I was taken aback. “I haven’t? Really?” I tried recalling our past conversations, and while I couldn’t remember all of them, I had a disturbing feeling Aurelia was right. “Momma would be very disappointed in me.”
“I do not understand why. I am djinn. I am the same today as I was a millennia ago.”
“Physically,” Franklin chimed in, his gaze still stuck on the ceiling. “I doubt that’s true emotionally.”
Aurelia cocked her head to the side, keeping her silence as she considered that statement. “Perhaps you are correct, human.” Aurelia didn’t say Franklin’s species with any type of malice.
“That’ll be a first today,” Franklin mumbled, nearly too soft for me to hear. I laid my hand on his thigh and squeezed. Franklin wrapped his fingers around mine.
Aurelia stepped closer as she rounded the couch, sitting on the coffee table she’d apparently become so fond of. When she remained silent, I asked, “To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”
Aurelia’s eyebrows rose. “You find mycompanypleasurable?”
I shrugged. “I don’t find it offensive.” Pleasurable might have been a stretch.
Aurelia’s facial features softened. It was so minuscule as to almost be invisible, and yet it was there all the same. She stared at me, those Caribbean blue eyes deeply boring into mine, as ifshe could discern the sincerity of my words. Having nothing to hide, I let her look her fill.
She blinked and eased into her seated position. “I spoke with Peaches, and I believe he then felt the need to discuss the situation with the other pixie.”
“Phlox,” I supplied.
“That is the one.”
Before Aurelia could say more, my curiosity got the better of me and I asked, “Have you seen Phlox’s shifted form?”
“I have. It is most unique.”
I didn’t miss the covetous gleam in Aurelia’s eyes. “I’m guessing Peaches said no to that one too.”
For lack of a better word, Aurelia pouted. “Peaches claims Pallas’s cats are wild creatures and do not accept captivity well.” Any hint of displeasure vanished. “I would not submit such a creature to an environment they do not enjoy. I am not like the masters.” The last words were said with a level of hatred I didn’t think Aurelia would ever lose. Honestly, I wasn’t certain she should.
“That’s very responsible of you,” Franklin said.
“It is no less than any living, sentient creature deserves.”
There was absolutely no arguing that point. In some ways, Aurelia was like a child, or at least her observations were childlike. She saw the world in black and white. Aurelia had a moral code. It wasn’t what most of us would agree with, but it was there all the same, and she adhered to it.
“The pixie shifter desires to be present when Ajita is contacted,” Aurelia stated, eliminating any previous warm and fuzzy feelings circulating through my brain.
I sucked in a harsh breath. “Then you found her? She’s still living?”
“Of course she is still alive. Djinn are exceedingly difficult to kill.” Aurelia’s gaze was piercing when she looked at me. “Ihad only wondered if she was resting. Doing so is at Ajita’s discretion.” A note of bitterness surrounded that statement.
Sitting up straighter, Franklin squeezed my fingers before asking, “Did you make contact with her?”
“No.”
“Does she know you’re looking for her?” I asked.
“Most likely.” Aurelia didn’t sound the least bit disturbed by those brief words. “Ajita would not be threatened by my presence.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that. Right or wrong, I thought of Aurelia asmy djinn. “I know djinn are difficult to kill, but are you placing yourself in danger? Could Ajita harm you?”
Aurelia slowly blinked, her eyes larger and rounder than typical. “You are concerned?”
“I am.” Those words weren’t the least bit false.
“Why?” Aurelia sounded genuinely curious.
