“Because it’s a lie,” she focused on her words. “You hate what Brandon is, the same way he hates you. You hated what I let him do to me, that I gave myself to a wolf, and you let it ruin this. All of it. Twice now, Ram. Twice you’ve left me feeling like a means to an end. There won’t be a third time.”
She looked down at her palm and focused on making the already fading spot of darkness disappear. When it did, she blinked rapidly to stop herself from crying. “Looks like you won’t have to babysit me for that much longer, Jinn. None of you.” She held up her hand and turned in a slow circle, knowing somewhere, on some Jinn or Niyr plane of existence, they could see her. “I’m a fast learner.”
“It’s her again.”
Aziza watched her aunt put her cell phone back in her pocket before slipping her arm through hers and continuing their walk around the property. “How many times is that today?”
“Eight, not that I’m counting.” Penn leaned her head on Aziza’s shoulder. “Did I do anything I should be ashamed of last night? I did notice the sizable dent in the liquor cabinet.”
“Compared to me, you were an angel,” Aziza assured her without going into specifics. “Did it help? Do you feel better?”
“Not a jot. All I’ve added to the mix is a migraine and a head full of fog. I still can’t believe this is real. Any of it. I must be the blindest woman on the planet.”
“No, Penn. Blind is missing an affair or losing your keys. This is too insane. How could you possibly have known? How could you have even guessed?”
Her laugh was not the loud, joyous noise Aziza was used to. It was soft and tinged with bitterness. “You’ve said that before, you know, when I found out about your mother. Emma and Hillary were the two most important people in my life. I called one a loon and dismissed her fears, and the other I believed to be perfect and incapable of lying. I’m blind, all right. Why didn’t I see the signs?”
Her heart ached for Penn, but she knew talking would be good for her. She had to get it all out. She’d asked to come outside where the sky was clear and the grass was green and everything looked so peaceful. She hoped it would rub off. “What signs?”
Penn shrugged. “How careful she was when she talked about her family. She works for Brandon’s father, you know. His assistant. He’s a tosser, from what she said, but very important. And that is
all
I know. In nine years I’ve never been invited to an office party or a family dinner. I’ve never met any of them. Only Devil. I thought, well maybe they’re old-fashioned and aren’t open to two women loving each other. I thought that was why she told me we’d move here when I was ready to leave London for good. Here, far away from most of her family, where we couldn’t be spotted.”
“Maybe they
are
old-fashioned. Maybe she was trying to protect you.” Aziza could only imagine how rough it would be to come out in a werewolf community.
She shook her head.
The werewolf community.
That was an actual thought in her head. Her life had taken such an odd turn since she came to England.
Penn stopped walking. “I don’t need to be protected. You sent me here to protect me. Hillary lied to protect me. It’s occurred to me recently that Emma may have gone to America to protect us just as much as to protect you. And you came here yesterday, I believe, in a courageous attempt to shield me yet again. But let’s get everyone up to speed. So far this week I’ve been possessed, had a fight with my werewolf lover, have a female Jinn currently in my bedroom trying on all my lingerie and a wolf on my lawn who hasn’t taken his eyes off you since we left the house.”
Penn’s voice continued to rise and Aziza tried to ignore the fact that it was tinged with panic. “Look at how well I am handling it, considering. I don’t need to be protected.”
“Okay, Penn. Okay.” Aziza ran her hands through her hair and looked her aunt in the eye. “You’re right. Jinn and Niyr and werewolves exist. Your niece is something fun and exciting called a Fireborne. Your werewolf girlfriend—who didn’t know if any of our abilities would ever be switched on—kept what we are, what
she is
from you because she saw how upset you were about your sister—and maybe wondered if you would send her packing. It was wrong of her to keep it from you.” She thought about last night. About Ram. “Does that secret wipe away all the two of you have together? Does it ruin everything?”
Her aunt was looking at her as if she were crazy. “Yes, of course it does. How could it not? This isn’t a normal omission, Aziza. This isn’t even an ‘I got drunk at the office party and kissed my secretary’ omission. I think I might handle that better than this. I would understand that.”
“Because she’s beautiful and perfect and you always wondered why she would want you.” Aziza heard the words coming out of her mouth, but she didn’t know where they were coming from. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Penn was pale, her eyes welling with a fresh round of tears. “No, but you’re right. I always thought she’d be the one to walk away. Didn’t know why she was with me in the first place, until now.”
Her hands were warm. Burning. Aziza looked down and saw the dark mark of a feather appear in her palm.
What the hell?
She started speaking again, as if through a long tunnel. “Now you believe she was with you in order to spy on us. That it had nothing to do with you, but you’re wrong. Hillary loves you. She stayed because she loves you. She protected you from her family so you would not know their bigotry and intolerance. She protected me from Brandon’s father, the Alpha, so he would not use me as an example. As a symbol of hope to gain greater favor with his people, or a bargaining chip he could use with the—
Damn it
.”
Aziza fell to her knees, her head spinning and her heart beating too fast. Too hard. “What the fuck?” she gasped.
She looked at her hand again, the feather already starting to fade as she watched.
Your heart knows the truth
, she heard a whisper in her mind that sounded like the wind blowing through reeds.
Danger is coming soon.
One will fall. One will lie. Gregory could be led astray.
“Aziza? Can you hear me? What happened?” Penn was kneeling down beside her, arms wrapped around her tightly. “Tell me what you need.”
She looked over at the woman embracing her—the pale skin and sad eyes—and saw her mother. Her mother, who ran away from love to escape the frightening magic it came with. Who spent the rest of her life mourning that loss. “I need you to call Hillary and give her another chance to explain. If you love her, you have to give her another chance. Everyone deserves a second chance.”
Penn’s tears fell unheeded down her cheeks. “Oh, my darling,” she whispered, “of course I love her. I love her with all of my heart. But sometimes it isn’t enough.”
Wasn’t that what she’d always believed? What she’d known?
Gregory could be led astray.
“Do you know where Greg is?”
Penn sniffled and patted Aziza’s back in a comforting gesture. “He went to the pond to read this morning and I saw him just over the rise as we were walking. He’s still there.”
Aziza’s heart rate was finally slowing. “I need to talk to him, I think. I just have this feeling…”
“Feelings I can handle,” Penn asserted, helping Aziza to her feet. “I’ll go whip something up, and you bring Gregory in so I can feed him. I don’t like how quiet he’s been.”
And she, being the wonderful best friend that she was, had been so wrapped up in everything going on with her and Brandon—with Penn—that she hadn’t noticed.
Gregory could be led astray.
What did that even mean? She nodded as Penn headed back to the house, and Aziza began to walk at a quick pace toward the pond, with visions of Shev molesting him against his will flashing through her head. Shev would never do that, she assured herself. But she didn’t believe her own lie. Not completely. That Jinn had mentioned wanting her friend more than once. And how long was a normal, red-blooded male supposed to resist someone like Shev?
She saw the back of his head, his broad shoulders, and took a breath. Still upright. Still alive and not being led anywhere. She paused and squinted, focusing on the gestures he was making with his hands. Those were his talking hands.
Was he not alone?
“Greg?”
He turned and smiled at her, a genuine smile that demanded to be returned. “Aziza Jane, I was wondering when you’d find us. We were just talking about you.”
“Really?” Aziza moved closer and finally saw her. A woman who’d been concealed by the wide, old oak tree Greg was resting beneath. “Hello.”
The woman was lovely, but not overly so. A small button nose and slender lips that didn’t seem inclined to smile. She also had braided platinum hair and large bottomless eyes. “Have we met?”
“It’s Te.” Greg laughed in genuine delight, as if it was some joke he was letting her in on. “Can you believe it? I told her, if she’d just shown up like this before, there would have been no problem.”
Te nodded. “I believe you’re right, Gregory.” The voice was feminine but still…off to Aziza’s ears. “I had hoped this form would be a more appropriate one. Not creepy.”
“Checking up on us?” Aziza forced a smile, sitting down on the ground beside Greg and studying Te carefully. “You know Ram and Shev are still here, don’t you? This isn’t the center of town. Or is it?”
“Do you truly believe I have less of a stake in current events than the Jinn who watch you?” Te didn’t sound offended, merely curious. “I am your Qarin as well. I admit they are more demonstrative than my kind, but that is only an affectation of their species, not an accurate measurement of concern. My physical appearance here shows my sincerity in any case. As Fireborne, you could always defend me should the passionate Jinn attack.”
“It’s amazing,” Greg said. “Everything she says just sounds better now.”
Aziza rolled her eyes. “Yes, we all know you’re a guy, buddy. You don’t have to keep proving it.”
“Could have fooled me,” he muttered before reaching for the box that was sitting between him and the Niyr. “Speaking of me being manly and awesome, I found this in the study this morning, shoved away in a dark corner. I didn’t want to upset you but I thought maybe I should look. You’ll thank me when you realize what we—”
“Tarik?” She got on her knees and tilted the box, looking at the mailing address. “This is from Tarik? Greg, you should have told me.”
“From Tarik
to
Tarik,” Greg answered. “He must have sent this here from Bahrain before…”
“I didn’t know. Penn didn’t say anything about it. I thought everything was lost in the fire.” She tugged the large box toward her and began to look through what they’d found.
Greg and Te had already unwrapped several small clay jars with intricate artwork and old, timeworn books that appeared to be about archaeology. Her eldest brother had loved old books, but these had no doubt been meant for Joseph. Something to prove that her youngest brother and their estranged father had interests in common, maybe.
“If it’s okay, I’d like to read those.” Greg reached for them gently, holding them as if they were priceless. “From what little I’ve seen, they’re about buried ruins in the deserts of the Middle East. Treasure troves and ancient cities made of gold.”
Buried ruins in the desert.
Like her dreams?
“The greatest treasure is knowledge.” Te’s voice was matter of fact. “And this package held more than trinkets and books, Fireborne. We’ve been waiting for you since Greg insisted we allow you the honors.” Te pointed to a square iron container at the bottom of the box.
Aziza reached in and lifted it up with a surprised exhalation. It was heavy. “There’s something stuck to the bottom.”
It was a plain white envelope, blank except for the five artistically scrawled letters that spelled her name. She dropped it on the ground and covered her mouth, unable to quell the flood of tears at the sight.
A letter from her brother.
“Honey, I’m so sorry.” Greg pulled her into his arms and rocked her gently back and forth. “But this is a gift. The things he wanted to save, you have them now. Maybe you were
meant
to have them now.”
Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Aziza took a deep breath and reached for the metal box. The envelope was stuck firmly to the bottom, so she pulled with infinite care, trying to calm her racing heart.
She’d worked so hard not to think about her brothers for the past eighteen months. To live in the moment. For all of them.
She’d tried to be as curious as Adam, as imaginative as Joseph…as fearless as Tarik…though she never allowed herself to talk about them or even acknowledge that that was what she was doing. But since all this happened, she found herself thinking about them more and more. Especially her eldest brother. She was walking on his path now. Living out his destiny. Only she didn’t have his strength. She didn’t have his courage and confidence. She was just the only one left.
The sound of tearing paper had a finality to it that seemed to cut into her skin. In a moment she would see the last words he’d written to her and then it would be over. Then, once again, all she’d have left was a memory. She wanted to take her time.
Dearest Aziza,
Though the house and garden are as beautiful as my childhood memories, I find myself missing England. And you, of course. I can’t wait until your semester is over and you hop on your first plane to cross the Atlantic. I know it’s not the kind of flying you used to imagine, but it will bring you to Penn and Hillary. I don’t like the idea of you staying on at our old house by yourself. And, once I wrap up all this paperwork, I’ll be waiting for you as well.
Don’t tell Adam, but I think there’s a story here. You should see the way the locals react when I mention our father’s name. They’re all helpful and seem like nice people, but they’re afraid when they hear the name Ammu. The weirdest thing is they insist it’s not him that frightens them, but the Jinn that followed him throughout his life. Crazy, right? They genuinely believe in that here. So much so there are times when I find myself nearly convinced. Nearly. But you and I both know that sometimes too much belief can be a dangerous thing.