“I didn’t realize it was you in Tomato Land,” Norris went on.
“Tomato Land?” Fen echoed.
“That was the theme park he attacked us in,” Carter said absently. He was busy trying to remember exactly where Norris had been during all that confused fighting in a poorly lit area. Had he seen Carter shift?
“I mean, I did hear your name, but I didn’t realize you were CarterHowe,” Norris went on. “And I didn’t recognize you because it was dark and people were fighting and it was pretty confusing, and the closest I ever got to you was when you punched me out.”
“You punched him out?” Fen said, looking from Norris to Carter.
Norris rubbed his jaw in painful memory. “Yeah. He’s got one hell of a right hook. Anyway, Carter, I never would have taken the job if I’d known Elayne intended to do anything toyou.”
“He’s a fan,” said Fen to Carter. She seemed to be trying not to laugh. “I bet he loves your phones.”
“I do,” said Norris earnestly, then turned his star-struck gaze on her. “I love your products too! I have a Howe phone, of course, but I have a Little Bit Sharper TV. I was so thrilled to see that not only was Carter Howe here, but so were you! I mean, not thrilled you’re in danger, that’s terrible, but thrilled to meet you. I have the edition ofWiredmagazine that has both of you on the cover! Once we’re out of here, would you both autograph it for me?”
There was a long silence. Uncharacteristically, Carter was absolutely at a loss for words. So, apparently, was Fen.
“Hey!” she said suddenly. “You came here, so you must’ve come from somewhere. Where are we? And which way is out?”
Norris looked apologetic. “We’re somewhere in Georgia. I mean, I think it’s probably still Georgia. And I’m not sure which way is out. I didn’t follow a map to get here. I followed you.”
“How?” Carter asked blankly. “We came on a plane.”
“It’s my other power.” To Fen, he said, “We all have two. Not counting shifting.”
Except for me,Carter thought glumly.I got a curse instead. Lucky, lucky me.
“One of my powers is inflicting vertigo,” Norris went on. “The other is finding people. But I don’t actually know where they are. It’s more of a directional pull. I think about someone, and I can feel that they’re…” He pointed. “That way.”
Carter was getting a directional feeling himself. It was the sensation of slowly sinking into the ground. “So you walk in the right direction until you get there?”
Norris beamed at him. “You got it! A car works too. Though I prefer to swim. Once I found out you were in danger, I thought to myself, “Where’s Carter Howe?” And I got that pull. So I started driving. I was so thrilled when I hit a lake, because then I could become a Dunkleosteus and swim to you.”
Under her breath, Fen echoed, “Become a Dunkleosteus.”
“My finding power only works in human form, unfortunately, so I’d turn back into a man periodically and recalibrate,” Norris explained earnestly. “Anyway, after the lake I got to the swamp, but I didn’t travel exactly in a straight line because I was keeping to water deep enough for a Dunkleosteus as much as I could. And it wasn’t like I could mark my path anyway. But I could lead you out. It just wouldn’t necessarily be the same way I came in. I’d have to focus on finding someone who definitely isn’t in the swamp.”
Even more under her breath, Fen murmured, “Someone who definitely isn’t in the swamp.”
Carter shot her a furtive glance. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears—tears of laughter, he realized after an instant of concern. She wasthis closeto dropping to the grass and rolling around on it, laughing so hard that she cried.
He seized the moment. “Fen, can you excuse me and Norris for a moment? I have to talk to him about something that involves some third parties.”
It’s true,he told himself defensively. His monsters were third parties.
Fen was too busy trying not to throw herself to the ground and howl that she did nothing but wipe her eyes and nod.
He marched up to Norris, grabbed his arm, and yanked the startled Dunkleosteus shifter out of earshot. Once he was sure Fen couldn’t overhear, he realized that he wasn’t sure what to say himself. He could hardly ask Norris if he’d seen his shift form when he wasn’t even sure if Norris knew hehada shift form.
Carter settled on saying quietly, “What do you know about me?”
The starstruck gleam in the other man’s eyes tipped Carter off that he’d asked the most useless possible question, even before Norris began, “You’re a genius inventor, you founded Howe Enterprises, you make the best phones—”
Carter cut him off. “Not that stuff. I mean, what did Elayne tell you about me?”
“Nothing. I told you, I had no idea you’d be there.”
Carter repressed the urge to clutch his hair and scream. “What do you know about me now? In terms of magic shifter stuff.”
