You will not break this pact, Bahiim. The words slithered into Kiram's mind, making him shudder.
Rafie caught Kiram's arm and pulled him back beside him.
"He's a friend, Yassi." Javier's voice sounded faint as if he were miles from Kiram. "He wants to help us."
All the Bahiim want is to keep their secrets. He will break our pact and strip you of my protection.
Alizadeh laid his left hand on the medallion in Javier's hands.
NO! Yassin shrieked.
White light exploded from Javier and gushed over Alizadeh. Flames burst up over Alizadeh's prayer clothes and a scorching wind tore through his leather cloak. At his feet the spring grass blackened.
Instinctively, Kiram started forward to Alizadeh's aid but Rafie held him in a tight grip and whispered, "He knows what he's doing, Kiram."
Alizadeh uttered a low guttural word and drove his right hand into Yassin's translucent body. He closed his hand into a fist and the fire of the white hell suddenly died.
Javier swayed on his feet but caught himself. He seemed dazed, his eyes only half open. In front of him, Yassin stared at Alizadeh like a fearful child. He clamped his flickering hands around Alizadeh's forearm, clearly trying to wrench himself free but could not.
"I am Alizadeh Lif-Moussu, little ghost, and I will not harm you or your ward." Alizadeh tone was gentle but he didn't pull his hand back from where it seemed to grip Yassin's heart. "Tell me how you came to be Javier Tornesal's guardian."
Yassin shuddered in Alizadeh's grip.
I bound myself to Calixto and to his bloodline. Between his blood and my spirit we opened the shajdi- We became the white hell that drives back the Mirogoth invaders.
Yassin gave Alizadeh a defiant glare.
"So you were," Alizadeh agreed with that same indulgent smile that Kiram had often seen him offer to impudent youths. "But that was long ago. Calixto Tornesal has been dead nearly a hundred, years. The Mirogoth tribes are allies to the Cadeleonian kings. What are you doing now, Yassin Lif-Harun?"
Uncertainty crept into Yassin's expression. His entire body faded a little, allowing Kiram to clearly see the branches of oak behind him.
I keep the pact.
Yassin regained a little solidity with this affirmation, though Kiram could still see straight through his legs.
I remain between life and death holding the shajdi open. I wait.
"You wait?" Alizadeh asked.
Kiram thought he saw longing in the ghost's wavering features.
I wait for Calixto.
"To join him?" Alizadeh asked.
Yassin nodded.
"But you can't," Alizadeh said softly. "You trapped yourself between death and rebirth when you opened the shajdi. You can't find Calixto now, can you?"
Yassin shook his head and then glared at Alizadeh as if he were to blame.
If the Bahiim had done their duty, if they had defended the kingdom against the Mirogoth devils, then Calixto and I could have lived.-we could have been together.
The anguish in Yassin's words made Kiram shudder.
"History is full of wrongs and regrets." Alizadeh considered the ghost. "Will you let me set this one right?"
You wish to break the pact.
Alizadeh shrugged. "Calixto's descendant needs to possess the shajdi fully if he is to destroy a curse. While you stand between him and that, he and his family suffer."
I protect him.
"Too well," Alizadeh chided the ghost.
You want to steal the shajdi for yourself!
At this Alizadeh gave the kind of a hard, cruel laugh that Kiram had never heard from him before.
"If that was my wish," Alizadeh leaned close to the ghost, and his voice grew chilling, "then I would have already ripped the shajdi from the boy's flesh and devoured his heart. I was a master of the Black Fire before I became a Bahiim, little ghost. I have fed on the souls of guardians far stronger than you."
Alizadeh flexed his fingers inside the ghost's chest and a shudder passed through Yassin's faint body. To Kiram's horror, Javier gasped and choked as well. Then Alizadeh opened his hand, allowing Javier to draw in a steady breath.
"It is not my intention to steal from your ward." Alizadeh's voice went soft again. "I am offering to teach him what you cannot. To do so you must allow him to stand in the fire of the shajdi unprotected should he choose to. Will you do that for him?"
Yassin gazed at Javier. His expression seemed to radiate tender concern.
If he takes the shajdi, then there will be no need for me.
"You could join Calixto then," Alizadeh said. "I would see to it that you were freed."
Yassin smiled and he looked almost luminous. I will allow you to teach him, if that is what he wants.
"If it is what he wants," Alizadeh agreed.
Alizadeh lifted his hand from the medallion and whispered a word. The medallion slapped back against Javier's chest and the ghost vanished. Javier jerked slightly, stumbling to the side. Alizadeh reached out but Javier managed to find his balance. He drew in a deep breath and looked around as if he'd just awoken and wasn't sure of where he stood.
"I feel like I was dreaming just now," Javier said. "Did you see him, Kiram?"
"I saw him." As Kiram started to rise, Rafie at last loosened his grip. Only as Rafie released his arm did Kiram realize how tightly Rafie had held him. His bicep felt bruised.
As he drew near Kiram saw the sweat beading Alizadeh's brow and the exhaustion in his face. He leaned heavily on his cane.
"I wish you weren't such a show off." Rafie slipped up to Alizadeh's side and wrapped a supporting arm around his back. He helped Alizadeh down into his low seat at the base of the old oak.
"Are you all right?" Javier crouched down beside him.
"Of course." Alizadeh gave both Javier and Kiram a bright smile. "I just like to have Rafie fuss over me, you know."
"No doubt you'll love the tonic I'm going to make you drink," Rafie replied.
Alizadeh made a sour face. "Can't it wait? I think Javier and I still have a few things to discuss."
"You have the two hours it will take me to pick the duera flowers and brew your draught." Rafie ran his hand across Alizadeh's brow, brushing gold ringlets of his damp hair back from his face. "After that you must rest."
Alizadeh caught Rafie's hand and kissed his palm. Kiram found the exchange relieving after so much strangeness but Javier flushed deep red and then averted his gaze to the grass.
Kiram wondered how a small gesture could fluster Javier when a ghost springing up from his body hardly gave him a moment's pause. But then hells, lost souls and black curses had always been part of Javier's life. The existence of a ghostly guardian was probably far less startling than two men displaying the gentle affection of lovers.
As he took his seat beside Alizadeh, Kiram attempted to put his own shock at the sight of the ghost into perspective. Perhaps the ghost of an ancient genius, trapped in a medallion and charged with the guardianship of the Tornesal bloodline, was no more shocking than two men kissing on the open street. Maybe it would seem normal if he were a Bahiim and had spent years apparently fighting curses and hunting shapechangers and eating people's hearts.
Alizadeh had really said that, hadn't he?
There was nothing forbidding or cruel in Alizadeh's countenance now as he smiled tiredly at Javier. Still Kiram felt unnerved by the new perception that there were dangerous, adult aspects of Alizadeh-and doubtless Rafie- he knew nothing about.
Chapter Twelve
Alizadeh said, "I've extracted a promise from your ghost to allow you to take on the full force of the shajdi."