by T. G. Ayer
Nerina would need a living brain to work with. She'd be able to get something if the guy had been frozen while still alive. But he was dead before we hit snow so any further lowering of his core temp would render his brain clear of any residual electrical activity. Leaving a deathtalker with nothing to work with.
I nodded. Okay then. Guess we're taking him home. Saleem nodded and was leaning over to grab a hold of the dead man when I stiffened. Shit.
What?
Steph is going to kill me, I whined, thinking about the Mini.
What's different about this particular brand of wanting to kill you? Saleem asked, total innocence in his voice--enough that I could almost see the halo above his head.
I glared at him, annoyed that he was enjoying the prospect of me being flayed alive by a mere human hacker
Saleem tilted his head and shrugged. I mean, as opposed to Steph’s previous fury that was related to abandonment and betrayal.
Oh, I replied, wondering if he was baiting me deliberately. Still, it could be that he had little idea of the extent of Steph’s possible fury when I broke it to her that her Mini was gone forever. Well. It's only about the worst thing ever. If Steph's anger before this had no venom or hatred in it, then when I get home, what I tell her will probably be all darkness and evil.
Which is what exactly? asked Saleem as he hoisted the attacker’s corpse up enough to get a good grip on the man's upper arm.
I didn’t protest. To be honest, I was relieved Saleem would be jumping the asshole killer for this last leg home. I was already feeling somewhat queasy at what conflict my near future would hold.
I sighed tragically. I killed her Mini. It went bye-bye inside the black tunnel thingie, I said, feeling my stomach twist. How was it that I was so terrified of one small magic-less blonde?
Saleem eyed me for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his lips twitched for the briefest second before his features settled into an emotionless mask.
Then he said, My deepest sympathies. I stared at him, mouth open at how blase he sounded. But before I could reply, he said, Oh, and as much as I am looking forward to being a witness and all, could you make it very clear to her that I arrived after the mini was murdered? I don't want there to be any confusion when it happens.
When what happens?
When Steph goes all nuclear on you.
8
I should never have allowed Saleem to jump the dead attacker home.
The moment we arrived, Saleem pitched forward head first taking the corpse with him to the floor. Hard.
We'd materialized in the front hall of my house--I guess both a little concerned with getting fresh snow all over the house.
Which had been smart, of course. The second we arrived, we rained white snowflakes down onto the entrance rug, and threadbare and old that it was, the faded fibres refused to absorb the snow.
Then Saleem passed out and I forgot about everything else as I grabbed for him. I was too late and he and his burden both crashed onto the floor in an icy heap.
"Saleem?" I fell to my knees at his side, resting my frozen fingers on his jugular to check for a pulse. I wasn't sure what I was thinking but I had to know that he was still with the living.
Too many close calls lately.
His pulse was strong and I sighed, relieved, though I was still worried as I scanned his face. Greyed skin that almost mimicked the dead man who lay beside Saleem, staring at the ceiling.
My assailant’s face was still obscured by the black mask but the skin of his forearm, and the wound where the splinter had impaled his neck, was visible enough that I was finally able to confirm the man was mortal, and not a machine.
I ignored him for now and jumped Saleem to the sofa where I removed his wet jacket and jeans, then tossed a throw over his lower half in case Steph came in while he lay there in his underwear.
Then I made a quick call to Nerina and got her voicemail. "Crap," I whispered, annoyed that nothing seemed to be going well today at all.
I tapped out a message to her, giving a brief explanation and asking her to come ASAP, before the dead man's memories were gone for good.
With the text sent, I hurried to the hall and stared down at the corpse on the carpet. Although hesitant, I went over to him, crouching beside his head to remove the mask.i had to see the face of the man who had almost killed me.
The black mask came away easily, letting off a suctioning sound that was both intriguing and kinda gross. Although curious as to how exactly the mask had remained on throughout the entire time that he and his partner had rained gunfire down on us, I left the macabre ebony face rocking on its cheek and studied my attacker.
His face was pale, with long angles and a roman nose that gave him an air of superiority even in death. His hair was white, the platinum strands hinting at elven or fae origin.
A quick scan of his body revealed long legs and torso, and judging from them I guessed he'd be over six foot at least. His pockets revealed nothing, no ID, no phone or receipts. Nothing at all to connect him to something that would help identify him.
When it came to my dead attacker, I couldn't do anything other than wait for Nerina to arrive. But Saleem did need my attention.
I left the front hall where the snow was slowly melting and soaking into the carpet despite its initial indifference, and went to check on the sleeping djinn sprawled on my couch.
His color was slowly returning and I was kicking myself for letting him bear the burden of the attacker on our return jump. He had appeared fine though, or I'd never have let him push himself.
But apparently the guy is a good actor.
I studied Saleem's face and shook my head. He'd walked into my life not that long ago, pretending to be a cop in order to get my help to track his missing mother.
Finding her had opened a can of worms that not even Saleem could have imagined. But, everything was okay now and his mom was back home on her throne in the djinn homeworld where she belonged.
And Saleem had his father back from the dead too. Another thing he'd never have expected. We still had a bit of unfinished business back in Mithras but I was determined that the crown prince would be back to full strength before he went home.
Or I had been determined. Now, thanks to me, the djinn prince was lying on my sofa, unconscious because he'd spent his energy reserves in order to help me.
Idiot.
I must have spoken the word out loud because Saleem's soft rumbling voice drifted to me. "Hope you don't mean me."
I clicked my tongue and sank onto my knees beside him. I stroked his hair and studied his eyes as he shifted his head to look at me. "Of course, I mean you. Why didn't you tell me you were weak? I was fine to jump him home."
Saleem's lips curved into a soft smile. "What kind of man would I be if I let my girl do all the heavy lifting?"
I snorted. "A stupid man if you don't have the strength and your girl is perfectly capable."
I shook my head, annoyed and yet warmed by the knowledge that this idiot would do just about anything for me. What more could a girl want?
Oh, yes, a girl could want the idiot to remain alive for as long as possible.
Saleem took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm not at all sure what's wrong with me. I could have sworn I was fine when we landed in the snow. I didn't feel any depletion of energy at all." Then he sniffed and began to cough. His body convulsed with the spasms, forcing him to boost to his elbow as he thrust a hand to his nose.
I let out a soft gasp as dark blood dripped from his left nostril, smudged almost immediately on his upper lip as he swiped it away. His eyes widened, the flames flaring within them as he frowned at the stained fingertips.
"What's wrong?" I asked softly, looking from the blood on his fingers to his face and then back again.
My heart twisted. Bloody nostrils were never a good sign in my book. I had enough experience with them in the past already.
Saleem shook his head which only resulted in another stream of
blood dribbling onto his upper lip. I boosted to my feet and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the coffee table.
I thrust them at him and he gave me a grateful smile as he swabbed his bloody nose, his brow furrowed. He'd remained silent, which wasn't normal for the djinn.
"So any idea what's causing that nosebleed?" I asked, my tone a little firmer now as I sensed he didn't want to share. I wasn't going to let him hold out on me especially when it could be something dangerous.
Saleem's lips twisted. "I'm not sure but it could be something to do with the fact that I spent time in Axiat."
I stiffened. "What kind of impact does spending time there have on a person?" I asked carefully.
The djinn shrugged. "I can only talk of what is said of the djinn in Axiat." He fell silent as though contemplating what he knew.
I suppressed a growl. Getting the guy to share was like pulling blood from a stone. I glared at him. "So what is it that you know?" I asked sharply.
Saleem blinked and then raised his head to meet my icy gaze. He didn't appear affected by my tone. "All I know is that Axiat is the plane of the dead. That a djinn who spends too much time in that plane of the ether will die."
My hands went to my hips as I huffed. "That doesn't give us much to go on. How long do you have to spend there in order to have such a negative influence on you body? One minute? Ten? An hour?"
Saleem smiled. "I have no idea. From what I was told there is a dark magic within the plane that is capable of infecting the body of a djinn, capable of infecting djinn magic, thus killing the djinn from the inside out, in body and spirit."
Because the spirit of the djinn is the same as their magic.
I exhaled slowly. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid," I muttered, my fingers fisting as they pressed into my hips.
Saleem sighed. "Mel, you really can't expect to control everything."
"I knew I shouldn't have called you. You were meant to be resting. Regenerating. And instead you get infected by some death magic ether." I waved my hand at his body. "And how do we even stop the spread of this..whatever it is."
"No clue. It wasn't anything more than just a legend to me until now. I didn't even believe it existed until I got there and saw the place. It's pretty much like the legends describe it. Only I don't think anyone goes there and returns often enough for the legends to be updated."
I bit my lip. "Is there someone you can talk to about this kind of history? A djinn historian? Your mom or dad, maybe?"
Saleem nodded slowly, his expression distant. “I think my aunt may help. I can get Fathima to come over for a quick chat. She’ll help figure this out. But first we need to sort out your dead guy."
A new voice had us both looking to the doorway. “I believe that’s what I’m here for,” said Nerina, her grey eyes gleaming almost silver.
9
Nerina stood on the threshold, her smile as faded as her garments. She wore a gray cloak over a pair of dark jeans and a gray shirt.
I only knew what lay beneath the cloak because she'd visited me often enough that she'd relaxed on sofas and chairs where the drab fabric of her cloak would fall away to reveal her clothing.
She'd begun to revert back to her natural form, that of the human who lay beneath the deathtalker exterior, but for some reason, today she seemed more dull, more lifeless. So much more like the dead to whom she spoke all too often.
DeathTalkers weren't technically necromancers, but they were known to have the ability to raise the dead. Today, their main skill was in communicating with those who crossed over into the afterlife, as well as being able to see the dead either in spirit form within the physical realms or in ethereal form within the ether, the Graylands and the other dead planes.
There were rules in terms of how they could complete the communication, how long after death the spirit would remain sentient or able to pass on their messages. Saleem's warning that my attackers brain could have been frozen had scared me enough to move fast to get home and have Nerina get here fast.
I smiled and hurried to her now, trying to breathe and behave normal. As though I even knew what normal was.
I reached the deathtalker and gave her a hug. Almost immediately I was tempted to let her go but I controlled my reaction to the iciness of her body.
Her skin was cold, as icy as that of a dead person. Probably no warmer than the corpse on my hall floor. I forced a smile on my face and let her go but when I met Nerina's eyes I knew instantly she'd not been fooled.
"You okay?" I asked softly.
She made a face, her expression sad. "I'll survive."
I glared at her. "That's not good enough and you know it. You can talk to me, you know that."
She nodded now, smiling again. "I do know. It's a long story." She sighed and I could almost see the cloud of mist she exhaled. Not a good sign at all.
I grabbed her shoulder. "I have time, Nerina. Just say the word." I wanted to shake her hard and get her to tell me what was wrong.
Suddenly I had the strangest feeling that things were about to go horribly wrong, but perhaps that at more to do with the consequences we faced for using the Sharaita. Still, I had a bad feeling regarding Nerina and I needed her to talk to me or it was going to bug the crap out of me until she did get things off her chest.
And knowing Nerina, she wasn't used to confiding in people so chances were she'd keep things to herself unless she was forced to reveal what was troubling her.
I squeezed her shoulder and she swallowed. "Okay. We can talk later tonight. After I deal with your current dilemma, I have a few other items on my list. Then I'll come back, though I do have one request."
"Which is?" I asked, eyes narrowed.
She grinned. "Chicken fettuccine," she said, her voice filled with laughter.
I sniffed. "It's a deal. just don't be late or the pasta will get soggy."
"I won't. Now, show me what you have for me," she said cocking her chin at the hallway behind me. Then she asked out the side of her mouth, "What's with the djinn and the lack of clothing? You and he getting it on in the middle of the morning?"
"Nah. He's a little too weak for anything physical right now."
"I can hear the two of you, you know," the subject of the conversation called out from behind Nerina.
We both turned and studied him. Then I said, "He's weak from jumping me and the dead dude from the North Pole. Maybe you can have a look at him before you leave though. There's something up with him."
There was a moment of silence during which nobody bothered to correct my North Pole reference either.
Then Nerina chuckled. "As long as he puts his pants on."
Saleem let out a loud growl. "Still here, people." He waved a hand but we both smirked and turned to face the corpse.
Nerina nodded and instantly she was down to business, kneeling beside the dead man and tracing her fingertips along his cheek and neck.
"We were worried that the time spent in the snow would have frozen his brain so I'm hoping you can tell me otherwise," I said, joining her beside the man.
She nodded and looked up at me. "He's passed over to the ethereal realm and his brain is still intact. There are no concerns there."
"Sounds like there's a but somewhere in there," I said, watching her face closely.
Nerina squinted up at me. "Not really a but. There's just something odd about him that I can't put a finger on."
I glanced at the man's face. "He looks like he could be fae or elven to me."
"It's possible. He could also be an ancient. Or perhaps from a race we have not yet encountered." Nerina's expression was far away as she leaned toward the man to study his face.
She lowered her head and inhaled slowly and I held my breath as almost instantly, the air around his mouth misted, as though a dark cluster of shadows swirled from his lips toward her.
She sat back again and then nodded. "I'm ready to start when you are."
Footsteps came up from behind us and we loo
ked up to find a barefooted Saleem leaning against the threshold. "I'm not going to miss this," he said.
I was relieved to see that he'd put his pants back on thought they rested a little too low on his hips to be decent. He rolled his eyes when I looked back up at his face but he didn't say anything.
Jokes aside, we had to talk to the dead guy and soon. Who knew what Saleem's bleeding meant and my attacker could hold a secret or two that could prove useful to us.
I turned to watch Nerina as again she leaned forward and lowered her face close to the man's mouth.
Slowly she exhaled a stream of grey smoke and we all watched as it curled and danced before seeking it's way between the man's lips.
The streams of smoke were sinuous and burrowed inside his mouth, disappearing so fast I would be forgiven if I thought I'd imagined seeing them in the first place-- if I wasn't so used to this process already.
Nerina's back was curved and her hood slipped slightly to reveal the pale strands of her hair. Not too long ago, I'd seen her hair color slowly shifting to honey-brown, seen her skin gaining a warm brown color. But now, in her deathtalker mode, she was all gray, all neutral in order to walk the planes of the dead.
Nerina shifted slightly and bent so close she was almost kissing the corpse. Then she inhaled again, drawing the snaking streams of smoke back inside her. The curling, twisting shadows were grey and black and white now, shades of darkness and light that I'd never seen from a corpse before.
But Nerina seemed not to notice. In fact, she appeared to have frozen in place, her chest no longer rising and falling to confirm she was alive. I'd seen her commune with the dead before and a deathtalker going completely still wasn't unusual.
Maybe my gut instinct was just set to a worry default. So, although I was tempted to interrupt the communication with the dead man, I forced myself to remain still and wait for Nerina. The moment she let on that something was wrong, I'd jump right in there and help her.
But minutes ticked by and she didn’t move a muscle. Her eyes remained wide open, sclera covered in an opaque layer of white so thick it made her appear ghostly.
