He handled the light with more skill than most humans. There is something about him…his intellect is adequate.”
“What a compliment.” Greg’s chuckle was raw, but genuine. “Just don’t ask me for directions, right, Te? Right. Right or left. Up or down.” He began to mumble again, reaching up to clutch his head. “Everywhere. Life is everywhere. Every when . Is the number of dimensions constant? If one is destroyed will the others that surround it fall? The sand conceals the truth but no one knows who keeps the sand. Sends the sand. That line remains cloaked.”
“That’s right. Let’s go, handsome. Tell Mama all about it.” Shev moved past them and bent down to slip her hands under Greg’s arms, hefting him up without much effort. “Looks like you may have been Te’s first time. Too bad, really. I was planning a fun night for us.”
Te stiffened, his youthful face reddening as Aziza watched. “I have studied this procedure extensively. I have no doubt that the transfer was successful.”
Greg moaned as he was lifted to a standing position. He seemed drunk. Crazy. “Aziza is screwed,” he rasped. “Niyr with no experience. Jinn with no patience. The female child was born to continue the line. This isn’t her destiny. Tarik was first.”
Aziza tried to ignore his words, glaring at Shev when the woman wrapped Greg’s arm over her shoulder. “Let him go. I can take him from here.”
Ram’s partner rolled her eyes. “No, you can’t. You don’t have the strength yet.”
She stood and planted her hands on her hips. “You’d be surprised.”
Greg was her responsibility. Her family. He’d been there for her without question. There was no way she would abandon him now. Without taking her gaze away from Shev, she addressed Te. “Thank you for making the attempt to help us.”
“I am fulfilling my duty as far as I am able, Fireborne, and I will take all we’ve spoken of into consideration.”
He glanced up at the Jinn beside her. “I assume you have been given permission to take a more active and visible role in her protection, if not her education?”
Ram and Shev nodded before he continued. “Good. Then I believe we should bring this meeting to a close. On the wisdom of Jibril, I leave this place of peace with no thoughts or plans of war.”
Ram bowed his head and placed his fist over his heart. “On the soul of the mother of our people, we leave this place with fire and passion, but no desire for retaliation.”
Aziza heard the words both had obviously memorized by rote. The importance of it reverberated up her spine. All they’d said began to make sense. War and peace. Neutral territory. Jinn and…whatever that child Te really was. She’d somehow found herself in the middle of two enemies. Two enemies who were not remotely human.
For some reason, both sides were interested in her family. In her.
She followed Shev as the woman carted her wobbly legged best friend away from the statue and toward a nearby cab that appeared to be waiting for them.
Home. She had to get Greg home. If anything happened to him…she’d start a little war of her own.
Chapter Five
Fingertips gently caressed her cheek, drawing her back to awareness and away from her troubling dreams. Aziza blinked her dry eyes rapidly, uncertain for a moment where she was.
Greg’s voice was hoarse, but warm. “Have you been there all night, Aziza Jane?”
She lifted her head and winced at the crick in her neck, raising her hand to rub the soreness away. She was sitting on the floor beside the couch where they’d laid Greg down last night. She must have dozed off right before dawn, resting her forehead on the pillow closest to his feet. “I guess so. This corset feels like it’s burrowed into my rib cage.”
And then she remembered. She pushed herself up to sit beside him on the sofa and wrap her arms around him. “You’re up. You’re talking to me. Do you need anything? Are you okay?”
“A moment of
“What a compliment.” Greg’s chuckle was raw, but genuine. “Just don’t ask me for directions, right, Te? Right. Right or left. Up or down.” He began to mumble again, reaching up to clutch his head. “Everywhere. Life is everywhere. Every when . Is the number of dimensions constant? If one is destroyed will the others that surround it fall? The sand conceals the truth but no one knows who keeps the sand. Sends the sand. That line remains cloaked.”
“That’s right. Let’s go, handsome. Tell Mama all about it.” Shev moved past them and bent down to slip her hands under Greg’s arms, hefting him up without much effort. “Looks like you may have been Te’s first time. Too bad, really. I was planning a fun night for us.”
Te stiffened, his youthful face reddening as Aziza watched. “I have studied this procedure extensively. I have no doubt that the transfer was successful.”
Greg moaned as he was lifted to a standing position. He seemed drunk. Crazy. “Aziza is screwed,” he rasped. “Niyr with no experience. Jinn with no patience. The female child was born to continue the line. This isn’t her destiny. Tarik was first.”
Aziza tried to ignore his words, glaring at Shev when the woman wrapped Greg’s arm over her shoulder. “Let him go. I can take him from here.”
Ram’s partner rolled her eyes. “No, you can’t. You don’t have the strength yet.”
She stood and planted her hands on her hips. “You’d be surprised.”
Greg was her responsibility. Her family. He’d been there for her without question. There was no way she would abandon him now. Without taking her gaze away from Shev, she addressed Te. “Thank you for making the attempt to help us.”
“I am fulfilling my duty as far as I am able, Fireborne, and I will take all we’ve spoken of into consideration.”
He glanced up at the Jinn beside her. “I assume you have been given permission to take a more active and visible role in her protection, if not her education?”
Ram and Shev nodded before he continued. “Good. Then I believe we should bring this meeting to a close. On the wisdom of Jibril, I leave this place of peace with no thoughts or plans of war.”
Ram bowed his head and placed his fist over his heart. “On the soul of the mother of our people, we leave this place with fire and passion, but no desire for retaliation.”
Aziza heard the words both had obviously memorized by rote. The importance of it reverberated up her spine. All they’d said began to make sense. War and peace. Neutral territory. Jinn and…whatever that child Te really was. She’d somehow found herself in the middle of two enemies. Two enemies who were not remotely human.
For some reason, both sides were interested in her family. In her.
She followed Shev as the woman carted her wobbly legged best friend away from the statue and toward a nearby cab that appeared to be waiting for them.
Home. She had to get Greg home. If anything happened to him…she’d start a little war of her own.
Chapter Five
Fingertips gently caressed her cheek, drawing her back to awareness and away from her troubling dreams. Aziza blinked her dry eyes rapidly, uncertain for a moment where she was.
Greg’s voice was hoarse, but warm. “Have you been there all night, Aziza Jane?”
She lifted her head and winced at the crick in her neck, raising her hand to rub the soreness away. She was sitting on the floor beside the couch where they’d laid Greg down last night. She must have dozed off right before dawn, resting her forehead on the pillow closest to his feet. “I guess so. This corset feels like it’s burrowed into my rib cage.”
And then she remembered. She pushed herself up to sit beside him on the sofa and wrap her arms around him. “You’re up. You’re talking to me. Do you need anything? Are you okay?”
“A moment of
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