The Windrose Chronicles 2 - The Silicon Mage (43 page)

“Probably not.”
Against the reflection of the light, his face was only a dark profile of extravagant nose, shining steel spectacle rim, and a point of light caught in the beads at his throat. “Considering the uses to which I put my magic in the past, that may be for the best, at least for a time. Later...” He shrugged. “Is later. Right now I'm only glad that there is a later—or even that there is a now. And in fact, that's really all there ever is.”

“Had I world enough, and time,” Joanna quoted softly, wanting nothing more than that moment, the velvet voice in the darkness, the liquid warmth of the night, and the miles of flame-sprinkled blackness stretching out to the encircling hills that hemmed a flame-sprinkled sky.

His lenses flashed as he turned his head; his deep voice was rueful in the dark. “All those weeks you were in my world, under my protection, I never fully appreciated how uncomfortable it must have been for you to be that dependent on someone.”

Joanna nodded, her small hands resting on the worn plastic of the steering wheel as she gazed out into the night. “Well, let me warn you, dog wizard, now that you're in my world under my protection, I intend to take advantage of you to the fullest.”

She couldn't see in the dark, but she sensed his grin. “Oh, good... What do people here eat? And will you teach me how to drive one of these things?”

She shuddered as she put the car in gear and headed down the hill toward the freeway. “That will be all I need... We'll talk about it later. In the meantime, let me explain to you about tacos...”