It wasn’t so much that they were doing anything which couldn’t be seen in public, more that the two of them never seemed to share any open displays of affection. Something was going on between them, or they wouldn’t have been plowing through those boxes of condoms at a steady pace, but whenever anyone else was around, you’d be hard-pressed to believe they were a couple at all.
As soon as Julia stepped into the room, though, Lindsay lifted her hands from Miles’s shoulders, and he immediately picked up his glasses and put them back on. Maybe they were his shield against the world; Julia thought he looked a lot younger, and strangely vulnerable, without them.
“Julia…?” Lindsay said, obviously startled to see her.
“You need to come with me,” Julia said, not bothering to mince words. “There’s no point in looking for clues here. Margolis was helped out of his cell by a djinn named Qadim, but they had a falling out. Margolis is dead.”
“Wait,” Miles put in, pushing back the chair where he sat. Lindsay got out of the way just in time. “Why would a djinn help Margolis, of all people? Their goals were diametrically opposed.”
Not as much as you might believe, she thought, but she just shook her head. “It’s complicated. I’ll tell you everything once we get to Jace and Jessica’s house.”
“Why there?” Lindsay asked. Her tone was puzzled, but not worried.
“Because it’s not safe here. The Santa Fe community has some sort of spy hidden among them, only I don’t know who it is. So the best place to regroup is with Jace and Jessica, because I’m going to need a djinn’s input on this, and he’s the only one I can trust.” Well, besides Zahrias, she added mentally. But he’s a million miles away right now.
The shifting expressions on both Miles and Lindsay’s faces seemed to tell her that they had roughly a hundred questions for every answer she’d given them. Julia tensed, wondering if they were about to start lobbing those questions at her. She really didn’t have time for that.
But then they looked at each other, not speaking, and Miles nodded. Lindsay said, “Okay. We have a few things with us here, just because we didn’t want to waste time going back and forth to the hotel.”
That was something. Julia had no idea how long any of this was going to take, but she knew she didn’t dare risk having Miles and Lindsay return to the La Fonda to retrieve their belongings. “Good. Then get them, and we’ll head out. Murrah is loitering in the lobby, but we’ll just have to hope he isn’t the spy.” She really couldn’t imagine the big, quiet djinn as a spy, since he didn’t seem quite as quick-witted as most of his compatriots, but for all she knew, his demeanor could just be an act.
Lindsay went over to a door that proved to be a sort of supply closet, and got out a black backpack and a brown canvas duffle bag. While she was fetching those items, Miles rose from his chair and retrieved a couple of pieces of electronic equipment Julia couldn’t identify from where they’d been sitting in Margolis’ former cell. He took the backpack from Lindsay and slid the equipment into it.
“All right,” he said. “That’s everything.”
They all headed for the elevator and silently got inside. When they emerged in the lobby, Murrah was nowhere to be seen. Julia wanted to feel relieved, but she didn’t know for sure whether or not his absence was a good sign. Either way, the best thing to do was to get out of there as quickly as possible.
She guided Miles and Lindsay out the side entrance and over to the truck. Lindsay raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar vehicle but didn’t say anything.
It was crowded — the truck didn’t have an extended cab, just some space behind the seats to stow their duffle and backpack — but no one said anything as they squeezed into their seats and Julia pointed the truck eastward, staying to side streets until she didn’t have any choice except to cut over to Canyon Road. As they passed a sprawling adobe-style house, Lindsay and Miles exchanged a glance.
Julia wondered what that was about, and then realized it must have been the home they’d shared before returning to Los Alamos with her. If only those walls could talk, she thought, repressing a smile. Lindsay had always sworn up and down that she and Miles hadn’t become intimate until after they left Santa Fe, but Julia still couldn’t help wondering,
Not that it was really any of her business, but focusing on their unlikely relationship gave her something to think about besides worrying what this Lyanna person might be doing to Zahrias at that very moment. Someone so unscrupulous as to stoop to kidnapping and murder probably wouldn’t bat an eye at drugging the man she wanted, if that meant she could be intimate with him.
Torturing herself probably wasn’t a very good idea, but Julia’s thoughts kept circling that awful possibility. Of course Zahrias would resist…if he was able to. She had no idea what sort of resources Lyanna had at her disposal, but clearly she was able to make her brother jump at her command.
“All right, we’re away,” Lindsay said at last. Since she was much shorter than Miles, she’d gotten stuck with the uncomfortable middle seat, squeezed in between him and Julia, and she didn’t look too happy about it. “So are you going to tell us what’s really going on?”
“Yes,” Julia replied as she took the cutoff for the dirt road that led out to Jace and Jessica’s property. “But I might as well wait until we’re at the house. Then I can explain the whole thing to everyone at the same time.”
That response didn’t seem to please Lindsay all that much, but after a moment she gave a grudging nod. Her practical engineer’s brain probably saw the logic in Julia’s explanation, even if she didn’t particularly enjoy it.
After bumping over the rutted dirt lane for about ten minutes, Julia caught sight of their destination, the shimmering gold of the aspens that surrounded it looking like a beacon. She eased the truck up to the wall that enclosed the property, wondering if she was going to have to stop and get out, but then the gate opened slowly inward.
There weren’t any visible signs of a security system, but that probably didn’t matter when you had a djinn in residence. She drove up the small hill where the house was built, then parked in the open area to the left of the detached garage. As they got out of the truck, she saw Miles give an oddly grim glance around the property, his mouth set in a flat line.
Julia wondered what that was about, then realized he hadn’t been here since he came with Margolis to haul Jace away all those months ago. Was the scientist reflecting on his guilt in that particular scenario? It looked that way, judging by his expression.
Well, Miles definitely wasn’t blameless, but the responsibility for that witch hunt mainly rested on Margolis’ shoulders. Now that the man in question was dead, maybe it was time for Miles to ease up on himself.
Margolis was dead. She still hadn’t quite processed that fact. He’d been such a bogeyman in her imagination that even now she couldn’t help thinking he might still appear out of nowhere to torture and hurt her, like an inhuman bad guy from a B-grade slasher flick.
But then Jace and Jessica were coming out of the house, and she deliberately pushed those thoughts away. They had to focus on getting Zahrias back.
“I’d say this was a surprise,” Jessica said by way of greeting them. “But Jace detected you coming down the road a few miles out. What’s going on? And where’s Zahrias?”
So they didn’t know what had happened to him. Julia still wasn’t sure exactly how in contact the djinn were with each other. She’d gotten the impression that Jace and Zahrias could speak across some distance because of their family connection, but how far that talent extended, she had no idea.
Forcing her words past the sudden constriction in her throat, Julia said, “He’s gone. They took him.”
“‘They’? Jessica repeated, looking confused. “They who?”
Jace stepped forward then. “Please, everyone come inside. I can see that Julia has a story to tell. Better to do so where we can sit down and be comfortable.”
She shot him a grateful look, and ever
yone headed into the house, following Jace to the living room. Although it seemed that in general he didn’t tend to use his powers very much, he’d apparently decided it was time to make an exception. A pitcher of iced tea and some glasses appeared with a snap of his fingers, and everyone sat down, Miles and Lindsay on the sofa, Jace and Jessica on the love seat. Julia took one of the chairs that remained and tried not to think about how sitting there only seemed to reinforce her sensation of being utterly alone.
Which was foolish, because she wasn’t alone. She was surrounded by friends.
“Zahrias did find me,” she said, after she’d picked up one of the glasses of iced tea and taken a long swallow. “I was being held in a house in Pojoaque.”
“By Margolis and Qadim al-Syan?” Jace asked.
She startled a little at that question. “You knew who Qadim was?”
Jessica was the one to reply. “Zahrias told us a little bit. He guessed it was Qadim because of some evidence at the scene where your Suburban was attacked.” Pausing, she knotted her fingers on her jean-clad knee and let out a little breath, not quite deep enough to be a sigh. “I am so sorry about Brent and Nancy and Eric. I can’t imagine — ” She broke off, then seemed to gather herself before continuing, “Anyway, Shawn sent out a search party from Los Alamos and found them. They were taken back to the settlement so they can be buried there.”
This piece of information did — well, it didn’t exactly cheer Julia up, but it made her feel slightly better about the situation. At least they hadn’t been left there to rot in the wreckage of the Suburban, would be provided decent burials so their friends in Los Alamos could give them a proper goodbye. “Thank you for letting me know,” she said quietly.
“So who is this Qadim?” Lindsay asked, after an awkward pause.
“Someone from Zahrias’ past…someone with a taste for revenge,” Jace said. “But when you said ‘they took him,’ which ‘they’ did you mean?”
“Followers of Qadim and his sister, I guess. Earth and water elementals. They just appeared out of nowhere and snatched him away. It was really chaotic, so I can’t say for sure, but I think there were at least ten of them, maybe more.” That horrible scene replayed in Julia’s mind. If only she could have thought of some way to stop them. But even Zahrias couldn’t prevail against that many djinn, so what the hell was she thinking, that she, one mortal woman, could have done any better?
“Yes, that makes sense,” Jace said in musing tones. Everyone there, even Miles, shot him glances laced with varying levels of outrage. At once he raised his hands, adding, “I’m certainly not condoning what happened. Only that in situations like this, it is those whose natures are opposite the one being taken who are employed, because they are best suited to defeating their prey.”
“So he’s been taken to the djinn plane, I assume,” Miles said then.
“Yes,” Julia said. “To this Lyanna woman — Qadim’s sister,” she explained in response to Lindsay’s confused expression. “And that’s what I need you all to help me with. I have to go there, get him back somehow.”
Miles’s gray eyes took on a glint behind his metal-framed glasses. Julia had seen that glint before. It meant that he’d just encountered an interesting problem, one he’d delight in solving.
Jace, on the other hand, only looked troubled. “I know you want to do this, Julia. But it’s impossible.
“There is no way you’ll ever be able to rescue Zahrias.”
Chapter Thirteen
The air felt heavy, weighing on his lungs. He tried to breathe in deeply, but the cloying scent of the spices used to perfume the air in the palace caught in his throat, and he coughed. Rolling onto his side, Zahrias placed his hands against the overly soft mattress and began to push himself to a sitting position — only to freeze when he saw Lyanna lying there next to him, her mouth lifting in a malicious smile.
“You do look so handsome when you sleep,” she said, then gave a cat-like stretch, one he could tell she’d calculated to show off her curves to their best advantage.
“What did you do?” he demanded, pushing himself up to a sitting position. His head swam. Something in that meal she’d fed him had to have been drugged. Not the wine, he thought. It had tasted safe enough. But there had been enough different dishes created with an almost dizzying variety of spices to almost guarantee that he wouldn’t have been able to detect anything amiss with them.
“I?” Her eyes widened, but he saw no innocence in them. Rather, they wore a predatory gleam. “I did nothing. We did nothing. You were weary, and slept. I will confess that I found myself missing those times when we slept next to one another, and so I lay down here to be beside you. But nothing happened.”
A pitcher of water sat on the table next to the bed. Without responding to her, Zahrias lifted the pitcher and poured some water into one of the engraved silver cups that had been placed there. Perhaps the water had been drugged as well, but he didn’t think so. She would not want to risk incapacitating him by giving him too much.
The water was cool going down his throat, and it seemed to help with the churning in his stomach. He drank some more, then set the cup back down on the table. Behind him, he could feel the bed shift as Lyanna got up.
Although he did not wish to look at her, he knew that was a coward’s escape. Mouth set, he turned so he could see where she stood a few feet away, arms crossed beneath her breasts.
“Truly, Zahrias, I do not recall you having such a suspicious nature. It must have come from spending so much time among mortals.”
He ignored the jab. “Forgive me if I am suspicious. Being kidnapped can have that effect on a man.”
Her lips pursed. “Can we not let that go? I wished to have you here with me, and I knew you would not come if I only asked. You are far too bound up in your duty.”
One thing certainly hadn’t changed about Lyanna. She was still all too eager to tell herself pleasant lies. Far better to think that his reticence stemmed only from his worries about the responsibilities he had left behind in Santa Fe, rather than any kind of disgust at being with her.
“It is my duty,” he said. “One I do not take lightly. But even if I did….” He hesitated, for he knew he must walk a fine line here. If he offended her too much, she might take even more drastic action than she had previously. Voice as gentle as he could make it, he said, “We shared a time together once. And it was good…for a while. Is it not better to remember things as they were between us, rather than force ourselves into something that is not natural for either of us at the current stage of our lives?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he had made a mistake. Her artificially arched brows drew together, and she retorted, her tone crackling with spite, “‘Not natural’? Are you saying it is unnatural for me to want to be with you again?”
“No, Lyanna, that is not what I said.”
But she would not be mollified. Amber eyes all but shooting sparks, she stalked to the door and laid her hand on the latch. As she lifted it, she spat, “You should guard what you say, Zahrias al-Harith. For I think it is time you learned what ‘unnatural’ really means!”
After delivering that ominous remark, she stalked out and slammed the door behind her.
For a long moment, Zahrias didn’t move. He stared at the door, then went over to it and tested the latch. Locked, of course. Angry she might be, but not so much that she would allow herself to be careless. If only his powers had not been taken from him. He would have blasted that door — and perhaps the wall that surrounded it — into the next dimension.
But it would not be that easy. He could not let himself brood on the threat contained in her last words to him. No, he could only go back to the bed, grateful that at least he would have it to himself this time, and lie down. He knew he must be as rested as possible to face what she had planned for him after this.
* * *
“You keep saying it’s impossible,” Julia said. How could Jace sit there looking so c
alm and handsome, and yet be doing everything he could to shoot down her hopes? “So please tell me why it’s impossible.”
He flickered a glance at Jessica. They could have been communicating silently; it was difficult to tell for sure. “Because humans can’t survive on the djinn plane. The few times they’ve gone there, they’ve died within a few hours, gasping and choking.”
“Gasping?” Miles asked. “As if they were suffocating?”
“Something like that. I’ve never seen it for myself, thank God. But that is what I’ve heard.”
“Incompatible atmosphere,” the scientist said, tone musing. “Most likely the mix of elements is just enough different from what exists here on earth that any human who goes there slowly dies from a lack of oxygen. Interesting that you djinn can survive here just fine.”
“Better than fine, actually,” Jace confessed. “We have made our home there on that other plane because we must, but when we’re here…we feel better. Not exactly euphoric, and after we’ve been here for a while, we acclimate, but those first few hours here, we feel almost….”
“High?” Jessica suggested with a grin.
“I suppose so,” he said. “I’ve never used narcotics, so I don’t have much basis for comparison.”
“What, you’ve never smoked a little pot?” she asked, still smiling. “Or some opium in a hookah or something?”
“Of course not,” he replied, looking offended. “Why would you think that?”
She lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know…it just seemed like a ‘djinni’ sort of thing to do.”
Before they could bicker over it any further, Julia interjected, “Okay, so you can’t go there without some kind of assistance in breathing. So what if I had something like, I don’t know, a spacesuit or something?”
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