Free djinn wars 03 - fallen by Christine Pope Page B

had no clues as to what had happened to the Chosen who’d first gone to investigate Los Alamos. Now, though, after seeing what this Khalim and his gang had done, I very much feared that those four had been taken, or killed…or worse.
    “You do need someone, Evony,” Jace said, his tone a bit firmer. The subvocal back-and-forth he and I had just shared had only taken a second, if even that, and Evony didn’t appear to have noticed the slight hesitation. “We all need to look out for one another, because we don’t know for sure what we’re going to face. We could be attacked the second we’re beyond the barrier created by Miles Odekirk’s device, or somewhere out on the highway. We could make it all the way to Los Alamos, succeed in taking the scientist…and still be ambushed on the way back here. Many, many things could go wrong. You have never seen the djinn in battle, and I sincerely pray you never will. But if it comes to that…you would do well to have someone looking out for you.”
    Evony paled slightly. Jace had never raised his voice, had sounded calm and unruffled during this entire speech, but his meaning struck home nonetheless. In fact, it scared me more than I wanted to admit. Unlike Evony, I’d seen with my own eyes the beginnings of one of those attacks — the swirling darkness, the feeling of utter oppression. What it would be like once it got close enough to be personal…well, that was something I’d prefer to avoid.
    The group that had attacked Clay and Aidan and Martine had been small, only ten or so, according to Aidan. Our own expedition would have twice that many djinn, and an equal number of us humans. I hoped that would be enough. Because if the djinn came against us with the sort of force I’d seen swirling in the heavens over Taos just the morning before….
    It was my turn to shudder.
    “Okay,” Evony said, her tone quite altered. Now she sounded shaken, as she should be. “I’ll talk to Lauren and Dani, see if he’s okay with playing babysitter for me. But I’m going either way,” she added with a flash of her old defiance.
    “As you must,” Jace replied. “Although I’m fairly certain Dani will be more than happy to make sure you come to no harm.”

    Jace was right about that — both Dani and Lauren agreed that if Evony insisted on coming, then he should stand in as her djinn, since Natila was now lost to her. And after that, the preparations moved ahead faster than I would have thought possible.
    We’d leave that evening soon after the sun set, since going in under cover of darkness seemed to have a slightly higher chance of success than just strolling in with the sun blazing overhead. Ten vehicles, each with two humans and two djinn, except Dani’s SUV, which would also carry Evony. As much firepower as we could scrounge within the mile radius of our current safe zone. That actually turned out to be a lot more than I would have thought, but it seemed as if almost every household we visited had at least a rifle or a shotgun. There was good hunting in the countryside around Taos.
    “And will this actually help?” I asked, my tone dubious, as I hefted the shotgun Jace had set aside for me. “I mean, we’re not exactly hunting rabbits.”
    He didn’t smile. “Bullets will not kill a djinn, but they can slow them down. Hit them enough times, and they’ll be forced to retreat so they can heal. Of course, when they do come back, they’ll be angrier than ever, but….”
    I got the point. If you were going to pump a djinn full of shotgun shells, you’d better make damn sure you were safely back within range of one of Miles Odekirk’s squirrelly little boxes before that djinn came after you, breathing fire.
    Literally.
    Still, it meant we had more of a fighting chance than I’d originally thought. And it wasn’t that far to Los Alamos. An hour and a half, maybe two, depending on the road conditions. Luckily, it hadn’t snowed for quite a while now, so the