rocketing back into the real world. We slammed back into the elevator cage with enough force to rock it on its cables, and Rahel didnât waste any time with niceties; she took over for me, creating flesh and form in less than a flicker of a second, and when I opened my eyes her neon yellow ones were staring into mine from less than a foot away.
âWhat the hell wasââ
âHold on!â she shouted, interrupting me, and I felt the power surge around us. Not from her, not from me, from that thing .
I didnât think, I reacted. I reached out and slapped it down, hard. The resulting concussion of force erupted in sparks and blue-white flashes as energy turned to electricity, seeking the ground.
Ah, this was something I could handle. I reached out on the subatomic level and quickly dispersed the field, bleeding it off into a million tiny jolts through the steel frame of the building. All over the place, people would be picking up static charges from carpet, shocking themselves on doorknobs, feeling prickles on the backs of their necks.
âNo!â Rahel said, and grabbed me by the shoulders. âWe canât fight here! Too close!â
Not that we had any choice. The thing was still coming at us, hard and fast, and I ignored her to reach out through the aetheric and read what was going on.
It had control of the air. I couldnât tell what it meant to do, but something bad was a good bet. Airâs heavyâit weighs several pounds per square inch. Increasing density can crush a humanâor even a humanoidâbody like an empty beer can.
I blocked, drawing heavy oxygen out of the elevator cage and slamming it together in a tightly packed ball between my spread hands. Rahel backed away, looking down at the swirling gray-blue mass I was holding. Her eyes went wide.
I set it on fire with a spark from the electricity still crackling around in the air, and wrapped the whole thing in a shell of carbon dioxide, and lifted that bowling-ball-sized inferno in one hand and held it there. Hell in a bottle.
âBring it on!â I yelled to the empty air. Voices didnât carry in the altered atmosphere, but it didnât matter, I knew it was getting the point. âGet your ass out here, you coward! Show yourself!â
The elevator shuddered to a halt.
Something black manifested itself in the corner as a shadow, then a stain, then an oil-slick presence.
It wasnât a Djinn. I didnât know what it was, but evidently Rahel did. She lifted her left hand and pointed it at the thing, and her fingers sprouted claws againâlong, wickedly pointed things that gleamed harsh crystal in the overhead lights.
âIfrit,â she hissed. She looked savage. âLeave this place.â
There were eyes in the shadows; I could feel them even if I couldnât see them. Dark eyes. And a darker amusement. The ball of fire Iâd made was starting to get hot, even through the layering Iâd put around it. I tossed it from one hand to the other, looking casual andâI hopedâdeadly.
The Ifrit purred, âPeace to you, my sisters.â
âWar, my sister,â Rahel answered softly. âWho lets you hunt here?â
âSweetmeat, I hunt where I choose,â the thing said. It had a voice like darkest velvet, and even though the air was too thin to hold a smell I could taste it, like rotting meat in the back of my throat.
âNot here. Not now.â
I donât know how it did it, but it smiled. Grinned, actually. Maybe it was just that my eyes were getting accustomed to the lack of features in its face, and added some imaginary ones, but I thought I saw a flash of teeth. âThis creature cannot survive,â it said, and pointed toward me. âThink you I will allow its energy to be wasted?â
The Ifrit was talking about me. âWho you calling a creature?â I shot back.
âHush,â Rahel said absently. She was staring at the Ifrit
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