Shadow's End (Elder Races, #9)(63)

“So you are not personally being controlled by Malphas,” Rune persisted.

“No,” he replied. “I am not.”

“That’s not quite true, though, is it?” said Constantine. “Your behavior right now is constricted by something.”

For the first time, Grace spoke up, her quiet voice hesitant. “I see connections, you know.”

The focus of the whole room snapped to her, and her demeanor turned self-conscious. Rune suggested, “Why don’t you explain what you mean by that?”

“My Power as Oracle has become attuned to the Djinn, for a number of reasons,” she offered. “I’ve discovered a way to help injured Djinn heal, and I can see the connections they make, with each other and with other races. Most of the time, I don’t pay attention, but sometimes they become too obvious to ignore.”

Graydon asked, “Can you remove connections?”

At Grace’s side, Khalil’s eyebrows rose, and the expression in his diamondlike eyes grew piercing and fierce. “Connections are made when Djinn strike bargains. You did not just ask my Gracie to break Djinn law, did you?”

“I didn’t ask her to break any laws,” said Graydon, keeping his reply mild and nonthreatening. “I just asked if she could. There’s a difference.”

“I don’t know,” Grace told him. “I might be able to, but I couldn’t swear to it. I don’t think I could do it without alerting the Djinn who made the connection to begin with, so I guess it would be a pretty useless thing to try.”

“It could be hugely important, if you could break the bond Malphas has put on the souls of his victims,” Graydon said. His mind raced to the possible implications. Planning an attack on Malphas would be much simpler if they could free Ferion first.

The Oracle shook her head quickly, dampening his newfound hope. “That kind of bond sounds much more dangerous. I’d be afraid to try anything. For one thing, nobody knows how the victims would respond. If the bond is parasitical in nature, removing it the wrong way could kill them, and I’d be worried that anything I might try would alert Malphas.”

Carling asked, “Could you identify someone who has one of those bonds?”

Grace lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I guess, maybe?”

“Why don’t you have a look at each one of us?” suggested Carling. “Tell us if you think anyone here has a lien on their soul.”

Instantly, Khalil’s physical form melted. He flowed over Grace, covering her body completely.

Grace’s voice came from the shadowy cloak, sounding slightly distorted. “Now look what you made him do. Khalil, get off me.”

“Gracie, there are dangerous people here,” Khalil said. “What if someone does carry a soul bond? You might trigger a violent response. While you may carry the Power of the Oracle, you are also quite human and fragile. And too precious to lose.”

“Why did you ask her to check everyone?” Julian asked Carling, his eyes narrowed.

“Just humor me,” Carling said. “Graydon and Bel aren’t answering certain questions, so some influence is at work on them. I’d like to know for sure the room is clear of that particular taint. Khalil, let Grace work.”

“I am not preventing her from working,” Khalil said. “I am preventing anyone from harming her.”

Grace’s sigh sounded clearly from within the cloak, and she looked around the room. After a few moments, she shook her head again. “I don’t sense any unusually strong connections, and that’s the only way I would know to look for it. Khalil, will you please get off me now?”

Silently the Djinn flowed away from her body and solidified into a man again. He resumed his former position, arms crossed and unrepentant.

Grace told Graydon, “The reason I mentioned it is because we were talking about whether or not Malphas was controlling you. Constantine said your behavior was constricted in some way, and I can see that you have a connection with a Djinn. Although that in itself isn’t unusual. Several of us have connections with Djinn. A couple of us have quite a few. I’ve accrued quite a few, myself—I’m now considered quite wealthy by Djinn standards, as a lot of them owe me favors.”

Rune angled his face toward Graydon again. “Don’t tell me you made a bargain with a pariah Djinn. Did you? Is that restricting you from answering certain questions?”

When Graydon didn’t reply, Rune swore under his breath.

From his slouching position by the window, Constantine remarked, “You know, I’ve been racking my brains, trying to figure this puzzle out. What could it possibly be? You’ve presented us with several cases where Malphas clearly preys on gambling addicts, yet you can’t or won’t say how you got the information, or why you’re pursuing it.”

Nearby, Bel shifted in her seat. It was another tiny tell that didn’t go unnoticed. Graydon swept the room with his gaze. Julian’s attention hadn’t shifted from Bel for quite some time. Both Claudia and Carling watched her too.

Restlessly, Constantine pushed away from the wall, wagging one finger. “Wait a minute. Two hundred years ago, when we went to London—there was a gaming hell that Weston razed to the ground. I remember since it had been so notorious. The news was all over the city the next morning. It especially caught my attention because we had just been visiting with Weston at the Vauxhall masque. At the time, he had seemed perfectly relaxed. He hadn’t given any indication of what he was about to do. Of course, he always did have a hell of a game face.”