“I don’t understand.”
No, and Claire didn’t expect her to. She looked down at her mug, sitting untouched on the table, much like her heart.
No, that wasn’t true. Ashur had touched her heart in a way no one—no angel or human or djinn—had ever done. And that sadness came back, pressing against her from every side. “Even if I was pure of heart, I still couldn’t free Ashur. I’m not bound to the opal.”
“What?” Mira’s gaze snapped to Claire’s neck, where the firebrand opal no longer hung. “How did you get it off? I wasn’t able to remove it when I had it. It only opened when—”
“When you freed Tariq. I know. But I’m…different. Ashur’s bound to the opal, but not me. And I’m leaving now, before it’s too late, so you and the others have time to find another woman to give the necklace to. Maybe then she—”
Claire’s chest cinched down hard when she thought of another wearing the opal, of Ashur being bound to pleasure someone else. Even though he wasn’t hers, the thought of him with someone else sent a path of fire straight through her heart.
Which was crazy, because she
barely
knew him.
She squared her shoulders, reminded herself she was doing the right thing. Even if it didn’t feel like it. “Maybe then she can figure out a way to free him. Because I just can’t.”
She reached for the door. Mira’s chair scraped the floor at her back. “Claire, wait—”
She couldn’t. Not any more. Tears pushed at her eyes, and an empty cavern was growing beneath her ribs. One she didn’t understand but which she feared might swallow her whole. “Tell the others I’m sorry. That I…” She swallowed around the lump in her throat and jerked the door open. “That I’m so sorry. Trust me, you’ll all be better off once I’m gone.”
CHAPTER TEN
A cool wind blew across Ashur’s face, rousing him from sleep. Groggy, he blinked several times, then peered into shadows and dim light.
He was in some kind of bedroom. Warm sheets cradled his body, a pillow lay under his head, and moonlight cascaded over pale walls on every side.
This wasn’t one of his rooms in the castle in Gannah. It wasn’t gaudy enough. And it wasn’t part of Zoraida’s hideout where he’d been imprisoned and trained. It was too soft. It also wasn’t that hut where he’d been summoned by an angel.
Claire
…
Thoughts, memories, events passed before his eyes. Followed by a rush of heat that started in his belly and burned a path straight to his groin.
His cock grew hard when he remembered Claire peering up at him with need and lust in her light blue eyes, and his groin tingled with the memory of her soft fingers reaching for his drawstring, sliding into his pants, wrapping around his cock and finally drawing him into the warm, moist heat of her mouth.
He wanted her again. Wanted to lose himself in her softness and light. Wanted to sink inside her body and forget everything else—his brothers, his duties, the sorceress.
He rolled, reached for her, but found air. He moved his hand, patted the sheets, finally pushed up on his elbow and looked over to find her gone.
“Claire?”
No answer. No movement. He glanced over his shoulder toward the dark bathroom, also quiet. A frown cut across his face as he looked back where she’d been snuggled against him only hours ago. Where could she be?
A sparkle of light caught his attention, and he sat up. Reaching for the sheet, he closed his fingers around the cotton and pulled it back. Then stared down at the firebrand opal against the mattress in disbelief and shock.
No. She’d taken it off? Why?
He reached for it, hoping it was still warm, that it had just slipped off, that it meant she was still close. Only cold, hard stone met his fingertips.
Before he could process what that meant, a great rumble shook the house. The bed groaned, the walls trembled, and then a jolt of energy whipped through the room. His body lifted then slammed back against the headboard with a crack that resonated through his skull and sent pain firing through his entire body.
Dazed, he slumped to the ground. And then the room filled with smoke and he felt his body flying.
No
!
Flying toward a darkness he couldn’t stop.
* * *
Mira’s scream brought Claire’s feet to a stop.
She whipped around, was met by a wind that slashed past her face, thrust her hair behind her. Wood splintered, saplings and rocks flew up into the air. The ground shook beneath her feet.
Claire stumbled, caught her balance. Then watched in shock as entire trees were uprooted, their limbs ripped free to thunder to the forest floor. Her mouth fell open, her eyes grew wide. It was like watching a tornado spin around her, a force of nature that didn’t usually occur in the Pacific Northwest. Except nothing touched her.
A roar grew from the house. She jerked that direction. Energy pulsed through the building, a blast of heat and light that rocked the entire foundation. Inside, objects crashed to the floor and shattered.
She didn’t think. She reacted. Racing back across the damp earth, she jumped over downed logs and debris in her path. By the time she reached the porch, she was breathing heavily. The house had stopped shaking, but when she pulled the kitchen door open, she gasped at the mess of plates and furniture and broken glass strewn across the floor.
A groan echoed at her right. She shifted that way, then lurched into action. “Mira.”
Her friend lay at an angle against the breakfast-nook wall. Blood trickled from a cut on her forehead, and her eyes were dazed. Claire stooped to help her to her feet. Footsteps pounded somewhere close. She turned just as Tariq burst into the small room.
“
Hayaati
.” Tariq was at Claire’s side in a flash, taking Mira from her arms and gently checking her wounds.
“I’m fine, Tariq,” Mira said. “I’m fine, really. I just banged my head.” She pressed her fingers against the cut. Winced. “What the hell was that?”
“She called him back.”
At the sound of Nasir’s voice, Claire looked toward the archway where the djinn prince, wearing nothing but pale blue pajama pants, stood in the center of the disaster with Kavin at his side. Both of their faces were pale, their hair a mess, cuts and bruises already forming over their arms and faces where they’d obviously been hit by debris. But when he held out his hand, all the air was sucked from Claire’s lungs.
The firebrand opal glittered under the kitchen lights. “This was on the mattress in his room.”
Tariq’s eyes grew wide, then his gaze jerked toward Claire. “You took it off? How? What did you do?”
“I…” Panic closed in around Claire as she looked from face to face. “I thought I was helping. Giving him a chance. Why would she call him back?”
“Because he failed,” Tariq answered. “How did you take it off? And why don’t you look as banged up as the rest of us?”
“I—”
“She left,” Mira answered quickly. “She was already outside when that—whatever it was—hit.”
Tariq moved to the window. “How long?”
Mira glanced toward Claire, then to her husband. “Minutes.”
His dark gaze landed on Claire again, and this time, fear pushed in with the panic. He crossed to her, jerked her chin up with his hand. Stared hard into her eyes. “You’re not injured. You should be dead if you were outside when Zoraida’s fury hit. Entire trees are uprooted out there. What
are
you?”
The confusion filling Tariq’s eyes told Claire this time, he wouldn’t be deterred. “I…” That energy had come from the sorceress? Because of her? And now…what did that mean for Ashur? “I was just trying to…to help.”
Tears pushed against her eyes. And that emptiness grew beneath her ribs. Grew so wide she was afraid it might swallow her whole.
“Holy Allah,” Nasir muttered from the doorway. “She’s not human. She’s celestial. Look at the tear on her cheek.”
Claire sniffled, tried to wipe it away, but Tariq’s hand grasped her wrist, stopping her. They closed around her, and every set of eyes focused on her cheek. At the tear even she could see was glowing.
“An angel,” Tariq muttered, his gaze jumping back to her eyes. “No wonder you knew the secrets of the Key of Solomon.” Rage erupted in his irises. “What were you trying to do? Why did you summon my brother? What kind of game are you playing with us?”
“Tariq, stop!” Mira pushed her way between Claire and Tariq, preventing him from grabbing her other arm. “Stop right now. Can’t you see what this is doing to her?”
Tariq stared down at her, his gaze alight with anger and malice, but Claire was beyond caring. All she could think about was where Ashur had gone. What was happening to him. And that by trying to do the right thing, once again she’d made the wrong choice.
Tariq’s hand released her wrist. Claire slumped against the wall at her back, then slowly slid to the ground. Pain sliced at her. A pain that was a thousand times worse than the emptiness she’d felt before.
“Tariq,” Mira whispered. Then, kneeling next to Claire, she softly added, “Claire, tell us what happened.”
She didn’t know where to start, but before she realized what she was doing, the words were free, rolling, growing, spilling out. About her, about her order, about the reasons she’d searched for that bottle and why she’d summoned Ashur to begin with.
When she was done, silence settled over the shambles in the kitchen. She swiped at her damp cheeks, thankful at least that the words had forced her to stop crying. She hadn’t even known she could cry until just now.
“Holy Allah,” Nasir repeated. “That’s why Zoraida’s so pissed Ashur failed. Because an angel’s soul is stronger than that of a human.”
Tariq looked toward his brother. “That was more than her normal temper tantrum.”
Nasir nodded. “She needs the angel’s soul to regain her strength.”
Claire’s head hurt so bad, she was having trouble following the conversation. The brothers seemed to forget there were others in the room. “We don’t like to be called angels. It implies wings and halos, which we don’t have. We prefer the term celestial. And I don’t understand. Zoraida is already strong. She’s a sorceress.”
“Who’s been imprisoned in a bottle for the last six months,” Tariq said, finally cutting his gaze her way. “Zoraida gets strength from the souls her pleasure slaves corrupt. Without them, she grows weak, and she’s been without for quite a while now. Did Ashur know what you are?”
“Not at first, no.”
“But he found out?”
“Y-yes.”
“And how did he react?”
Claire swallowed hard and looked up at Tariq, remembering not only the fury but fear in his eyes when he’d realized what she was. “He…he wasn’t happy. He made me send him back.”
“But he returned, didn’t he?”
“Pissed, I’ll bet,” Nasir added. “Zoraida would have made him come back.”
Claire glanced Nasir’s way, then looked at Tariq, who seemed just as eager to hear her answer. “Yes,” she finally said. “He…he didn’t want to have anything to do with me after he found out. At first, at least.”
Tariq looked across the kitchen to his brother. “My powers won’t be of any help.”
“Mine will.” Nasir turned his gaze to Claire. “She’s the only one who can go after him.”
Claire’s head jerked up. “What?” She sniffled again. Looked from face to face. “Didn’t you both hear what I said earlier? My powers are bound.”
“In this world,” Nasir answered.
“What does it matter? I’m not a fighter. I wouldn’t know how to rescue him even if I could. I don’t know the djinn realm.”
“We’ll tell you what you need to know.”
Tariq’s eyes were alive with light and excitement, as if things had already been decided. Slowly, Claire braced her back against the wall and pushed to her feet. “I…I’m not the one to do this. Both of you…you should go.”
“We can’t send ourselves to her lair,” Nasir answered. “And Tariq is right. His powers lessen each day he’s here. His won’t be enough. Not for what you have to do.”
Claire wasn’t sure what they were implying, but the way Kavin tightened her hand around Nasir’s in a protective way told her whatever they had planned wasn’t good. “I…I can’t get to the djinn realm. I don’t even know how.”
“You will,” Nasir told her. “Once you steal my powers.”
“No,” Kavin finally interjected. “Nasir, no.”
He turned toward his mate, brushed his hand against her cheek and softly said, “This is the only way,
rouhi
. As soon as Zoraida finds out I’m still alive, she’s going to call me back. We’ve been lucky so far. She’s been preoccupied by Ashur and the angel, but she’s not anymore. I can feel her fury growing through the opal. She’ll be coming for me. Soon. This is our only chance.”
“But, Nasir…” Tears filled Kavin’s eyes. “I can’t lose you.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “If we have an angel on our side, maybe you won’t have to.”
They both looked toward Claire. As did Mira and Tariq. And in the silence that followed, Claire’s heart sped up. Could she do this? Could she cross into the djinn realm and face down a sorceress? Her powers were strong—when she had them—but she’d rarely used them. And never in battle. Plus, it had been so long… Would she even remember how to use them?
Indecision raced through her mind. But overriding it was fear. Fear of crossing over, of being faced with the firebrand opals, of staring down everything she’d been seeking so long, and losing herself to the darkness for good.
“Please, Claire.”
Mira’s voice cut through Claire’s jumbled thoughts, and she looked toward her friend, her own eyes wet with tears, fear and hope stamped across her face. Then to Tariq, whose expression mirrored Mira’s.
“I…I’m fallen. I don’t think I can steal any djinni’s powers, even if I want to.”
“Yes, you can,” Nasir answered in a confident tone. She looked his way, saw the determination in his eyes. “Especially if I’m willing to give them to you. With my powers and this opal” —he nodded at the necklace in his hand— “you’ll have everything you need to free us all. You’re the only one who can.”
* * *
“You failed me!”