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Authors: Christine Pope
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didn’t see the point in denying that I’d been eavesdropping on Zahrias’ conversation with Jace.
“You have seen this device in action, and so now I know more than I did before you arrived. What we cannot know is if it only works on one djinn at a time, or whether its power can affect a number of us simultaneously. I had thought we would be safe here in Taos, that our numbers would be enough to deter the survivors in Los Alamos, but….” He let the words die away, and although he didn’t quite shrug, I thought I saw his shoulders move slightly.
“How many of you are there?”
“Fifty of those djinn we refer to as ‘the One Thousand,’ and their Chosen, and then myself, and you and your travel companion.” Zahrias smiled, but it was thin, hardly even a baring of his teeth. “Fifty djinn with their assembled powers would be quite enough under normal circumstances. I fear, however, that these circumstances are far from normal.”
Even though I still found him intimidating, at the same time I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for Zahrias. It couldn’t be easy to have thought of yourself all along as invincible, only to discover that you were actually very far from it.
I couldn’t offer any words of reassurance, because I didn’t have any. And I wasn’t going to contemplate the utter strangeness of a desire to offer Zahrias reassurance. For a moment I was silent, turning the wine glass around in my hands, feeling the cool surface against fingers that I’d thought would never be warm again. Here, though, everything was warm. Djinn magic?
Then I said, “That’s why I need to go to Los Alamos. I have to set Jace free somehow, and while I’m there, I can try to find out more about that device — what it does, how powerful it is.”
Another one of those thin smiles. “Just like that? And how is it that you think you’ll succeed when our own Chosen didn’t?”
Good question. I paused, attempting to gather my thoughts. After sipping my wine again, I replied, “Well, for one thing, the leader of the group from Los Alamos basically gave me an open invitation. He said I was welcome to come join them if I changed my mind.”
“Indeed?” Zahrias sounded skeptical, and I couldn’t blame him. I probably would’ve sounded equally doubtful if our situations had been reversed.
“Indeed. And even if he hadn’t, I’d still have to go. I can’t leave Jace with them.”
The djinn leader’s expression shifted then, although I couldn’t quite read it. Something like a flicker of amusement, or possibly irritation. Whatever that look was, it disappeared before I was able to decipher it. All he said, though, was, “Perhaps. But you cannot go tonight, so let Lauren — she was the Chosen who led you here — show you where you will be staying. And the Chosen are having a special dinner as well…it is your Christmas, I think.”
Holy crap, it was. Sometime during the journey from Santa Fe to Taos, the actual date had completely slipped my mind. And Zahrias was right about one thing — I couldn’t set out for Los Alamos tonight, not in the dark with more snow falling. It was probably a good idea to get some rest, one or two good meals, and then decide what to do next. If I was really lucky, the storm would pass as well, and I’d have better luck striking out for Los Alamos in the morning.
Besides, if I said I wasn’t itching to meet more of the Chosen, I’d be lying.
Chapter Five
Lauren was waiting for me outside the conference room where I’d met with Zahrias. I had no idea whether she’d been standing there the whole time, or whether he’d sent some sort of silent signal to summon her.
Either way, it was a relief to be away from him, to not have to worry about the way he was or wasn’t dissecting everything I said. I could tell he thought my plan to go to Los Alamos was a waste of time, but at least he hadn’t attempted to talk me out of it. Not yet, anyway.
“Your friend Evony brought
“You have seen this device in action, and so now I know more than I did before you arrived. What we cannot know is if it only works on one djinn at a time, or whether its power can affect a number of us simultaneously. I had thought we would be safe here in Taos, that our numbers would be enough to deter the survivors in Los Alamos, but….” He let the words die away, and although he didn’t quite shrug, I thought I saw his shoulders move slightly.
“How many of you are there?”
“Fifty of those djinn we refer to as ‘the One Thousand,’ and their Chosen, and then myself, and you and your travel companion.” Zahrias smiled, but it was thin, hardly even a baring of his teeth. “Fifty djinn with their assembled powers would be quite enough under normal circumstances. I fear, however, that these circumstances are far from normal.”
Even though I still found him intimidating, at the same time I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for Zahrias. It couldn’t be easy to have thought of yourself all along as invincible, only to discover that you were actually very far from it.
I couldn’t offer any words of reassurance, because I didn’t have any. And I wasn’t going to contemplate the utter strangeness of a desire to offer Zahrias reassurance. For a moment I was silent, turning the wine glass around in my hands, feeling the cool surface against fingers that I’d thought would never be warm again. Here, though, everything was warm. Djinn magic?
Then I said, “That’s why I need to go to Los Alamos. I have to set Jace free somehow, and while I’m there, I can try to find out more about that device — what it does, how powerful it is.”
Another one of those thin smiles. “Just like that? And how is it that you think you’ll succeed when our own Chosen didn’t?”
Good question. I paused, attempting to gather my thoughts. After sipping my wine again, I replied, “Well, for one thing, the leader of the group from Los Alamos basically gave me an open invitation. He said I was welcome to come join them if I changed my mind.”
“Indeed?” Zahrias sounded skeptical, and I couldn’t blame him. I probably would’ve sounded equally doubtful if our situations had been reversed.
“Indeed. And even if he hadn’t, I’d still have to go. I can’t leave Jace with them.”
The djinn leader’s expression shifted then, although I couldn’t quite read it. Something like a flicker of amusement, or possibly irritation. Whatever that look was, it disappeared before I was able to decipher it. All he said, though, was, “Perhaps. But you cannot go tonight, so let Lauren — she was the Chosen who led you here — show you where you will be staying. And the Chosen are having a special dinner as well…it is your Christmas, I think.”
Holy crap, it was. Sometime during the journey from Santa Fe to Taos, the actual date had completely slipped my mind. And Zahrias was right about one thing — I couldn’t set out for Los Alamos tonight, not in the dark with more snow falling. It was probably a good idea to get some rest, one or two good meals, and then decide what to do next. If I was really lucky, the storm would pass as well, and I’d have better luck striking out for Los Alamos in the morning.
Besides, if I said I wasn’t itching to meet more of the Chosen, I’d be lying.
Chapter Five
Lauren was waiting for me outside the conference room where I’d met with Zahrias. I had no idea whether she’d been standing there the whole time, or whether he’d sent some sort of silent signal to summon her.
Either way, it was a relief to be away from him, to not have to worry about the way he was or wasn’t dissecting everything I said. I could tell he thought my plan to go to Los Alamos was a waste of time, but at least he hadn’t attempted to talk me out of it. Not yet, anyway.
“Your friend Evony brought
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