Gale Force

Chapter Thirteen

One nice thing about having the Djinn Conduit on your side was receiving no arguments from the rank and file—no arguments of any substance, anyway. The other Djinn still thought we were crazy, but generally decided that was our personal business.

What they weren’t so wild about was the idea that we weren’t going to charge off to Rahel’s rescue, but I knew they weren’t tactically inept; they knew if we played the game the Sentinels had set in motion, we would all pay the price.

I also knew how hard it was going to be for them to stand by and sacrifice Rahel for a tactical point. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I knew David, and I knew that making those choices was just as impossibly hard for him as it was for me.

Part of what we planned was, again, complete insanity. Lewis carried out the first part of it at four o’clock, on the steps of the Miami FBI field office.

We called a press conference. To say it was well attended would be to say that the hottest club in LA had a bit of a wait to get in. I’d expected to draw attention, but as we walked through the lobby with a flying escort of FBI agents, Homeland Security, and anxiously hovering, nameless other governmental representatives, I could hear the roar of the crowd outside.

One of the no-name governmental types, nattily turned out in a nicely tailored suit and a two-hundred-dollar haircut, pushed in front of us and physically threw himself against the glass doors leading out, facing us down. “Wait!” he blurted. The parade trickled to a halt, and Lewis and I glanced at each other. We’d had bets on how long it would take for the cold feet to manifest. I was about to make a cool twenty bucks. Sweet. “Are you sure about this? You’re sure there’s no other way? The chaos—the fear—”

“Let me put it this way,” Lewis said. “You had half the news media covering the meltdown out at the motel earlier today, and every phone line to every possible agency has been jammed ever since, demanding an explanation. Do you want to try to coordinate some big lie that won’t get found out, at this point? Because I’d be happy to put your name forward as the guy in charge.”

No-Name Nice Suit Guy swallowed and lowered his arms. He straightened his lapels with an unconscious gesture and stepped out of the way.

“Damn,” Lewis said. “Kind of hoped he’d go for it, actually.”

Fat chance. This wasn’t a hot potato; it was the entire state of Idaho, fresh out of the microwave.

“Here goes,” Lewis said, and opened the door.

The noise washed over us in a wave, and we walked out into a whiteout of flashbulbs and video spotlights. It was like hitting a psychic wall, and if I’d been on my own, I’d have caved fast and hard. God. I couldn’t focus on anything; the crowd was a faceless mass of shouting faces, all blurring into a snarling, hostile entity. I transferred my probably shell-shocked stare to the buildings on the far side of the street. Somebody was in an office, backlit, looking out at us. Nice to have that kind of distance.

The FBI special agent in charge stepped up to the bank of hastily taped-together microphones and made some brief remarks, nothing incriminating for the agency, and introduced Lewis by name, adding that he was with “a special branch of the United Nations known as the Wardens.” That was it. He got out of the way, ignoring the shouted avalanche of questions.

Lewis took a deep breath and stepped up. He was tall, imposing, and had the kind of personal aura that made people take notice, when he deigned to use it. He used it now. I saw ripples of quiet move through the crowd, and reporters lean forward to catch every word he had to say.

“Earlier today some of you witnessed a battle between two opposing sides in a conflict,” he said. “As you reported, there were casualties on both sides. I’m here to explain to you what that conflict is, what it’s about, and how you can help.”

I expected a torrent of questions, but the crowd stayed still in the pause. Maybe they were stunned that they were actually going to be given information. Or maybe Lewis had sneakily exerted some Earth Warden influence on them. I used some myself, on myself, to slow my racing pulse and get myself ready for the inevitable.

“The Wardens are part of the United Nations,” Lewis said, “in the sense that we are a worldwide organization, independent of governments but working in cooperation with them whenever possible. There is a world around you, a world you see every day without knowing the truth behind it. At its most basic level, the forces at work in the universe, or at least on this planet, are real and tangible.” He paused again and took the leap. “We are the ones who help control and shape that world. Without the Wardens, the disasters you report on, the floods and hurricanes, forest fires and earthquakes—all these things would be far, far worse.”

Somebody laughed. A few others took it up, and it grew in a ripple through the crowd. “You’re kidding. This is what you have to tell us?” somebody shouted from beneath the glare of a video spotlight. “Where’s Gandalf?”

That was pretty much my cue, although I would have preferred Galadriel. I stepped forward. The FBI had furnished me with a change of wardrobe—not my normal style, but workable. It included a navy blue pencil skirt, a severely cut jacket, a white shirt and serviceable granny pumps. I’d put my hair up in a bun, to complete the image of competence and authority, sexy-schoolteacher style.

I pointed up at the sky, which was full of lightly scudding altocumulus clouds—nothing out of the ordinary for Miami.

Lewis waited, patient as a stone, giving them absolutely no indication what was going to happen. We’d agreed that it needed to be big, spectacular, and easily captured on videotape.

I slowed the progress of the clouds and began packing energy into the system, careful to balance the forces as I went. I knew the Ma’at were standing by in case I screwed it up, but it was a point of pride not to need them to clean up after me. The shape of the clouds began to change, from sheer and wispy to solid white, then gray as the moisture condensed. Altocumulus.

Then nimbocumulus.

Once I had the system packed as full as I dared, while still remaining in control, I opened both my hands, palms up. I could feel the dawning sentience in the clouds above, as the energy accumulation granted it some very basic level of awareness, of hunger. Of anger.

What I was about to do was dangerous, and not just to me. If I got it wrong, there could be a lot of collateral damage.

Easy, I heard David whisper on the aetheric. I’m here.

I called the lightning.

Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S. With the daily, constant interaction of wind, water, sandy soil, and marshland, every reporter in the crowd had probably seen close lightning strikes.

None of them had ever seen this.

The bolt streaked down out of the clouds, long and purple, crackling with energy, and broke into two jagged prongs. It hit my outstretched palms exactly on target, and for a long, long second, I kept it there as the video cameras and photographers documented the event.

Then I clapped my palms together, and the lightning vanished. Thunder rolled loud enough to rattle windows, but there was no other visible damage, apart from a slight reddening on my skin. I’d deliberately kept the lightning to the bare minimum voltage necessary to stage a visible demonstration—about forty kiloamperes.

But damn, it ached inside me. I kept my smile in place with an effort, and hoped I wasn’t sweating too much under the lights.

Lewis said, in the same dry, calm tone, “This is Joanne Baldwin. She is a Weather Warden. The demonstration you’ve just seen is one of several we’ll conduct for you over the next few days. The rest will be under controlled conditions, and you can provide your own scientific experts if you’d care to do so, to document and question the experiments. But ultimately, you’re going to find that what we’re telling you is the real thing. We can control the weather. We can control the land. We can control fire. The problem is, all these things fight back.”

Nobody seemed to know what kind of questions to ask, exactly. Already, they were scrambling to find a logical explanation for what they’d seen—some kind of magic trick would be the most likely one they’d land on. I was sure whoever was the most outrageous street magician du jour would be calling in to debunk what I’d already done.

But what gave it weight was the silent presence of the FBI behind me, and the fact that we were standing on the steps of a government building.

Eventually, somebody found a question that made enough sense to voice. “How do you control the weather? Is it some kind of machine, or . . . ?” He sounded as if he couldn’t quite believe he was even asking the question. I understood that, too. An entire street full of very logical people had just been tipped over the edge of a cliff, and were still trying to figure out which way was up.

“That’s the other part of the story,” Lewis said. “The simple answer is magic. The more complicated answer is that the world around you is not how you imagine it to be—it’s deeper and stranger than you know. For many thousands of years, the Wardens have guarded humanity, and we’ve done it in silence, in secret. But it’s time to come out in the open, because now we have a very serious threat to deal with.”

“What kind of threat? Does this have anything to do with what happened at the motel?”

I wondered if the question was a plant. Lewis wasn’t exactly above that kind of thing, bless his soul. He wasn’t particularly worried about our impartial image.

“Let me tell you,” Lewis said, “about the Djinn, and the Sentinels.”

David and his strike team misted into view at the bottom of the steps, right in front of the cameras.

All hell broke loose.

We’d intended to grab the world stage, and we did. The feverish speculation occupied every news channel, every broadcast on the local level. Experts talked about a massive hoax; scientists sneered; magicians explained how all we’d shown on television could have been done by mirrors and illusion.

But it didn’t matter. We’d taken the Sentinels by surprise. They’d expected us to hide, and we weren’t hiding. Instead, we’d thrown their name into the public awareness, and we’d given them the one thing I knew they didn’t want: notoriety.

I was the lucky one. Exhausted by the efforts of the day, not to mention the lightning strike and the management of the storm I’d leveled over Miami, I collapsed on a cot and slept for six hours of blissfully ignorant darkness. Lewis didn’t sleep at all. When I woke up, he’d already issued three more press statements, and a whole packet of information about Bad Bob, including his photograph.

The Sentinels could not be happy about that. They were even less happy, I imagined, over the announcement that David and I planned to celebrate our marriage in public, in front of all the cameras we could gather to document the affair. It was a trap, a perfectly obvious one, and one I didn’t think they dared pass up. The Sentinels had gathered membership on the idea that the Djinn were toxic to us; they couldn’t allow the two of us to make such a public commitment without striking. Hell, they’d already ruined two wedding dresses.

Pulling together a last-minute affair is surprisingly easier than planning something more formal. Once I gave up the idea of catering and open bar and invitations, things simplified dramatically. All I really needed was a minister, a dress, and of course, as much security as possible so that we all survived the happy day.

My cell phone was ringing off the hook. Mostly, it was Wardens who hadn’t been given the heads-up about going public, and were blistering my ears off. One or two said they were going to complain to Paul, which stabbed me deep and hard all over again. Paul had been a part of my life for so, so long, and now . . . now all that was tainted. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much it would hurt, when I had time to actually feel again.

One of the few welcome calls was from Cherise, who had checked herself out of Warden witness protection and was boarding a flight for Miami, “because you’re so not getting married without me, bitch. Where else am I going to wear that dress?”

One major side benefit of becoming instantly famous—or infamous—was that I no longer had to shop. Instead, I was under siege from local bridal stores all trying to throw dresses my way, under the theory that a little discreet promotion never hurt anybody. I never thought I’d have a sponsored by wedding, but I had more to worry about than my ethical standards.

Principally, I had to find a dress in my size in less than twelve hours that didn’t suck.

That, it turned out, was far easier than it seemed. Instant organization . . . just add Cherise.

“I booked the Palms,” Cherise said after bursting into the FBI offices, giving me a fast, fierce hug, and giving Lewis a warm peck on the cheek.

“You—wait, what?” I blinked, and so did he. I was barely out of the coffee-zombie stage, and Lewis was well into his must-have-sleep cycle. “When did you get in?”

“Exactly forty-eight minutes ago,” she said. “Gotta love that executive car service. By the way, I charged it to the Warden card, so don’t go all budget-conscious on me. Talking to you, Lewis.” He blinked, again.

Cherise must have had extra coffee on the plane; it was like being hit by a pink hurricane. “So, I made some calls,” she continued. “You didn’t get a hotel, right? I booked the Palms. Royal Palm Room for the reception, outdoor gazebo for the ceremony. They’re used to celebrity weddings, no problem on the security, although I went ahead and called a couple of other firms. I guess you’ll have the FBI, too, huh?” Cherise paused long enough to wink at Mr. No-Name Nice Suit, who still looked fresh and well tailored. “Mmmm, I feel safer already.”

“Cher—”

“Okay, I’m going to let the Palms handle all the catering and flowers and crap—it’s going to be expensive, but there you go. If you want to make a media circus out of the whole thing, you have to pay for the big top and the clowns.”

“Cherise.”

“I think we should head over there now. I got you the bridal suite, naturally. Five of the couture bridal shops are coming in an hour with their best stuff. They’ll want credit on the official press statement, but they’re doing it for the publicity. No charge. They’ll want the dress back, though, unless you get blood or something all over it, in which case, you break it, you buy it—”

“Cherise!”

She stopped, blue eyes wide, staring at me. I covered my face with both hands, fighting for control between hysterical giggles and the shakes.

“It’s not a joke,” I said finally. “We could all be killed. We could get a lot of other people killed. I can’t have this at the Palms. The Sentinels will attack. I can’t put all those innocent lives at risk!”

Cher sat down next to me on the hard, narrow cot, and took both my hands in hers. Her manicure was fresh, her hair glossy, her makeup perfect. I looked like I’d rolled out of the bad side of Satan’s bed, and forgotten to brush my hair, but there was real love in her eyes. Real friendship.

“Honey,” she said, “this isn’t about you anymore. This is about ideas. Those innocent people, they live with risk. You need to quit thinking that all us regular folks can’t handle the truth.”

I didn’t think she understood what she was saying, but I gave her a cautious nod.

“You want to stick it to those bastards who think David and all the other Djinn need to die, right?”

Another wordless nod.

“When you hide, when you call things off because you’re afraid of getting hurt, that’s when people like this win. Live loud, Jo. It’s the only way to win. No fear.”

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear and cocked her head.

“Besides,” she said, “I cannot wait to see David in a tuxedo. My God, Jo. How can you even think of depriving the world of that?”

Well, she had a point. Across the room, David was deep in conversation with Zenaya. He caught my look and smiled, and I felt the connection between us snap taut and thrum like a guitar string.

“Suck it up, girlfriend,” Cher said. “All you have to do is stand there, look pretty, and say the right things. Let us do the rest. You”—she turned and stabbed a perfectly polished fingernail toward Lewis— “you need to get some sleep. Best man, right? I am so not having the bags under the eyes. Lie down, now. And I’m bringing in a stylist, because God.”

I moved off the cot, fast, to make room for Lewis.

Cherise set to work. It helped that Lewis granted her autonomy for all wedding-related decisions, including open credit, and that the Feds, who didn’t know the players in the Warden world, anyway, just assumed she was “one of us.” Which I guess she was, in the greater sense. She cheerfully commandeered everything and everyone she needed, and appointed a subcommittee—my wedding had subcommittees!—to handle security services.

An hour later, I was in a smoked-glass limo—not a stretch, but one of the anonymous, though perfectly well-appointed Town Car varieties—clutching a bottle of mineral water and watching chaos on the tiny built-in television screen in the back of the seat. CNN was running Talking Head Theater; the Wardens were staging additional demonstrations, including Fire and Earth, and people were starting to actually pay attention. I wondered if anybody had considered the legal implications. Talk about malpractice insurance . . .

“Paul’s dead,” I said, out of absolutely nowhere. I turned the cold glass bottle in my hands, remembering that moment so vividly it hurt, that moment when Paul turned to face me, guilt and anger in his face. “I killed him, Cher. He got in my way, and I killed him.”

Nobody had told her. I watched a tremor run through her, and she bowed her head for a second. When she raised it, her eyes were clear and bright. “I knew he was the walking wounded,” she said. “You didn’t see him like I did, when he thought nobody was watching. He was scared all the time. And angry. And he never really stopped hurting. He shouldn’t have been in charge. All those people dead under his watch—he couldn’t take it, Jo. It wasn’t his fault, and it’s not yours, either.”

It definitely was my fault that I’d killed him, but I didn’t argue the point. I was going to have the rest of my life to reconcile myself with that, although I wasn’t sure how much time that would be—maybe no more than a couple of hours, in which case I’d be one of those tragic tales for the ages, slain by the bad guys at the altar and taking a couple hundred innocent lives with me because I was arrogant enough to think my life was somehow so important, such a beacon for change. . . .

No. Cher was right. Hiding was wrong. Reacting the way the Sentinels wanted us to was wrong.

This might be wrong, but at least it was wrong in the right direction. Somebody had to be the symbol. I was just filling the dress.

I looked in the rearview mirror. We were being followed by black chase cars, probably federal or private security. There was a helicopter overhead, sleek and military looking, that kept the chubbier news choppers at bay by its mere presence. I couldn’t see the paparazzi, but I knew they were out there. Waiting.

“Hey,” Cher said. “You with me?”

“I’m getting married,” I said. “Jesus Christ, Cher, I’m getting married to a Djinn. What the hell am I thinking?”

She smiled. “Oh, good. You’re with me.”

The Palms was a blur: smiling faces, people saying kind things, Cherise running interference. She ensconced me in a penthouse the size of most houses, with a breathtaking ocean view, and I sat numbly on the couch, worrying. I know, most brides worry, but I had considerably more to worry about than whether or not I was going to trip over the hem of the dress I didn’t yet have.

I was worried about Rahel, first and foremost. I’d been trying hard not to think about her. I knew that David was focused on her; how could he not be? She was a friend. She was in trouble. And I felt as though I was horribly betraying her, even though I knew that tactically, we were doing the right thing.

He’ll hurt her, part of me said. He knows we’ll come if he hurts her.

It was kind of odd, actually, that he hadn’t done it yet. What if he has? What if David is hiding it from you? That wouldn’t be too hard for him to do, because I hadn’t seen him since before we’d left the FBI building. No. He’d tell you. Unless he thought I couldn’t handle the pressure.

Or unless he tore off to do something crazy, which was entirely possible.

“Hey!” Cherise snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Fashion show. Here. Have some coffee. Nod when you see something you like.”

Thus began the most surreal experience of my life, and with my life, that’s saying something. How she’d done it I have no idea, but apparently my current CNN celebrity status had upgraded me to the temporary level of an A-list star. The bridal shops hadn’t just sent dresses; they’d sent teams, with models who were fresh off Paris runways, apparently, far prettier and sleeker than I’d ever be. I felt dull and slightly nuts, even with the freshly brewed coffee sipped from a delicate china cup. The dresses ranged from something Cinderella would find too ruffly to something better suited to the wedding night than the glare of the spotlight. I mean, I’m daring, but I’m not that daring.

In the middle of the parade, a model who bore a striking resemblance to Heidi Klum (couldn’t really be Heidi Klum, could she?) entered, and for a second, I just stared, shocked. I shot Cherise a look; her mouth was curved in a triumphant smile. She’d requested that one specially, I could immediately see that.

And she was right. It was The Dress. The one that I’d bought, the one that had been ripped apart in the Sentinels’ last public attack on me.

Maybe-Heidi-Klum swept to a graceful stop in front of me, and the silk fluttered to perfect layers, slightly angled and draping to that gorgeous, dramatic train in the back. When she turned, the corseted back displayed the deep V of skin that had so entranced me the first time. Sexy, yet demure. Sophisticated, yet still startlingly innocent.

Hopeful.

“Yes,” I said. Bridal Shop Team Number Three— I’d forgotten the names; Cherise had been keeping track—high-fived one another. Maybe-Klum gave me a cool smile and rustled out, back straight, chin high. If I could look half that good in the thing . . .

Well, that took care of the dress.

Cherise did all the work, reassuring the runners-up that we still liked them and would mention them fondly. She signed a just-in-case-of-damage credit card slip, discreetly proffered by the winning team, and slipped the copy into a black leather binder.

“How much?” I asked. She shook her head sadly.

“Really, you don’t want to be asking that today,” she said. “Just go with it. Besides, we can return it unless, you know. Now. You go take a shower. We’ve got the stylist coming in forty-five minutes.”

Stylists made house calls. I was learning a lot today.

I cried in the shower, where it didn’t show. I cried about all the doubt, all the craziness. Cherise was doing a good job of keeping me moving, but this was like standing on the train tracks, watching the Heart-break Express rocket toward you. I was in the crosshairs, and I’d given up my safety to other people. Worse, I’d given up Rahel’s life to the gods of chance and fate.

I arrived on time for the stylist, who was a temperamental, gorgeous young woman with not one but two assistants, one of whom took charge of my nails while the others waded into the misery that was my hair. I closed my eyes and focused on the weather, moving in slow, peaceful waves outside the thick window. The aetheric was almost artificially calm; the Wardens were keeping their heads down, and the Ma’at had done a fantastic job of smoothing out the ups and downs of the day.

Whatever problems came about, they wouldn’t be rain-related.

I’ll skip the rest of the rituals. By four o’clock, I was laced into the dress, staring at myself in the floor-length mirror of the Palms penthouse, balanced on shoes rushed to us from one of the most exclusive boutiques.

I was seeing a stranger. My hair was up, piled in loose, sexy, complicated layers, secured with diamond pins and a veil as soft as fog. My face was my own, only perfected with expert cosmetics. The dress was, as I’d thought, exactly right.

My eyes were the only things that gave the lie to the whole illusion. They were wide, dark blue, starkly terrified.

Cherise squeezed my hand and stood next to me, sharing mirror time. She looked absolutely, deliciously adorable. “You should see Lewis,” she said. “That man was born for formal wear. I’d totally be all over him, except he’s way too tall. I have a fear of heights.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“For complimenting Lewis? Trust me, that’s a freebie.”

“No, for—for all this. For keeping me sane. I couldn’t—” My hands were shaking again. I closed my eyes and concentrated on calm. “Whatever happens, thank you. I couldn’t ask for a better friend. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie, but I’m not marrying you.” Cherise cocked a perfect eyebrow. “You notice I didn’t mention what David looked like.”

No, she hadn’t. That wasn’t exactly like her.

“You’ll see,” she said smugly.

There was a discreet knock on the door, and one of the incredibly intimidating security gentlemen stuck his head in to nod at Cherise.

Time to go.

“I don’t think we should do this,” I said.

But I let her lead me out, anyway.

I was taken through deserted hallways, feeling more and more isolated and surreal with every moment. Was this how most brides felt, or only those with targets painted on their chests? Hard to say. I just tried to swallow the growing, acrid lump of dread in my throat, and followed the confident shimmy of Cherise’s stride.

Holding open doors, hotel staff smiled at me as I passed. I had no idea where we were going, so it was a surprise when the last set of doors opened on blinding sunlight. The strains of a highly accomplished string quartet—good enough to overcome the barrier of surf noise, conversation, and humidity’s effect on wood and strings—hung luminously in the air. It was an absolutely perfect day. The sky was a breathtaking ceramic blue, washed clean of all imperfections.

I felt so much dread that I was afraid my knees would collapse underneath me. They’ll hit us. They can’t not hit us. And there were so many people to protect. So many people I couldn’t swear wouldn’t be hurt in this.

Cherise squeezed my hand one last time and said, “Stay fierce, Jo. We’ll get through this.” And then she moved through the rose-covered archway, taking the arm of a tall, elegant man who I only after the fact realized was Lewis. A drastically different Lewis. Smoking hot, in fact. She was right: He was made for formal wear. The severe black-and-white tailoring made him look extraordinary.

I fidgeted slightly, clutching the small, perfect bouquet of ivory roses that Cherise had handed me, and the security men on either side of me scanned the perimeters for any threats. I spotted Wardens, Wardens everywhere, waiting. If the Sentinels were coming, they were coming into the teeth of the buzz saw.

If the Wardens watching me aren’t undercover Sentinels . . . I had to leave that terrifying thought behind. It was too much.

I knew mere security wouldn’t stop Bad Bob, or the thing that was wearing his face. The bigger the clash, the bigger the boom; he’d love to smash us here, in this most public of settings.

The string quartet shifted into the traditional bridal march, and the security man offered me his arm. He looked good in a tux, too. A little beefy, but you really wanted that in a quality bodyguard.

We passed under the arch and began the long, long walk down the rose-petal-strewn path to the graceful, arched gazebo.

For some reason, I hadn’t thought about who’d be here. Mostly Wardens, of course, mostly friends. Cherise had even managed to get some of our old TV station colleagues here at the last minute, including some of the crew, who were looking highly uncomfortable in their suits and jackets, but were beaming at me in universal accord.

In the front row was my sister. Sarah looked elegant, perfectly coiffed, and terribly pissed off. She was glaring hard at Cherise, and if looks could kill, there would have been a warrant out for her arrest. In fact, now that I thought about it, I was a little surprised there wasn’t a warrant out for Sarah. She’d scammed a lot of money, and if her old boyfriend (psycho but strangely honest) was to be believed, she’d been one step short of Master Criminal status. I hadn’t planned on inviting her, but in retrospect, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that she’d shown up anyway. If there was any chance of notoriety coming from the day, she’d be right in front to tell her story to the cameras about growing up with the Freak.

I forgot all about that momentary stab of distraction, because Lewis moved aside, and David turned to look at me, and the world just . . . stopped.

I knew why Cherise hadn’t said anything about how David looked. There simply weren’t words in the human language to describe his vividness, his presence, his—his beauty. He was wearing a tuxedo, very much like the one Lewis was modeling so effectively, but no matter how flattering the clothes, it was David, and David’s essence, that blazed forth in that moment.

I saw it clearly: all his love, all his hope, all his commitment. He was immortal, and this was no act for him, no temporary amusement. I’d been told Djinn loved intensely, but in that single, crystalline moment, I knew.

It felt like a dream. I extended my hand—no longer trembling—and his fingers closed around it, drawing me to his side. I felt the aura fold around me, warmer than sunlight, and the euphoria was like nothing I had ever felt.

Somewhere, the minister was speaking. I had no idea what kind of service Cherise had cobbled together on the spur of the moment, and I didn’t care; the words didn’t matter. I understood why David had asked this of me now; I understood so much more than I’d ever thought I would. It wasn’t just words.

It was a vow. And vows among the Djinn were law, immutable as physics. I could feel the forces gathering, as the words progressed; I could see the shimmer spreading through the aetheric.

The minister had gotten to the heart of the matter. “Do you, David, take this woman as your only true lover, now and for her lifetime, forsaking all others, in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, in hardship and in joy?”

I saw the aetheric flare hot gold, so much power gathering, more than I’d ever seen, and David opened his mouth to reply. . . .

“No,” said a new voice, before he could reply. “He doesn’t.”

Ashan had crashed our wedding.