Broken Skies (Dragon's Gift: The Storm Book 4)

by Veronica Douglas

  I’d been meaning to give it to Neve. Since I’d stolen the efreet’s magic and could planes-walk, I found that I could read it—though I hadn’t tried to use it for travel yet.

  A dark thought suddenly tugged at me. What the Atlas didn’t have was a map of Matthias’s Realm of Chaos? If Neve had been transported there…

  I kept my worries to myself.

  Lily eagerly opened the Atlas and flipped the large pages over. “They’re blank.”

  “You have to be a planes-walker to see them. Currently, you’re looking at Muqaddasī’s notes on the Realm of Fire.”

  Lily pursed her lips. “Hmm. This might do.

  She tossed her crystal ball onto her green couch with a surprising lack of concern. She positioned the book where the ball had been, leaving it open to the Realm of Fire.

  She took our hands. “We try again.”

  I closed my eyes and focused on Neve, not just the woman I’d first met, but the djinn. Vibrating with power, tattoos glowing with white light. That’s who she was now.

  Neve’s signature swirled in my mind. The heady scent of a lemon orchard and jasmine hedges. I could almost hear the echoing cry of sea birds. The feel of the wind eddied around me, and I tasted a rainstorm on the way. Her signature was like vertigo, like falling a thousand miles into the sky. By now, I knew it better than I knew my own.

  Lily gasped and yanked her hand away. My eyes shot open. She flipped the page over and jabbed her finger down. “She’s here. Where is it?”

  I leaned over, and a lump formed in my throat.

  “The Realm of Earth.” I met Rhiannon’s eyes. “Her contrary plane. Neve won’t be able to planes-walk out, and her magic will be weak.”

  Rhiannon’s pupils dilated. “What do we do?”

  I clenched my fist. “We get her the fuck out of there, as fast as possible.”

  6

  Neve

  I felt like a lightning rod as unimaginable power surged through my body.

  The ether ejected me into darkness, and gravel and flecks of rock cut into my palms and knees. Disoriented I tried to stand, but a wave of exhaustion churned through me, and I flopped over onto my ass.

  Sucking in a sharp breath, I tasted dust, and my lungs rasped, burning as if they were closing in on themselves. Panic shot through my veins as my lungs tightened. There wasn’t enough air.

  I called on my magic but felt almost nothing. Fighting against hypoxia, I pulled a small breeze around me, so slight it barely stirred my hair, but it was enough. My lungs filled, and my breathing steadied.

  Holy shit. What have I gotten myself into?

  Damian had wished that I could speak to my parents, and now I was in some kind of cave. Were my parents here, too? I’d seen them in the ether and reached out to them before I was sucked in.

  “Hello?” I whispered.

  “Who’s there?” A sharp male voice hissed back.

  My heart stopped. I wasn’t alone.

  I tried to speak, but my chest seized up, and it came out as a croak. This was all too much to hope for.

  “I thought I heard someone,” the voice muttered.

  “I did, too,” a woman whispered.

  Did I recognize that voice? My heart thundered, and I pulled my magic around me tightly, trying to calm my breathing.

  Was it them? I had to know.

  “My name is Nevaeh. I don’t know where I am, and I’m not sure how I got here. I’m looking for my parents, Alain and Tinaya. Can you help me?”

  Someone gasped, and a sob formed in my throat.

  “Nevaeh?” the woman said.

  “Quiet. It’s a trap,” the man said. “They’re tormenting us again. Don’t respond.”

  My body shook with emotion. “Mom? Dad? It’s me,” I choked out.

  I heard nothing but the slightest sound of repressed breathing. They didn’t believe me.

  My muscles ached, so I rolled over and crawled forward. My eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the darkness, and my head collided with solid metal. A bite of pain shot across my scalp.

  “Where am I?” I reached out and gripped a cold metal bar. A row of them. “I’m in some kind of cell. Are you prisoners? Do you have any light?”

  Someone sucked in their breath. There was no response, though I could almost feel their words hanging in the air. They were afraid. I had to get them talking.

  “I swear this isn’t a trick. I’m a half-djinn with natural red hair and pale blue eyes. I planes-walked for the first time fifteen years ago and lost my parents. I grew up in an orphanage in Magic Side, Chicago. I remember my father reading to me, and my mother playing a guitar, or lute, or something like it.”

  The woman sobbed. “Nevaeh? Is it really you?”

  “It can’t be,” the man whispered. “He must be playing with our minds. No one can get in or out of this place.”

  I bit my lip as tears ran down my cheeks. After all this time, they were so close. “Yes, it’s me! I made a wish so I could speak to you, and it brought me here.”

  My father gasped and held his breath for a long pause. “Then… you are a true djinn?”

  I pushed my magic toward them, creating a soft breeze in the darkness. For some reason, it was all I was capable of at the moment. “A very tired djinn by the feel of it.”

  “Fates, that’s her signature, Alain. I would know that scent of jasmine anywhere. But there’s so much more than I remember.”

  I reached through the bars into the darkness, toward the voices, wild desperation creeping into my mind. I had to hug them. “I’m here to help, but I can’t sense your signatures. Are you in separate cells? Is there light?”

  “We’re wearing magicuffs. The guards put out the lights for the night,” my mother said.

  Across the darkness, iron clanged softly as someone pushed against the bars. A fingertip brushed against mine. Hard, calloused. My father? Fifteen years had passed since I’d last held his hand. A sob erupted from my throat at the fleeting touch. “I wish I could see you.”

  I can help with that. Is it safe?

  Spark. I must have pulled him with me when I made the wish. Joy flooded my veins. He was always there.

  It was wise he hadn’t revealed himself yet, but we could probably risk it.

  “I can make light. Will it draw the guards?” I asked my parents.

  “No…” My father’s voice was hesitant, clearly uncertain. “We should be safe with dim light. They’ve left us for the night, and there aren’t many others in these cells right now.”

  Spark appeared, glowing dimly, and taking the form of a little dragon.

  For one second, I saw the faces of my parents. Then, their joy dissolved into looks of absolute terror as pandemonium broke out in their cell.

  “It’s him, it’s a trick! The Illumined One!” My father gasped and shoved my mother against the wall at the back of the cell, putting his body between us.

  My mother started sobbing. “Why do you torment us? What else do we have to lose?”

  Horror quaked through me as the fantasy I’d imagined since I was twelve devolved into a nightmare. My parents cowered in fear across from me as I shoved my hands through the bars. “It’s me. Your daughter! I swear I’m really here. There’s nothing to be afraid of!”

  My father pointed to Spark. “That dragon, it’s a monster!”

  “What? This is Spark, my familiar. He’s a fire sprite, not a dragon. Spark, turn into anything else!”

  The dragon poofed into a tiny floating candle, and my parents froze, too terrified to move.

  This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. I pushed myself against the bars, overwhelmed by my pounding heartbeat. “Spark has watched over me since my first planes-walk. What are you afraid of?”

  “The Illumined One. The lord of this place,” my mother whispered.

  “A massive, glowing crystal dragon. He’s our master, and his manifestations haunt these halls,” my father added, not moving an inch.

  “Where are we?” I as
ked.

  “The Realm of Earth.”

  Well, shit.

  The Realm of Earth was my opposite plane. According to my friend Amira, my magic would work like crap here, and I wouldn’t be able to planes-walk away. Gods, I hoped I could at least fly.

  “That explains why I feel like utter crap.” I stopped struggling against the bars and slowly inhaled a rasping breath of air, stale, dank, and filled with dust. The walls vibrated with a sickly energy that weighed down on me, and my arms felt like lead. Yup, the Realm of Earth definitely hated me.

  I was trapped. We were trapped.

  I examined the hard and frightened features of my parents in the dim light. They were far older than I remembered them. Gray hair, weathered skin, and many scars.

  My heart ached. “How long have you two been here?”

  My parents exchanged looks before my mother spoke. “When you planes-walked away, we looked for you everywhere. After months of searching the realms, we ended up here. We knew that the Illumined One took prisoners to work in his mines and thought you might have been captured. Instead, his agents took us prisoner in the merchant’s town. Has it really been a decade and half since you left?”

  My gods. I’d done this to them. Forced them into servitude in this dark hellhole while I’d gone about my life. I was the worst daughter ever.

  Tears burned my eyes, and I nodded. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay honey. It hasn’t been all that bad. While we’ve been trapped here a long time, we’ve only been in this cell for a couple of days. The important thing is you’re alive and we’re together,” my mom said, reaching toward me.

  I flinched. “I’m gonna get us out of here. I promise.”

  “How?” my father asked, sorrow in his voice.

  “Spark, can you cut through the bars?”

  Hmm, he said. Might be hard, but we can cut through the locks. Summon your blade.

  I summoned my khanjar, and my parents flinched. Clearly, their stay here had not been kind. I’d make that crystal dragon pay for what he’d done, but first we had to get out of these cells.

  Spark disappeared, and his flames poured through my tattoos and into my blade. While the Realm of Earth was draining my magic, I could feel the full strength of his power in my veins, and relief flooded through me. Spark’s fire magic mixed with Damian’s magic in the dagger, and their familiar signatures surged around me.

  This might be our ticket out.

  The blade’s glow changed from dull orange to white hot. I reached through the bars and wedged the blade into the U-shaped shackle of the padlock. My wrists ached as I twisted the blade.

  The iron sparked and sent up a noxious plume of smoke as the knife’s magic began to slowly cut through the shackle. Then, with a metallic pop, the padlock broke free and clattered to the ground.

  I lifted the latch, and the cell door creaked as I pushed my way into the hallway. I crossed to my parent’s cell, and they grabbed me through the bars, pulling me close. My mother kissed my hands. “It’s really you.”

  My chest ached, and I couldn’t see through the water in my eyes. I pushed my face against the bars, grabbing at my father’s shoulder with my free hand. I clung to them as if I could make up for fifteen years apart.

  I never wanted to let go, but I had to get us out of this cursed place. Steeling myself, I wiped my eyes. “How much time until the guards check in?”

  My mom glanced down the dark hall. “Probably a few hours, but we don’t really know since we haven’t been in here long. We tried to escape, and they put us in here.”

  My heartache erupted into rage, like oil catching fire. I rammed my white hot khanjar into the lock on their cell door and snapped it with a furious twist.

  Dismissing the blade, I wrenched the door open, and my parents stumbled out into my arms.

  My rage vanished instantly as I hugged them, not daring to let go. I’d ached for this moment for fifteen years, and it was finally here. I’d finally gotten my deepest wish. If the guards showed up, I’d kill them. If the Illumined One himself came down, I’d shatter him into dust. This moment was mine, and I wouldn’t let fear or demons, or anything take it from me.

  7

  Neve

  After the tears ran out and our arms were too sore to hold each other any longer, my parents brought me up to speed on what we were up against.

  It was pretty damn dire.

  If I had to pick one thing worse than being trapped in the Realm of Earth, it would be being trapped in a labyrinth in the Realm of Earth—and that, of course, was where we were.

  Did the fates have some special maze-vendetta against me?

  We were trapped deep in the mines of the Illumined One, a vast complex of tunnels inhabited by his workers and minions.

  As if that wasn’t enough, the only way out was through the crystal dragon’s lair. Apparently, he was the size of a jumbo jet and entirely evil.

  I turned to my parents. “I’d rather be covered in fire ants than have to find our way out through this maze. Can one of you try wishing us out of here?”

  My father furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure that’s how it works. I’m not a full djinn like you, but I remember some of the family lore. You made a wish to get here, and if you only recently transitioned, then it will take time to recover that power. Days, weeks—I don’t know. I’m not sure it would work anyway since we’re in the Realm of Earth.”

  My heart sank. My father, born a half-djinn like me, had some idea of how our ancestral powers worked. He’d never become a true genie, so I hoped he was wrong on the wishes front.

  “Let’s try anyway. Mom, wish us back to the Hall of Inquiry in Magic Side.”

  She squeezed my hand and spoke in a commanding voice, “I wish that you would transport all three of us safely back to the Hall of Inquiry in Magic Side, Chicago.”

  Nothing, not even a fizzle of power.

  I had them try again, but it was pointless. My genie powers had gone to Majorca on vacation, and fates only knew when they would return.

  “Spark, can you planes-walk out and warn Damian what’s happened?”

  Sorry, not possible. This place is shielded from teleportation and planes-walking. Your wish broke the rules, but I cannot leave on my own, he said.

  Damn it.

  “Who’s Damian?” my mother asked.

  Uh-oh.

  I brushed it off. “A powerful friend. He may be able to help, but it doesn’t matter, because it looks like we’re on our own.”

  My parents nodded. Both looked determined, as if it would be as simple as walking out. As if they believed in me.

  Guilt clawed at my heart, and I scrunched my fingers into my hair in exasperation. “This is all my fault. I screwed up the wish. I should have just pulled you to me… I meant to, but I just couldn’t control my magic.”

  My father pressed his palm to my shoulder. A once familiar sensation, long forgotten. “The way I understand it, powers like yours take decades to learn, longer to master. If you can do what you’ve done after only a few days, then you’re far ahead of the curve. I have no doubt that you can get us out of here, wish or no wish.”

  The blood drained from my face. There was no worse pressure than having the people you love believe in you when they shouldn’t.

  My mother rubbed my hand. “We’ll get out together.”

  I fought down the fear, worry, and anger that bubbled up. “Okay, let’s go.”

  My mother jingled the magicuffs around her wrists. “Any chance you—or your little friend—know how to get these off? I haven’t tossed a spell in decades, and I’m so eager I can practically taste my own magic.”

  When I was a child, I’d assumed that my mother was a half-djinn like my dad and me. I was wrong. It explained where I got my knack for spells.

  I’ll help if I can be a dragon again, Spark said.

  I glared at Spark who was still in the little bobbing candle. “That’s not charitable.”

  Why shoul
d I hide who I am?

  I scratched the back of my head, somewhat embarrassed. “Do you mind if Spark becomes a dragon again?”

  My mom shrugged, which Spark took as an okay, morphing back into his dragon form. My parents jumped back and watched him with palpable unease, but they dealt with it.

  “How do we do this?” I asked the sprite. “Last time we had Damian’s magic and a big hammer. And it hurt a lot.”

  We’d also had Damian’s healing magic. I glanced nervously at my haggard parents, not sure how much abuse they could take.

  “We can handle a little pain,” my mother said, without missing a beat. “You’ve no idea what we’ve been through in here. Personally, I would scrub myself with a rabid porcupine if I could cast a spell again.”

  My father pushed down a smile, but his eyes twinkled.

  Spark hovered in front of us. Let’s try cutting through the cuffs, like we did the locks.

  I summoned my khanjar and pulled Spark’s magic into me. His power made me feel normal again in the absence of my own magic.

  My father wanted to go first, just in case there were major burns, but my mother muscled him out of the way. “Not a chance, Alain. I’m not spending one more minute in these than I have to.”

  She braced her cuff again the bars of the cage, and I cut through the hinge with my super-heated khanjar, using it like an arc welder. Magic and metal sparked as I used my weight to push through the cuff. My mother gritted her teeth in pain as the metal heated up, and I had to stop partway to cool it off with my feeble wind magic. My father held her and shut his eyes.

  Finally, the cuff snapped and fell away. My mother shook her hand, letting out the pain at last. “Whoa, Nelly, that smarts. But it’s good to be free. Now the other.”

  I glanced at the red blisters on her wrist, and guilt dug into my stomach.

  My mom followed my gaze and smiled. “That’s going to leave a beautiful scar. I’ve got so many, but I think that will be my favorite.”

  She was relentlessly cheerful, like Rhiannon, but that didn’t make the task any better.