Dalton raised his head just a bit and looked up atThadrick.
The djinn chuckled. “Yes, there is much you do not know about my kind. There is a reason we record and protect our history. Those reasons are also the reason we are rarely seen among other supernaturals.” He tilted his head slightly and frowned at Dalton. “I suppose I could share some of those reasons. You don’t exactly look like the poster wolf for healthy Canis lupus everywhere. More than likely, you’ll be dead before you have the strength to share with anyone else what I’m about totellyou.”
Do djinn taste good?Dalton’s wolfaskedhim.
Like chicken,Dalton responded. His wolf found amusement in the man’s response. Perhaps the djinn was of some use if he could get his wolf to feel anything other thandespair.
“Are you listening?” Thadrick said, sounding very put out. “At least pretend to be riveted by my confessions. As I was saying,” he continued, “when I touch another supernatural, I can feel what they arefeeling.”
Dalton suddenly sat up, giving Thadrick his fullattention.
The djinn looked smug. “I thought that might be of interest to you. Understanding the emotions of those whose lives we record is important. We don’t record history on paper. All of it is in here.” He pointed to his head. “Your brain is much too simple to understand exactly how it all works, so I won’t bore youwiththat.”
Dalton bared his teeth.Stupiddjinn.
“Not only can I feel others’ emotions through touch, I can detect the moods of those around me. Their auras give off a power that I can feel, indicating their disposition. Usually, these auras are not challenging to deal with, but since being around the males of your species, I feel as though I’ve been saturated in every emotion that exists.” Thadrick made a face that a djinn of his size and splendor should never make, like a child who’s tasted pickle juice or lemons for thefirsttime.
“Standing next to you isn’t too bad. Your mood is fairly consistent. Would you like to know what I’msensing?”
No,he and his wolf growled. Of course, Thadrick couldn’thearthem.
“I would call it despair, but it’s much more than that. I don’t even know if there exists a word in human language to express it. In my language, I would call your moodlayelydal rawenda.Essentially, it means to fall to the lowest depths, so far that you can no longer see the light from where youslipped.”
Dalton flopped back down on his side. Maybe if he stopped breathing and acted dead the djinn would go away.Probablynot.
Thadrick made a sound that might be classified as a sigh. “I am constantly surrounded with anger, joy, frustration, anguish, and other emotions that I can’t even put a name to and yet…” He paused, and his whole body became rigid. “And yet, I still want whatyouhave.”
Dalton’s brow rose, which probably looked strange on awolf’sface.
“Okay, maybe not whatyouspecifically have. But I would even endure your pain if it meant I could feel what the other wolves feel when they are with their mates. Even you had the overwhelming joy of holding Jewel, kissing her, knowing her. Would you give up those brief moments to avoid thisoutcome?”
Dalton phased. He stood next to Thadrick, naked but uncaring, and answered him truthfully. “I would endure whatever I must in order to have a single breath with mytruemate.”
Thadrick nodded. “That is whatIwant.”
“Do djinn not have mates?” Dalton asked, glad to take the focus off of his own pain for amoment.
“Some mate for life. Most mate simply to reproduce. My kind is a very solitary species. Likely because of what we were created to do. Keeping the history of every supernatural being can be a bit distracting attimes.”
“How many historians arethere?”
“Anywhere from five to seven at any given time. The species divides the world by regions, one of which each of us is responsible. But that is as much as I am allowed to say. We never reveal the regions that are under our responsibility. If a supernatural with ill intent wanted to wipe out some recorded history, he would need to know which of my kind records the history he or she desires topurge.”
“They couldkillyou?”
“Doubtful, but maybe they could take the history from me. I won’t say more on the subject. Going around telling people how to steal from me is not an intelligentdecision.”
Thadrick was quiet and seemed to be contemplating something. Dalton got the distinct feeling he wasn’t going to like what the djinn said next. He was about to phase back when a large hand landed on his bareshoulder.
“I have a solution to help you deal with the loss of your mate.” The djinn’s voice was matter-of-fact.
“I haven’t lost her.” Dalton growled. “She willcomeback.”
“I agree. If it is in her power to do so, she will return to your side. However, may I suggest grooming yourself and consuming nourishment so you once again appear as a wolf in your prime? You want her to have someone appealing to come back to, don’t you? You said yourself that she isn’t gone for good, yet you’re pining like a wolf who has lost his mate todeath.”
“She’s everything to me. Looking forward at the possibility of a life without her, it’s crippling.” That was hard for Dalton to say to someone whowasn’tpack.
“Does she ache for you in equal measure?” Thadrick asked, with genuine interest in hisvoice.
