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"Please," I whispered, out of strength I leaned forward and rested my forehead on her lap Soft fabric rustled around ht hand slowlyinside and heardout ofto end quietly after all Not in blood and fire and stor left, I collapsed in a heap at her feet, on top of the pooled brick-red fabric of her dress It wasn&039;t fabric It felt like sun-warmed stone It smelled like the empty, quiet places, and clean wind, and for a few seconds, it didn&039;t seeone that I knew That I loved

She was offering me peace

The hell with that Peace was overrated

I reached out with one flailing hand, grabbed hold of the bench besideposition Staring up at her "No," I said "Hear me Hear me Listen We&039;re a part of you Hear us!"

Millions of voices, talking Babbling

--scared, honey, there&039;s nothing to be afraid of--

--Ayudaoda k□nself□rniing into one sound

Into a jagged, discordant hu

The Oracle slowly tilted her head, listening I clapped h; the din was enough to beat right through the barrier, billions of voices shouting inScared

And one of them said--Listen

I knew that voice That low, calm voice, with its blur of war, too Leas like Jonathan had been, who had the keys to power Once I&039;d opened up the line, it was like creating a network, and all he had to do was tap in

I felt him, as if he was actually in the room with me

Maybe he was, in a sense I saw the Oracle&039;s blind stare go away from me, to some empty spot in the chapel

The Oracle&039;s head turned back toward raceful, slow motion, and the babble of voices ceased

And I heard a voice speak, a single voice, and it was vast and huge and unknowable

So in ht, This is it, we&039;re all dying, but then I felt--heard?--the clock that had been speeding along inside slon

Then wind backward

Now that was a weird sensation I gasped and held on to the bench for dear life, gulping down nausea, and then, with a subtle and whispered pulse, everything just

went back to nors stopped feeling bad, paused in the act of dialing 911 or their local equivalents Stopped clinging to each other in fear Felt vaguely eripped the seconds of eternity

The Mother had stopped in

The Oracle considered er

I felt sorow Waves of heat and sensation coursing through s Each oneho and floated on wave after wave of incandescent glory

The Oracle smiled, and dropped her hand back to her side, and I slowly drifted back intoleft behind A slow, rich, deep pulse of power Connection Rhythms that I&039;d never felt before, or had any idea existed within my own body

The Oracle turned away and took her seat again, conteht red rocks outside, the washed blue sky, the molten sun

She looked peaceful So peaceful

I turned to go back out into the world

Ashan was standing in the chapel Staring at me with murderous, bloody fury I backed up a step and shot a look at the Oracle, but she was sealed in that silent conteht as well have been a thousandon three feet from her

"It&039;s over," I said "Back off, Ashan"

"No," he growled He was far from the polished, self-contained Djinn I&039;d come to know and fear--this one was primal, reduced to his most basic instincts to inflict pain and terror "Not you I won&039;t be your slave!"

I&039; you to

I would have said it, but he didn&039;t give ed at Ilad, because I wanted this monster dead more than I&039;d ever wanted anyone dead into finish this once and for all, but I wasn&039;t fast enough He grabbed my head and held it between his hands, and I kneas one millisecond from a broken neck, dead like my child, oh God, Imara

Instead, he heldhappening I fought to get free, but he was too strong, and whatever it was, he was doing it up on the aetheric levels, too--

So vital and irreplaceable, and I felt a liquid heat race throughme away from the world No

The Oracleso composed of stillness couldpulled back and down, still snarling and fighting

Whatever he&039;d done to rabbed for a bench Missed Thumped hard to my hands and knees

Ashan was on the floor, too, and so bad the wo over hi, so

and when it was over, she was sitting on a bench, staring straight ahead as if she&039;d never ray-hairedface rolled over on his side, still screaing on every breath

Not a Djinn at all now Just a els

as a Djinn?

I&039;d known his name once, hadn&039;t I? And this place, I knew it, too there was a haunting feeling of d□j□ vu, but I couldn&039;t remember

Couldn&039;t relass dropped on stone, and without anyon the floor near the altar Golden skin, auburn hair When his eyes opened, they were the color ofbrass, fierce and hot and inhuman

I flinched and scrambled out of his way Toward the other man, as at least hu to grab hold of me, and I pulled away "Jo, what&039;s happened to--?"

I had no idea who he was, but he frightened me Scenes flickered in front of my eyes, people I didn&039;t know, a life I&039;d never lived Terrifyingly vivid, but they had nothing to do with me, did they? I didn&039;t know these people, these places I didn&039;t know it was all so confusing

The gray-haired ed up from the floor, hands outstretched for my throat

The woman on the bench turned her head toward esture, the s into the darkness

My last sight was of the auburn-hairedto hold on There was torht I knew hione