A nod, and then he was pulling her against him, holding her tight. The embrace startled her at first, but she remembered a second later that a djinn had to hold a mortal that close to be able to blink them in and out of reality. She still didn’t like it very much, but at least she understood the reason for it.
His arms tightened further, and then the world as she knew it disappeared.
Chapter Fourteen
Colors that had no name swirled behind her eyelids. She felt alternately blasted by heat, then cold. After a moment that could have lasted forever or taken no time at all, Julia felt solid ground beneath her feet.
Jace’s voice came to her ears. “We’re here. You can open your eyes.”
Cautiously, she cracked her eyelids. She didn’t know what she was expecting — some sort of scene out of an otherworldly Arabian Nights, with djinn flying around her on carpets and palaces with fantastic domes and minarets on every side, but what she saw couldn’t be further from that mental image.
The sky hurt to look at. It wasn’t any one color, but shifted from red to blue to green to a sort of bruised purple with yellowish overtones. The light came from everywhere and nowhere. There wasn’t a sun or stars or moon. A brittle wind pulled at her hair, but she had no real sensation of the temperature. It wasn’t cold or warm, but somewhere in between.
And the landscape appeared utterly barren, undulating hills of some dark soil from which nothing grew. Off in the distance, she spied a range of jagged shapes that might have been mountains.
Somehow she retained enough of her faculties to breathe in through her nose, to pull some precious oxygen into her system. At last she managed to say, “You — your people live here?”
A bitter smile touched Jace’s mouth. “It is quite the garden spot, isn’t it? Truthfully, we do not venture outside our homes all that often. But you see now why we pull all the raw materials for our food and our houses from your world. Except for a few sheltered gardens, nothing truly grows here.” He paused then to glance around, keen dark eyes taking in the empty landscape. “This way.”
Julia wondered how he could possibly know which direction to go, but she didn’t ask, only followed him as he headed toward that range of distant mountains. They couldn’t be his destination, could they? That kind of walk would take hours. She thought of the frighteningly finite supply of oxygen in the tank, and how it was getting lower with every breath she took. No way would she have enough if they really did have to hike all that distance, even counting the backup Jace was carrying.
At least the gravity felt marginally lower here. Not enough to give her any sense of euphoria, though, not when she had to measure her oxygen consumption so carefully. As she walked, she tried to pay attention to her breathing, to see if anything felt off or strange. So far, she wasn’t noticing anything. Yes, it felt strange to have that cannula shoved into her nostrils, and the air here had a strange acrid quality to it that burned at the back of her throat, but that was the only real discomfort she was currently experiencing.
Something dark seemed to hover in the air, closer than the mountains, but still far enough away that she couldn’t make out any distinct features. Julia frowned at it. The shape was all wrong for any kind of airplane. Then she wanted to laugh at herself. What the hell did the djinn need with any kind of aircraft when they could instantly transport themselves from place to place whenever they wanted?
As they approached, Julia could see that the shape wasn’t natural at all, but a construct that looked like the sort of Arabian Nights palace that she’d originally imagined — except that it was floating at least a hundred feet in the air. She sent Jace a questioning glance, and he nodded.
“Yes, that is our destination.”
It was beautiful, with its towers of pale stone and banners in blue and purple. From this distance, she couldn’t see any sign of life, but then, if she lived here, she probably wouldn’t spend much time out of doors, either. If the interior of the palace was anywhere near as striking as its exterior, then you’d get a much better view by staying inside.
They climbed a rocky hill in order to get closer to the floating palace. Julia did her best to avoid breathing hard, but she had to give herself enough air to get up that incline. “If you knew where we were going,” she said, trying not to pant, “why didn’t you take us there directly?”
“That’s not how it works.” Unlike her, he didn’t seem at all winded. Usually she would have said she was in decent shape, but something about the air here, even with the assist from the oxygen, seemed to suck the strength right out of her body. “All I had was a general idea of where the elders’ palace might be. Once we were here, we still had to track it down. Besides,” he added, giving her a searching look, as if to confirm for himself that she was managing all right, “it is considered very rude to suddenly appear in another djinn’s home, even if you know exactly where you need to go. This way, they’ll know we’re coming.”
“I suppose that’s a good thing?”
His expression was calm, betraying nothing of what might be going on behind those dark eyes. “I would think so, yes. They came to our aid last spring.”
That was true. The elders definitely didn’t seem pleased by anyone who went against their edicts, and so Julia had no reason to believe they would feel any differently now. And even though she hadn’t exchanged a single word with the one redheaded elder, Julia thought she might have liked the djinn woman, if they were ever able to deal with one another socially. There had been a decidedly un-djinn-like twinkle in her eyes, one that seemed to indicate she wasn’t unsympathetic to the mortals’ cause.
When she and Jace came closer to the palace, Jessica wondered how the hell they were supposed to even get in there. Since he’d said it wasn’t polite to simply blink into a djinn residence without an invitation, there had to be some other way of getting inside. Or maybe the very fact that the building just kept floating there was a subtle sign that they weren’t in fact wanted.
As she watched, however, a gate at the front of the floating structure opened slowly, and from that gate issued a long red streamer. No, not a streamer, but a narrow carpet worked in shades of red and deep blue.
She looked over at Jace. A certain tension around his jaw line seemed to lessen slightly. “That’s our invitation,” he said. “Let’s go.”
He headed toward the carpet, while Julia followed, trying not to frown. That long rectangle didn’t look very stable. And they were expecting her to walk on it?
But the second her foot touched the intricately woven runner, the carpet stiffened, feeling as solid as if it had been poured out of concrete instead of knotted wool. Eyes wide, she stayed slightly behind Jace while he walked up the carpet as if he did that sort of thing every day. Well, maybe he had, back when this world had been his home.
Even though that magical carpet seemed sturdy enough, she tried not to look down at it as they climbed up to the front entrance of the palace. She’d never been that great at heights, and to be steadily ascending on something less than two feet wide was just a little disconcerting.
After a few minutes, though, they reached the gate and passed through the walls of the palace. Now the ground underfoot was solid marble, a soft rose color shot through with gold. Julia didn’t have much time to admire it, however, because a tall, handsome djinn with thick brown hair and blue eyes approached them and said, “They are expecting you. This way, please.”
All very polite. Julia couldn’t help feeling ill at ease, however. The splendor of her surroundings cowed her, and even though she knew it had been practical to come here in her jeans and hiking boots, she felt small and shabby. Yes, Jace was dressed very much the same, except for motorcycle boots instead of the sturdy lace-ups she had on, but he didn’t seem to be aware of any discrepancy between his appearance and the palace around him.
But at least he’s a djinn, she thought. He doesn’t care about looking out of place because this is his world, his people.
Or a
t least they used to be. He’d been pretty clear about where his loyalties now lay.
The brown-haired djinn who’d been leading them stopped at a high, arched doorway. Spreading a hand toward the arch, he said, “They will see you inside.”
Jace murmured a word of thanks, then strode forward, chin high. Julia did the best she could to look similarly confident, although she had a feeling the cannula in her nose somewhat lessened that impression.
The room must have been some sort of audience chamber, but she was relieved to see that there was no audience, only five djinn seated on the dais at the far end of the room. Three men, two women, one of them the redheaded djinn Julia remembered. They didn’t stand or make any word of greeting, but only sat there in a set of matching carved chairs, watching as she and Jace approached.
“Elders,” he said, stopping a few feet from the dais, and then pressing his hands together and bowing from the waist.
“Jasreel al-Ankara,” said the oldest of the group, a djinn who actually had some streaks of silver in his dark hair. His gaze moved to Julia. “Julia Innes.”
So at least they knew who she was. She’d wondered if they would pay any attention to her at all, or whether she would have to stand off to the side and let Jace do all the negotiating.
“Elders,” she said, imitating Jace as best she could. She had to cut the bow short because the oxygen tank began to slide forward and threatened to smack her in the head if she didn’t stand back up immediately. As she straightened, she could have sworn she saw the redheaded djinn woman’s mouth twitch with suppressed laughter.
If Jace had noticed her amusement, he didn’t give any indication. Since the pleasantries had been dispensed with, he appeared ready to get down to business. “We’re here because of a most pressing matter. Zahrias al-Harith has been taken by a woman of the djinn, Lyanna al-Syan, and — ”
“We know,” said the lead elder. His face was utterly impassive, so Julia couldn’t begin to guess what his opinion on the situation might be.
Jace blinked. “You know?”
“Yes. There is very little that escapes our attention, Jasreel, especially if it involves one who has been given a position of responsibility. After the incident this past spring with Khalim al-Usar, we knew we must watch all of you in Santa Fe a little more closely.”
Stepping forward, Julia said, “But if you knew, why didn’t you do anything about it?”
The elder’s eyes seemed to linger on the cannula in her nose, the thin tubing attached to the oxygen tank slung over her shoulder. “My congratulations on your resourcefulness. We did not expect one of your kind to come here, not when the risks were so high.”
“What else could I do?” she responded. “I wasn’t about to sit idly by and let others do the work of getting Zahrias back.”
The elders were all silent then, although Julia had a feeling, judging by the way their eyes flickered toward one another, that they were holding one of those disconcerting subvocal conversations. After a long pause, the redheaded djinn got up from her seat and came forward.
“And why is it so important that you be involved in his rescue?”
The question was asked simply, but Julia guessed the djinn woman already knew the answer. As to why she’d asked it…maybe she wanted Julia to make a formal declaration in front of all of them before they’d offer their aid. Which was fine. At this point, she was far beyond pride.
“Because I love him,” she said. “I’ve probably loved him almost since the moment I first met him, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. That’s why I’ve come. We’ve already lost too much time together.”
“And does he love you in return?”
Did he? Zahrias had never spoken the words, but in that moment, Julia realized it didn’t matter. The way he had kissed her, held her, looked into her eyes — she knew that he’d fought against the feeling as much as she had, but had finally given up resisting. Sometimes you simply had to accept what the universe decided to send you.
“Yes,” she replied.
“And yet you were not his Chosen,” said one of the other elders, a man who had not spoken before then.
Hearing that painful detail spoken of so calmly made Julia want to flinch. “No,” she said. “But he told me he regretted that he hadn’t done so. And I believed him.” Of course she had believed him — the truth had been all too clear in every painful syllable he’d uttered. The djinn had many powers, but the ability to turn back time wasn’t one of them. All Zahrias could do now was attempt to move forward.
Another one of those thick pauses, one where she could practically feel the mental conversations going back and forth amongst the elders. “Your cause is just,” the lead elder said at last. “But I fear we cannot help you.”
“What?” Julia burst out. She began to take a step forward, but Jace laid a hand on her arm, restraining her. Belatedly, she realized that making any aggressive movements around such powerful beings probably wasn’t the best idea in the world.
“I’m not sure I understand,” Jace said, his voice tight. Right then, Julia realized he was doing everything he could to keep himself from lashing out at them as well.
The twinkle had disappeared from the redheaded djinn’s eyes. Lovely features so still they might have been a mask, she said, “Zahrias al-Harith has a history with this woman, this Lyanna al-Syan, does he not?”
“Yes,” Julia replied, not sure what that had to do with anything. But even as the djinn elder asked the question, Jace had seemed to deflate suddenly, the straight set of his shoulders drooping.
“Oh.”
“What is it?” she demanded. “Am I missing something here?”
Deep green fabric woven with copper threads glinted as the djinn woman lifted her shoulders. “We do not interfere in the personal lives of our people. This is something you will have to work out amongst you.”
Julia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But you helped us when Aldair kidnapped Jessica Monroe, Jace’s Chosen! How is that not interfering in their personal lives?”
The redheaded djinn ignored Julia’s abrupt tone. In fact, her expression softened, and she went so far as to step down from the dais and lay a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It was not the same thing. Aldair and Jessica had never been lovers. In addition, he had allied himself with Khalim al-Usar to violate the compact we had all agreed to, that the Chosen should not be harmed in any way. But Lyanna al-Syan has not broken that compact. Has she hurt anyone?”
“Yes,” Julia said at once. “Or at least, a man who was working for Lyanna’s brother killed three people, friends of mine. I would say that was hurting someone.”
The djinn woman lifted her hand from Julia’s shoulder. Her eyes, a deep green flecked with gold, were somber. Tone soft, she asked, “But were they Chosen?”
Of course they weren’t. Brent and Nancy and Eric had been among the Immune, but they were under no djinn’s protection. The realization only made Julia that much angrier. “So I suppose you’re telling me it doesn’t matter that they were killed, since they were just ordinary humans.”
“I am not saying that,” she replied calmly. “But there is no compact protecting the Immune. Any djinn can kill an immune human and not have to worry about the consequences, because there are none.”
“That’s horrible.”
“To you, perhaps. But since Lyanna has broken none of our laws, we cannot prosecute her, or pursue her.”
Julia couldn’t believe she was hearing any of this. Fury burned in her. To risk so much, and for what? Only to be told that it wasn’t their problem, and to run along now? “So you’ll just sit back and let her keep Zahrias as her plaything?”
“Regretfully, yes.” The djinn woman hesitated, and then she smiled. “But fear not. Even as a captive, I believe Zahrias al-Harith is not entirely without resources.”
* * *
He had to wonder how much of her family’s wealth Lyanna had squandered to build such a place. Dining halls an
d libraries and galleries and bedrooms and bath chambers — all to support one person? Surely she spent her time in only a tenth of all this space, if even that much.
But of course he did not show his disapproval. No, he smiled at the appropriate intervals, and uttered false words of praise, and made sure she could not detect a note of censure in his voice.
Now she had led him out into a garden of sorts, carefully shielded from the harsh environment outside the palace walls by an enormous pergola covered in thick vines. He did not recognize the plant, but knew it must be something that thrived in hostile conditions, for in general, the flora of Earth did not do well here. Under the protection of that vine, however, more flowers and vines and bushes grew, bringing an incongruous touch of green to a place that did not generally see such abundance.
“It is very beautiful,” he told her, the first true word of praise he had spoken all afternoon. Truly, it did refresh his soul somewhat to be in a place that reminded him of the world he’d been taken from.
“I thought you would like it,” Lyanna replied. She stepped a few paces away from him to run a fingertip over the velvety petals of a blood-red rose that grew nearby.
“And yet….” he began, then stopped himself.
“And yet what?”
“You could have all this down in the mortal plane as well,” he said. “Our people have begun to settle there in earnest, have they not?”
Her scarlet-tinted lips pushed together. “You sound like Qadim.”
Zahrias hadn’t expected that comment. “I do?”
“Yes. He thinks I am foolish for expending so much energy on this house. In fact, he believes I will be punished for bringing you here in such a fashion. Silly, is it not? The elders do not stoop to involve themselves in lover’s quarrels.”
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