Free djinn wars 03 - fallen by Christine Pope

move forward somehow, and I know that my fellow djinn will not be content to let the status quo continue for any longer than is strictly necessary. Turning on the device saved us all, and was necessary…but in its present configuration, it will also end up destroying us.”
    A shiver went through me at his words. I supposed I’d been telling myself that the djinn would learn to manage somehow, would get by until we could discover a better solution, but recalling the way Zahrias had looked earlier made me realize now that we didn’t have as much time as we’d thought. He had to be very strong, or he wouldn’t have been made the leader here, but his innate strength obviously wasn’t enough, not when it was being destroyed in small, soul-crushing increments. Jace’s only advantage was that he’d had weeks to get accustomed to the device and its effects on him, had been subjected to it at much higher levels, and therefore had built up a slight tolerance. Even that tolerance wouldn’t protect him completely; I’d seen for myself how easily tired he became, how his mouth would go taut with pain when he thought I wasn’t looking. No, this couldn’t continue. We had to take the risk.
    Lindsay seemed to get it as well, because she nodded. “Maybe you’re right. I know it’s just awful to see Rafi the way he is right now. Maybe that’s why, deep down, I’ve been almost glad that I’ve been so crazy busy. I can tell him to stay in bed and rest, and then I don’t have to see him looking like a shell of himself. That’s one devil of an invention that Miles Odekirk cooked up.”
    “I know,” I said grimly. “So maybe it’s time to make the devil pay.”

    Zahrias didn’t offer much in the way of protest when we went to him with our scheme. Sitting in his chair, he listened quietly, then said, “If you can find enough djinn and their Chosen to go on this expedition — at least ten of each — then I suppose it is something we should try.”
    As it turned out, ten of each was a very low estimate.
    I couldn’t blame the djinn. It was a risky plan, but I got the feeling that most of them were more than willing to take that risk if it meant a few hours or even days of being away from the influence of Miles Odekirk’s device. And the Chosen went along with it because they wanted their djinn back the way they’d been before all this began. This post-Dying world was frightening enough without having the person who’d been protecting you the whole time more or less down for the count.
    In the end, we had twenty djinn and their Chosen. Because none of the djinn were certain how quickly their powers would bounce back, we made the collective decision to drive to Los Alamos, rather than rely on magic that might or might not fail us at a critical moment. Lauren helped Jace and me with the final selections for the raiding party, just because she knew this group and their strengths and weaknesses far better than I did. Her own Dani was going, since he apparently had been quite a warrior back in the day, before he decided he’d rather be a lover than a fighter. But Lauren would stay behind, since Zahrias needed her.
    “Besides,” she told me frankly. “I’d be worse than useless on a trip like this. I don’t know how to shoot a gun — if a gun even works on a djinn — and I’d just be in the way. Might as well stay here where I can be of some use.”
    I actually didn’t know whether bullets would have any effect on a djinn, either, but I figured I’d find out if I had to.
    The person who surprised me was Evony. She confronted Jace and me in the hallway as we were headed back to our suite once the final kidnapping party had been selected. Her arms were crossed, and I could tell from the determined jut of her chin that this was one discussion I wouldn’t be able to avoid.
    “I’m going, too,” she announced, and I blinked, then sent an uncertain glance up at Jace.
    Being Jace, he came to my rescue at once. “We