“Excuse me,” she said, her hands nervously twisting together.

Grey looked at her. He had been sitting perched on the arm of the couch and had just risen to his feet. But when she addressed him he sat back down again, relaxing as he gave her a small smile of encouragement.

“You would like to learn something?”

“No. I mean yes! I mean”—she sighed in frustration with herself—“Kamen told me there are different castes of Djynn. From weak to most powerful. I was wondering … what class am I? No one seems to be able to tell me.”

“That is because it is hard to tell,” Grey said. “Being a half-breed it is not easy to define what you are. But I have my suspicions.”

“What are they?” she asked eagerly.

“Are you certain you wish to know? You may not like what you hear.”

Kat swallowed noisily at that. That definitely did not sound good at all. She shored up her courage. “Yes,” she said.

“What has Kamen told you about the castes?”

“Marids and Afreets are the most powerful. Janns are the weakest. Sheytans … well, I got the feeling they are very spooky. To be avoided.”

“Sheytans are definitely ‘spooky,’ ” he said with a small light of amusement in his eyes. But then that light faded. “Sheytans deal in the darkest of magics. Death magics. Curses. Power-stripping. They have magic that rains fire down on those who anger or offend them. They draw power from the darkest of niks. Cursed objects, violent things. Weaponry. Objects like those you are wearing right now.”

Kat reached out to fiddle with her necklace nervously. “This is cursed. Y-you’re saying I-I’m a Sheytan?”

“My guess is you were sired by a Sheytan and that you have Sheytan abilities. How far you can take it remains to be seen. But you dealt a tremendous deathblow to Panahasi without even trying to, and that should tell you something.”

“Does that mean I can accidentally blow someone else up? I’ve been afraid to practice because I don’t want to—”

“You were threatened by him,” Grey reminded her. “You dealt out what was due. I doubt you can deal death to someone who does not deserve it. There are rules to Djynn magic.”

“You mean … it was self-defense. So it was justified.”

“Exactly. If you’ve been giving yourself a hard time about that, you shouldn’t.”

“I’m not,” she assured him. “I was a little shell-shocked at first, but I know I had no choice. I would never have gotten out of there alive if I hadn’t fought. I’m okay with what happened.”

“Good! So let’s teach you a key skill, shall we?” At her eager nod he said, “Djynns turn to smoke at the touch of the sun to protect themselves from the burning and blistering you suffer. If you turn to smoke it will not hurt you. The only trouble is that you will also lose cohesion the longer you remain in smoke form, so you need to find a protected place as soon as possible once you turn.”

“I want to learn that very much. Can you give me a minute?” she asked, holding out a staying hand.

“Of course. I need to speak to SingSing before she flits away again. She is quite … mercurial, at best. Shall we meet here again in ten minutes?”

“Okay,” she said with a nod.

Once Grey left, Kat turned to Ahnvil, who had stood silently behind her the entire time. She realized just how important it was that he had not interfered. It must have taken a great deal for him to control his impulse to protect her from everything. “Are you okay with this?” she asked him.

“I already told you. I have no right tae stop you from learning about who you are,” he said, moving up to her and cradling the side of her face in one of his large hands.

“That isn’t what I asked you,” she said, covering the back of the hand that touched her face with one of her own. “Are you okay with this? With me. With me possibly being … a Sheytan. A death-dealing Djynn.” She shuddered. “I mean, I would understand because frankly I’m not entirely sure I am okay with it myself. But I know how you feel about magics … and I don’t want …”

“ ’Tis no’ magic I detest,” he said softly. “And even if it were I would no’ detest it coming from you. ’Tis one magic user in particular that rubs me wrong.”

“Kamen.”

“Aye. Kamen. But, as I said, I doona look on him wi’ as much hatred as I once did. No’ since his actions allowed you tae come back safe tae me. I will never like him. I will no’ ever trust him. But … well, I’ve said my bit on it. And truth be told … if it were no’ for magic … I wouldna ever have met you. I would have long ago been dead and dust. That alone made it worthwhile tae be forged.”

“Oh,” she said, her eyes dropping down as she flushed with pleasure. “I didn’t think of that.”

“I’ve thought of nothing else,” he said softly, his knuckles caressing her gently over the rise of her cheek. “No’ since I got you back from Panahasi. I—” He broke off and then seemed surprised to hear what his own mouth was saying. “Anyway, ’tis time you learned how to turn to smoke and protect yourself.”

He turned her by her shoulders, making her face toward where Grey had disappeared to.

“But—”

She turned back, but he was already on his way out of the room.

Well, hell.

What did he mean he’d thought of nothing else? Surely not … not the way he made it sound. He made it sound as though he had been severely emotionally affected by what had happened. But in order for that to be true he had to have felt strongly for her in the first place. And sure, they had grown very close this past week. They had certainly been engaging in the most physical relationship she’d ever had. He had a way of making a girl think she was the be all and end all of his universe, but … that had all been perception. Hadn’t it?

No. This was dangerous. He had never said anything about having an actual relationship with her. Outside of the sexual? No. She was just reading too much into it.

Well, what was she supposed to think, she thought petulantly, when he kept saying things like that? If she was reading too far into things he only had himself to blame. It wasn’t her fault and he shouldn’t keep doing things or saying things like that when he really didn’t mean them to mean what they might have meant from any other man on the planet.