“Then lead her from this place,” Ibram said. His eyes narrowed as he gazed on Lyanna, who stood with her fists clenched and barely concealed fury furrowing her brow. “You need not fear any pursuit.”
Jasreel had been standing a few feet away, watching the exchange. At last he spoke. “Then I will go as well, if there’s no more need for me to be here.”
“Yes, go home,” Ashtar told him, her tone almost indulgent. “You have stood by your friend and cousin, but now I believe your Chosen is anxiously awaiting your return.”
He needed no further encouragement than that. After sending a quick smile toward Zahrias and Julia, he, too, disappeared.
Very gently, Zahrias pulled away from the woman who was now his Chosen. “Come, beloved. Let us go from this place.”
She gave him a small nod, then cast a look of gratitude toward the elders. Zahrias noticed that she made sure her eyes never met those of Lyanna, which, if she were a fire elemental rather than a being with the power to call the waters, would have been shooting flames by that point.
Taking her hand, he led Julia from the garden, through the corridors of Lyanna’s palace. Along the way, he could see his companion start several times, as if she had recognized a piece of artwork but didn’t want to slow their progress to inquire about it. Eventually, though, they emerged into a brisk wind that made the confines of the building behind them seem that much more stifling.
As the breeze touched his face, Zahrias could feel his powers return, now that he was no longer within reach of the accursed ni-khar tapestries and other items Lyanna had carefully set out around the palace. He and Julia could leave, and never see this place again.
“Let us go home,” he murmured.
“Yes,” she said, looking up into his face as she grasped his hand. She was so beautiful, even with that device fitted to her nose so she might breathe the alien atmosphere of the djinn world. “Take me home, Zahrias.”
Chapter Eighteen
By that point, while Julia couldn’t claim to be exactly used to the djinn mode of travel, at least it didn’t feel quite as jarring as it had the first time she’d experienced it. They came to rest, Zahrias’ arms securely around her, in the living room of his home in Santa Fe.
She supposed it would be her home now, too, and she wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.
Very gently, he reached up to remove the cannula from her nose, then allowed her to take it from him. “You won’t need that any longer.”
“No, thank God.” She unslung the oxygen canister from her shoulder and set it on the floor. Doing so helped a little in getting her bearings. It was still hard to believe that they were both safe, and more difficult still to realize that she was now Zahrias’ Chosen.
His voice sounded in her mind. My love.
Tears sprang to her eyes, and she swallowed. How she’d wished he would call her that, had hoped they would be able to share this kind of communication if he ever claimed her as his. Now, though, it all seemed a little too overwhelming.
This time, that mental communication seemed almost tentative. Julia, what is the matter?
“Nothing,” she said aloud, then wished she’d tried to answer him in the same manner. Her voice sounded tight with the tears she was trying to hold back, but maybe she wouldn’t have betrayed herself if she’d sent the thought to him directly.
He took both her hands in his. God, his fingers were so warm, so strong. Hers must feel like little sticks of ice to him.
“Tell me,” he said, abandoning the nonverbal speech of the djinn and their Chosen. “My love, you have no reason to hold anything back from me.”
“It’s just — ” She shook her head, impatient with herself, then tried to start over. “I suppose I’m having a hard time coming to terms with all this. It was so…so sudden.”
The warmth in his dark eyes receded, and she saw his jaw clench under the neatly trimmed beard. “This was not something you wished? But I thought — ”
Oh, she needed to disabuse him of that notion right away. Going up on her tiptoes, she kissed him on the cheek. Gently, but firmly enough so he would understand she wanted him. “Zahrias, I think you know how I feel. That hasn’t changed. And yet — ”
“And yet?”
She had to make herself say the words. They’d both danced around each other for too long, and trying to avoid their feelings had only made matters worse. “And yet I can’t help thinking that you did what you did only to save me, and maybe you wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”
For a long moment he didn’t reply, only stood there, grave dark eyes searching her face. Then, before she could even blink, he was cupping her cheeks with those warm fingers of his, bringing her close, mouths coming together. She tasted him, breathed in the rich scent of his skin, and felt a rush of heat pass over her. Heat, and need, and so much more.
Love. Her entire body seemed to thrum with it.
“It was long overdue, nothing more,” he said some time later, after lifting his mouth from hers. “I should have said those words to you months ago. Of course I needed to save you from Lyanna, but truly, my love, that was not the only reason. Do you understand?”
“I do,” she replied. Her voice sounded husky, although she thought now that throaty quality came from the almost cramping need surging through her, rather than from trying to choke back her tears. “I’m sorry I thought otherwise.”
“Do not apologize,” he said at once, and brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. “None of this was any fault of yours, but rather my own cowardice.”
“You’re not a coward,” she told him, shocked that he would even think such a thing of himself. “You’re one of the bravest men I’ve ever met.”
Something in the taut set of his mouth relaxed then, although he only shook his head. “Physical bravery is not such a great thing. Courage here” — and he touched his hand to his chest — “that is a much more difficult thing to command. I allowed the hurt I suffered long ago to keep us apart, and I will always regret that.”
“You’re not the only one.” Zahrias was nothing like Ian — or Richard Margolis, she thought with a barely repressed shudder — and yet she had also tried to run away from these feelings, sure they wouldn’t be reciprocated. Or, if by some miracle they were, that they would only lead her into yet another damaging relationship. It was so much easier to avoid intimacy, rather than allow it to find its way into her heart. “I know I should have — ”
Once again he bent to kiss her, stopping the flow of self-recrimination before it could even begin. This time she kissed him back without reservation, reveling in the sensation of the muscular form pressed against her, the strength of his arms as he held her close, the intoxicating brush of his light beard against her skin. All of that was Zahrias…and yet she knew there was so much more to come.
A shiver went through her. She wanted him, so badly, and yet she knew how difficult it would be to give herself over to him completely. Her entire life, she’d always held a piece of herself aside, had always kept a sanctuary within herself that was hers and hers alone. And she didn’t want to do that to Zahrias. She wanted to be his in a way that she’d never been with anyone else before.
He paused then, once again running a hand lightly down the side of her face. Maybe he’d sensed her diffidence; she didn’t know yet how deep this connection between them ran. Right then, she almost wished she could talk to Jessica, just so she’d have an idea of what to expect.
“This is new for the both of us,” he said. “And we have all of eternity together, my love.” Another of those pauses as he gazed down at her, as if trying to drink in every detail of her features. “So for now, perhaps we should merely go and tell everyone the good news, that I am safe and we have nothing further to fear from Lyanna or her brother.”
Julia nodded, although somewhere deep within she experienced a flicker of disappointment. Which was foolish, she scolded herself, because, as Zahrias had just told her, they would have a
n eternity together. A few hours wouldn’t make much of a difference at all.
* * *
His nephew was a beautiful child, with Dani’s thick dark hair and Lauren’s wide, wondering blue eyes. Strange how the passage of only a few days could make the infant appear so much more himself, not just a little mass of waving legs and hands and features that hadn’t quite yet resolved themselves into anything distinct.
And to see Julia holding little Gabriel, smiling down into his face — well, that sight awoke emotions Zahrias hadn’t even known he possessed. For some reason, he had thought he would never have a family of his own, had never even admitted to himself that he might one day want to be a father. But, watching Julia, he realized then how much he did want such a thing, as long as it was with the woman he loved.
“So the elders have truly confined Lyanna to the djinn plane forever?” Dani was asking, and Zahrias had to drag his thoughts back to the present, rather than to a future that had yet to materialize.
“Yes. She will be able to enjoy eternity in that palace she admires so much. And I know she will be watched at all times, so she dare not attempt to defy the elders’ decree.”
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer person,” Lauren remarked with uncharacteristic acid, going to Julia so she could lift the baby, who had begun to fuss a bit, from her arms.
Julia had been smiling, but her expression grew sober. “There isn’t anyone who might try to help Lyanna, is there? I mean, she seemed pretty good at coercing her brother into doing her bidding.”
“Ah, but Qadim is her brother,” Zahrias said. He understood Julia’s concerns, but he also knew they were unfounded. “She has no relations closer than that, as both their parents are gone. And I am quite certain that no cousin is going to risk the wrath of the elders on Lyanna’s behalf. As they said, this world is now open to the djinn. It is something our people have been anticipating for millennia. To throw that away, out of a sense of obligation to a cousin? I think not. Yes, family is important to us…but some things are even more important. Lyanna will forever stand as an example of how to prevent a djinn from receiving what is thought to be our due.”
At his explanation, she nodded, but her expression did not grow noticeably less troubled. Perhaps she was thinking of the reason why this world was now the djinns’. He could do very little to soothe her on that score, unfortunately. He could not change what his people had done. All he could do now was make sure that life here in Santa Fe ran smoothly for everyone in it, djinn and Chosen alike. What happened in the outside world would not affect them…unless they allowed it to.
Lauren had withdrawn to the chair on the other side of the room, the blanket she’d been carrying now discreetly draped over her chest so she could nurse the baby. Zahrias thought nothing of it, since his people recognized such activity as perfectly normal, but he could see the way Julia averted her eyes. Well, perhaps she would feel differently when it was her turn.
“What now?” Dani asked then. “That is, who will take over at Los Alamos now that Julia is to be here with us?”
She sent Zahrias a quick, unreadable glance before replying, “I’m not sure. We hadn’t really discussed that…yet.”
Which meant she intended to discuss it with him, and soon. That only made sense. Of course she would have to remain here in Santa Fe, for it was impossible for him to live in Los Alamos. The elders expected him to lead this community. Besides, Miles Odekirk’s devices ensured that no djinn would ever be able to take up residence in the mountain town the Immune called home, For that to happen, the scientist would need to finally devise a way to alter his fiendish little inventions so they could repel hostile djinn but still allow the friendly elementals within their field of effect to avoid suffering the debilitating weakness caused by the devices.
Dani seemed to realize he had made a misstep, for he said quickly, “Lilias and Aidan came to visit a while ago. She seemed to want to reassure herself that all is well in these human/djinn pairings.”
Julia brightened a little at his comment. “Oh, that’s right — they’re expecting too, aren’t they?”
“Yes. Their baby should be here sometime in the late spring, I believe.”
The conversation drifted to lighter matters then — how Miguel, their medic, would cope if it turned out they had a real baby boom on their hands, and whether the winter would be a mild one, and if they were going to continue with their small tradition of communal feasts for Thanksgiving and Christmas as they had the year before, in order to let their Chosen feel not quite so abandoned in a strange new world.
Eventually, though, it became clear that Zahrias and Julia should leave Dani and Lauren and the baby so they could be alone. It was something of a walk from the new family’s house to the home Zahrias had taken for his own, but he struck out on foot anyway, rather than instantly transporting himself and Julia there the way he’d first thought he might.
Julia was quiet, but he could tell she was enjoying the walk; she had her chin lifted so she might feel the mild afternoon breeze on her face. The wind caught at her long hair, blowing it around her like a rippling curtain of gold. How he loved her hair. The only thing that would make it more beautiful would be to see it spread out on a pillow next to him.
But he pushed that thought away, for he could feel his body begin to respond to the mental image, and he knew he and Julia must talk about all manner of serious subjects. Physical pleasure would have to wait…although not too long, he hoped.
He opened the front door of the house for her, and she went inside. Again, he could have done so by using his powers, but he was trying to put her as much at ease as possible. He knew she was still trying to come to terms with what had happened to her, what her life would be from now on.
“Should we go into the living room?” he asked, then wondered if perhaps he should have suggested another place for them to have their discussion. After all, the last conversation they had shared in that room had not turned out well.
Luckily, he saw no hesitation in Julia’s manner as she told him yes, so he led her to that chamber, then asked if she would like some refreshment.
“That’s probably a good idea,” she said. “I’m trying to remember the last thing I ate and failing miserably.”
“Then let me remedy that,” he replied, and headed into the kitchen. This was one time when he would summon his djinn powers to do the heavy lifting; all the raw materials were there, but why waste precious time assembling the components when a snap of his fingers could provide them with everything they needed?
A brief look of astonishment crossed Julia’s features as she watched him reenter the living room, carrying a tray laden with an assortment of meats and cheeses and fruit, as well as an open bottle of wine and a pair of glasses. He set the tray down on the low table in front of the sofa, then poured some of the wine for her.
“Those are some handy talents of yours,” she remarked. “All that probably would have kept me busy in the kitchen for at least a half hour.”
“Time which would have been better spent on other things.”
“Such as?” Her tone was almost teasing.
“This talk we need to have.”
A slight nod, but she didn’t reply right away, instead lifting the glass to her lips so she could take a sip. Zahrias tried not to stare. That mouth of hers was far too distracting. After a long pause, she said, “So talk to me, Zahrias.”
He raised his own glass of wine but didn’t drink. The dark liquid caught sparks of ruby from the lowering sun that came through the living room’s windows. “I know we did not have a chance to discuss everything that should be discussed. I know this must be difficult for you, since it feels as if you weren’t given a choice.”
“I wasn’t given a choice,” she said distinctly before reaching over with her free hand so she could pick up a slice of pale golden cheese. “Not that I blame you for that,” she added quickly as he opened his mouth to speak. “I don’t regret what you did. But your action
s still will have ramifications for a lot more people than just you and me.”
“I understand.” Zahrias plucked a grape from the bunch that lay on the tray and set it in his mouth, savoring the sweetness of the fruit, a good contrast to the darkness of the wine he had chosen. “This man you left in charge in Los Alamos. He is a good man?”
“Shawn?” She was silent for a moment, appearing to carefully consider her reply. There was something almost hesitant in her manner, although Zahrias couldn’t think why. “He’s a very good man. A firefighter…before.” A rueful smile touched her lips. “So probably not someone who would be best buddies with a fire elemental.”
“My kind do not start fires,” Zahrias said stiffly. “We control them.”
“Right. Sorry…I didn’t mean to offend you. Anyway, yes, Shawn is a good person. I could trust him to keep things running for a few days while I was gone. But for the long term?” She lifted her shoulders, then bent to pick up a piece of smoked sausage and pop it in her mouth. After she had consumed it, she went on, “I honestly don’t know. It’s not as if he’s had any training — ” Breaking off, she chuckled, although there was something humorless about the sound. “Listen to me. Like I had any training when it came to running a town. I was sort of forced into it, too.”
“By me.” In that moment, Zahrias regretted more than ever the remark that had sent Julia back to Los Alamos to be its steward.
To his relief, she laid a hand on his knee. “It’s not as if you twisted my arm, Zahrias. Right then, I was willing enough to be a martyr.”
Not sure that he understood the remark, he raised an eyebrow.
“I knew I — I knew I was attracted to you. I could have come up with a way to stay around if I’d really wanted to. I know Jessica thought I was crazy for going back to Los Alamos. But I was frightened.”
“Of what?” he asked softly, although he thought he knew the answer.
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