Rachel Caine: Ill Wind

A Djinn.

"I can't bring back the dead," he repeated. "But I can create a new life in my image."

He'd made me a Djinn.

"Oh, shit," I said.

David's smile was hot enough to burn the world. "That's not exactly how we put things, on this side."

"Why not?"

His eyebrows quirked up. "You know, I guess nobody ever asked that before."

His arms folded around me, and I felt myself burning, and burning, and now it didn't hurt at all.

There was nothing left of Star's house but cinders, by the time it was all done. There was a reason for that: Star had started the fire, but Shirl, Erik, and Marion had kept it blazing hotter than any normal fire could have sustained on its own. The firefighters had wasted tons of good Oklahoma water on the conflagration, but the Wardens had agreed that there shouldn't be any trace left—not of the book, of Star, or of any mortal remains.

It was quite a scene, on that Oklahoma City street in the fierce light of dawn. In and around the frantic fire department efforts, there was another agency at work, this one lots more powerful and lots more chaotic. By 8 a.m., there were nineteen Wardens on the scene—Marion and her team of eight, including Shirl and Erik; Sector and Regional Wardens for the area; State Wardens from anyplace close enough to matter… and Martin Oliver, National Warden.

They'd all come looking for Lewis, and this time, he let them find him. On his terms, for a change.

Oliver's first action was to authorize removal of the Code One I'd put in place; all around the world, air began to move, weather to breathe, the planet to flex its cramped muscles.

His second was to declare me a hero. Okay, a dead hero, but still. I might actually get my memorial plaque up on the Association walls after all.

I stood on the sidelines with David, learning how to be invisible—or unseeable. It took some doing, staying out of the way of people who had no idea you existed, but I was getting the hang of it. Staying in flesh was harder; there was so much to do, so much to feel, and the currents of the world kept pulling at me like they were playful children.

"We should go," David finally said. Lewis was okay. He was huddled with Martin Oliver, a blanket over his shoulders, looking weary but far from the mess he'd been earlier. "You can see him later."

I slid my hand into David's. "Go where?"

"Anywhere," he said. "We're free."

I found myself staring at the Viper. Mona was still parked at the curb, crowded by emergency vehicles. I wished I'd parked her farther down the street, so that I could sneak her out of here….

Something electric and wild snapped inside me, like an internal shock.

The Viper vanished.

"Hey!" David yelped. I looked down the block. There Mona sat, gleaming metallic blue, ready to run. David stared at the mass of people, looking for any sign somebody had noticed. Lucky for me, there were only a couple, and one of them was drunk off his ass swilling Schlitz Malt Liquor from a quart bottle. The other one must have convinced himself he'd swallowed too much smoke; he just shook his head and moved on.

How many miracles happened every day, right in front of people? Unbelievable.

I felt a grin spreading over my face, filling me with delight. "Man, that is so damn cool."

"Yeah. And… try not to do it without asking first, would you?"

We walked down the block, and as we dodged around two cops taking statements from some neighbors still in pajamas, we saw we had a visitor leaning against the Viper.

Rahel. She'd changed colors to an electric shade of green—pantsuit, hair beads, and nail polish all matched. Her eyes were still fierce hunting-hawk gold, and as she looked at me, I read something like pride in her expression.

"Well," she said. "I see you made your choice, Snow White."

I'd always wondered why she called me that, and now I looked at the reflection of my flesh-form in the window of the Viper, and saw the midnight-black hair, the flawless white skin, the pale silver eyes. Snow White. As I watched, my lips grew fuller and redder.

Rahel laughed. "See? I knew you had it in you."

"You could've told me everything from the beginning. Made it a lot easier."

She shrugged. "I'm a Djinn. In time, you'll understand."

She clicked her lime green talons in complicated, Castanet rhythms and opened the driver's-side door of the Viper for me. As she bowed me in, she said, "Welcome to your life, Ianna. Burn bright, live free, and remember that no human is your ally unless you hold his beating heart in your hand." She winked. "And have fun."

As she shut the door, I looked at David. "Ianna?"

"It suits you," he said. "Ianna's a name of power."

"So's Joanne," I smiled, and touched the ignition with my pale, fiery fingers. "Better believe that."

Mona roared to life, and the road stretched forever.