing his car in the driveway, the front-fender rattle of a kid riding by on a mountain bike—and found that everything suddenly felt peculiarly fragile and undependable, as if something far more solid and deadly might break through at any moment. Kit stuffed his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders a little. The day that had seemed mild earlier seemed chilly now, as the spring breeze whistled down the street and rustled the maple leaves.
    “Well,” Kit said, “even if our parents don’t completely get what’s happening, it’s not like they can stop us.”
    “I know,” Nita said. “But I’m so used to them coping, now. I’m getting spoiled for being open about it … it saves so much time.” She rubbed her forehead for a moment. “Time. What are we going to do about school? ”
    “Still thinking about that one,” Kit said.
    Nita looked around, shook her head. “I can’t think straight,” she said. “I’m in shock. And now I’m wondering if I’m going to lose it totally when it starts to sink in. Dairine’s right for once: They’ve just told us the world might end in—what, a few weeks? A couple of months?”
    “Something like that.” Kit’s mouth was dry again.
    She looked up and down the street. “Makes everything look different,” she said. “Look, here comes Carmela…”
    Kit glanced to the left, down toward the corner, where his street crossed Nita’s. Carmela had just come around the corner lugging a big pile of what Kit could eventually see were more teen magazines, and Ponch was trotting after her. As they came down the block, Nita said, “When she finds out, is she going to be able to cope with this?”
    Kit had to laugh. “Carmela? Neets, how would I know? I don’t know if I can cope with it yet.”
    She looked at him and shook her head. “You