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THE JOURNEY TO the palace should’ve taken only fifteen ain Curran had co everyone to stick to it was another ht any more of the Galahad warheads, to which he asked ht he was authorized for I told him that brevity was a virtue and "no" would’ve been just fine as a response, and then Luther had to give us his "save the city and stop bickering" speech

Gradually dirt becaained aroma, and moisture saturated the air About ten feet from the red palace steps, the illusion evolved into reality I stopped to draw some blood I could’ve probably done it earlier, but I didn’t want to take chances with its potency We passed between the colossal columns into a shadowed hall, our steps loud on the polished stone A throne stood at the end of the hall, a arish abandon A woman of incredible beauty sat on the throne Her dark hair, arranged in artful spiral waves, fell on her diaphanous gown of pale gold and blue Gold chains wove through her hair, a necklace of blood-red rubies rested around her neck, and a single large earring, its si and out of place, decorated her left ear A black panther sat by her throne, and the woernails Oh boy I had walked into an old Sinbad movie Too bad the monsters wouldn’t be Clay swords Sohter, some clothed, others mostly nude, but each was a perfect, handsome male specimen I did a quick head count At least forty She had her own private aric and ic and it rapped around her like a shield Using poords directly against her would be out of the question Attacking her right noas out of the question, too

"She’s shielded," Luther said behindevery drop of his power into protecting her We don’t have enough firepower to break through it We have to get her to transfor"

"That means she’d have to make a wish," Luther pointed out "If she wishes for the ceiling to crush us, there isn’t much we can do about that"

"The ifrit is an old power," I said "They’re not complicated and they respond well to drama The ifrit ant to break us hiht"

Bahir pulled the hood of his cloak over his face "Two-thirds of her belongs to the djinn Leave it to ht of the Order"

I glanced at Curran He shrugged We could wait a couple of extra minutes in our rush to die to make sure Nick’s conscience was clear

"Remember, he will cover her in metal," Curran said "The faster we hit, the better"

"Can your sword slice through ht asked h of giants I had a surprise for the djinn and I couldn’t wait to show it off

We reached the throne The woazed at us Flames rolled over her eyes and died down

"You should fire your interior decorator," I told her I couldn’t help ave no indication she heard me That’s the trouble with ancient powers--no sense of hu forward "You had your fun, Sam Time to co through the cavernous hall

"This isn’t you This is not e do," Nick said "You have a job and a duty to the Order You swore an oath"

"This isobjects of power and resisting their call Now it’s my turn I’ve earned this I am worthy"

She sounded distant, the eht Saic ends?" I asked, slipping the backpack off ht the last ofit would be enough

"The ic will never end here," she said "All of the pleasures arehere This place is for me alone Leave and I will spare you"