djinn wars 03 - fallen (23 page)

By then I had no idea what time it actually was. Two in the morning? Three? I had to hope that Julia was resting peacefully in her own suite on the opposite side of the resort, because there was no way in hell I had the strength to go and check on her. She must be completely dead to the world; after an ordeal like the one she’d just survived, I probably would have slept for days.

Despite the late hour, Jace was still awake and waiting for me when I got back to my own rooms. The only illumination was the dying fire, which sent odd little shadows into the corners of the room and seemed to throw into deep relief the contours of his cheekbones, the pools of darkness beneath his eyes.

As soon as I entered the suite, he rose and came to me, folding me into his arms. Feeling him, I almost wanted to begin crying. I couldn’t even say why, except that maybe I was just so glad he was safe, that he was here with me. Back in Los Alamos, I’d come perilously close to experiencing the same kind of loss Lindsay was suffering now, and seeing her tragedy made me realize once again how much I needed Jace, how I didn’t think I could live without him.

“Some of the Chosen came to help move Rafi to a more secluded place,” he said quietly. “And in the morning, we’ll have to let everyone know — and also let them know what those three were attempting. Zahrias did not want the word to get out, just because false hope can be a very dangerous thing when a group of people walk on a cliff edge as they do now. But it is a secret that can’t be kept any longer.”

“Is it really false hope?” I asked, lifting my head so I could stare up into his eyes and try to see the truth in them.

“It is very long odds,” he replied. His gaze met mine directly. I could tell he thought he owed me the truth, not some pretty platitudes he might use to dance around the issue. “First, to escape this world at all — as Rafi was unable to do, in the end — and then to search out those in our world who might come to offer help…the chances of success were not good. It is hard to explain, but our world is not the same as yours. Palaces float on the air, and no one may necessarily be found in any one fixed location. So even though Alif and Nizar know they must go to the elders to appeal to them for assistance, they will have to be found first. And that may not be an easy thing.”

I shivered. “Your world doesn’t sound very welcoming.”

“It has its own beauties. But it is very different from yours, and yes, we djinn prefer it here. Else we would not have had all this ugliness, because the djinn would have had nothing they coveted.”

Yes, this world was a beautiful one. I thought of a family trip we’d taken to the Grand Canyon once, and how I’d watched the sun rise over the South Rim. At the time I hadn’t thought there could be anything more beautiful, the kind of beauty that awoke an ache deep within you. I could see why the djinn would want the earth and all its wonders.

“So,” he went on, “while it is possible they might be successful, it’s nothing we can depend on, or wait for. We have our own resource here in Miles Odekirk, and although he hasn’t found a solution yet, I believe it’s more likely he will come up with something to help us, rather than the cavalry galloping in from the djinn world.”

I nodded, yawning again. At once Jace pulled me over to the bed, his fingers working at the buttons on my shirt. It was a testament to my current exhaustion that I wasn’t even aroused by the thought of him taking my clothes off. I knew he was only doing that to help me, since I was so tired I could barely slip out of my shoes.

The jeans came next, and then Jace was pushing me into bed while I still wore my bra. The last thing I remembered was him pulling the covers over me, and then everything slipped away into darkness.

When I awoke, I was alone. Well, not completely alone — Dutchie came over as soon as I stirred, and stuck her cold, wet nose into my hand, which was hanging down over the side of the bed. She didn’t seem particularly urgent, though, which meant Jace had probably already fed and walked her.

“Morning, girl,” I mumbled.

A tail thump, and then she went back to her favorite spot by the fireplace. The room smelled good, of wood smoke and coffee and cinnamon. I discovered the reason for the latter two scents when I focused on the little table by the window. Sitting there were a carafe of coffee and a plate with a couple of muffins. Jace must have left them for me before he went out.

And it was late — I retrieved my watch and saw that nine o’clock was long gone, and ten almost here. I could understand why Jace had let me sleep, but at the same time I worried that I hadn’t been there for Julia when she woke up. All I could do was hope that Lauren had sent someone to check on her. If Lauren was even awake, either. She might have been up until dawn, keeping watch over Lindsay.

Since I knew I wouldn’t be very functional until I had my coffee, I went over to the table and poured myself a cup. It had cooled enough that I could drink it right away, so I took several large swallows, then broke off a piece of the muffin, which turned out to be apple spice. I couldn’t help wondering right then how long all this luxury would last — we were only feeding some hundred-odd people, so it would take a while to work through all the supplies in Taos. Sooner or later, though, we’d have to start focusing on becoming more self-sustaining rather than using up all the resources in the immediate vicinity.

That sort of strategy would have to wait for another day. For now, I wanted to focus on getting enough caffeine and carbs into my system that I’d be up to facing what was left of the morning. Next, a shower.

I hurried through that, then blotted my hair dry. Blowing it out would take too long and use up too much precious electricity, so I just ran a comb through it and called it a day. Clothes, shoes, tinted lip balm. That was enough to make me more or less presentable.

Still no sign of Jace even after all that. Frowning, I let myself out of the room.
Jace?
I ventured.

You’re awake.

Thank you for not saying “finally.”

A chuckle.
I certainly wouldn’t begrudge you some much-needed rest. I’m with Zahrias and the others.

Is Julia there?

No, I haven’t seen her yet this morning.

I’d been debating whether to go see Julia or Lindsay first, but that seemed to decide things. Lindsay had suffered a hideous loss, but at least she had people around who knew her, whereas Julia was more or less surrounded by strangers. Well, all right, she knew Miles Odekirk, but his wasn’t exactly the most comforting of presences. Besides, he spent so much time holed up in the lab, I didn’t know whether he’d even heard that Julia was here…or what had happened to Rafi. I pictured Miles complaining to himself about Lindsay being late once again, with no actual idea of what had caused her to avoid the lab this morning, and shook my head.

The hallways were deserted, although I thought I detected voices coming from the dining area. That made sense; it was usually in that spot where Zahrias made his announcements. I wished I could be there, but Jace could fill me in later. For now, I thought it was more important to see Julia.

She replied, “Come in,” to my knock, so I opened the door and let myself into her room. The bed was made, and she was sitting in the chair by the window, where the curtains were drawn to allow the morning sun to pour in. She’d traded the yoga pants and long-sleeved T-shirt she’d worn to sleep in for a pair of jeans and a dark blue sweater.

I found myself reflecting that I didn’t think I would look that good after walking sixty-plus miles, dehydrated and hungry. “Sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” I said. “I overslept.”

“It’s all right.” Her expression darkened. “Jace stopped by earlier and brought me some breakfast. He told me what happened last night.”

“Oh.” There was only the one chair, so I came over to her and perched uncertainly on the edge of the bed. “Yes, it was pretty bad. The djinn aren’t really used to losing one of their own.”

“No, I suppose they wouldn’t be.” She hesitated, then asked, “Jessica, where’s Evony? I’d sort of thought she might have stopped by to see me.”

Oh, shit.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. The pain of Evony’s loss had started to smooth itself out over the past few weeks, but now that Julia had asked about her, it almost felt as if I’d just seen her die the day before. “She — she died defending us from the rogue djinn on our way back from taking Miles Odekirk.”

Blue-gray eyes widened. With a shaking hand, Julia reached for the half-drunk cup of coffee sitting on the table before her and gulped it down. “That’s…terrible.”

“I know. But….” I hesitated, uncertain of how to say the words without sounding uncaring. Then I realized that Julia had been there, and had seen how Evony had reacted to Natila’s death. “She took it really hard, losing her djinn. Maybe with time she would have bounced back, but I can’t help thinking that Evony went out in her own personal blaze of glory because she just didn’t want to be here anymore.”

“Damn him,” Julia murmured, and I looked at her in question. Mouth hardening, she said, “Margolis. Damn Margolis. That bastard has left a horrible trail of destruction behind him. And no one in Los Alamos will question his judgment, or ask whether he’s finally gone too far, because he’s keeping them safe.” She spat the last word as if it tasted foul on her tongue.

I didn’t argue. I agreed with her. If the residents of Los Alamos would only stand up to their resident bully, then maybe they’d have a chance. Or maybe not. The problem was that the decent people, the ones who only wanted to start over after the Dying had changed the world forever, probably didn’t have the courage it required to face down someone like Margolis, who had his own personal hit squad made up of goons like Mitch Kosky and Butch MacElroy.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as if Jace and I could lead an army to go rescue the community at Los Alamos from their own private dictator. We had our own problems to deal with, and at the moment, those seemed far more pressing.

Thinking it might be better to change the subject, I asked, “Has anyone except Jace come to see you?”

Julia shook her head. “There was some more stuff outside my door this morning — more toiletries and clothes, but I don’t know who dropped it off. And then Jace came by a little before nine to bring me some breakfast, but that’s all.”

So maybe Miles really didn’t know she was here. Or didn’t care.

“I thought I’d better sit tight until you came by,” she continued. “Jace obviously had pressing business to take care of, and I didn’t know if it was kosher for me to be wandering around by myself.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” I reassured her. “It’s not as if we’re keeping any state secrets here or anything. It might have felt strange for you to be around so many djinn, but because they can’t access their powers right now….”

“It’s not as if they can turn me into a newt.” She was smiling a little as she made the remark, so I guessed she hadn’t meant it seriously.

I didn’t know if that was a power the djinn even possessed. Control of the elements, the ability to pop in and out of this plane of existence as it pleased them…those were things I’d witnessed for myself. How much more they could do was still a mystery, and also a moot point, if Miles couldn’t manage to modify his device.

“Would you like to see Miles?” I asked then, albeit rather hesitantly. The two of them knew each other, but I had no idea whether Julia had much of an opinion of Miles or not. After all, he’d participated in some fairly dubious behavior while working with Richard Margolis, and she’d made her opinion of the commander pretty clear.

But she nodded. “He — well, I think he tried to come my defense. Whether it was out of misplaced chivalry or because his scientific mind was offended by the lack of empirical evidence proving my guilt, I don’t know for sure. But I heard him arguing with Margolis once. They were standing in the hallway just past the detention area, and the door hadn’t closed all the way. So I guess I would like to see him, if only to say thank you.”

For some reason, I was relieved to hear that. After what had happened to Natila, I’d had the worst opinion possible of Miles Odekirk. And though his actions over the past weeks seemed to indicate he’d had a change of heart, I wasn’t sure if I believed it. Not really. That he’d tried to defend Julia, though, raised my estimation of him several notches.

“Then I’ll take you to the lab,” I said. “And show you around a little on the way. It’ll probably feel good to get out and stretch your legs.”

“My legs had plenty of stretching over the past few days, but you’re right.” She got up from her chair and went to the mirror, grimacing as she inspected the bruise on her jaw. It seemed to have faded a little more, but it still stood out against her skin, which looked as if it had picked up a bit of a tan during her long walk to Taos. Unfortunately, even the tan couldn’t hide the mark Margolis had left on her. “I hate this. I can try to pretend it didn’t happen, but every time I look in the mirror, it’s like I’ve got this big red letter ‘A’ written on my face.”

Right then I wished I had a gun in my hand and Richard Margolis standing in front of me. I would have drilled a hole in his diseased brain without batting an eyelash. But he wasn’t there, so I said gently, “Julia, only Jace and I know what happened, and neither of us would ever say anything to anyone about it. If anyone asks, you got roughed up while they were questioning you. No one’s going to think anything strange about that.”