djinn wars 02 - taken (10 page)

“Um, the one they were using to interfere with — ”

“And how are you all faring?” a new voice broke in.

I looked up to see a tall dark-haired man — djinn — pause behind Lauren’s chair and lay a hand on her shoulder. She smiled up at him, but it was a very different sort of smile from the ones she’d offered the rest of us. No, this one was softer, warmer, more…bedroom-y, if that was even a word. Like she was thinking about all the things she’d like him to do to her, and she’d like to do to him. I knew that smile well enough, because I’d felt it on my own lips more than once when I was daydreaming about Jace. I knew right away who this newcomer must be, even before Lauren said,

“Jessica, Evony, this is Dani.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” I said politely, although inwardly I couldn’t help being suspicious. I doubted it was coincidence that had made him show up at our table just as I was about to tell the other Chosen about the way their djinn might not be quite the invincible force they thought they were.

“Hi,” Evony put in. From the way she didn’t quite smile, I got the impression she realized as well that Dani’s sudden appearance had to have been calculated.

“I am very sorry for both your losses,” he said, his expression turning grave.

“‘Losses’?” I repeated, then shook my head. “Actually, our partners were
taken
. We certainly didn’t lose them, and we fully intend to get them back. Don’t we, Evony?”

“Yeah,” she said, dark eyes narrowed slightly.

“Ah,” Dani replied, looking somewhat taken aback. “Well, that is a noble ambition. But if you don’t mind me stealing Lauren away?”

She got up from her seat at once, looping her arm through his. I had the feeling her next question was asked purely for form’s sake. “Will you two be all right on your own?”

“Fab,” Evony said, sipping from her wine.

I was about to say we wouldn’t exactly be alone, not if Aidan and David were still with us, when two female djinn approached, both of them dark-haired, voluptuous, and wearing low-cut tunics with full, filmy pants underneath, one outfit in shades of blue, the other warm brown. They offered us polite smiles, but also seemed intent on removing their partners from our presence.

And the two men appeared all too happy to go. They wished us a merry Christmas and then left the restaurant, heading off toward one of the wings of the resort where the rooms were located.

“I think we’ve been dumped,” Evony said. Once again she reached out for the wine bottle, only this time I gave her a sharp look.

“You might want to slow down with that,” I told her, and she scowled.

“Sorry, Mom, didn’t think I had to worry about driving.”

No way was I going to get in an argument with her right here in front of everybody. Not when I could see a few of the Chosen giving us speculative glances, as if trying to figure out how we’d managed to drive away all our dinner companions. I also noticed that no one else attempted to approach us. Maybe they all thought that losing your djinn partner might be catching, like the measles or something.

“Do what you want,” I said, then pushed my plate away. There was still most of a roll and some mashed potatoes remaining on my plate, but I found I’d lost my appetite. “I want to get to bed so I can get an early start tomorrow.”

She set down her wine glass. I could tell from the way her gaze darted toward me and then the windows that she was wondering if such a plan would even work, given the current weather conditions. But all she said was, “So
we
can get an early start, you mean.”

Relief rushed through me. We hadn’t really gotten the chance to discuss it, but I supposed that somewhere deep down I was worried Evony might want to stay here where it was safe, wouldn’t want to go chasing off to Los Alamos with me. On closer examination, though, that wasn’t really fair to her. She certainly hadn’t given any indication that she was any less devoted to Natila than I was to Jace.

“Right,” I said.

“I’ll be up in a few. They were putting out some kind of pie, and I haven’t had a real dessert in, well…not
since,
you know?”

I did know. Luckily, I’d never had much of a sweet tooth, except for a fierce craving for chocolate a few days out of the month. It was something I’d been able to keep indulging, since the real estate developer who’d built my Santa Fe refuge had laid in quite a stockpile of dark chocolate in a variety of flavors, including my new favorite, the kind with some chili pepper mixed in.

But pie was no inducement for me to stay at the party, and now that I’d gotten enough to eat, I could feel the weariness really beginning to set in, a dull ache in my shoulders and head. Maybe I’d take a long, hot bath before going to sleep. It was still a little early for bed, after all, and a bath would help to ease some of the knots in my neck.

“Well, enjoy the pie,” I said, and headed off toward the corridor that led to my room…or rather, the room Zahrias had given me to use while I was here.

I couldn’t help wondering if he planned to make an appearance at the party, but I somehow doubted it. He really didn’t seem like the partying type. Truly, I couldn’t imagine him doing much of anything except hanging out in that room of his and drinking wine and looking brooding, but I supposed that wasn’t fair. I didn’t know anything about him, except that he was in charge of this odd little community here in Taos. Had he been one of the djinn who’d conspired to spread the Heat all over the world, or was he one of the thousand conscientious objectors? But no, that didn’t sound right. Lauren had flat out said that Zahrias didn’t have a Chosen.

Because I was so preoccupied, I almost collided with someone who was coming down the hall toward the dining room just as I was leaving it. A pair of strong hands caught me, holding me away.

“I’m so sorry,” I began, then paused as I realized the person whose hands now rested on my arms was a djinn. Like all of them, he was tall, but his hair was more a warm brown than the black that Jace and Zahrias shared.

Piercingly blue eyes seemed to bore into mine. “My fault, I fear,” he said. “I was hurrying.”

“And I wasn’t looking where I was going.” As gently as I could, I shifted so he would be forced to let go of me. A slight hesitation, and then his hands did drop away.

“You must be Jessica.”

I wouldn’t bother to ask how he knew that. Apparently, I was pretty famous in Taos. “Yes,” I said simply.

“Aldair,” he replied.

“Nice to meet you, Aldair,” I said. Something about the way he kept staring at me was, to put it mildly, unnerving, so I added, “I was just going back to my room to rest, but I think there’s still some dessert if you hurry.”

“Ah, that,” he responded. “Yes, I suppose I should check to see what there is.”

I think I smiled. Then I ducked my head in a nod of farewell and hurried past him. Although I wouldn’t allow myself to look back, I still caught a glimpse of the djinn in my peripheral vision. He hadn’t moved toward the dining room, but only stood there, watching me.

A second later, I had to make a left to go down the hallway where my room was located, and Aldair was gone. I let out a quick sigh of relief, my steps speeding up until I was practically running by the time I reached my door.

Even after I was inside, and the lock engaged, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

Who was this Aldair? Why had he been staring at me like that…and why did it unnerve me so much?

Chapter Six

It could have been the luxurious bed, or the bath I’d taken before going to sleep. Whatever the reason, I slept much later than I’d intended, and woke up to see light peeking around the curtains in my room. By instinct, I glanced toward the nightstand next to the bed, but there was no clock radio or iPod dock. Strange.

But I had my watch, which I’d kept set according to the clock in the Cherokee, and that told me it was almost nine. Shit. Half the morning gone. True, under normal circumstances, you could make the drive from Taos to Los Alamos in an hour or so, but the weather lately hadn’t exactly been normal. Besides, I realized I probably wouldn’t want to go straight there from here anyway. If the survivors really were watching the highway, I’d want to leave from Santa Fe so they wouldn’t think anything was out of the ordinary, that I was heading out directly from the house.

Since I’d taken that long bath the night before, I got myself together quickly this morning — a fast five minutes in the shower, just to freshen myself up, and then I was out and getting dressed. I laid Evony’s borrowed sweater aside so I could give it back to her, brushed my hair and teeth, and applied some of the tinted lip balm I’d brought with me, then gave Dutchie her food and water. She’d need a walk before we headed back to Santa Fe, but I knew she could hold on a little bit longer.

While I was performing all these tasks, however, I could feel an undercurrent of dissatisfaction running through me. To be fair, I hadn’t had a clear plan when I’d come here, but I supposed I’d thought I would get some kind of assistance, some kind of input. True, Zahrias had been far friendlier than I’d expected. That friendliness hadn’t extended to any sort of an offer of help, though.

Well, what did you think he was going to do?
I scolded myself.
He may be running the show here, but he’s also a djinn who can be affected by that little device the Immune have, just like anyone else of his kind. He can’t exactly drive you to Los Alamos and blast his way into the place.

All right, that was true enough, but…. I sighed and shoved the last of my meager belongings into my bag.

Just as I was zipping it up, I heard a knock at the door. I glanced at my watch; ten minutes until ten. That had to be Evony coming along to collect me so we could get going. Dutchie thumped her tail in anticipation; obviously, she was thinking the same thing.

But when I opened the door, I saw Lauren standing outside. She glanced past me to the freshly made bed and the bag sitting on top of it, and a little frown creased her forehead. “Were you going to leave without getting breakfast?”

“Well, I ate enough last night to hold me for a while,” I replied with a smile.

This time she didn’t return the smile. Still with that same frown pulling at her brows, she said, “Zahrias wants to speak with you.”

Maybe he’d decided to help me after all. Jace was one of Zahrias’ kind, and it seemed wrong that the leader of the djinn here in Taos wouldn’t offer some kind of assistance with a rescue attempt. “Okay.” Then I tilted my head at Lauren. I just had to know. “What, are you his personal secretary or something?”

The frown disappeared, and she gave a small laugh — a light normal sound, one that reminded me I hadn’t had much to laugh about lately. “No. Zahrias and Dani are brothers, and I volunteered to help out with any sort of administrative work he might need done.” She added, glossy lips quirking a bit, “I was an executive assistant…before. So I guess I don’t have it quite out of my system.”

I hadn’t really stopped to think about it, but in a situation like this, even with a hundred people gathered in a small area, you were bound to run into tasks that needed to be managed, messages that had to be relayed, logistics that must be worked out. “He’s lucky to have you. Handy that he and Dani are brothers, I suppose.”

“Yes, I suppose,” she said absently. “But let’s go. He’s waiting.”

And of course the great and mighty Zahrias doesn’t like to be kept waiting.
I didn’t say anything, though, but only told Dutchie this wouldn’t take long, then stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind me. The corridor was empty except for the two of us, and once again I wondered why Evony wasn’t being included in this convo with the djinn leader.

Sunshine streamed through the windows, glittering off the snow-frosted trees and shrubs outside. It looked like a fairyland out on the resort’s grounds, and I wished I had the time to go out and enjoy them, take Dutchie with me, now that the sun had reappeared.

That wasn’t going to happen, though. I dutifully followed Lauren back to the same conference room where I’d spoken with Zahrias the night before. Today there was no decanter of wine, but a pot of heavenly-smelling coffee, and a plate heaped with what looked like fresh-baked muffins, blueberry and corn and carrot spice.

He was standing by the fire again, however, and gave the same off-hand nod toward Lauren, effectively dismissing her. She shut the door, and he said,

“Have you broken your fast?”

“No.” My stomach rumbled a little, despite my protestations earlier that I really wasn’t that hungry. I hoped that the sound of the wood crackling away in the hearth was loud enough to hide the embarrassing noise.

“Then have some coffee, and eat.”

I couldn’t help my eyes narrowing, just a little. Why was he being so nice? But I needed to eat, and I needed the coffee even more, so I went to the table and poured some of the steaming-hot brew into a sturdy dark green mug, then added my usual amounts of cream and sugar. All of the muffins looked delicious, but I decided on one of the corn ones — flecked with green chiles and cheddar cheese — and set it on a small plate that was sitting next to the muffin basket.