Chapter Twelve
He
made her
what she was? Aziza glared at the dramatic pronouncement. All that was missing from his over-the-top display was the blast of fucking trumpets.
The way he’d said it—as if he’d announced the cure for cancer, as if he was proud—made his previous actions seem that much crueler. The posed killings, her brothers…was he implying he’d done it all
for
her? “Gee, thanks.”
The light around him dimmed and he lowered his hands. “You could be more impressed,” he chided. “I know your generation is apathetic as a rule, but you don’t see something like that everyday. Not without special effects and a large budget, at any rate.”
So casual. Two could play at that game, even if she was dangling in the air like a fish on a hook. “If you’d stopped by last week, maybe. This week? Not so much.”
He sighed. “I imagined our first meeting differently, but this is fine. Better perhaps. Now we can get straight to business and have a genuine conversation.”
“It would be more genuine if you let me down.”
“I agree.” Razia shrugged helplessly. “Alas, I am not the one holding you. Allow me to finish the introductions. My kindred and valued friend Harash is behind you. He is shy and a tad skittish for a Jinn, I’m afraid. I’ve told him restraining you this way wouldn’t actually stop you from using your powers, but it makes him feel more comfortable. I hope you’ll indulge him, as I know you’ve indulged this particular type of contact before.”
Ram. He was referring to Ram. Where was he, anyway?
Harash was holding her, but this Razia was obviously the one in charge. She could sense it. “
You
aren’t afraid I’ll use my abilities. Why?”
Razia moved closer. “I told you, Aziza Jane. I know you. I know how much you care about Aunt Penn, the very last of your family. How badly you’d feel if another Qarin died while guarding you. I also know how curious you are about what you are becoming. So I know you’ll restrain yourself until we’ve had a chance to talk. That is
all
we want
to do. Talk.”
He raised his hand and tilted her cheek to the left, and her body slowly followed until she could see the large pond. See
them
. Aziza’s horrified gasp hovered in the air as she realized what she was looking at. Penn was struggling against what was probably the same unseen restraints that held her, speaking urgently to the Jinn beside her. Only they weren’t responding. Weren’t restrained. And they weren’t making any move to help Penn.
“Ram?
Shev?
”
Hadn’t it been Shev’s voice she heard telling her to wake up? Why were they free to move? And why weren’t they getting Penn the hell out of there? She turned to glare at Razia. “What did you do to them? And Greg? What the hell did you do to Greg?”
“That was unfortunate. Your human was gone when we arrived. Missing—or we would have ensured his presence.” Razia lifted one shoulder in an attempt at apathy, but Aziza could feel it. He didn’t have him. It galled him because he truly had no idea where Greg was. “Perhaps he found a woman willing enough to help him forget you. Whatever the case, we will find him soon.”
Razia laid his forearm on her shoulder as if sharing a confidence and snapped his fingers. “But you see what we have right here? This is good. It’s fate that this happened because it perfectly illustrates our point.” He raised his voice while he turned her hovering body around to face the water. “Show her.”
Aziza stopped worrying about Greg as she watched Penn’s body being flung through the air and unceremoniously dropped into the churning liquid. She could see her aunt struggling, see the water dragging her under.
She would die.
“No!” Aziza screamed. “Shev, help her. Please, God, she’ll
drown
!”
Shev turned her head away without a word.
“She can’t help, poor thing,” Razia said in a pitying tone. “She’s been forbidden to by her people as punishment for her counterpart’s crimes. Okay, that demonstration was sufficient, Harash. We don’t want to act in haste.”
Penn’s body breached the surface and she gasped for air, using it to scream as her body was gently lifted back onto solid ground and returned to her original position.
“What’s under there?” Aziza heard Penn’s shout. “So many tentacles. Eyes. What in the hell
is
that thing?”
“Don’t hurt his feelings,” Razia shouted back. “Just because he prefers his shifted form doesn’t mean he’s an animal. Harash is a proud and powerful being. But he’s an artist. He’s actually incredibly sensitive.”
Razia turned back to Aziza and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry we had to get this physical, this quickly, but it was the only way you would truly understand.”
“Understand what?”
That you’re insane? That you’ll kill us all?
“That you are just an assignment to them. That they have no true attachment to you—and why would they? They aren’t your true caretakers. They don’t know you like I do.”
“I know what I am to them.” At least, she thought she did. She focused on remaining calm so her abilities wouldn’t surface and put her aunt in any more danger.
Not yet.
“Why are they being punished? What crimes?”
He smiled. “When you broke the second vial and offered more of your blood, you clever `girl, your gifts must have been temporarily suspended. Ram was seen bearing witness to something he had been instructed to stop at all costs.” He lowered his voice. “He had to have known it would happen, and personally, I would have done exactly the same in his position, but then I am no longer subject to the political machinations of either side. Which brings me back to the subject of us, young Fireborne.”
“There is no us.” She spoke through gritted teeth.
“Oh, but there is. There has been for longer than you know. I’ve been waiting years for you to be ready.” He stepped back and she saw the excitement practically vibrating off his skin as he spoke. “We knew the time was fast approaching, you see. Not long after you were born. The signs were in place, so we began to sow the seeds.”
“Some of my fellow brethren were tasked with creating discord in the house of Ammu. The things they did to your mother.” Razia clucked his tongue and shook his head. “But they were necessary evils. Zayid was too loyal to his Qarin, and vice versa. And his love for his wife made him too strong. He would have never believed in what we were trying to accomplish.”
She watched his lips move, a sickening feeling growing in her stomach, a heaviness in her chest that expanded with each word he spoke. “So you weren’t responsible for that? What happened to my mother? The reason she brought us to America?”
“Not personally, but don’t you see?” He cupped her shoulders with his hands and squeezed affectionately. She swallowed down her bile while he continued. “This was destiny. I know, it sounds unnecessarily harsh, but if you understood what a miracle you are—an Ammu without indoctrination. Without false presumptions about the importance of the treaty. The lies told to your family by Niyr and Jinn for far too long never touched you. Never tainted you. You are a pure vessel.”
He turned and raised his voice again, his arms making sweeping gestures as he conducted his own personal symphony. “You were meant to be what you are. You and your brothers. Beyond the lies. Your mother’s fear was necessary to keep them all at a distance, lest some disobedient soul feel sorry enough for you to show you the truth. We watched over all of you, but when we heard the old Qarin’s odes we knew you were the one. Out of all them, it was you. The only female child.”
He smiled as if at a fond memory. “Your mother believed we had chosen her youngest son. My brothers allowed her to believe it for the sake of expediency. But it was the lost young girl that belonged to us. That was truly meant to be the Fireborne. If you knew why we sought you in the first place, you would see the perfection in that.”
She called to her power softly. Subtly. Praying it would be hidden from the paranoid thing in the water that was using its abilities to restrain her. She imagined the sound of the wind through the reeds, the hushed words of wisdom, and felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.
Malleable,
it whispered.
They see you as malleable.
And just like that, she understood. She’d been aimless. Restless. The Stewart without a plan and without hope for the future. And that was exactly what they needed.
“You wanted a vulnerable Fireborne. To have the power without the purpose. A moldable, fragile human who longed for the love that you would give her.”
He pointed at her and laughed. “Good girl. You’re already stronger than I imagined you would be at this stage in your development. I suppose we can thank the Jinn and the werewolf for that. Go ahead and sense the truth in me. I’ve nothing to hide from you. My cause is just.”
He truly believed that.
She reached for the truth and felt it. He was one among thousands of Niyrs paired with Jinn to form a separate sect, apart from the others, all of them wanting the same thing. They called themselves…
Jiniyr
.
Accurate, she supposed, but not incredibly creative.
It was more than just the end of the treaty or the collapse of their current leadership they were after. It was a rebirth from the chaos. A chaos that they had helped to create for just this purpose, but still, there was a true determination to change a system that kept the two sides separated and full of hate. They wanted communion. Balance. They believed that the treaty did more harm than good. That it would destroy them all and keep them from reaching their true potential.
Beneath it all, two words kept repeating in her mind, a mantra sighing through the reeds.
Free her. Free her. Free her.
She must be freed.
Penn? Yes, she needed to free Penn. She’d promised herself she would do whatever it took. Whatever the cost. Her smile felt tight. Hard. “I thank you for your honesty. I can see what you and Harash believe, Razia. I’m not a fan of the treaty myself, since it basically screwed me and my family over in the free will department.”
“I knew you would see it,” Razia crowed.
She nodded slowly. “What I don’t see is why you need a Fireborne at all. You have decent numbers and you have right on your side… Why me?”
Razia reached one large hand up to stroke her hair, as if pleased with her question. “You are not an afterthought, precious one. You are the eye of the storm. Everything we’ve done has been with you in mind. You have won the hearts of the Jinn with your fearlessness. The wolves would follow you to their deaths. As for the Niyr, there is a group among them who would be swayed by your decision to join us in our cause.”
“The Whispers?”
“You have heard of them?” Now he sounded surprised. “Yes, that is what they call themselves. The Whispers of Jibril. The Niyr believe them a small, insignificant irritation, but they are more numerous, more insidious and far more powerful here, despite the treaty, than we could ever hope to be alone. They believe you are the key and for that reason they would follow you. Follow
us
as we discover what you will become.”
“Key to what?” She sensed something on the wind. In the air. Something coming closer. Racing toward them. Greg? Brandon?
Keep him distracted.
“What am I a key to?”
Razia stepped away from her and closed his eyes. “We are no longer alone. Harash, I know how much you dislike interruptions, but neither do we have time for games. Kill the human quickly and be done with it. Release Aziza to me and I will get her to safety.”
Kill the human…
“No, damn it!” Aziza fell to the ground, no longer restrained. She crawled toward Penn, desperate to get to her feet, to run, screaming as her aunt was once more tossed in the air like a lifeless doll.
She sensed Razia behind her, watching her, but she wouldn’t leave. Not like this. Penn would not die. “Stop.” She lifted her hand and desperately called for her gift. “Please stop.” Nothing happened. Nothing but panic closing her throat and pain eating into her heart.
I’ll have no one. She’ll die and I’ll be alone. All of them dead because of me.
“Ram,” she cried hoarsely at the frozen Jinn closest to the water. “You promised me. I trusted you to save her.”
Razia bent down beside her and patted her head, blocking her view of her Qarin. “I know this is hard for you, but we cannot stay to say goodbye. You’re too important to us to risk. But you’ve learned a valuable lesson this evening.”
He continued speaking calmly as she cried, watching her aunt disappear beneath the glowing water. “Intense emotions may stimulate your gifts. Lust. Anger. Hate. But fear can paralyze a Fireborne. And what good would you be to anyone, even someone you love, if you weren’t Fireborne?”
She had a moment to hear the snarls and the snapping of teeth, an instant to see the giant blur of fur leaping over her bent body before she heard Razia cry out in angry surprise at the interruption.
Werewolf.
The fact barely registered. All she could think about was Penn. She got to her feet and stumbled blindly toward the water, calling her aunt’s name. A hand wrapped around her arm and she turned with a fist raised, ready to gain her release in any way she could.
It was Shev. “You can hit me if you want,” she offered quickly. Her voice was harsh with what sounded like genuine distress. “But you should know that Ram jumped in after Penn. He broke our laws to save her. I never imagined he would…but she’s still alive. That’s all you need to know.”
Growls and flashes of fire and light inundated her senses as she studied the beautiful Jinn in front of her. “Will you help us?”
Shev backed away slowly, shaking her head. “Not in this fight. Not tonight.” She raised her voice to be heard over the din. “I cannot be an exile, Aziza. It is too much to ask of me. I can’t survive without my soul. I’m not as brave as he is.”
Aziza turned away from her, unwilling to waste another second with arguing, and took a moment to commit the scene to memory. She saw Ram dragging Penn’s body toward the tree line as she coughed up water. Breathing. She was breathing. He’d saved her.