“All right,” she said then. “Assuming you’re telling us the truth, and you do want to help us. Why?”
The djinn gave a short laugh. “It is not because of any love I have for Zahrias, I assure you. While this is a matter the elders could not touch, since it involved a personal issue, that does not mean they have not taken note of what Lyanna has done. The time has come when my people can finally claim their piece of this world. I do not wish to be shut out because of my sister’s transgressions.”
“The time…what are you talking about?”
Qadim’s mouth twisted in an ironic smile. “I suppose it is not something your djinn partners have wished to share with you. But then, you do not even have such a partner, do you, Julia?” He paused significantly while she glared at him, then added, “I would have been happy to cure that particular lack, you know. But enough of that. Save for the communities where my people dwell with their Chosen — and your odd little stronghold in Los Alamos — this world is now empty. It is time for us to begin to settle here.”
Although she’d been silent the whole time, watching the exchange among Qadim and Jace and Julia, Martine spoke up then. “What, you mean they’re all gone?”
“There could be a holdout here and there.” He shrugged, a gesture chilling in its indifference. “But, to all intents and purposes, yes, they are gone. Being immune was not enough to save them.”
Tears stood out, bright in Martine’s eyes. She looked away from Qadim toward Murrah, who had remained hunched in his chair. He did stand up then, laboriously, as if fighting the effects of the device. “My dear — ” he said, reaching out to her.
“Don’t you touch me,” she snapped. “You’re all the same!”
And then she fled down the hallway where she’d first emerged. A moment later, Julia heard a door slam.
An awkward silence fell, during which Murrah couldn’t seem to meet anyone’s gaze. At last Jace said, “You know, Qadim, I do believe you. Because it’s clear to me that you never do anything, except out of self-interest, up to and including throwing your sister under the bus.”
“Quaint turn of phrase,” Qadim replied. “You’ve mastered the whole ‘mortal’ thing rather well. No wonder you were able to dupe your own Chosen for so many months.”
Jace didn’t have the sort of complexion that flushed easily, but his dark eyes took on a dangerous glitter. “I’d watch it if I were you.”
“Perhaps.” Qadim turned toward Julia. “But since we are all friends here, perhaps you could turn off the device now? It’s making my head ache.”
With some reluctance, Julia flipped over the device. Her finger hovered directly above the switch that would deactivate it. What if this was all a trick, and Qadim was only trying to get her to turn it off so he could do his worst?
It was a risk she’d have to take. Anyway, she had Jace and Murrah there, and she had to hope they’d step in to save her if something went wrong. Well, Jace would, anyway. Murrah was still kind of a wild card.
Letting out a breath, she ticked the switch over. At once, the three djinn visibly relaxed, while at the same time looking about an inch taller each.
“Much better,” Qadim said. He took a step toward Julia, and she backed away at once. An ironic smile touched his mouth. “Have no fear, Julia. I do not have any designs on your person. Even if I did, I doubt Jasreel here would allow me to act on them.”
“Damn straight,” Jace growled.
Julia was an only child, but right then she wondered if this was what having an older brother would be like — to have someone at your back who made sure you were protected, and safe.
Then again, Qadim didn’t seem to care much about protecting his own sister, not once he’d realized that following her whims could harm his own prospects.
“I must be the one to bring you to Lyanna’s home, since I am the only one of us who knows where it is.” His dark eyes flicked to Murrah, faintly amused. “That is, not including our friend here. But I rather doubt he wishes to accompany us.”
Murrah didn’t even bother to deny it. “No, I much rather would not.”
“Well, then. So I must hold you, Julia, and Jasreel here can take my other hand, so we will all travel together.”
That didn’t sound appetizing at all, but Julia told herself this was no time to be squeamish. Not when Zahrias’ very life might be at stake. “I’ll need my oxygen,” she said, glancing over at Jace. “It’s still sitting back at your house.”
“No problem,” he replied, then snapped his fingers. The tank — or maybe it was the second, unused one — appeared on the floor immediately in front of her, the cannula resting on top.
Having djinn around could be sort of handy. Well, as long as they were good djinn like Zahrias and Jace.
Flashing him a grateful smile, Julia picked up the tank and swung it over one shoulder, then tried not to make too much of a face as she inserted the cannula in her nose. Qadim watched this entire procedure with a certain amount of curiosity, but he didn’t comment.
When she was ready, he said, “Since you’ve already been to the djinn world, I know I don’t have to warn you that this mode of travel can be…unpleasant.”
“I know,” she replied.
What was even more unpleasant was feeling his arm snake around her waist and pull her close, but she tried to remind herself that Jace had done more or less the same thing when he took her to the djinn plane. There just wasn’t any way around that need for physical contact. However, it did reassure her to see Qadim reach out with his free hand and grip Jace’s wrist, their hands locking around one another’s arms like one of those manly handshakes she’d seen in movies shot in the ’70s.
She tried to concentrate on that amusing image, rather than the sensation of Qadim’s body pressed up against hers. The heat from him seemed to penetrate the clothing she wore, but there was nothing welcome about it, unlike the warmth she’d experienced when Zahrias held her.
Well, if they somehow managed to succeed in all this, maybe she’d be able to feel him again very soon.
“Ready?” Qadim asked, and she nodded. Actually, she didn’t feel at all ready, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him.
He didn’t ask Jace the same question. A pause while Qadim took in a breath, his arm tightening around her waist, and then again she had that sensation of searing heat, followed by piercing cold. She was falling into a place that didn’t have the right gravity to capture her. Surely she would be swallowed by it….
Only she wasn’t. Her feet touched the ground, and she blinked furiously against the disorientation that seemed to be the automatic byproduct of that form of travel. She couldn’t allow herself to be distracted. Not now.
Good thing, because as the scene before her grew clearer, she realized Qadim had brought them here just in time. Zahrias was pressed against a wall covered in vines, face drawn in pain. In front of him stood a djinn woman with long dark hair and flashing amber-colored eyes. A more impartial observer might have described her as beautiful, but Julia could only see the cruelty in the set of her mouth and the glint in her eyes.
Qadim was the first to act. He stepped forward, saying in coldly casual tones, “Sister.”
She whirled at once, painted eyes narrowing as she seemed to realize who had spoken. The look of anger on her face only intensified as she realized her brother was not alone, and had in fact brought her hated rival with him. Although she thought Lyanna wouldn’t do anything, not with Jasreel and Qadim there, Julia couldn’t help taking a step backward as those strange amber eyes fastened on her.
Lyanna’s voice could have cut through stone. “This is none of your concern, brother. And how dare you bring that here with you?”
Zahrias took a step forward, but the djinn woman raised a hand. His eyes, filled with despair, met Julia’s. In that moment, she wished more than anything that she shared the Chosen bond with him, so they would be able to communicate silently the way all the other djinn and their human partners c
ould. She wanted to tell him that it would be all right, that she didn’t blame him for anything Lyanna had done. But since she couldn’t, all she was able to do was gaze back at him, willing him to understand that she loved him, that they could move on together once this was all over.
“I dare,” Qadim replied, “because I have had enough of your tantrums and foolishness, and I curse myself for letting you talk me into participating in this insane enterprise in the first place. If you let Zahrias go, we may still be able to salvage something from this situation.”
A laugh, and Lyanna shook her head. “Are you mad? After all I went through to get him here?”
At those words, Jace let out a low growl of anger, although he didn’t say anything. Not that he had to; Julia felt the same outrage pulsing through her. This woman’s actions had indirectly caused the deaths of three innocent people. As for what she’d done to Zahrias — he might not be showing any obvious signs of injury, but Julia could tell something had occurred right before she and Jace and Qadim arrived. Zahrias stood straight and tall, but she could tell he was in pain from the way his jaw was set, and from the faint gleam of sweat on his brow.
“You went through nothing,” Qadim retorted. “Only had others do your bidding, as has been your wont ever since you were old enough to speak. Your actions have led you to a precipice, but you have not yet gone over the edge. If you let Zahrias go now, it may be enough to prevent the elders from taking action against us.”
“What action could they take? This is a personal matter.” Lyanna paused then and surveyed her unwanted visitors. The cold gleam in the djinn woman’s eyes made a shudder go through Julia. Their unfeeling amber might have belonged to a tiger stalking its prey. “The elders care nothing for those who might have perished because of my actions, as they were neither djinn nor Chosen. In fact,” she added, a lazy drawl in her voice that somehow was far more chilling than any outright threat she could have made, “I doubt very much whether they would care if anything happened to this one here. If she is gone, then Zahrias will have no reason to think of her ever again. And then he will truly be mine.”
She raised her hand. Qadim and Jace both began to move toward the djinn woman, even as Zahrias shouted, “No, you cannot!”
A crushing force descended on Julia’s chest. She couldn’t breathe, even with the cannula feeding her the oxygen she needed to survive. The verdant space around her began to blur, and she fell to her knees, gasping.
Darkness began to erode the edges of her vision. Hands reaching out, she gasped, “Zahrias….”
* * *
She could not be here. What madness had led Qadim and Jasreel to bring Julia within a hundred leagues of Lyanna? But even as his heart beat with fear at the thought of what his erstwhile lover might do when confronted by the human woman he truly loved, Zahrias couldn’t help staring at Julia, drinking in the pure beauty of her face and the low, warm sound of her voice the way a man dying of thirst might soothe his parched mouth at an unexpected oasis in the desert.
Why Qadim was cajoling his sister to release her captive, Zahrias couldn’t begin to guess. He and the other djinn had never been friends. Something to serve Qadim’s own self-interest must be involved. But perhaps Lyanna would listen to him. Perhaps there was still some way out of this.
Hope died within him, though, as she ignored her brother’s pleas, and only looked with hatred on Julia. Raised her hands to blast her with the strength of the energy that pulsed through her, just as she had done to knock him down from his desperate attempt to scale the wall.
And then Julia, falling to her knees, blue-gray eyes wide with fear, pleading with him to do something. Anything.
He stared at her, fury and horror twisting within his gut. She could not be hurt like this. Not at the hands of such a one as Lyanna. She had no right to tell him who he could or couldn’t love.
She had no right.
Zahrias realized then what he must do. What he should have done a long time ago.
He held Julia’s gaze for a precious second or two, hoping she could still see him beyond the pain Lyanna was inflicting. And then he glanced up at the djinn woman and said loudly, “I claim this human woman as my own. Julia Innes will be forever known as my Chosen, and anyone who lifts a hand against her will answer to me.”
A flash of brilliant light, and then the elders were there, gazing at him with some approval. Ashtar, the female elder with the flaming red hair, stepped forward, a smile curving her lips. “And they will answer to us as well.” She extended a hand, and Julia, eyes wide with shock, took it and shakily got to her feet. “For you know, Lyanna al-Syan, that to attack one of the Chosen is the same as attacking one of us. In doing so, you break the compact we all agreed upon, and you must suffer the consequences.”
Lyanna’s face twisted with fury. “He only did that to save her! He does not truly want her — ”
“Oh, but I do,” Zahrias cut in. “I always did, but did not have the courage to claim her as I should, because I allowed memories of a dark past to stand in my way.” He looked over at Julia, who still wore the expression of someone who was attempting to decipher what precisely had just happened. “I can only hope that you will accept my apologies for that, Julia. I swear that I will use every day from here on out to prove to you exactly how much I do want you.”
A sunburst of a smile spread over her face, and she came toward him, hands outstretched. He took her and pulled her to him, buried his face in the sweet-smelling fall of her hair. Her arms went around his waist, and she clung to him as if she was afraid he would disappear if she let go.
But he wouldn’t. He knew he would be there for her, now and always. He could not change the past, but he could make sure the future held no more hurt for her.
“Well, it seems that is settled,” Ashtar said dryly. “As for you, Lyanna….” She let the words trail off, and looked toward Ibram, the eldest of the elders.
He stepped forward, a grim smile on his lips. “I suppose we should thank you, Lyanna, for your own excesses have dictated your punishment.”
“Punishment?” she flashed. “I have done nothing wrong. As soon as Zahrias chose this human” — the word dripped with disdain — “I left off. So what is there to punish me for?”
Ibram’s smiled faded. “It pains me to realize that you truly believe you have done nothing wrong. Oh, perhaps you followed the letter of our laws, for it is true that we cannot intervene in personal matters, matters of the heart, but by taking Zahrias, you deprived the Santa Fe community of their leader, a leader who watched over his people with our blessing. In doing so, you have shown that you have no regard for anyone but yourself, and therefore I — and the rest of us — are only too happy to make sure that you spend eternity with the only person you do seem to care about.”
A brief flash of confusion passed over Lyanna’s features, but she still held her ground, chin lifted defiantly. “Indeed? And who would that be, since you have decided to deprive me of the man I wanted?”
This time, Ashtar stepped forward so she stood next to Ibram. She wasn’t precisely smiling, but Zahrias saw a faint lift at the corner of her mouth that seemed to indicate a hidden amusement. “Why, yourself, of course. I would think that was abundantly clear. Your only concern is for yourself, and perhaps for this palace you have taken such care to construct. So you will stay here, Lyanna, alone, while the rest of our kind go to make our homes in the world that is now ours. I hope you can take much joy in your situation, for you will have all eternity to walk these halls and gaze upon your plundered treasures.”
At last the enormity of her fate seemed to descend upon his erstwhile kidnapper. Lyanna’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. “You cannot mean that — ”
“Oh, but we do,” Ashtar said. “And we will make sure it is known that this palace is now your prison, and if you are ever seen elsewhere, if even for a moment, then your life will be forfeit, and you can be hunted down with as much impunity as one of the Immune.”
“And I?” Qadim said then. His tone sounded almost careless, as if he had no stake in their reply, but Zahrias could see the way the other man stood there, the tension in his jaw and shoulders showing all too clearly. “Am I to share her fate?”
This time Ashtar did smile. “No, we shall not inflict that doom upon you, Qadim al-Syan. You must go from this place, and have no further contact with your sister. You have engaged in questionable practices, but you also have had a change of heart, and so we must give you some credit for that.”
“And so I will be allowed my place in the world?”
“As to that,” Ibram said sternly, “we have not yet decided. Be grateful that you will not share your sister’s prison, and go from here. We will determine exactly what to do with you later.”
Relief and disappointment mixing in his face, Qadim nevertheless bowed to the two elders before blinking away from the walled garden. In that instant, Zahrias could feel the way Julia sagged against him, as if she had been worried up until the last moment that Qadim might attempt some stratagem to take her away from him, even though he had declared her his Chosen. After all, she had seen for herself that such status had not protected Martine or the other young women taken by Khalim and his band of rogue djinn.
“Zahrias,” Ashtar said then, and he nodded. “We think you would prefer to take your Chosen from here by your own powers, would you not?”
“Very much so,” he replied. Yes, the elders could have removed him from this garden and brought him back to Santa Fe, but Ashtar was correct — it would feel so much more fitting for him to bring Julia home himself.
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