Nine
Idris had known this day might come, and yet the shock of seeing his fellow elders standing there in the library was so great that for a moment, he hardly dared to breathe. Next to him, Amber stood unmoving, although he could immediately detect the tension in her slender form, a wariness that reminded him of a doe about to take flight the second something startled her.
And, judging by the faintest flicker of a frown that crossed Ibram’s face before he spoke, Idris guessed that the other djinn was not pleased to see the kind of company he had been keeping.
Despite that subtle warning, Idris said, his voice steady, “Well met, Ibram, and to you as well, Istar.”
She stepped forward to stand next to her partner, expression pleasant enough — which was often her way. Istar always had bee
