Slowly, he stood. His hands were shaking, and he clenched them at his sides as if to quell their trembling. “Someone is using one of Miles Odekirk’s devices.”
“But — ” I shook my head. “Well, I just talked to Lindsay, and she said she and Miles were getting close to a field test. Maybe they went ahead with it.”
“No.” Moving carefully, he went back out to the foyer, then opened the front door. Mystified, I followed him. What the hell was going on? Lindsay had made it sound as if she and Miles were still several days away from doing any kind of live testing. “I know that Lindsay would have come to me and asked permission before turning the device back on.”
“Then what….” The words died away on my lips as a wave of horror washed over me. “No.”
“Oh, yes,” Zahrias said, watching from the entryway as people began to pour into the streets, emerging from their homes in an attempt to discover exactly what was going on. “I fear that Richard Margolis has brought the fight to us.”
Chapter Eighteen
They met us in the plaza. There were, as both Jace and Zahrias had once feared, far more than the seven who’d raided my Santa Fe hideaway back in December. Now there had to be at least twenty of them, all armed to the teeth, except Margolis, who seemed to have taken over Miles’s job as wielder of the device. He stood in front of his band of marauders, the box clutched in his hands, and wore one of the nastiest smiles I’d ever seen.
I knew why. Because with him, wrists bound behind them, were Jace and Dani and the other djinn and Chosen who’d gone out foraging earlier that day.
The injustice of it made me want to scream. But I was attempting to take my cue from Zahrias, who stood next to me, calm, cold, surveying Margolis and his squad with the sort of respect one might reserve for an invading band of cockroaches.
Jace’s eyes met mine. I am sorry, beloved. They came upon us as we were searching a small ranch at the edge of town.
No need for apologies, Jace. It’s not your fault. We were all hoping that Margolis would leave us alone.
Zahrias spoke first. “What is it you want, Margolis?”
The commander’s smile didn’t waver. “Simple enough. I want my scientist returned to me, along with any components you stole from my lab. And if she’s hiding among you, I want the traitor Julia Innes handed over as well.”
“I fear that both Dr. Odekirk and Ms. Innes are masters of their own fates, and so it is up to them to decide whether or not they will come back with you.”
Although he still smiled, I thought I could see Margolis’ brow crease as he scanned the crowd, obviously looking to see if he could spot either Julia or Miles among the people gathered there. Luckily, Miles was blocks away, and I had no idea where Julia might be. She lived alone, without a djinn partner, so it was entirely possible that she had no idea anything had even gone wrong. For all I knew, she was curled up on her couch, reading a book.
“Wrong answer, if you want these ones to keep on breathing,” Margolis said. He ran his hands over the device, and I saw the djinn captives grow pale, their chests rising and falling as they attempted to pull in enough air to prevent themselves from passing out.
Zahrias didn’t move, but I could see a shudder go through him. And to either side and behind us, I heard muffled moans and gasps for air. The commander must have compressed the field of effect a good deal to intensify it so much. That would have been a reckless move if everyone in the community hadn’t clustered together so tightly. As it was, I doubted if anyone had managed to escape Margolis’ net.
“As I told you,” Zahrias said, his voice tight with strain, “Julia Innes and Miles Odekirk are not mine to command. They will go with you, or not, on their own determination.”
I couldn’t imagine either one of them voluntarily returning to Los Alamos. Then again, Julia had already shown herself more than capable of self-sacrifice. She might go back, if it meant saving Jace’s and Dani’s lives.
“Please!” Lauren burst out, pushing her way through the crowd. “You can’t hurt them. Not when” — she hesitated, as if debating with herself, then went on — “not when Dani and I are going to have a child.”
Margolis’ lip curled in disgust. “You think I care whether you’re going to have some misbegotten half-breed with one of these creatures?”
She let out a despairing sob, and I watched as Aidan stepped out of the crowd, then put an arm around her waist and drew her back. Weeping, she stood there as Lilias approached and took her by the hand. It was good to see them so quick to offer comfort, but even so, my rage felt like a physical thing, pounding against my temples.
Just when I’d thought I couldn’t hate Margolis any more than I already did….
He raised the box, hands resting on its surface but not moving. The threat seemed clear enough. He’d intensify the field enough that it would incapacitate every djinn in a hundred-foot radius. That wouldn’t be everyone, but even those outside the field of effect would be unable to do anything, since the second they got in range to attack, their own powers would be destroyed.
“Two humans,” the commander said, his voice growing softer now, insinuating. “What do they matter to you? Not more than your own people, surely?”
“Everyone in my community, whether human or djinn, is of equal worth,” Zahrias replied, contempt clear in his tone. His nostrils flared, but I could tell he was attempting to keep a grip on his anger, probably because he didn’t have any energy to spare on it at the moment.
“Really? Let’s test your convictions, shall we?” Margolis nodded, and Mitch Kosky, who was standing next to him, raised the pistol he held, planting the tip of the barrel directly against Jace’s right temple.
Oh, please, God, no….
But then I heard Miles Odekirk’s cool, dispassionate voice carrying across the murmurs of the crowd. “You wanted to see me, Richard?”
I whirled to my left and saw the scientist approaching, Lindsay on his right and Julia to his left. She caught my eye and nodded, ever so slightly. I realized then that she must have caught wind of what was going on and had run to fetch Miles.
The next thing I realized was that he held the twin of Margolis’ device in his hands.
“I see you’ve become rather adept at operating these,” Miles went on, voice so relaxed that you might have thought he and the commander were having this conversation back at the lab in Los Alamos, rather than out in front of a crowd numbering close to a hundred. “But it seems as if you’ve forgotten at least half of what I taught you. For example, don’t you remember that I’d slaved them all together?”
Miles’s hands, with their long, clever fingers, moved with lightning speed over the device he was holding. Almost at once, Zahrias straightened, the strained expression leaving his face. In fact, he began to smile. Then he raised his right hand.
A fireball only a few inches in diameter burst from his outstretched fingers. Its target wasn’t Richard Margolis, however, but the thing he held. As soon as the fireball made contact with the box, the plastic began to melt. Letting out a screech of agony, Margolis dropped the device, then watched in horror as it dissolved into a puddle of black, oily-looking liquid.
Almost at once, the squad of men the commander had brought with him lifted their guns. But a bunch of half-trained former middle managers and computer technicians and whatever else they’d been before the Dying was no match for a group of angry djinn. The earth shook beneath them, and a wild wind moved among them, and fire raged out of the air to heat their weapons so all they could do was drop them before their skin was burned right off. In less than a minute, Margolis’ men were effectively disarmed and surrounded.
“Enough,” Zahrias said. He lifted a finger. This time I didn’t see any fireball, but somehow the ropes binding Jace and Dani and the others dropped away, their fibers scorched and smoking.
As soon as he was free, Jace ran to my side, and I saw Dani hurry to Lauren and wrap his arms around her.
“Are you all
right?” I whispered to Jace, and he nodded.
“Perhaps a few singe marks, but they’ll be gone in a minute or two.”
Trust Zahrias to do only what was strictly necessary. Clinging to Jace, I watched as the djinn leader approached Margolis, who looked white as a sheet under his olive skin, but who stood his ground, dark eyes glaring.
“Was it so difficult for you to believe that we would live in peace?” Zahrias asked. “We never offered any threat to you or your people.”
“What, besides kidnapping one of them right from under us?”
“Miles has been living among us as an honored guest,” Zahrias replied, unruffled.
I thought that was stretching it a bit, but since Miles didn’t offer any protest, I knew better than to say anything.
“All of you djinn are a threat.” Margolis crossed his arms and locked eyes with Zahrias. “Why else would we need these devices Miles built? To keep you from descending on us and killing every last one of us, down to the children!”
At the mention of the children, Zahrias’ lips compressed. Flames flickered around his head and then winked out again, and I heard the captured men murmur amongst themselves. No, they’d never really seen what a djinn in full possession of his powers was like. It had scared the hell out of me the first time.
After a pause, during which he seemed to be measuring his next words, he said, “I do regret what others of my kind have done. But they are not among the One Thousand, those of my people who chose to save what mortals they could. And none of my community has ever lifted a hand against a mortal. In coming after us, you directed your hate against those who were entirely innocent. And now….”
Another hesitation, although I couldn’t tell whether it was for effect or simply because Zahrias was unsure what to do next. He seemed to gather himself, asking,
“Who among you will speak for your people? Who is second in command?”
There was a bit of shuffling, and Mitch Kosky began to step forward, only to have someone in the back call out, “Not Mitch! He’ll start World War III! Get Brent up there.”
Several other people said, “Yeah, Brent!” and an unassuming-looking man in his forties pushed his way through the group. He seemed familiar, and then I remembered he was one of the two men Evony had worked with in the Los Alamos motor pool. Brent Sutherland, the former HVAC technician.
I sent him what I hoped was an encouraging smile. We probably hadn’t exchanged more than a dozen words at most, but I knew that Evony had liked him, that he and the other guy from the motor pool, Shawn, had sort of become Evony’s adopted big brothers, looking after her, making sure no one gave her too much crap about Natila. If Brent was speaking for the Los Alamos people, they might actually have a fighting chance.
Zahrias inclined his head. “Your name is Brent?”
“Uh, yeah.” He held a rifle but didn’t appear to be too confident with it. Seeming to realize that it was aimed more or less directly at Zahrias, Brent quickly shuffled it around so the barrel was pointing at the ground.
A muscle twitched in Zahrias’ cheek, and I got the impression that he was trying to stop himself from smiling. “Well, Brent, it seems that we have a few matters to discuss.”
We all gathered in one of the meeting rooms at the La Fonda Hotel, a cozy space with warm faux-finished walls and red-upholstered chairs clustered around a carved oak table. Why exactly I’d been included in the group, I wasn’t sure, except that I’d lived in both Los Alamos and Taos, and could possibly offer some inside information. But I wasn’t going to argue when Zahrias included Jace and me in his invitation to decide the fate of Richard Margolis and the rest of his contingent.
The man in question had his hands bound, but Zahrias still gave him a seat at the table. Next to him was Brent Sutherland, who looked more and more worried with every passing moment. They were the only two representing Los Alamos. Both Miles and Julia had sat down on what I thought of as the “djinn” side of the table, along with Zahrias, Jace, Dani, Lauren, Lindsay, and me. Actually, more humans sat there than djinn, a fact I didn’t think was lost on Margolis, from the way his lips thinned as he glared at us turncoats.
“Now, then,” Zahrias said, “let us attempt to come to some kind of a reasonable settlement.”
“Reasonable?” Margolis shot back. “How can we expect reason from a bunch of monsters and traitors like you?”
“Um, Richard, maybe you should back off a little,” Brent ventured. It was cool enough in the room, but beads of sweat stood out on his forehead, and he looked like he could use a stiff drink.
“You back off — ” Margolis began.
“I’d say you should probably both be quiet and listen to what Zahrias has to say,” Julia interposed in her calm, low voice. Her expression was neutral, but I could see the way she kept her gaze fixed on Brent and wouldn’t look at the commander. Not that I could blame her. Frankly, I didn’t see how she could even bear to be in the same room with him.
Brent slouched in his seat, but the second Julia spoke, Margolis smiled again, a nasty, leering smile. “So that’s how it is?” he asked. “I should have known. Once a slut, always — ”
“That is enough,” Zahrias broke in. His tone remained even, but something about it cracked through the air like a whip. “Ms. Innes is here because she always offers valuable input. Unlike you, Captain Margolis.”
Something suspiciously like a snigger cut through the silence following Zahrias’ words, but I couldn’t tell where it had come from. Maybe Dani; it did seem to have emanated from his general direction. Also, he was probably the only person in attendance who had the nerve to chuckle like that during such a tense scene.
To my surprise, Miles Odekirk was the next to speak. “Richard, you’ve proven that you’re unfit to lead the group in Los Alamos. It’s short-sighted and wasteful to wage war on those who’ve done nothing to you. Even now, you brought the most able-bodied men and the best weapons with you, leaving the people in Los Alamos to defend themselves with only one of my devices and whatever leftovers you saw fit to give them.”
Angry red splotches showed on Margolis’ cheekbones as he leaned forward, bound hands knotted on the table in front of him. “Stick to your science experiments, Odekirk. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Miles only lifted an eyebrow, although I noted the frustrated pucker to Brent Sutherland’s brow and the way he’d nodded at the scientist’s remarks. He’d really listened to what Miles had to say, even if Margolis was ready to dismiss those remarks out of hand.
“I fear that Miles is correct,” Zahrias said. “No one who truly cared about the people in his charge would leave them so undefended.”
“They are not undefended!” Margolis shot back, his expression a peculiar mixture of rage and frustration, as if he wasn’t quite sure why everyone had decided to gang up on him, including his own people. “The device is shielding them from any djinn, and they have sufficient weapons to take care of any other invaders.”
“So you say,” Brent replied. “But we don’t have any way of knowing that for sure, do we?” He shifted so he was looking straight at Zahrias. “Sir, the rest of the guys asked me to speak for them, and for Los Alamos. I’m no leader, though. Captain Margolis here, he brought us together, looked out for us. I think everyone will be grateful to him for that. But I’m not sure he’s what we need going forward.”
“A wise assessment,” Zahrias agreed. He steepled his fingers together under his chin. “But if you don’t want him to lead you, and you feel that you are not up to the task, who will it be? Someone you left behind in Los Alamos?”
At that question, Brent adjusted his position in his chair once again, then shot a quick glance over at Julia. “No, sir. When she disappeared, most of us knew that our little town had lost its soul. Margolis gave the orders, but she was the one who made sure that things ran smoothly. We need her back, sir. We need Julia Innes.”
Almost at once, she began to shake her head. “No, Bren
t, I don’t think that’s the best solution.”
“It’s insane,” Margolis growled. “She’s a traitor. Have you lost your mind?”
“I think your definition of ‘traitor’ and mine are a little different, Captain,” Brent said. Now that he’d spoken his piece, he looked much more in command of himself.
I allowed myself the briefest sideways glance in Zahrias’ direction. I wanted to see how he would react to the prospect of Julia returning to Los Alamos. Maybe the tiny signs I’d thought I’d seen pass between the two of them had been nothing at all, only details I’d manufactured in my mind because I’d thought they would be good for each other.
To my disappointment, Zahrias didn’t appear to have reacted at all. Without looking over at Julia, he said, “That is ultimately Ms. Innes’ decision…although I think Los Alamos would be lucky to have her back.”
Oh, crap. Zahrias had probably just uttered the one thing that would almost guarantee Julia’s return to Los Alamos. She’d always been big on duty.
Head up…and also studiously avoiding looking over at Zahrias…she said, “You would have to put it to a vote, at least with the people you brought with you.”
Margolis let out a snort of contempt. “Vote to have a woman running things? They’ll never agree to it. Better get ready to take over, Sutherland.”
Brent paled slightly at that remark. But his voice was steady enough as he said, “Well, I guess there’s just one way to find out, isn’t there?” Directing his next words to Zahrias, he continued, “And if they say it’s okay? What then?”
“Then you go home,” Zahrias replied. “I fear you will have to leave the commander here with us, but I promise that he will be given the finest jail cell in Santa Fe.”
Something like a growl emerged from Margolis’ throat, but he didn’t speak. He seemed to have realized that there wasn’t much else he could do here, not with the djinn back in possession of their powers.
Now you know what it feels like to be powerless, you son of a bitch, I thought then, recalling how he’d had his men torture Natila and Jace, how he’d forced himself on Julia. I still couldn’t quite understand how she could bear to sit across the table from him.
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