Firestorm

him, which meant that somehow he'd been taken out of his connection to all other Djinn, and without him standing in that place, no one stood there.

No buffer between the Djinn and the earth. Nothing to keep them sane.

The trio opened their mouths again, and sang. It was indefinable, but I thought it was a lament. Sorrow, deep and jagged and painful. Loss. Horror. It hurt to hear it, made my knees give way; I cried out at the short stab of agony that bolted up from my kneecaps hitting concrete, then stayed down. I wasn't sure I could get up. Wasn't sure I wanted to get up.

I had no way to answer her, except with words. 'I know,' I said. 'I know it hurts. I know you want to stop hurting. So do I.'

Maybe there was a coloring of the same anguish in my voice. Maybe she heard the music of that in the words, even if the words meant nothing.

Rahel's eyes flickered. Red, then pale blue, then that fierce predatory gold I was used to.

For an instant I read everything in her—sheer deep terror at what she was doing, helpless rage at not being able to stop it, despair, a tearing pain that was an echo of the earth's.

She didn't have time to speak, and I barely could draw the breath and form the intention to ask before the Mother had Rahel again, hard in her grasp.

The song came again, soft, almost a whisper, and in it was something deadly. Like a mother singing a lullaby to a baby she was about to smother, because the world was too harsh a place, too unbearably sharp-edged for such a fragile life…

I reacted instinctively. I was terrified beyond all reason because I knew, knew my life was about to come to an end, and I had to act or die on my knees.

I wasn't about to die on my knees. I lunged to my feet, crossed the few feet that separated me from Rahel, and slugged her. A strong right cross to the jaw, with as much shoulder behind it as I knew how to commit. And if I may say so myself, it was a hell of a good shot, because I felt every bone in my hand turn to shards of glass, and I was sure I'd broken every damn thing in my body between fingertips and collarbone…

… but she shut her mouth, rocked back a step, and the other two Djinn followed suit.

'That's enough!' I yelled. 'Enough! I know it hurts, I know you hurt and it's making you crazy, but dammit, stop! This isn't some teenage soap opera! We live here! We're part of you. Humans matter! The Djinn matter! You can't kill us just because you're—depressed and angry!'

It was an impassioned speech. I don't think she got a word of it. Probably sounded like a fly buzzing in her ear as she sobbed in anguish, but for just a second, the Earth was surprised enough by the simple appearance of the nagging fly that she paused in the act of ripping us to pieces.

And the Djinn all looked at me with their own eyes, in varying stages of worry and disquiet.

'And fucking ow!' I yelled, and cradled my right arm. God, that hurt. I mean, really. 'How much time do I have?'

'Not much,' Rahel breathed. Of the three of them, she looked the least concerned, but I wasn't convinced that meant much. Rahel had always been good at hiding her feelings. 'She's waking. It's done, my friend. It's finished. You should let us kill you now, without pain, before the choice is gone for all of us.'

'We can't kill her,' Alice observed. Her voice sounded preoccupied. 'She won't allow it. There's something about this one.'

'Venna,' Rahel said. I looked around, curious, but there were just the four of us. Alice cocked her head attentively. Oh. That was right, her name wasn't Alice, I'd just gotten to thinking of her that way—she'd kept the Alice in Wonderland pinafore and silky blond hair, but she was a very old, very powerful Djinn. And her name, apparently, was Venna. 'Can you sense David?'

'No,' she said. 'Although part of him is in this plane.'

'Part of him?' For a breathless second I thought she meant an arm, a leg, a disembodied spirit…

'The child,' she clarified. 'Ashan has her.'

'Go and get her,' Rahel said. 'Now.'

'He'll resist.'

'Yes,' she agreed. 'Enjoy yourself.'

Venna raised one eyebrow—a very odd expression for an Alice look-alike—and smiled coolly. 'How much?'

'Until you stop enjoying yourself.'

She nodded once, folded her hands primly, and vanished. My hand was starting to feel normal again, though incredibly hot, as if I'd stuck it in an oven to bake all the bones back together. I tried not to move it. As if he felt my pain, the big Djinn reached out to touch my hand. His fingers stroked up and down over the aching cracked or broken bones.

'You shouldn't put your thumb in your fist when you punch someone,' he said. My broken thumb reset with a snap, and I yelped. 'That's to help you remember.'

'Good enough,' Rahel said. 'Give us a minute.'

The big Djinn didn't comment, just shrugged and walked away, around the corner of the convenience store. Maybe he was going to buy a Slurpee. Anything was possible, at the moment.

My legs just flat stopped working, and all of a sudden I was pitching forward, helpless to prevent it, and the asphalt parking lot was coming up fast and straight for my nose.

Rahel grabbed me and hoisted me upright, then leaned me back against the wall. I gave a deep-throated moan, let my head rest against the rough adobe, and closed my eyes for a few seconds. Stars. I was seeing stars, and they were moving fast. Too fast for me to keep up.

'It's all happening,' I said. 'Right? I'm too late.'

'A few minutes left,' Rahel said. 'Not so many, though.' She accompanied that with a shake of my arm. 'You must finish it,' she said. 'She won't listen to us, but she hears you. She doesn't understand you, but there's something about you that… sings. Finish it. Make her understand. Go.'

'I can't.'

'You have to.'

'Rahel, I can't!' I wanted to stay here. I wanted to wait to see Imara's face again. I wanted—

I just wanted to be like the rest of the world, filling up my car, buying my Slurpee, unaware I was half an hour or less away from dying.

There was no forgiveness or mercy in her expression. 'You will,' she said. 'Because it's who you are. I have seen this in you from the first moment I saw you.'

'Bullshit!' I burst out. 'I don't even know where—'

'Get in your car and drive.'

'Did you hear me? I don't know where I'm going!'

'Drive!' she snarled, and practically threw me across the parking lot toward the BMW. My legs worked fine this time, holding me upright as I braked my forward momentum against the side of the car. I whirled to face her, and the fear turned white-hot with rage.

'Don't you ever do that again!' I shouted. 'Ever! I swear to God, Rahel—'

'Yes,' she said, walking toward me with fast, choppy steps. Her hair, intricately braided with beads, swirled and twisted in a sudden hot wind rushing over the parking lot. I felt the patter of sand against my skin. 'Swear to God. Pray. Pray.'

She was terrifying now, and it wasn't the Earth inside her, it was purely and wholly Rahel.

'Pray,' she said again, as if it really meant something, and put her hands together and gave me a full, formal bow.

I blinked against a stinging rush of blown sand, and then… she was gone. Nothing there but discarded paper cups rattling around on the ground, making pointless circles in the wind.

I scrabbled for the door and threw myself inside the car, fastened both hands tight on the steering wheel for a second, and then started up the car.

Pray.

Well, it was a start.