to the ground. He was barely conscious enough to see Mandi grab the
cable and wrestle with it to prevent it from slamming him again, then he passed
out.
Someone was patting his face and calling his name. He opened his eyes to see
Mandi kneeling beside him. Behind her he saw the power line knotted around
around the broken pole.
"Hi," he said. "Thanks. It was gonna get me again."
"Everything's okay now. How do you feel?"
Cade gave that some thought, then flatly said, "Ow."
Chuckling, Mandi asked, "Can you move?"
"Damned if I know. Gimme a minute and I'll find out."
Although his arms and legs were still jangling from the electricity, they
shakily lifted and moved a bit on command.
"Guess so," he said, trying to sit up.
That didn't work the first time, but he was able to roll over and lever
himself swayingly upright in front of her.
"I've been better, but I think I'll survive."
"Great," said Mandi, "We need to get moving," and without ceremony she
picked him up and launched into the sky some distance before he heard Andrea
ask, "How is he?"
"Just barely alive, ma'am," said Cade. "Nice of you to ask, though."
Mandi snorted a short laugh as Andrea came into view and peered down at
Cade.
"Did anybody get a good look at us?" she asked Mandi.
"I don't think so," said Mandi. "The pickup driver was dead, the car driver
was unconscious, and the girl was halfway across the parking lot by the time I
secured the power lines. Nobody came near the car before I lifted with Cade."
"Sneaky angels," said Cade. "I don't know why, exactly, but I like that
concept."
"You said you were a pagan," said Andrea. "Do pagans believe in angels?"
"Angels. Goddesses. Same things, different labels."
When Mandi set him down on the roof, she didn't let go of him immediately,
which was just as well. The electricity had apparently scrambled his circuits a
little and Cade had to try twice to get his legs to function properly.
"Damn," he said. "How much juice do those lines carry?"
Andrea said, "No idea, but it's enough to power everything for blocks in a
commercial zone. We were kind of surprised to find you still breathing, Ed."
As Mandi slapped dust and dirt off his clothes, Cade said, "So was I. Maybe
the lines grounded out as they hit me. Maybe I didn't get a full dose?"
"No," said Mandi. "I saw the end of that cable hit you twice. It didn't
to