12
I phase in, and the ambient noise of the airport disappears. Something else is missing. It takes me a moment to realize my poor bladder isn’t demanding anything from me anymore. Not until I phase back out, that is.
I walk over to Eugene and pull him into the Quiet.
“Darren,” he says. “What are you doing? I’m like right here, mere feet away—”
“We’ve got a problem,” I say. “Make that a big problem.”
“What’s going on?”
“The monks from the Temple are here. See that guy in the robe there, and the other ones?”
“Oh, s**t,” Eugene says. “What do you think they want?”
“To take me back, make me and Julia do what I refused...”
“Tvari,” he says furiously, switching to Russian.
“Yeah, whatever you just said.”
“But—”
“I can’t miss my flight. Can you help me with this?”
“You insult me by
