I was a little staggered by his casual recitation. The enormity of what I was trying to do was just starting to sink in. I had only allowed a week to find Aahz and convince him to come back. At the moment, it seemed next to impossible to accomplish that in so short a time, yet I couldn’t take any longer with the rest of the crew taking on Queen Hemlock without me. With an effort, I tried to put my doubts out of my mind. At the very least, I had to try. I’d face up to what to do next at the end of the week . . . not before. “What’s the other reason?”
“Excuse me?”
“You said ‘First of all. . . . ‘ That usually implies there’s more than one reason.”
The cabbie shot me a glance over his shoulder. “That’s right. Well, if you must know, I’m a little uncomfortable around magicians . . . current company excepted, of course. Never had much call to deal with ‘em and just as happy to keep it that way. I’ve got a buddy, though, who’s a financier. He just might be able to help you out. Most of these finance types know each other, you know. Leastwise, I can probably get you in to see him without an appointment.”
Kalvin was waving a hand at me, trying to get my attention.
“I probably don’t have to remind you of this,” he said, “but your time is rather limited. I didn’t say anything about your chatting with that scruffy street vendor, but are you really going to blow off part of a day talking to a supposed financier who hangs out with cab drivers?”
“How did you meet this guy?” I queried, trying desperately to ignore the Djin’s words . . . or, to be exact, how closely they echoed my own thoughts.