Page 53 of Mistaken

And Abdul had to be glad of that, because it meant he was free to spend this time with Sarah, listening to her voice blossom even further like a rose opening its petals to the sun, or to wander the countryside with her, sometimes on horseback, sometimes not, depending on their mood on any particular day.

He had even decided that it would be good to have her help in the kitchen, so now they gathered there with the ingredients he assembled for their evening meals, and she assisted with chopping or stirring or whatever else might be required. She always seemed willing to act as his sous chef and appeared content with his explanation that he enjoyed being more hands-on with these sorts of tasks rather than using his powers to do everything.

All in all, the two of them had achieved a domestic harmony he thought many might envy, but underneath it all was still the gnawing worry that one day she might discover the truth about him, and the careful façade of amity and goodwill would collapse like the house of cards he knew it to be.

“What did you do all day in the otherworld?” she asked that night at dinner, and he set down his fork and gave her a startled look.

“Why do you ask?”

Her shoulders lifted. That night she wore a dress in a deep mulberry shade that enhanced the green in her eyes and made her skin seem to glow. Every day he saw her, she seemed more beautiful than the last, but perhaps that was simply because he learned a little more of her with every moment they spent together.

“I suppose I was thinking about all the things we’ve been doing here,” she replied. “My singing practice takes up a lot of time, and you wouldn’t have been doing anything like that in the otherworld, right?”

“No,” he said. “We djinn were not much for artistic pursuits, although there were some who took on the difficult task of bringing plants from this world to that one, and expending a good deal of effort on keeping them alive.”

“Because the air isn’t the same.”

Abdul had told her that during one of their previous conversations, but he was cheered to see she remembered the detail. “Precisely. But for many of us, we spent a great deal of time constructing our palaces and then redoing those sections of them that no longer suited us, or which perhaps we had grown weary of. It was a pursuit that could occupy a great amount of time.”

A nod. That night, they had made a bounty of Indian dishes, a task that had required the dirtying of many pots and pans and bowls, and now she pushed at the chicken korma on her plate while she seemed to contemplate what he’d just told her. Then a smile touched her lips.

“No wonder you wanted to remodel this place as soon as you moved in.”

“I did,” he said. “The footprint of the house was well enough, but I changed the kitchen and the living spaces to more closely suit my needs.”

“All with the snap of a finger.”

“Or only an intention,” he responded. “It is not necessary to perform a physical action to get the reaction we require. It is enough to merely think of a thing.”

Yes, some djinn did like to snap their fingers or wave a hand to accomplish that which could be affected by thought alone, but although he indulged himself from time to time, Abdul generally did not waste his energy on such outward shows.

Then again, he’d never had anyone around to witness him calling material items into being, so there had been no reason to perform as though he had an audience.

For some reason, Sarah’s smile broadened. “It’s too bad you didn’t reveal yourselves back before. I can just imagine some of the HGTV shows you could have starred in —Djinn Makeover,orDjinn House in an Instant.”

Abdul had no idea what HGTV was…or, more precisely, what it had been…but from the context, he assumed she was talking about some sort of television channel. And while he knew that none of the djinn would have been foolish enough to make their identities public back then, he had to admit the idea was somewhat amusing.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “we can now only think of what might have been.”

Some of the cheerful light went out of her eyes then. “Yes, I suppose that’s what a lot of people do these days.”

Damn it, he should have paid more attention to what he was saying. The last thing he wanted was for Sarah to start thinking of what the world might have been like if the djinn hadn’t intervened and everything had gone on as before.

It would have continued on a headlong course into oblivion,he thought, but he knew now was not the time to speak of such things.

Thinking it best to steer their conversation in other directions, he said, “But even though this house pleases me well enough, there is still a great deal I would like to do to the grounds.”

“Oh?” Sarah said. She now appeared a little brighter, as though she, too, was glad to avoid stepping into such fraught territory. “I thought what you did down by the visitors center was all the improvements you planned to make.”

“No, that was only the beginning, nothing more. I thought I would create an herb garden and perhaps a kitchen garden as well, so I might grow a good deal of what I need. Perhaps roses and more trees, and grass, too. This part of the world in general does not support large lawns very well, but I know I can summon whatever water might be required to keep them thriving.”

Her brows lifted. “Really? So…you’re a water elemental?”

Right then, he wanted to curse himself for his carelessness. The entire time she’d been here, he’d made sure not to do anything in front of her that would point to him having a particular kind of elemental talent over another and had only used the sorts of powers that any djinn possessed. He certainly did not want her to guess that he controlled all of the elements because he was not precisely a djinn in the way she thought of them.

However, he also had gathered that her knowledge of the djinn was limited at best, and had only been gleaned from conversations with her fellow survivors, not from any of the elementals themselves or even observing them in person. Because of that, he guessed he should be able to obfuscate easily enough.

“That sort of calling of water is something any djinn can do,” he replied, evading her question. “It makes gardening much easier.”

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