Page 61 of From the Noblest Motives
"Hey." Blaze reached across to shake Damien by the knee. "You all right?"
"No. I'm not." If Damien had been wearing a coat, he would've been sinking into it. "I don't know what to do."
You and me both, love. "Look. I know it's a lot. We won't solve shit today. Right now, we need to concentrate on what the next step is."
Damien cocked an eyebrow at him. "Which is?"
"Meeting Dr. Parma outside Madison."
Damien's jaw worked for a good minute before he spat out, "Why?"
"Why Wisconsin or why are we meeting Dr. Parma?"
"Yes."
Blaze sucked in a breath, putting both hands back on the wheel. "Something spooked her. She didn't know anything about that gunship's flight plan, and that's not normal, futzy Guild procedure. She must've gone digging through stuff after we talked and realized she was in trouble. All I got was a message with a bunch of numbers I figured out were coordinates. Doc has a weird sense of humor."
"Sometimes." Damien made a tiny, wounded sound. "I hope she's all right."
"Me too, Twitch. She's crazy smart, though, and I think they underestimate her a lot."
Damien was quiet for so long, Blaze was certain he'd entered his mental-centrifuge mode, where he spun all the facts and possibilities until something coalesced, so he startled when Damien spoke five minutes later.
"There's more."
"What's more?"
"That I didn't tell you."
Blaze gave him a side eye. "Oookaay. So has Cyril contracted with aliens or lizard people or something?"
"Hepersuadespeople."
"Yeah, he makes convincing arguments." Blaze drummed the steering wheel, not looking at Damien to give him space to say what he needed. "I have the feeling that's not what you mean."
"Cyril is a patternist. He admitted to it."
"I wondered. But they have to have GPS implants. How does he stay hidden?"
"I think…" Damien rubbed at the spot between his eyes. "I think he left the country before that law was passed."
"All right. Makes sense. But you're gonna have to help a big dumb sparker out. I'm not making the connection."
"His talent is… more. Expanded." Damien turned to face him again. "Have you noticed the kids saying,Cyril needs me?"
"Haven't spent much time with them, but did hear Hillary say it," Blaze admitted.I don't like where this is going.
"Also. Shudder. He was unhappy about anyone seeing him, even us. Then Cyril talked to him. Suddenly, he's happy to do more press conferences."
"I thought he was just being brave." Blaze realized he was drumming on the steering wheel again and stopped. "Hewasbrave, and it was damn hard on him. But it was a weird, instant turnaround. Spell it out all the way for me."
Damien took a slow, shuddering breath. "It's part of his ability. To persuade. I think… I think it can't be too far away from what you would be willing to do normally. I don't think… I hope… He wouldn't be able to hand you a gun and sayI need you to shoot Shudder."
The phrase fell into an unfortunate silence from the truck bed, followed by Shudder calling plaintively, "Why are we shooting me?"
"No one's shooting you, soup for brains. I'll explain later," Blaze shouted back.
"What kind of soup?"
