However, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up the next morning and found all those closets filled — and the drawers in the dressers and nightstands in the master bedroom.
She was inspecting the contents of the kitchen pantry when she heard the sound of a large truck pulling up into the driveway. Qadim, who’d been inventorying the tableware in the cupboards, said, “That is probably Julia. Zahrias did say she would be out to bring us some necessities, once we’d decided on a house.”
“Couldn’t you have just blinked it here instead of making her drive all the way out to the house to see us?”
“Perhaps. But I have a feeling she wanted to come.”
“And that’s not going to be weird?”
His eyes met hers. “Why should it? She means nothing to me, except as someone who is part of the community we’ve just joined. But if you think it will be awkward, I can go outside. I’ve been wanting to inspect the swimming pool anyway.”
“It might be better.” Was that a cowardly thing to say? Maybe, but it did seem as if it would be easier to meet with Julia if Qadim wasn’t hanging around.
“Of course, my dear.” He let himself out the French doors that opened from the breakfast nook onto the patio, then moved out into the open area where the swimming pool was located. It was empty but clean, which meant someone must have removed any dead leaves that had been collecting in it for the past year.
The doorbell sounded, and Madison headed toward the entryway to answer it. When she opened the door, she saw Julia standing there holding two straw market baskets.
“Housewarming committee,” she said with a smile.
“Wow, thank you,” Madison replied, taking one from her.
“No problem.” A little glint entered the other woman’s deep blue eyes as she added, “I like the Tesla.”
“Oh.” For some reason, Madison felt herself flush slightly. “We decided that an electric vehicle was probably safer.” She hesitated, then said, “I’m surprised more of the Santa Fe group doesn’t drive them.”
Julia didn’t seem fazed by the comment. “We actually discussed doing that, but even though djinn energy may seem unlimited, it really isn’t. Everyone came to a unanimous decision that we’d rather have air conditioning and electric lights than using all that power to run electric cars. That beast I’m driving” — she jerked a thumb toward the front of the house, where Madison could just barely spy a big black truck parked in the driveway — “was actually someone’s project. It’s been converted to run on cooking oil. We’re actually thinking of doing that to more vehicles, especially if we can get some of the brain trust from Los Alamos to give us some pointers.”
From the way Julia talked about that town, it sounded as if the survivors there were on fairly good terms with the djinn and the Chosen in Santa Fe. Madison hoped she’d soon begin to figure out how this strange new society really worked.
“That does sound like a good idea,” she said, then continued, “Thank you so much for finding this house for us. It’s spectacular.”
“Oh, you’re welcome.” As Madison stepped aside, Julia came into the entryway and looked around with some approval. “I love how the djinn can make such short work of cleaning. One snap of the fingers, and it looks as if you’ve had an army in.”
“So that’s how you did it.”
“It does make life easier.”
“I was just back in the kitchen. I assume that’s where most of this goes?”
Julia nodded. “We left all the nonperishable stuff but cleaned out everything else. I know that Qadim could probably bring in anything you needed, but it seemed neighborly to offer you something from our stores.” By then they’d reached the kitchen; she set her basket down on the granite island, then looked around. “Is he here?”
“He’s outside.” Madison put the basket she carried down next to Julia’s. “He wanted to look at the pool.”
Julia’s dark gold eyebrows lifted, and one corner of her mouth quirked. “Is that the only reason he’s outside?”
“Well….” For some reason, Madison hadn’t really expected the other woman to be so forthright. But if she wasn’t going to dance around the issue, then Madison thought she’d better not, either. “We thought it might be a little awkward at first, so that’s why he’s not in here.”
At first Julia didn’t say anything. She lifted a net bag filled with apples from the basket she’d been carrying and placed it in the bowl on the counter. Despite her current uneasiness, Madison couldn’t keep her mouth from watering at the sight of those apples. It had been a long, long time since she’d last had one.
“You really don’t need to worry,” Julia said at last. She turned back toward Madison and smiled. “I saw how Qadim acted back at the Andaluz. He barely looked at me. Whatever he thought he might have felt when he met me — it’s gone. He cares about you, Madison. Even Zahrias knows that.”
“Zahrias didn’t seem very happy to see us.”
“Oh, well.” A shrug, and then she said, “I think he was more worried about Hasan al-Abyad still being out there somewhere.”
Zahrias and the rest of us, Madison thought, fighting back a grimace. “We’re not exactly thrilled about that, either.”
To Madison’s surprise, Julia reached out and patted her arm. “Everyone knows to keep watch. And Zahrias also let me know that the elders had contacted him, and had told him to reach out to them immediately if we catch even a whiff of that al-Abyad character anywhere near Santa Fe. It sounds like they put the fear of God in him — threatened him with banishment to the outer circles if he comes within a mile of you or Qadim.”
“‘The outer circles’?” Madison repeated. “What are those?”
Julia’s shoulders lifted. “I don’t exactly know for sure. The djinn equivalent of jail, or Siberia. It’s bad. A human can’t live there — well, a human can’t really live in any part of the djinn world, but the outer circles are supposed to be far, far worse. It’s not an idle threat.”
No, from what she’d seen of those elders, they meant business. And the djinn apparently followed their edicts, so really, Madison supposed she and Qadim were about as safe as they could be. Also, while this house felt sheltered and private, it was less than five minutes to the plaza from here. They could be among friends in no time, especially traveling the djinn way.
Friends. There was an idea. She’d thought she was going to spend the remainder of her life alone in that bunker under Clay Michael’s house, and yet here she was, living with a man who apparently loved her so much he was willing to spend the rest of his incalculably long lifetime with her, and living in a place where she could be part of a community again. It would take some getting used to, but she was very much looking forward to all of it.
The French door opened then, and Qadim entered the kitchen, his hair blown by the wind, looking every inch the refugee from a biker gang, what with the jeans and the boots and the brown T-shirt with the legend “Desert Mountain Distillery” emblazoned on the front. Sometimes Madison wondered if he’d adopted that look on purpose.
But she had to admit that she kind of liked it.
“Hello, Julia,” he said.
“Hi, Qadim.” So casual. But Madison could tell it wasn’t an act. Whatever might have happened between the two of them previously, it wasn’t going to affect Julia and Qadim going forward. “I was just telling Madison how the elders had put the fear of God in Hasan al-Abyad, and so I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”
“Good. I suppose it was too much to hope that they would put him out of his misery for his crimes.”
Julia shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “I didn’t think they did things like that.”
“They don’t. That is, they will banish a person, which in its way is worse than death. But still….” He let the words trail off, then gave an eloquent shrug. “At any rate, thank you for that information, and thank you also for this house and
everything in it.”
“You’re more than welcome. We’re all happy to have you here. And actually, two nights from now, we’ll be having a celebration at the La Fonda Hotel. We wanted to commemorate our first anniversary here in Santa Fe, and of course you’re invited.”
Qadim glanced over at her, and Madison nodded. A party. A real party, with people gathering together to celebrate their community. It wouldn’t be like the world she’d once known, but she thought she might enjoy learning to love what the world had become.
“We’d be honored,” Qadim said. “Thank you for the invitation.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. But I’ll leave you two to get settled in. If you need anything, well, obviously you know where to find us.” She flashed a quick grin at them, then made her goodbyes and headed out the front door.
After it shut, the house felt very quiet to Madison. Qadim watched her carefully, as if attempting to discover what might be going through her head. After a moment he said, “So…what would you like to do now?”
“I think — ” She stopped there and then looked up at him as she felt her mouth curve into a smile. There were so many things they needed to do — finish inventorying their food, find a cover for the pool, winterize the house against the coming cold. November was approaching fast. But one thing overrode all else. She knew the best way they could make this house truly theirs, bond with it just as they had bonded with one another.
Eyes glinting, she replied with a grin, “I think I’d like to try out that bathtub.”
The Djinn Wars will continue with Forbidden, due out in mid-December 2016.
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About the Author
Christine Pope has been writing stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Her work includes paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and science fiction/space opera romance. The Land of Enchantment cast its spell on her while she was researching her Djinn Wars series, and she now makes her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Christine Pope on the Web:
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Forsaken (The Djinn Wars Book 5) Page 25
