It turned out that Julia had compiled a list of houses in the area that had been up for sale at the time of the Dying — “easy enough to do, based on brochures and one-sheets at real estate offices,” she explained. She’d sketched out a quick map and some directions to a house she thought would work. “If you don’t like it, though, just let me know. I tend to hang out here at La Fonda during the day because it’s a central location where people can find me. We used to have meetings at the house, but Zahrias decided he didn’t want people showing up all the time for trivial things.”
Jordan assured Julia that she was sure the house she’d selected would be fine, although now, as she drove northwest out of the heart of town, she couldn’t help experiencing a few butterflies in her stomach. What if the place turned out to be not that great? She and Hasan were already here on sufferance, so the last thing she wanted to do was make any waves.
Hasan was looking around with interest, surveying the street they turned onto after she pulled off the highway. The lots here were large and far apart, the landscape studded with junipers and piñon pine. They kept going, the truck and trailer chugging their way up the hill as the road shifted from pavement to gravel.
Eventually, they came to a gated property with the correct address. The gate stood open, so there was no impediment to continuing on their route. Here the trees clustered more thickly, offering privacy. And there was the house, a low adobe-style structure. Sprawling.
No, huge. As Jordan scanned the property, she realized there were actually two houses — the main house, and then a separate guest house that she estimated was still twice the size of the modest one-story where she’d grown up. Another building…the stable, with a large corral beyond it. All walled in, which meant the goats would be safe from any marauding coyotes.
“I think,” Hasan murmured, “that this should be sufficient.”
“I think so, too,” Jordan replied. “But let’s get those poor goats out of this trailer, and then we can look around.”
She pulled up next to the stable and put the truck in park. Hasan got out immediately and went around back to open the trailer, using his own special form of djinn persuasion to get the goats moving through the gate that opened into the corral. Not that they needed much coaxing — they saw the dry grass that waited for them and practically tripped over each other to get out there and start eating.
“Well, that should keep them occupied for a while,” he said, coming over to her so he could take her hand. “Shall we go inside?”
“Yes, let’s,” she responded, and tried to quell the nervousness rising in her.
Hasan guided her across the open gravel area that separated the house from the stable. As they approached the front door, she could see the garage off to the left; they’d need to pull the truck in there once they got the trailer uncoupled and safely stowed in the stable.
But then she abruptly stopped worrying about the truck, or the garage, because they were going up the steps into a sort of enclosed front patio, with slate flagstones on the floor, and then up more stairs into the house itself.
“Holy shit,” Jordan murmured. “This is a house?”
“It would appear so,” Hasan said. “A very large house.”
She had a hard time taking in the scale of the place. Room flowed into room, and the ceilings were enormous, held up by pillars carved by master craftsmen in the shapes of twining leaves and flowers. Really, it looked more like a hotel, or a resort — not that she’d ever been anywhere as remotely fancy as this. Multiple fireplaces, including one in the master bedroom. Secret patios hung with wisteria, although of course the vines weren’t blooming at this time of year. A stream wandered its way through the grounds, lending the quiet whisper of the water to the sound of leaves rustling on aspen and oak. The presence of the stream reassured her. After having the sound of the San Juan River in the background all the time she was in Pagosa, and the Rio Chama at Hasan’s house, she would have missed that low murmur of running water. Now she knew she would always have it with her.
“They just…gave this place to us?” Jordan asked at last.
“Yes, because they had no use for it. As Zahrias said, the rest of them live much closer to town.”
Where there were also probably plenty of beautiful homes, although she had a hard time imagining that any of them could come close to this one.
Hasan appeared to be worried by her silence — which was really no more than awestruck wonder from staring at her new home — because he said, “Will you be all right, living far away from the others? I do not want you to feel like an exile simply because Qadim and I are feuding.”
“Oh, no,” Jordan said immediately. She went to Hasan and put her arms around his waist, felt a rush of warmth go through her as he held her close. “I would have been perfectly happy to stay with you in Chama, and that was much more isolated. And this thing with Qadim…I’m sure you’ll work it out eventually.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so.”
“You do?” He slipped one finger under her chin so she looked up at him. “Why are you so certain?”
She had to pause for a moment to analyze her thoughts. Yes, Qadim had sounded very angry — and had good cause to be, from what she’d been able to tell. “Because,” she said simply. “Because you hated humans, and yet here we are. People can change…even when they’ve been around for a few thousand years.”
For a long moment, Hasan didn’t reply, only gazed down into her face. Then he bent and kissed her, gently still, but with a long, lingering heat beneath that touch of mouth on mouth, one which told her he would take her to that magnificent bed in the very near future.
“Yes, my love,” he said. “People can change.”
The End
Awoken is the last full-length novel in the Djinn Wars series. A holiday novella will be available in early December 2017.
Look for the Djinn Wars spinoff series, Djinn Dominion, coming in spring 2018.
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Also by Christine Pope
THE WATCHERS TRILOGY
(Paranormal Romance)
Falling Dark
Dead of Night
Rising Dawn
THE WITCHES OF CLEOPATRA HILL
(Paranormal Romance)
Darkangel
Darknight
Darkmoon
Sympathetic Magic
Protector
Spellbound
A Cleopatra Hill Christmas
Impractical Magic
Strange Magic
The Arrangement
Defender
Bad Blood (August 2017)
Deep Magic (October 2017)
Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices.
THE DJINN WARS
(Paranormal Romance)
Chosen
Taken
Fallen
Broken
Forsaken
Forbidden
Awoken
The first three books of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special low price!
THE SEDONA FILES
(Paranormal Romance)
Bad Vibrations
Desert Hearts
Angel Fire
Star Crossed
Falling Angels
Enemy Mine
The first three books of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special low price!
TALES OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS
(Fantasy Romance)
All Fall Down
Dragon Rose
Binding Spell
Ashes of Roses
One Thousand Nights
Threads of Gold
The Wolf of Harrow Hall
Moon Dance
The Song of the Thrush (November 2017)
Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in
two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices.
THE GAIAN CONSORTIUM SERIES
(Science Fiction Romance)
Blood Will Tell
Breath of Life
The Gaia Gambit
The Mandala Maneuver
The Titan Trap
The Zhore Deception
Refugees (September 2017)
About the Author
Christine Pope has been writing stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Her work includes paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and science fiction/space opera romance. The Land of Enchantment cast its spell on her while she was researching her Djinn Wars series, and she now makes her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Christine Pope on the Web:
www.christinepope.com
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