Page 91 of Silver & Gold

SETH DIDN’T BLAME RAIDER for what he’d said about humans yesterday at the pool. Few had suffered at the hands of their fellow humans quite like Raider had. But Raider’s words had still scared him. Because Raider had suffered at the hands of his fellow humans only in part. There was another part of Raider, half of Raider, that wasn’t human at all.

The other half was djinn—and seemed to be feeling right at home here.

What the hell was that going to mean for Seth? For them?

The fact that Seth couldn’t find Raider right now wasn’t helping his paranoia.

Seth only had himself to blame. After breakfast this morning, another elegant meal that had appeared in their room between one blink and the next, Seth had wanted to investigate more of the city. Actually, he’d wanted to show Raider his findings, but Raider had refused.

Prefer your head in the sand, huh? Seth had said, like an idiot.

Better than where yours is, up your own ass, Raider had replied.

Seth had managed to hold in his retort only by not speaking at all. He’d smashed his feet into his boots, left the room, and had stalked through Jannat hunting for evidence.

He needed to find something that Raider couldn’t ignore, some sign of … what, exactly?

Seth wasn’t sure.

He only found more of what he’d seen yesterday. Fragments of ancient writing, arcane symbols, broken buildings.

He crossed a bridge, gaining a view of several waterfalls. With Jannat’s staggered landscape, Seth couldn’t get a clear sense of its layout, and he could see nothing of what lay beyond the rocky, green-studded slopes that hemmed it in. He needed a better view.

Searching the skyline, Seth’s eyes caught on a tower-like building that rose above the rest. Arched windows spiraled their way up the tower to the roof. A waterfall spilled from a cliff above it, seeming to fall into the building itself. Raider had described such a building in his account of their arrival in Jannat.

Something gold flashed atop the cliff. Seth squinted. Gods, what he wouldn’t give for his arcane scope right now. (It really, really upset him that his things had been taken. It was a constant itch in the back of his mind.)

Working his way through the city, Seth spotted a number of animals that he suspected were djinn. A lioness lounging on a section of wall. A glistening snake sunning itself on a stone step. Others he was less sure about. The deer grazing in a low meadow. The birds flashing through the sunlight. Occasionally, a wisp of blue smoke caught his eye.

Seth reached a short flight of steps that rose to the tower entrance. If there had ever been doors in the arched opening, they were long gone. As Seth climbed the steps, an engraved image of the sun above the doorway caught his eye.

It made sense that elemental beings like the djinn would revere the sun, but this particular symbol depicted the sun atop a scepter—and that was a symbol of Roth. God of light. God of knowledge. Gods of kings.

A similar symbol graced the lintel above the entrance to Kastari’s imperial library. Such a symbol marked the face of the administration building of Masir University as well.

What had this been, a library? A university? A royal hall?

Whatever the building’s original purpose, the djinn had transformed it into a spectacular indoor garden surrounding a crystal-clear pool. The waterfall that spilled through the roof cascaded through multiple levels of the building, each with a partial floor. The water tumbled from one floor to the next, catching briefly in basins, fountains, and small pools, before ultimately spilling into the large pool on the lowest level.

Greenery climbed through the interior, weaving around balustrades and other stonework. By the pool, cushiony grass softened the stretches between smooth stones. Flowers grew everywhere, including a fringe of lotus blossoms in the clear pool. Trees hung heavy with fruit. Birds flew in and out through the countless windows.

But all of that was background, at the edge of Seth’s awareness. What had his attention was the djinn. A few of them puffed into blue smoke upon his arrival, others transformed into animals and darted into hiding, but several remained in their corporeal forms. They were more concerned with their own activities, it seemed, than with him. And no wonder.

Bodies rocked together in the grass, or hovered above it, blue limbs twining together in intricate displays of the erotic arts. Soft cries mingled with the twittering of birds and the gentle pouring sound of water. Where three were tangled together, Seth watched, transfixed, as a large cock glided into an eager hole.

Arousal simmering, Seth looked around, hunting automatically for Raider, not actually expecting to find him here.

But he was.

Near the waterfall, bare from the waist up, Raider was sitting in the grass. With Tarjan.

Raider broke off mid-sentence and looked Seth’s way as he approached. Raider looked briefly startled, then his eyes hardened with challenge. The right one flared gold—so damn similar to the glow of Tarjan’s eyes beside him.

“Seth,” Raider hissed in warning, clearly noticing that Seth’s eyes had locked on Tarjan. The djinn, wearing only his white sarong (yep, Seth saw the parallel to Raider), was floating cross legged above the grass. He unfolded at Seth’s approach—and transformed into a peacock. He flew up into a plum tree and settled into the branches, his flashy tail dangling.

Seth halted beside Raider, who hadn’t gotten up. “He’s the one who’s been watching us.”

“So?”