djinn wars 03 - fallen (37 page)

“I fear that Miles is correct,” Zahrias said. “No one who truly cared about the people in his charge would leave them so undefended.”

“They are not undefended!” Margolis shot back, his expression a peculiar mixture of rage and frustration, as if he wasn’t quite sure why everyone had decided to gang up on him, including his own people. “The device is shielding them from any djinn, and they have sufficient weapons to take care of any other invaders.”

“So you say,” Brent replied. “But we don’t have any way of knowing that for sure, do we?” He shifted so he was looking straight at Zahrias. “Sir, the rest of the guys asked me to speak for them, and for Los Alamos. I’m no leader, though. Captain Margolis here, he brought us together, looked out for us. I think everyone will be grateful to him for that. But I’m not sure he’s what we need going forward.”

“A wise assessment,” Zahrias agreed. He steepled his fingers together under his chin. “But if you don’t want him to lead you, and you feel that you are not up to the task, who will it be? Someone you left behind in Los Alamos?”

At that question, Brent adjusted his position in his chair once again, then shot a quick glance over at Julia. “No, sir. When she disappeared, most of us knew that our little town had lost its soul. Margolis gave the orders, but she was the one who made sure that things ran smoothly. We need her back, sir. We need Julia Innes.”

Almost at once, she began to shake her head. “No, Brent, I don’t think that’s the best solution.”

“It’s insane,” Margolis growled. “She’s a traitor. Have you lost your mind?”

“I think your definition of ‘traitor’ and mine are a little different, Captain,” Brent said. Now that he’d spoken his piece, he looked much more in command of himself.

I allowed myself the briefest sideways glance in Zahrias’ direction. I wanted to see how he would react to the prospect of Julia returning to Los Alamos. Maybe the tiny signs I’d thought I’d seen pass between the two of them had been nothing at all, only details I’d manufactured in my mind because I’d thought they would be good for each other.

To my disappointment, Zahrias didn’t appear to have reacted at all. Without looking over at Julia, he said, “That is ultimately Ms. Innes’ decision…although I think Los Alamos would be lucky to have her back.”

Oh, crap. Zahrias had probably just uttered the one thing that would almost guarantee Julia’s return to Los Alamos. She’d always been big on duty.

Head up…and also studiously avoiding looking over at Zahrias…she said, “You would have to put it to a vote, at least with the people you brought with you.”

Margolis let out a snort of contempt. “Vote to have a woman running things? They’ll never agree to it. Better get ready to take over, Sutherland.”

Brent paled slightly at that remark. But his voice was steady enough as he said, “Well, I guess there’s just one way to find out, isn’t there?” Directing his next words to Zahrias, he continued, “And if they say it’s okay? What then?”

“Then you go home,” Zahrias replied. “I fear you will have to leave the commander here with us, but I promise that he will be given the finest jail cell in Santa Fe.”

Something like a growl emerged from Margolis’ throat, but he didn’t speak. He seemed to have realized that there wasn’t much else he could do here, not with the djinn back in possession of their powers.

Now you know what it feels like to be powerless, you son of a bitch,
I thought then, recalling how he’d had his men torture Natila and Jace, how he’d forced himself on Julia. I still couldn’t quite understand how she could bear to sit across the table from him.

“And I’ll return with you, Julia,” Miles said. “I’ve done what I can here, but I really need my lab to continue with the proper research on modifying my device.”

Next to him, Lindsay seemed to stiffen, but she didn’t say anything.

“And I’d like Lindsay to come with me, if she agrees,” he went on. “I think I could make a good deal of progress with her assistance, especially once we have access to the lab and its resources.”

She did turn toward him then. “You want me to go with you to Los Alamos?”

“Yes…if you’d like to.”

For a second or two, she didn’t say anything. Then she nodded. “Sure. Yes. That is, I think I could do more good there.”

If Zahrias was at all mystified by this exchange, he didn’t show it. “If that is your wish. We will miss you here, but it is true that you and Dr. Odekirk have unique skills that might be better suited to the Los Alamos community. Do you think anyone would mind, Mr. Sutherland?”

Brent startled at being addressed so, but then he shook his head. “No, I think everyone will be relieved to have Miles back. And if he has an assistant, all the better, I guess.”

“Well, then,” Zahrias said. “Let us pose the issue of Ms. Innes as the new leader of Los Alamos to the rest of your men, and go from there. Shall we?”

He stood, and the rest of us followed suit, Margolis stalking along under Dani’s watchful eye. I hung back so Jace and I could exit the room after the rest of them had already left.

“Do you really think they’ll go for it?” I asked.

Jace shrugged. “You would know better than I. You lived among them for some weeks.”

That was true, but I couldn’t begin to guess how the men would react to being asked if they’d have Julia as their leader. They had to have been hand-picked by Margolis, which meant I doubted they’d be very sympathetic to her cause. Then again, the commander had included Brent Sutherland among his team, and so they couldn’t all be thugs like Butch and Mitch. If they did decide against Julia, then I supposed the mantle would fall to Brent, as much as he might dislike it. I could tell that Zahrias wanted the matter settled; it wasn’t in his nature to allow the men who’d come here under Margolis’ command to return to Los Alamos without first settling the conundrum of who should lead them next.

And since Brent and everyone else had gotten a taste of what it was like to confront djinn who weren’t being hamstrung by one of Miles’s devices, I doubted any of them would protest too loudly.

The group from Los Alamos had been herded into the center of the plaza, next to the obelisk commemorating the Indian Wars, where once upon a time Jace and I had lit candles of remembrance for all the loved ones lost. That felt so long ago now, like something from a different life. Back then, Jace had been Jason Little River to me, not Jasreel, and I doubted I’d ever thought of djinn as anything except fairytale beings out of the Arabian Nights or something.

Now, though, they were my family. Or at least the ones around me were.

Butch and Mitch stood at the front of the group of captives, glaring at the djinn who watched over them. The djinn appeared more amused than anything else. It was all too obvious who had the upper hand here.

“We’ve come to a decision,” Zahrias announced. Several of the captured men exchanged furtive, frightened glances. It seemed fairly clear that they expected to be executed on the spot.

He gestured to Julia, and she stepped forward to stand next to him. I could tell she hated being the center of attention like that…and maybe she hated having to stand next to Zahrias and not show any kind of reaction. I wished I’d had the guts to ask her if she was even the tiniest bit attracted to him. But any conversation along those lines had sounded in my head like being back in junior high and asking a friend, “Do you like him? I mean,
like
like him?”

No way.

Now that opportunity was gone, and I could only stand there, my hand in Jace’s as we watched Zahrias address the captives.

“We seek no war with you, no matter what your commander might have told you. It is unfortunate that we cannot govern the actions of the other djinn, but even so, we should not have to take the blame for their depredations. Captain Margolis must stay here as our prisoner, as he has proven himself to be an active threat. The rest of you, however, may return to your homes, as long as you agree to elect a new leader.”

“Great,” Mitch said, all bravado, although I noticed he wouldn’t look directly at Zahrias. “Then I nominate myself.”

“Shut up, dumb-ass,” Brent retorted. He stood on the other side of Julia, his hands jammed in his pockets. “You couldn’t lead a drunk frat boy to a keg. No, who we had in mind was Ms. Innes here.”

Startled murmurs erupted at that statement. Julia flushed, although I noticed she kept her head held high.

“But she — ” Mitch began, only to have the man standing next to him, a big guy with the blurred outline of a former athlete gone to fat, elbow him in the ribs.

“I think that’s a great idea,” the man said. “All the food consignments have gone to shit since you left, Julia.”

She actually smiled. “Sorry to hear that, Henry. I’ll have to look into it.”

The murmurs, which before had sounded almost hostile, now became almost approving. I saw a lot of the men nodding, as if putting two and two together and realizing that life had been a lot better before Margolis accused Julia of treason and locked her up.

“She’s a goddamn traitor,” Butch said loudly. Brent scowled and took a step toward him, but Julia shook her head.

“He’s right,” she said, her voice clear and strong, carrying over the crowd. As she stood there, the cool breeze playing with the ends of her hair, she reminded me of a painting I’d seen once of the British warrior princess Boudicca. Their features weren’t similar; it was the lift of the chin, the proud set of their shoulders, that brought the resemblance to mind. “In Margolis’ eyes, I am a traitor. I set Jace and Jessica and Evony free because it was the right thing to do. All Jessica and Evony had done was try to rescue the people they loved. And Jace’s only crime was being a djinn. That wasn’t enough for me. They were innocent of any wrongdoing. And so Dan” — she stopped then, her throat working, before pushing on — “so Dan and I let them go. Margolis killed Dan for that. Just for doing the right thing. And he locked me up. And he….”

This time she hesitated for so long that I was certain she wouldn’t continue, wouldn’t dare to say it, not in front of so many people. But her chin went up again, and she said coldly, “He raped me, just because he could. Because he wanted to show me who was in control. That’s the man you followed. And you call these djinn here monsters?”

The muttering grew angry again, but now their ire was clearly directed against Margolis, who for the first time appeared almost glad of his djinn escort and the protection it offered. Dani’s mouth twisted in distaste, and he called out to Zahrias, “So sure you still want to keep this one captive, brother? He should be put out of his misery, for all our sakes.”

Zahrias’ features might have been carved from stone. He didn’t look at Julia as he said, “No. We have already said he would be our prisoner. Truly, his crimes have earned him a sentence of death, but, as you said, that would put him out of his misery, and I believe he should suffer being himself for some time further.”

Butch and Mitch were staring at the ground. I’d always thought of the two as big dumb jerks — and they were — but clearly Julia’s declaration had shocked even them.

Brent, white-faced and calm, said, “Does anyone object to having Julia Innes as the new leader in Los Alamos?”

Dead silence. He waited a second, then several more. After that he turned to her and extended his hand. “Looks like you’re in charge, ma’am.”

And as such matters usually did, everything went way too fast after that. Julia asked me to come back to her townhouse with her — so I could help her pack, she said, but I knew she wanted to talk. In the meantime, the Los Alamos group was guided back to the spot on the western edge of town where they’d left their vehicles.

Just before they departed, Brent Sutherland approached me, expression both worried and puzzled. “Evony,” he said in an undertone. “I haven’t seen her anywhere around. Where is she?”

My heart seemed to clench in my chest, but I made myself reply, “I’m so sorry, Brent. She’s — she’s gone. We lost her when we were bringing Miles back from Los Alamos. A group of rogue djinn attacked our caravan. She — ” I forced myself to swallow. The tears were back, like a hard, burning knot in my throat. “She took some of them with her, though.”

Brent’s eyes were glistening as well. “I’ll bet she did. That girl had heart.” He paused for a few seconds, obviously gathering himself. “I’ll let Shawn know. He had sort of a thing for her, I think. Of course he knew it couldn’t go anywhere, because of who Evony was, but….”

That was where he stopped, and I didn’t press him to stay anything else. It hurt too much.

Then he was gone, and Julia gesturing for me to come with her. We walked the block or two to her townhouse without speaking. Once we were inside, I said, “That was a brave thing you did.”

Her mouth twitched. “Was it?” She moved past me and headed up the stairs, and so I followed her. After that she went into the bedroom and opened the door to the walk-in closet. “I suppose I just wanted them to know the truth so they could decide for themselves. And as awful as it was to say it, once I’d gotten it out, it felt good. I was tired of feeling ashamed. I wasn’t the one who did something terrible.”