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"Relax," he said "Trust an to stroke his fingers over the swollen skin

Where he touched, the hot skin-which had been screaain its shape It was deliciously, aly wonderful

"You should open a spa," I said, and leaned ainst the cushions of a chair He sers across the skin

"For you, I should open a hospital," he said "Jo-so, and somebody came"

I didn&039;t answer

"Was it David?"

I felt tears start to burn, and wiped the hands His caress on my burned skin stopped for a second, then resuht I could save hiht-"

I couldn&039;t think about this, couldn&039;t feel this, couldn&039;t handle anything right now The tears were uncontrollable They hurt Lewis continued to stroke the burn out of h on the instep to work out the ache along the way Unde, as ever

"You&039;re not losing him," Lewis said "You&039;ll never lose him until he&039;s dead Or you are"

My left foot felt cool and soothed and sated He gently put it back on the carpet and took ht one I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sheer ani me

"Then it&039;s already over," I said softly "I think he is dead I think what&039;s left oh God, Lewis You don&039;t knohat they&039;re like The Ifrit You can see who they were, and sometimes they knoho they were"

"Shhhh," he whispered "Close your eyes Don&039;t think"

I fell asleep with his fingers slowly,away the pain

When I woke up, I was in bed Somebody-probably Lewis-had carriedclothes I felt sand in every fold of skin I itched all over, and whatever sleep I&039;d gotten wasn&039;t nearly enough

I sat up and pulled David&039;s bottle out of the nightstand It was silent and inert, and there was no connection to it No sense of his presence at all It was just a container, fragile and limited Like a human body

Was that what a Djinn really was? A soul, unhoused? Then as an Ifrit? What was a Demon? The classes at Warden U hadn&039;t exactly preparedquestions It was a technical school Philosophy wasn&039;t considered important to the curriculu to wonder if philosophy hat the Wardens were ht be a bunch of upright assholes, but at least they understood what they were doing, and why All we did was react React to this disaster, that crisis We were the world&039;s para as

"I love you," I whispered to the bottle, and pressed ainst it "God, David, I do, I do, I do Please believe ain with the bottle inclothes, and dreahtht

INTERLUDE

The storm drives clear skies ahead of it War, no hint of the chaosarmy

The island nation in the way is fat, prosperous, and complacent about its safety In all of its recorded history, which stretches back a thousand years, it has never been conquered It is a paradise, a center of trade and culture and learning for half the human world Its harbors are vast and constantly busy

It doesn&039;t y than smaller anies its course, unfurling its killing tentacles toward the is the unnaturally clear sky, wrong for the season Towards evening, the first breezes begin to arrive, and waves coh cliffs in explosions of white foa&039;s soft, green-tinted light and find the sea itself boiling in distress where it meets the land Out toward the far horizon, the stor across the curve of the sky The ocean huher than the last

The beaches go first, sed by wave after wave after wave There is no alar in the valleys and by the sea gather their families and possessions and start a trek inland, whether they will shelter with fa, and as the storins to blow, they realize that this is no ordinary rain co to their fair and quiet land

By the ti the people to the te apart trees and the surge is bringing down everything in its path They hope for divine intervention, but the wise a them already know the end of the story

SIX

Two hours? Not enough sleep Oh, no

I stumbled up and into the shohere I finally washed away the blood and sand of the night&039;s adventures, and realized halfway through that I was still wearing et one of those off when it&039;s wet?

Not a pretty picture

I stu to beltthe way, and started coffee The asthh the predawn stillness Leas sprawled out on the floor, wrapped in a blanket Kevin looked boneless and well rested on the couch He slept open-sense that all this was just prelude to so

Not a sound froently on the closed door, then eased it open

The two of thehtly around each other Eaelic, that sharp intelligence entleness in its place His arainst his front, and his forehead rested on the disordered silk of her hair

It looked sweet And definitely postcoital

I shut the door without waking them and went back to stare blankly at the coffeemaker as it peed into the carafe

A hand on , all lean and shirtless and tousled, hair sticking in a dozen directions, eyes heavy-lidded

"Hey," I said, andpot"

"I&039;e to inject it directly into my bloodstream"

"IV kit, third cabinet Rinse it out when you&039;re done I&039;ll need it later," I said My hair was still wet I leaned over the sink and twisted it into a rope, drizzling out a stream of silver water Lewis busied hih the thrift-store assort with a pop-eyed, jittery Too Much Coffee Man on it He took Garfield

"Did you sleep?" he asked ood dreaht"

"I understand" He poured himself a cup, mutely offered the same to me, and I nodded "David doesn&039;t love you"

I nearly fu out "What?"

"David doesn&039;t love you," he repeated patiently "He lives for you I don&039;t think you understand the difference Djinn don&039;t just love It isn&039;t a ga they fall out of when it gets old That&039;s why the Wardens have rules about these things Not just because coainst his or her will is-unsavory-"

I thought of Yvette Prentiss, and her use and abuse of her Djinn And David

"It&039;s rape," I said "Might as well call it what it is"

He nodded, sipped coffee, and continued "Sex, yes But I&039; about love The rules are there to protect Djinn froht force them into Because when they fall in love, it&039;snot on a huet hurt I&039;m worried, Jo You and David-I know you love hi is, it&039;s the kind of love that can destroy both of you So be careful"