“Fine.” The oracle let go of my arm, still staring warily at theifrit. “I’ll get her some water and a mat to lie down on. You get...her.”
While Mirela pulled one of the gymnastics mats from the pile stacked against the wall, I approached the teenagedjinnicautiously. “Nalah?”
Her gaze snapped up, fiery copper eyes focused on me with a familiar, burning hatred. But a second later, they glazed over again. That was all the malice she had the strength for, at least until the drugs were out of her system.
“Do you want to lie down? Mirela’s getting you some water.” I reached for her arm, but thedjinnistumbled backward to get away from me, putting her dangerously close to the doorway sensor. “You need to move away from the door. It’ll—”
“Nalah?”
I turned to find a woman about my age staring at theifritthrough wide ice-blue eyes. Waist-length silvery hair hung down her back and the fall of light made it shimmer like water flowing in sunlight—easily the most identifiable feature of amarid, a waterdjinni. And she didn’t look friendly.
“I’m Delilah Marlow.” I stepped back, so I could keep bothdjinnin sight. “What’s your name?”
“Simra.”
“Do you know Nalah?” My understanding was that the youngifritand her royalmaridcompanion had been captured by Metzger’s shortly after they’d sneaked into the United States and had no friends here.
“Everyone south of the border knows her.” Simra’s cold gaze narrowed on Nalah. “Where is Princess Adira?” she demanded.
Tears filled Nalah’s copper eyes.
“Um...Adira was shot when we took over the menagerie,” I whispered, afraid that my explanation would upset Nalah. “She didn’t make it.”
“You failed her.”Simra glared at Nalah with feverish spite. “You should have taken the bullet for her. That was your obligation!” She let out a high-pitched war cry and lunged at theifrit. I threw myself between them, but before she could crash into me, themaridcollapsed in the grip of a seizure.
Her collar worked faster than I could, and it was a hell of a lot more effective.
Mirela led the sobbingifritto the sleeping mat she’d prepared while I knelt next to Simra with no idea how I could help her. Fortunately, her convulsions only lasted a few seconds, but she’d hit her head on the floor when she fell, and even after she stopped shaking, her eyes looked unfocused.
“Simra?” I swept glittering, silvery hair back from her forehead and searched her pale blue eyes for any sign of awareness. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, then rolled onto her side and covered her face with her hands. “I knew that would happen. Still, I had to try.” She pushed herself upright and smoothed long hair back from her pale face, composing herself.
“Try what? To hurt Nalah?”
Simra’s icy gaze focused on me. “To avenge the princess.”
“Did you know Adira?”
“I saw her in a parade once,” she replied, her expression softening with the memory. “When she was a girl. Nalah sat at her feet, and I was mad with envy. So many of us wanted to be the princess’s companion, but theifritroyalty sent her Nalah as a gift, when the betrothal of their prince to our princess was announced. As a cross-cultural gesture.” Her gaze hardened again and she clasped her pale hands in her lap. “But Nalah let our princess die.”
“She’s just a kid. And she was Adira’s companion, not her bodyguard,” I pointed out.
“She has disgraced herself by outliving the princess she served.” Simra sat up, her spine as stiff as the line of her jaw. “If I could restore her honor by taking her life, I would.”
The casual brutality of her declaration sent a chill crawling over me, and for the first time, I was grateful that Sultan Bruhier, Adira’s grieving father, had denied us entry into his kingdom.Djinniculture sounded ruthless, and the injustice of it would have driven me—and thefuriaewithin me—insane.
“Delilah?” a low-pitched voice called, and I looked up to find Bowman standing in the dormitory doorway holding a clipboard.
I stood, my heart thumping in anticipation. “Yes?”
“Come with me.” He pressed a button on his remote, and the red light above the door flashed, but if there was any response from my collar, I couldn’t feel it.
“Where?”
Bowman only watched me. Waiting.
I gave Simra my hand, and she let me pull her to her feet. “Do you know what this is about?”
