djinn wars 03 - fallen Read Online Free PDF

her own life. Even though she had the healing abilities that we gift all our partners, if someone is determined enough to kill themselves, they can still succeed. As she did.”
    “Oh, my God,” I whispered. That shocking revelation answered a few questions. Why Zahrias didn’t have a Chosen, and possibly why he had come to be the leader of the group in Taos. Maybe he wanted to make sure his fellow djinn had the happy ending he’d been forever denied.
    “It was a terrible thing for him.” Jace moved closer to me and brushed a strand of hair away from my brow. A simple gesture, but something about it made me want to weep. Maybe it was his way of reassuring himself that I was there, that I certainly had no plans to go anywhere. “I worried that Evangeline’s death would make him less likely to look on mortals with any sort of kindness or compassion, but he surprised me. He offered to lead the community here, when no one else seemed inclined to take on the challenge.”
    “And he’s doing a good job of it, too,” I said. Strange how your feelings about a person could change so much, once you knew the truth. Yes, Zahrias still seemed far too formidable to me, and I was so very glad that I was Jace’s Chosen and not his, but in that moment I realized I wasn’t afraid of the djinn leader. Not anymore.
    “I’m glad you think so.” Something in his expression changed then, and he stepped a pace away from me before aiming his flashlight toward the back of the store. “But we should probably keep looking for those generators. Dark comes quickly at this time of year.”
    Yes, it did. Too quickly, although I’d begun to notice the gradual lengthening of the days. Spring was coming, even though it was still more than a month away. How long would we have to wait for it here in Taos? I had a feeling it would be slow in arriving, no matter what the calendar might say.
    The rear of the store was a jumble of various items that the owners obviously had dumped there because they didn’t really fit in anywhere else. That sort of casual chaos would never have flown in Albuquerque, but in Taos, the locals were probably used to it. Chaos or no, we did find two sturdy-looking generators back there, each with multiple outlets.
    “Those should help a lot,” I said. “At the very least, they’ll keep the refrigerators going. But with an output of 5,500 watts, they’ll probably do more than that.”
    “Success,” Jace replied, offering me a smile. Something about it looked a little wavery around the edges, though, and I put a hand on his arm just as he was reaching out to take the handle of the generator closest to him.
    “Are you okay?” I asked. “Tell me the truth.”
    For a second he didn’t say anything, only watched my face, as if hoping to find some indication there as to how he should reply. Then, “I’m fine, Jessica. Yes, that device is hammering away at me, tiring me, but I can manage. In fact,” he added, “I believe that tonight I’ll have to prove it to you.”
    A flicker of heat stirred deep within me. “Oh, really?” I responded, trying to keep my tone light, teasing, just in case he was also teasing me. In the back of my mind had been the fear that the device was taking so much of his energy that he wouldn’t have anything left for me, but if he was serious, then apparently that wasn’t the issue I’d thought it would be.
    “Well, you might have to be on top….” He slanted a sideways glance at me, and despite everything, I couldn’t help laughing.
    “I’m willing to take that ride,” I said, still chuckling, and then he smiled, a real smile, the sort that made a pleasant little shiver run down my spine.
    Maybe there was a way we could manage to get through this after all.

    We hustled the generators out to the truck, then went back into the store to find a ramp we could use to wheel them up into the bed, since at the moment Jace wasn’t strong enough to lift one on his own, and I never