Forsaken: The World of Nightwalkers by Jacquelyn Frank

from him. She kept her eyes turned down as she walked and brushed a hand in a caress over her right ear. It was a habit, he realized. She was tucking back a strand of hair, even though there wasn’t a single one that had escaped the severity of her twist. She probably wore her hair down under normal circumstances.
    They all descended on Ram and Docia’s suite of rooms. Leo was happy to see Kamen follow them, rather than staying behind with an incapacitated Jackson. Leo was certainly not convinced this wasn’t exactly the kind of opportunity the Templar might be waiting for, if his defection were nothing but a ruse.
    Leo gently shifted his hold of the Angel’s arm to the midpoint of her biceps, and held her back from entering the rooms along with everyone else.
    “Can I ask a favor?” he said when she looked at him inquisitively.
    “You may ask anything you like. However, it does not follow that you will be answered.”
    Point taken.
    “When you look at Kamen’s…uh…light thing…what words do you see?”
    She lifted a curious brow. “Why would you wish to know that?”
    “Just…just answer the question,” he said, trying to keep his irritability to a minimum, seeing as how he was asking her for help.
    “Turmoil. Hatred. Loathing.” She raised her brow farther. “Do you wish to know more? Or does it matter what is the brightest versus what is worn down?”
    “I think you told me all I needed to know,” Leo said through tight teeth.
    “I do not think that is correct.”
    He frowned, trying hard not to let knee-jerk anger cloud his judgment. “Why is that?”
    “Because all of those words are turned inward.”
    He blinked. “Okay, I give up. What does that mean?”
    “Self. Self-loathing. Self-hatred. Turmoil and guilt…all pointed into him. He is not the demon you are looking for.” She leaned in a little closer. “Your demon is also turned inward.”
    Then she pulled away and moved into the next room.

CHAPTER THREE

    “Here it is!” Docia cried in triumph after having gone through every single drawer, throwing things helter-skelter over both shoulders until she came up with a long, purple scarf, shimmering with intricate silver embroidery.
    “Excellent,” Faith said, reaching to take the accessory into her hands, her fingertips feeling the silk and the weight of the silver in the thread.
    “This is a nik.” Faith knew this because she could feel the power within it and it surprised the hell out of her. “Djynn rarely give away their niknaks.” Catching Leo’s puzzled expression, she explained, “Djynn do not have power for themselves, per se. They have the ability to use the power they can derive from various niks—which hold magical properties. The moment a Djynn touches a nik, it becomes theirs and the power within it is now theirs to use.”
    “So you mean…they have to hold a nik to use its power?” Leo asked.
    “No, no matter what, from the moment they’ve touched a nik, the magic is theirs, and only theirs, to draw from at any given moment whether in contact with it or not. Until another Djynn comes along and touches the nik, which transfers ownership of the nik, in effect stealing it out from under the Djynn that owned it. Djynn have great hoards of niks they hide all over the world.” Faith ran the scarf through her hands. “This is an incredibly powerful nik. I’m quite amazed,” she said to Docia. “You must have made quite an impression on her in order for her to entrust you with the care of such a powerful nik.”
    “Well, I…really?” Docia was flabbergasted. “I-I didn’t even know it was a nik!”
    “Well, that would have defeated the purpose of hiding it in a safe place. If you knew what it was, it would have made you too aware of it and might have caused you to give away its location to a rival Djynn by accident. If it were an ordinary scarf in your estimation, you wouldn’t have done anything to draw attention to it. And besides, this house is probably