I nodded. “That’s the going theory and that might be the true motive behind his actions. But if that’s the case, why didn’t he just ask me to do so? As you said, it’s what I do. There doesn’t need to be so much cloak-and-dagger if that’s all he wants.”
A tattoo on Ajita’s left arm flared, briefly glowing deep indigo. I wasn’t certain what it meant. Aurelia’s tattoos represented the restrictions her witch creator had placed on her abilities. Given that Ajita herself was originally a witch, I had no idea if hers worked the same way.
When she remained quiet, I continued. “As far as any of us know, I’m the only being that can actually harm a djinn.” Ajita’slips pulled back, and I swear she hissed. “That’s not a threat. It’s a fact.” I took a step in front of Franklin. His hand shot out, fingers twisting around my forearm and stopping me from moving closer to Ajita. Taking a chance, I laid my cards on the proverbial table. “You’re right. You might be able to kill me, but I assure you, I can push your soul into your body before you can finish me off. You’d be mortal, and Franklin will pull his gun and end your life just like that.” I snapped my fingers. “Your best-case scenario is that we take each other out. There’s a chance I might be able to replace your soul before you can kill me. In that case, I win and you lose. Either way, you’re dead.”
More tattoos flared, and Ajita’s eyes swam in silver. Her lips remained pursed, little more than a thin line. “And you claim you are not threatening me?”
“I’m stating facts. I want you to understand what’s at stake here. Tenzen Huxley wants me alive, not dead. Do you really want to know why? Do you really want someone like him—a shadow borne—to gain the upper hand? If he learns what I’m capable of, if he knows what I can potentially do to djinn—”
“Enough.” Ajita’s nostrils flared before her eyes slipped closed. Each inhale relaxed her tensed muscles. When she opened her eyes again, the raging silver was gone. “Shadow borne cannot be killed.”
“It’s been attempted?” Franklin asked.
“Many times and in many ways. The outcomes were…poor.” Ajita’s smile was more grimace.
I swallowed hard. “Well, that sucks.” Franklin’s fingers intertwined with mine.
“They have to have a weakness,” Franklin said. “Every being does. If they didn’t, then shadow borne would run the world. They don’t. Fairy does.”
Eyes fixed on me, Ajita answered, “Until a few moments ago, I would have claimed you were incorrect, human.” Ajita’s gazebored into me. I held no illusions regarding her true intentions. If she thought she could get away with it, Ajita would eviscerate me on the spot. “Shadow borne are not absent because they have been eliminated or contained. They are absent because they choose to be. They have existed long before your minuscule brains can truly contemplate. Millenia of existence becomes tedious. The long years stretch out in unending monotony. Shadow borne chose oblivion over continued awareness.”
I blinked, my eyes dry and burning. “You mean they got bored?”
Ajita shrugged again. “Simplistic, but accurate enough.”
I stared, gaping like a landed fish. “And they what? You said they can’t be killed, but did they die out anyway? Of…boredom?” It sounded ridiculous when spoken aloud.
“Die? No. Shadow borne cannot be killed, and they cannot die.”
“Then what?” Franklin asked what I was thinking.
“They slumber.”
Finally pulling my gaze from Ajita, I turned to Franklin only to see him gazing back at me, my disbelief reflected in his eyes. “They’re asleep?” I asked no one in particular.
“That is what I said,” Ajita answered.
“Willingly?” I asked to clarify.
“I was not present when they drifted off, but it is thought so.” Ajita’s head tilted the opposite direction. “It was postulated that one could induce slumber upon a shadow borne, but the theory was never tested. By that time, shadow borne had mostly succumbed to the deep sleep and the point was moot.”
“Considering one is awake right now, I’d say the point isn’t completely moot,” Franklin said.
“I will grant you that.” Ajita didn’t seem overly concerned or in much of a sharing mood.
My teeth ground together. Drawing answers from Ajita was like trying to draw blood from a stone. “Care to elaborate on that theory?”
Ajita’s smirk was back. “Most believe shadow borne are creatures of the dark, but that would be inaccurate. What is necessary to cast a shadow?”
“Light,” Franklin and I said in unison.
“Precisely. Starve a shadow borne of this precious resource, no matter how dim the illumination, and one might fade into the darkness. I would remind you, it is only a theory and even if true, one would first need to seal a shadow borne into that darkness. I assure you, such a task is not done lightly. Wielding shadow is not a shadow borne’s only weapon.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic.” The fatigue Ajita’s sudden appearance had taken away returned with a vengeance. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I groaned when I realized I hadn’t activated one of Pops’s silencing charms. If Tenzen Huxley was keeping tabs on me, he’d just heard the whole damn conversation.
“I didn’t activate a silencing charm,” I muttered through my cupped hands.
Ajita’s sudden laughter sliced the air like knives. “Oh, that is funny. Aurelia told me you were humorous, but I thought it another tall tale. Silencing charms… As if that could stop a shadow borne.” Ajita’s smirk twisted her face. “Such things do not work against shadow borne.”
