Thea Harrison - Oracle's Moon

Wait, she said. Justice, not revenge, she said. Because of some mysterious reason, some vision she saw that she wouldn’t tell him.

That was when he realized he was angry at her too. She made him feel things he had never felt before, a desire so keen it sliced at the heart of him and a need that bound him like chains, when he had never been bound before by anything. By anyone.

He would not be bound.

He had done as she asked. Now it was time to do as he wanted.

“I want Brandon Miller,” Khalil said to Isalynn.

“What a coincidence, so do I,” said Isalynn with a sharp smile. “I want every one of those coven members. By all means, go after him—as long as you bring him to me alive.”

He returned the witch’s smile, his own flicking out like a switchblade. Alive did not mean happy or comfortable. “As you wish,” he told her. He glared at Grace as he let his form dissipate to smoke. Nothing she could say would hold him back this time.

Grace said nothing. She sat without moving. Her face was colorless, her wide eyes filled with a dark sea as she gazed at internal vistas visible only to her.

He hesitated. “Grace.”

Her gaze snapped into focus. “I will not be the reason you are trapped. Leave.”

Ebrahim was staring at him coldly. For some reason the other Djinn was not happy with him, but he was not at all interested in that. Ebrahim had already said he would stay to protect Grace, and Isalynn’s security detail would arrive momentarily. Khalil blew out of the house and arrowed through the sky, furiously eager for the hunt and already planning what he would do.

He would burn that cursed barn and scatter the ashes and trigger every trap on the property to do the maximum damage possible. No matter how much Power Brandon Miller had or where he might turn, there was nowhere for him to hide now that Khalil was after him. By the time Miller saw justice, he would be screaming for it.

Khalil had reached south of Louisville before he pulled to a stop.

I will not be the reason you are trapped.

Why did Grace say that?

He curled around on himself in the deep gold afternoon sunlight, thinking hard. She might have been able to sense his emotions, just as he could sense hers, but she could not have known what he had been thinking. Not that he had been thinking rationally. He had been reacting to his own fear and mentally lashing out at everything, including her. He had never been so afraid, and he loathed that feeling.

But Grace had never once tried to trap him. If anything she had tried to shove him away. After that day when he had felt wrapped in invisible chains, she had told him to go. Last night at the bar, instead of trying to stop him or control what he did, she had chosen instead to simply leave.

So she hadn’t said it because of what he thought or felt.

She had said it because of what she had seen.

She was protecting him from something again.

Like she had protected him when Phaedra had come to see her. Twice. Even after she had promised him something else entirely.

Suddenly neither justice nor revenge mattered anymore. Swearing, he roared back toward Indian Hills. When he reached Isalynn’s house, he plummeted.

Ebrahim shot up to meet him. Khalil veered to avoid Ebrahim—and the other Djinn veered with him. They collided in midair with a concussion that shook the ground beneath them. Khalil twisted to disentangle himself. Ebrahim held on to him. He fought to get free, roaring furiously, What are you doing?

What I bargained with the Oracle to do , said Ebrahim.

Grace had bargained with Ebrahim to keep him away? Rage detonated. Khalil snarled, You can’t win in a fight against me. BACK OFF!

I have to try , said Ebrahim, who hung on grimly. Because you can’t win in a fight against your father.

Soren. Khalil spun, sharpening his senses.

Isalynn’s backyard zoomed into focus where Soren and Grace stood facing each other. They were alone, Isalynn somewhere inside the house. Soren’s Powerful white blaze of a presence all but obliterated the image of his physical form. In contrast, Grace’s figure was slight and excruciatingly fragile. She looked tired and dirty, and she listed slightly as she leaned on her cane.

Soren glanced up and Grace did too, both clearly aware of Khalil’s presence.

“Young Oracle, you are playing a game you are much too young to play,” said Soren in a gentle voice.

“I wasn’t aware that I was playing a game,” Grace said.

“You cannot keep me from my son.” The gentler Soren sounded, the more dangerous he became. “And it is beyond foolish for you to try.”

“I know.” She tilted her untidy head. “Once the explosion occurred, I kept seeing you in visions, and I couldn’t get you out of my head. Every course of action we took. All those pathways to possible futures. They all led to you. I kept trying to think my way out of this. Then I realized I couldn’t.”

Khalil felt crazed. Soren was the head of the Elder tribunal and one of the strongest Djinn in the world. He could break Grace with a single flex of his Power, and if he deemed it necessary, he would do so without hesitation.

Let go of me now , he hissed at Ebrahim. Or I will tear you apart.

I have a message from Grace , Ebrahim said. She thought you might return quickly.

That was possibly the only thing the other Djinn could have said that would make Khalil pause. He snarled, Speak fast.

She asked for us both to trust her, no matter what she said , Ebrahim told him. And she said when you came, you should call the Djinn now.

What was she doing?

Khalil did trust her. Her temper was too rash, and she said foolish things, and she had terrible impulse control, which he was going to talk to her about just as soon as they were alone again. But she was wise beyond her years, compassionate and strong too.

And when she loved, she loved with all of her fiery heart. That was a warm, giving place to be, surrounded by her love, the only place he wanted to be. When he realized it, all the chains and sense of restriction were gone.

All right , he said.

Ebrahim let him go.

Khalil pulled connections as he dove to earth. He plunged to Grace and wrapped himself around her so tightly he was a dense, dark, protective veil that covered her from head to foot. As he surrounded her, he could feel her exhaustion and the determination that stiffened her spine.

I love you too , he said to her. Joy pierced her, bright as the morning. It beamed out to him. He took it and doubled it back to her.

Ebrahim joined them, standing battle tense at their side. The other Djinn Khalil summoned began to appear until they filled the entire yard.

Soren took a long, thoughtful look around. Then he turned back to Khalil, ignoring Grace. Soren’s expression was pained. He said, “I heard your attachment to the human had grown too strong.”

“According to whom?” Khalil growled. “My attachment to Grace is nobody’s business but ours.”

“She will pass, Khalil,” said Soren. “They always pass. It’s inevitable, and it happens too quickly, and while that is a shame, we cannot grow to love them too much.”

“That is your definition. Those are your limits,” Khalil told him. “They are not mine.”

“Pay attention,” Grace said. She raised her voice. “All of you, pay attention. I am the last Oracle. There will not be another. The Power will not pass on to my niece or to some other female descendant when I die. However long or short my life might end up being, this is it. For the people in your Houses who are damaged, I am their one chance at healing. I am your one chance at healing, if you become too damaged to heal on your own. Do you understand? I can’t guarantee anybody’s healing—but I know you won’t get another shot when I’m gone.”