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The reaction was immediate. Helios’s lips pulled back into a snarl. Power pulsed around him, suppressing the air in the room and making it difficult to breathe. “You would accuse me of being a master?”

Gray didn’t falter. He stood his ground. “I am pointing out the path you are currently traveling. Nothing more.”

The suffocating power dissipated, leaving all but Elvira gasping for air. Holding his hand out again, palm up, Gray pointedly looked at Jima. “I’ll tell you a secret, Helios. Treasure is better when it is earned than when it is stolen. Do you understand?”

In answer, Helios handed Jima over, gently depositing him into Gray’s cupped hands. Pulling away, Helios’s gaze remained fixed on Jima. “It was not what I imagined. Perhaps Aurelia is wrong when it comes to the idea of pets.”

Cradling Jima to his chest, Gray retreated until his back was flush with my front. Wrapping my arms around Gray, I answered, “I don’t know that that is true, but attempting to keep a dissenting sentient being as one is wrong. Just as it was wrong to keep djinn prisoners.”

“I have much to consider.” Helios was still staring at Jima when he disappeared, winking out of our existence and heading off to who knows where. As long as it wasn’t here, I was okay.

Gray shivered violently, rocking Jima in his hands.

“Here, dear, let me have him,” Tabitha stepped in, relieving Gray of his small burden.

“Is he okay?” Gray asked.

“I believe he’ll be fine,” Tabitha answered, “thanks to you. That was clever, my friend. Very clever.”

Gray winced, his shivering not abating. “Not really. What I said was true. Jima’s song was horrid. It… I would never wish that on any treasure.”

Gray’s shivering intensified. “Are you cold” I asked, holding him even closer, attempting to share my warmth.

“I don’t know,” Gray answered. “I think maybe I’m in shock. That was a djinn. A djinn! What the fuck did I just do? I just challenged a fucking djinn and⁠—”

“And lived to tell the tale,” Keir answered.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.” Gray bent at the waist, a hand covering his mouth. “Fuck me, that was stupid.”

I leaned in, my fingers raking through Gray’s sweaty scalp. “Stupid, yes. Brave, without question. Rest now, I have you.”

Gray’s body went lax, as if he were little more than a puppet with his strings cut. My arms shifted, forming a myriad of branches cradling his body. My soil called to me. Gray and I might experience my birth soil differently, but the results were similar enough.

With that thought in mind, I said, “We’ll be in my quarters,” before lifting Gray into my growing canopy, safe and protected.

Thirteen

Grayson

Sunlight. Beautiful, warm, sunshine.

Awareness slowly returned. I wasn’t certain when, but my body had dissipated and I was currently in my wisp form. Physically, this form was far different from my humanoid one. I didn’t have eyes to see or ears to hear, and yet I was capable of both. Skin absent, I could still feel the warmth of the sunshine where it touched me.

I was above ground, although not high in the sky. Beautiful green leaves surrounded me, filtering the sun’s rays. A soothing, soft breeze pulled at my edges. The wind wasn’t enough to be worrisome. In some ways, it was the perfect touch.

Had I been in my humanoid form, I would have sighed, long and deep. As it was, my flame expanded and contracted, reaching out and touching all it could. That piece of Martin’s magic sitting in my soul hummed with contentment. The song of his soil lovingly sweet.

I wasn’t certain Martin and I could communicate in these forms. Surprisingly, he’d been able to hear me in my wisp form before, but he’d been humanoid then. Deciding to test the idea, I thought, “Martin?”

“Hmm?” It was little more than a gentle hum tickling my senses.

“Can you hear and understand me?”

“I can. And you?”

“Loud and clear.” It was a wonder really, this connection. “How long have I been asleep?”

“I am uncertain. Time loses meaning when I am in my tree form. I can say the sun has moved across the sky. It will set soon.”