The gates behind the guards began to open.

"That is enough." Another djinn, who wore a sash of gold and red that marked him as a clan leader appeared. "These fairies mean us no harm." He approached Duncan and Reese. "I am Lorsan, the leader here. Did I hear you correctly? You are searching for a banshee?"

Duncan nodded, lowering his wand, but not yet putting it away. "She was lost here in the desert, her scream carrying her in a sandstorm, and we are trying to track her down."

"The desert is not a kind place to mostly humans," he said. "And a banshee is, well, mostly human."

"Which is why we are here."

"Hmm," he said as he circled the two of them. "One of your people came here just a few days ago, and I will only tell you what I told him."

"Who was here?" Duncan asked, shocked at the news. Why didn't anyone tell him this? It was his case, after all.

The djinn continued, "A rather portly fellow. O'Leary. He was searching for a banshee as well. I assume you seek the same one?"

Duncan stared. O'Leary hadn't said anything about going into the field himself, looking for Cara. Of course, unless he found her, why would he say anything?

Duncan glanced at Reese, hearing his thoughts.

"When was the last time O'Leary did any field work?"

Duncan had the same question.

"We do," Duncan said to the djinn.

"I still have not seen any banshee, and none of my djinn have reported finding one in the desert. If we come across any banshee, we will certainly contact the FID."

Duncan nodded. "Do you mind if we look around?"

The djinn smiled. "Yes. I do mind." His relaxed posture disappeared and with a shift of his shoulders, he no longer looked friendly.

Which only got Duncan's hackles up. "What are you hiding?" he asked as he stretched with his telepathy.

Unfortunately, Duncan got nothing more than vague sensations of feelings-no concrete thoughts. And the vague sense was more of irritation and general frustration. Nothing hinted to Lorsan actually trying to bury anything from them.

"I hide nothing. I do not like FID in my home without cause."

"We have cause. We are trying to find a banshee," Duncan said, clenching his fists.

Reese stepped forward. "If the girl's injured, we'd like to get her back to her people for medical attention. She was, shall we say, under duress when she released her scream."

"So I saw," the djinn said. "Or at least, I saw the sandstorm."

Duncan jerked. "What did you do with her?"

"I did nothing. Nor did I have any desire to. I had no knowledge the storm was created by a banshee until your companion mentioned it-she must be quite powerful to produce that kind of response. That sort of energy can be very sought after."

Duncan did not like where this was going. "And who would want that sort of energy?"

"There are many who value that kind of energy. Perhaps you should consult your rule book and see."

Duncan grabbed the djinn's shoulders. "Where is she? Where is Cara?"

Like dry sand, the djinn disappeared from his grip, only to reappear as if being poured into a mold, and returning to his normal golden state.

"I truly do not know where your banshee is. But if you touch me again, I promise you this. You will not walk out of this desert."

"Good thing we can fly," Reese said.

Lorsan snapped his fingers, and a pair of turquoise fairy wings appeared, hovering in the air.

"I always keep trophies, and I love fairy wings," Lorsan said.

Damning the warning, Duncan leaped forward and almost touched the djinn, but Reese held him back with a hand snaked around his wings.

Duncan pulled against his friend's hold as he yelled at the djinn, "Where's Cara? Where did you take her?"

"I promise you, I have not seen your banshee. Go home. She will return soon enough, I imagine." The djinn turned away from him and proceeded to head back through his gate. The djinn waved his hand, and Duncan and Reese were back in the Fairy Realm in a blink.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Saturday afternoon The beach ball bounced across the sand and landed at Duncan's feet.

He stared at the bright colored ball, but didn't move from his chair. Not even to kick it back to Ewan and Christy, who were in the middle of a game with several other fairies, most of whom was somehow related to either Ewan or Christy.

Duncan didn't care. He didn't want to be here.

Though whether it had more to do with him being dragged out of his self-imposed exile, or because where they'd met for this beach-barbecue was on Avalon, being here hurt. It wasn't that far from where Duncan and Cara used to hang out.

Where he read her palm all those years ago.

There'd been no sign of Cara for over two weeks. He'd confronted his boss, and O'Leary confirmed nothing, instead putting Duncan on suspension until he got his head back together. So instead all Duncan did was search.

And try not to get killed in the process. Djinn don't like nosy fairies.

He still hadn't gotten himself back together.

Why he'd come to this family barbecue, he didn't know. A part of him thought maybe he'd find a bit of joy in being around family but so far that hadn't worked out well.

He'd checked in with Cara's family when he arrived on Avalon, just to see if they'd heard anything. And they hadn't. Though Janelle professed that Cara had to be all right somewhere, because she still hadn't had any kind of cry manifest.

That was the only bright spot he could muster. Because otherwise, his nightmares showed Cara stuck in some djinn prison, and he couldn't get to her. He'd searched everywhere, looking into every settlement he could find.

Yet he found nothing. Not even a touch of Cara's mind. He'd dropped all his blocks while searching, hoping that something would come through-that he'd find her.

He hadn't shut up the barriers, just in case. Not that it worked.

Even here, his own family's thoughts were barraging him, but he didn't have the strength or the effort within him to block any of them out.

Besides, they only echoed his own sadness.

"Look at him, so depressed..."

"Why did he come?"

"Sad, really..."

He got up from the chair, kicked the beach ball back toward everyone, and started to walk away.

"Duncan, wait," he heard his sister-in-law call.

"No," he said. He was going home. Back to his tomb in the Fairy Realm. At least there he could do something productive, and see if he could find Cara-some stone he hadn't looked under.

A flash of blue and Christy materialized in front of him. "No, I'm not letting you go. You've been unreachable for the last two weeks. I understand why, but I can't let you continue to be like this. You have to snap out of it."

"You don't understand."

"Then explain it to me."

He glared at her, then pointed behind him, in the general direction where Ewan was. "You have him for the rest of your life. I had her for a moment. And I'll never have her again. She's gone."

"You don't know that. She could be...be...shopping, for all you know."

"For two weeks, she's shopping? Really, Christy? That's the best you got?" She didn't get it. She probably never would. She was in love and happy.

Something Duncan didn't think he'd ever feel again.

"You said yourself: if she was dead or going to die, her sister would have released a cry, right? And her sister hasn't. So she must be okay, wherever she is."

"It means she's alive and not near death. Not that she's safe." His thoughts darted back to the morose side. "I've been through that desert a thousand times. Searched every cave, every dune, every magically protected spot I could find." He jerked his shirt up, revealing half a dozen deep lacerations on his chest. "I've got more on my back."

"Oh my stars, Duncan! What happened?" Christy covered her mouth, her eyes wide with worry.

"Not all djinn like fairies," he said, which was true enough. He'd fought several different kinds as he searched for Cara. Including the palis djinn, where rumor had it, one of them had spoken of sucking the energy out of a human who pulsed with it. The vampire-like djinn did not take kindly to Duncan snooping around and they were incredibly nasty fighters.

"Duncan, you have to stop this," Christy whispered. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"I won't stop. I have to find her. I can't live like this, not knowing..."

"Find who?" came a female voice.

Duncan spun around.

Cara.

Walking toward him and smiling. Her dark hair fluttered around her face, her bright eyes sparkled, and her lips were red, like she'd just eaten a bushel of strawberries. Her cheeks had a warm, sun-kissed glow, as did the rest of her, revealed by the thin maxi dress she wore.

"Cara," he whispered, unable to move. Was this real? Was she really standing there?

Christy spun around. "Oh, that's Cara," she said, sighing. "She's beautiful..."

He shook his head. "Is this...is she..." He couldn't move as Cara came toward him; she looked so perfect, he wondered if he hallucinated.

"Is this real... Are you there?"

"Yes. I'm right here, Duncan," she answered him.

"I can't..." He took a step toward her, though more from Christy shoving him forward than anything.

A huge tsunami of emotion flooded him-all the anger, frustration, hurt, fear, worry, pain, and half-dozen others he couldn't articulate. All of it brewing and spewing out of him when he spoke. "Son of a Krakon, where in the Stars have you been?" Duncan demanded, his hands on his hips.

Cara's eyebrows went up, and her whole body pulled back, like he'd yelled.

Well, he probably had.

"What kind of a greeting is that?" Cara demanded.

"You've been gone for two weeks. No clue, no answer, and you just show up here, like everything's fine? Have you even seen your parents?"

"Of course I have! How else would I know you were here, Duncan?" She put her hands on her hips, mimicking his pose.

"So you just showed up, thinking you can walk over here, like nothing happened?"

"I would have thought you wanted to see me!" Cara squared her shoulders, like she was about to walk away. "But I suppose this greeting answers all my questions."

Christy stepped between them, grabbing both their arms, preventing Duncan from walking away-or Cara for that matter. "Wait. Stop it, before this becomes something it doesn't need to be." She glanced at Cara. "Listen, Cara, is it? Duncan's been frantically looking for you for weeks, not to mention worried sick. Where have you been?"

"Seeing the world!" Cara snapped.

"Oh that's just lovely, you're out gallivanting all over the world, and I'm here, scared to death you're in some djinn prison, fighting with every djinn I can find, until I can barely walk, and you're just off, being a tourist?" Fury pulsed through his veins. So happy to see her, he wanted to hug her, but he also wanted to know why hadn't he heard anything.

How could she just disappear like that?

Didn't she care about him?

"How dare you! You didn't even look for me! You left me for dead! I was on my own, and I had to figure out what to do by myself!"

"I searched everywhere, Cara!"

"Not very damn hard!" She stepped closer, but Christy remained in between them, stopping her from getting in his face. "A djinn took pity on me and saved me. It's not like he hid me or anything! I asked every chance I could if anyone had come. And you never did!"