Windfall Page 0,76

"Help me," I said.

David collapsed to his knees opposite me, on the other side of Kevin's limp form, and put his hand over mine. His skin was burning hot, enough to make me wince, and his eyes met mine for a long second.

He smiled. It was a terribly weary smile, sweet and defeated and full of indescribable pain.

"Don't forget me," David said, and I felt the spark travel through his hand, into mine, into Lewis. Everything he had left. Everything he'd taken from Ashan, and from me. A needle-bright surge of pure healing power, drawn not from me but from that last, tightly defended core of what made David who he was.

Like the spark of life he'd put inside of me, our child, formed of the union of our power.

I heard Rahel's protest rip the night in half, a high, wailing shriek like the grieving of angels.

The wound in Kevin's side stopped bleeding.

David distorted, blackened, turned Ifrit. Rahel, closest to him, stumbled backward as the creature's blunt, razor-angled face turned toward her, like a lion scenting prey. She was too weak. He'd destroy her.

As if he knew that-could he know that?-he whirled and lunged for a Djinn barely visible as mist in the darkness. One of the Wardens' personal stash. It gave out a high, thin shriek of panic as the Ifrit latched on and began to feed.

Rahel, reprieved, lost no time in vanishing.

Chapter Twenty

I moved my hand, carefully. No spurting blood, though I was pretty much soaking in it. There was a massive open wound, and it would make a huge scar that would be a great conversation starter from now on, but Kevin wasn't in danger of dying.

At least, not from that.

The Wardens weren't reacting to the Ifrit in their midst, and I finally remembered that they couldn't actually see him. Only Djinn-or someone like me, with Djinn Emeritus status-could see what was happening. David-the Ifrit-had the Djinn down on the sand, and his black talons were deep into its chest, sucking out power and life.

I might want that to happen, but I couldn't let it happen. Not if I wanted to sleep nights.

"David, get back in the bottle," I said, and watched as he misted away into a black, howling whisper.

The moon slid free of the cloud layer on the horizon and gilded everything silver.

"Okay, again: What the fuck is going on?" Detective Rodriguez demanded. He was saying it in a loud voice, as if he'd been asking it for a while. I stared at him, then at Lewis, who maintained pressure on Kevin's wound and gave me a vintage don't-look-at-me shrug. "Who are these people?"

"Trouble," I said. "Shoot anybody who comes near this guy. They're trying to kill him."

That, he could understand. "Do I want to know why?"

"Not-exactly. Look, I'll tell you. Just not now, okay?"

Rodriguez settled in next to Kevin, who was breathing more steadily now, color returning to his face. I stood up and walked toward the Wardens, who were regrouping from their confusion in various stages of defiance.

Shirl was still down. I stared at the Earth Warden who was next to her. Didn't recognize him, but he looked earnest and well scrubbed, in a Fortune 500 kind of way.

"You come after him again, you deal with me," I said flatly. "Lewis and Kevin are under my protection. And I swear, next time, I won't call off my Djinn. If you want to make this war, fine. I'm ready. Better bring along body bags."

He opened his mouth, then shut it. Jerked his head at two of the others standing there, and they got Shirl up and into a fireman's carry over the bulkiest Warden's shoulder.

"What about him?" the Earth Warden asked. He had a nice voice, vaguely Canadian, and there was an off-kilter tilt to one of his eyes that made him seem sly. He nodded at Detective Rodriguez.

"What about him?"

"We shouldn't leave a witness."

I was dumbfounded. Was he actually saying... ?

Yes. He actually was.

"Over my dead body," I said flatly. I must have looked like it would be tough to achieve, because he took a step backward. "Get it straight, assholes. Wardens don't kill people."

Some of them looked away. Some didn't. I felt a familiar prickle along my spine.

If I could see the Ifrit, I wondered, could I see Demon Marks?