“Probably because your Djinn doesn’t want you to. My guess is you’ve been under her protection for some time. Her hold on you is strong.” That worried me, but I kept my thoughts to myself. If the Djinn had managed to get that close to Cadmus, by rights she could have killed him. But she’d used her powers to protect him. Even enhance him.
Coupled with the other Djinn we’d met, a male who’d worked with Marcus, we were suddenly inundated with Darklings. That Djinn’s selfless attack on Sin Garu, combined with the female Djinn’s actions, told me we might have allies we hadn’t factored.
I came to a sudden decision. “I’m going to need you to keep Arim occupied for a while. I have somewhere to go, somewhere Between.”
Cadmus nodded without hesitation. As if unloading his guilt had incurred a debt to repay, he seemed ready to do anything I might ask.
I didn’t want to take advantage when he was obviously having trouble. But I had to leave this world, and I knew Arim wouldn’t be pleased. I couldn’t accomplish what I needed with him — my uncle — breathing down my neck.
And I was loath to put the Aellei, the woman in white, in deliberate danger.
Yet she was much more than that. My affai, my future bride.
My head hurt just thinking about it.
“Good luck, Aerolus.” The beginning of a sly smile curled my brother’s lips. “If you need me, I’m here. And I, for one, am glad you’ll be Arim’s target when he finds out you left this plane. I really need to get off his shit list.”
“Thanks?”
He laughed, and I returned to my room to pack a few things I might need. As I did, I glanced through my window facing Trudy Warner’s house. I wondered what the human woman thought of my exhibition earlier.
I flushed, unable to believe that I, of all people, had been so carried away by lust that I’d masturbated in front of an open window. By the Light, where was my head?
Lost in thoughts of my affai, that’s where.
In her alabaster skin, snow-white hair, and voluptuous little frame. My body clenched at thoughts of finally consummating our relationship. I couldn’t wait to merge with the woman who would satisfy the ache of loneliness clawing at my heart, an ache I hadn’t been aware existed until I’d met her.
My affai. A woman who hailed from Aelle, a place known for its treachery and danger.
And for its path into Shadren lands. Enemy lands.
I sighed at my luck.
A hint of telescope winked between the closed blinds across the way. Apparently, Trudy Warner needed to get laid as badly as I did. Controlling a slight wind, I closed my drapes and gathered a small knapsack of belongings.
I shelved regret that I was leaving Cadmus to deal with Arim, an uneven match if ever there was one. But I had more important problems to tackle. So I teleported into the waiting void between worlds, seeking a tendril of my affai’s energy.
Catching hold of what felt like her, I flew on dark shadows of magic to my unknown and unruly future.
Chapter 3
Alandra
I tried to break eye contact the minute I saw Arim’s fathomless gaze burrowing into me.
“I’m, ah, sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met?” I mentally curled in on myself as he stepped closer, trying to hide my magic under a blanket of this realm’s mundane reality.
Good night, but he was an impressive sorcerer. Arim, Guardian of Storm, dripped with dark, menacing energy. Like most sorcerers from Tanselm, he’d been taught from an early age to revere his power, exalting himself above those with little magic.
Like the Dark Lords, many of the Light Bringers thought themselves better than those outside of Tanselm. They liked to sweep all of us Shadow dwellers into a big pile of unimportance.
Considering what I knew of Arim, I figured he wouldn’t resort to magic to see inside a plain human. Tricks and spells against the Trudy Warners of this world wouldn’t be worth his time. I just had to make sure he didn’t see me as anything other than Trudy.
“No, we haven’t met.” He forced me to move back as he advanced into the house. “What exactly did my nephew want with you?”
I felt a subtle tug on my mind and hid my surprise. Having to hide from my people for a year had given me a lot of practice in living incognito, and I finally had a decent reason to thank my annoying aunt for forcing me out of Aelle.
I strained under Arim’s fierce magic but managed to transform that into normal anxiety. I hoped.
