“Yes, we do,” I responded. “We need your help fighting that demon I told you about before.”
“You weren’t successful?”
I shook my head. “No, and we wouldn’t have been—we didn’t have enough information about him.”
“What have you learned about him in the meantime?”
Abel and I took turns explaining everything we had on Lord Kenan. Hamza was a quiet and thoughtful listener, only asking for clarification here and there.
When we finished, he said, “I’m not entirely sure I’m willing to fight this battle for you, Miss Ashton. I apologize, and I know I swore fealty to you . . . but I just got my family back, and I’m unwilling to part from them, especially if it means I might never see them again.”
I slumped in my seat and stared out the window at the dry, way-too-hot-for-me city. “Abel was worried you’d say that.”
“I’ll discuss it with my wife and confidants, of course, but I’m afraid you may have wasted your time traveling so far.”
38
I shook my head. “It’s not a waste. I have other business here.” Jack had finally gotten a hold of me when we’d landed in Turkey and confirmed what I’d told Abel. He needed my help convincing the other ifrits to fight Lord Kenan.
Hamza met my gaze in the rearview mirror. “Oh? With whom, if I might ask?”
“No one you know.”
“Aretes?”
“No. They’re not anyone you would have ever encountered before.”
He fell silent, and I saw his thoughtful gaze landing on me more than once. I cursed myself for coming all this way just to have him turn us down. Or worse, to have piqued his curiosity so he’d do something stupid. Like try to sell me off again.
The rest of the drive was made in quiet, with me snoozing in the backseat of Hamza’s Humvee. I didn’t get a lot of rest in, though, due to the painfully bright sun and the heat that radiated from it, despite the blasting AC.
I directed Hamza to take me as close to the Etemenanki as possible. I was surprised when he was able to take us practically on top of the space where the Tower of Babel had once existed. There weren’t any fences around the almost-invisible ruins, as I’d discovered before, and the people of Iraq weren’t trying to keep things protected . . . since there wasn’t really anything left to protect.
Abel, Hamza, and I hopped out of the Humvee. Hamza circled around and joined us in staring at the place where the Etemenanki had stood. Jack had asked me to meet him there, but he hadn’t showed yet, and I wasn’t sure what to do while waiting. There wasn’t a place to sit comfortably, and no shade.
“Well?” Hamza asked. “What now?”
“I’m going to check it out,” I said. I wanted to see if I could find the spiritual version of the temple during the daylight, and without help.
Going off memory alone, I walked to the place where the stairs had existed last time I’d been there. I still couldn’t believe all of what I’d seen had practically been imagined. It hadn’t felt imagined.
I paused, closing my eyes, and feeling the gentle but hot breeze caress my face.
“Lizzie . . .” The voice, while faint, was somewhat familiar.
“Yes?” I whispered.
“Take my hand. I cannot help you unless you do so.”
I frowned, glancing around. “Where?” I whispered.
“In front of you. You only need look.”
I finally realized it was Jack, and sure enough, there, hovering about waist high was a hand extended toward me, waiting for me to grab it. It wasn’t attached to anything. Creepy.
Not knowing what to expect, I accepted the hand. Right as I did, I heard Abel yelp in surprise. I turned to explain what I was doing, but he wasn’t there. Neither were Hamza nor the Humvee. What was going on?
Turning back to the hand, I nearly shrieked when I saw it was now attached to Jack’s body, and that he was standing on the first step of the very-visible temple.
“Come on up. But do not let go of my hand. During the day, it is much more difficult for regular humans to conjure up the spiritual version of the temple.”
I gripped his hand tightly and was surprised when he chuckled.
“Yes, that’s right. I’ll keep you from falling.”
I closed my eyes, refusing to look down. I had no desire to find out if the very-solid-feeling stone steps beneath my feet didn’t actually exist.
Jack led me up until we reached the first landing. Then he took me to the second landing, and I noticed for the first time that steps led to the left and right from it. They ended on a large roof or balcony-type thing. It was huge—big enough for several hundred people. And I swallowed when I saw at least that many priest ghosts there.
Several of them made eye contact with me, and I straightened, refusing to look or be cowed by them. I was surprised when they glanced away quickly. Last time I’d been there, they’d challenged me with stares. It seemed like they’d learned about me and what I could truly do to them. Good.
We rounded a corner, walking up a couple of steps to a door, which Jack opened before ushering me in ahead of him.
He didn’t release my hand, and I was grateful for that. I wasn’t sure how the meeting with other ifrits would go if I had to hold Jack’s hand the whole time, but I’d cross that bridge when I reached it.
The room was full of what I assumed were ifrits. They looked nearly identical to Jack and the one I’d fought previously. All of them lowered their gazes when I entered. I couldn’t tell if it was out of respect, fear, or hatred. It could have been any of those.
“This is Miss Ashton,” Jack said. “She is here to help convince each and every ifrit to fight Lord Kenan.”
One of the ifrits stepped forward, anger on his face. “Why should we help her? She destroyed one of our own.”
Jack took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “I understand why you feel that way. And I used to share the same opinion before meeting her and finding out why she was forced to kill our brother.”
He glanced at me. “And forced she was. Miss Ashton, will you share your side of the story?”
And so I did, still holding Jack’s hand. It took me about five minutes, during which time, not one of the ifrits interrupted me.
“This isn’t all, though,” I said once I’d finished. “We’ve since learned a great deal about Lord Kenan. Possibly things you don’t already know.”
I proceeded to tell them why we’d failed to stop him in his graveyard, then what we’d learned about his origins—how he’d become a vampire, then a fire vampire, and his ties to the hounds. I told them the only way to defeat him was to stab him to the heart with a spike from one of the hounds that guarded him. I also told them about the prophecy and how Lord Kenan had used it to make himself indestructible to anyone but me.
“He thinks I’m helpless and won’t be able to stop him. But I’m not. I’ve got many loyal followers on my side, most of whom are incredibly powerful. We have a real chance to destroy him, but we need your help to do it.”
39
The ifrits murmured, glancing back and forth between themselves.
“Would you grant us time to discuss?” the one who had been doing all of the talking asked.
“Of course,” I said.
Jack and I turned and left the temple. We stood on that huge landing, ignoring the ghosts that surrounded us, and stared out at the vast expanse of desert. It was crazy how big Iraq was.
We didn’t need to wait long. One of the ifrits came and fetched us, and Jack and I returned.
“We’ve decided to help you,” the leader there said. “On the condition that the battle not take longer than three days once we arrive in your land. At the end of three days, we will leave, regardless of whether you have stopped Lord Kenan.”
I nodded. “I agree to your terms.” I glanced at Jack. “Do we need to make any elaborate oaths with them like I did with you?”
He shook his head. “They’re bound by the oath I made. It�
�s one reason why they were so angry with me.”
Good to know. “Very well.” I turned to the ifrits. “Lord Kenan will be arriving in my area in about five days. Plan on coming just before then.”
They nodded, and Jack and I excused ourselves.
Getting down the temple was not fun. Let’s just say, now that I didn’t have stone in front of me to focus on, I had a hard time not remembering I was on a fake temple and could plunge to my death at any moment.
Luckily, nothing bad happened, and I reached the base of the temple quickly and easily. Jack released my hand and disappeared. I turned. Abel and Hamza were there, waiting. Abel rushed to me, picking me up and holding me tight.
“I hate it when you disappear like that,” he said. “And it happens far too frequently for my taste.”
“Mine too, believe me.”
“How did it go?” he asked.
I grinned. “They’re going to help.”
Hamza, who was leaning against his Humvee, started at that. “You actually convinced the ifrits to fight with you?”
“Of course I did,” I said, wondering what he and Abel had talked about. Obviously, Abel had filled him in. “And this won’t be the first time I’ve done so.”
Hamza raised an eyebrow. “Impressive.” And then his face went blank again.
I decided to ignore him. He was too difficult to read when he got like that.
We all hopped in the Humvee, and Hamza drove us to the airport. As much as I hated so much flying, I couldn’t wait to escape the heat and the feeling that I was constantly being watched.
Much like our flights to Iraq, our return trip was uneventful.
When we landed in Salt Lake City, I was surprised to find a voicemail from Eleanora. She asked me to call her as soon as I got service again. I did so immediately.
“Hamza contacted me,” she said. “He has agreed to help, and he’s bringing one of his men—a best friend who is loyal to you and your cause.”
We ended the call, and I breathed a sigh of relief, sinking into my seat on the plane, barely noticing just how congested the way to exit the plane still was.
“Good news?” Abel asked.
“Yes. Hamza is going to help after all.”
Abel’s eyes lit up. “That is good news. While you were in the temple, he asked me a bit more about your meeting. I hope you don’t mind, but I filled him in on who you were approaching to ask for assistance. He was very interested in the ifrits, but beyond that, he was feeling guilty for saying no to you. It seems he really does have a conscience, especially after vowing last time that he’d help you with anything.”
“Was it his conscience or his curiosity about the ifrits that convinced him to help?”
“Does it matter? He’s going to help either way.”
“Good point.”
We exited the plane and headed home. Along the way, I grabbed the amulet, not having forgotten Sir Christopher’s last bit of advice.
Send out word, I told the amulet. I need help. Lord Kenan is on his way, and I’ll need as many ghosts as possible to assist me in stopping him.
It was time to start gathering my ghost army.
40
The next two days went by in a flurry. Abel and I spent the entire time organizing and arranging the ghosts who showed up to help. Abel couldn’t see most of them—some were powerful enough to show themselves, but most were not. I kept him in the loop and he helped me decide where to have all of them hang out.
Finally, the time of Lord Kenan’s arrival drew near. The news stations were going crazy, talking about some sort of disturbance that had started back east and was heading west across the States, drawing in powerful Aretes along the way. My friends and I knew the disturbance was Lord Kenan. He was forcing the Aretes to abandon their families, and no one knew why or that it even was a very powerful supernatural demon doing it.
One thing that brought me a great deal of relief was the fact that not all of the Aretes were joining him. Many were resisting. It seemed they weren’t as power hungry as he’d thought they would be. Or maybe he simply wasn’t strong enough to pull them. Either way, it restored my faith in humanity a bit.
Nicole also arrived, and having her there calmed me significantly. The two of us spent several hours watching movies while activating the spheres. It was fun, if I didn’t remember why we were doing it.
We’d nearly finished with the spheres when smoke built in the corner of my living room and Omar appeared.
“Lord Kenan will be here around two in the morning. It’s time for you to gather your forces and prepare.”
Oh, heavens. “Should we see if we can stall him until sunset or sunrise?” I’d previously learned that Lord Kenan was weaker at sunrise and sunset.
Omar shook his head. “I don’t think it’ll matter. Either way, it’s not possible. He’s no longer imprisoned and is determined to destroy you and get that amulet back. Better save your energy for the battle itself rather than spend it trying to stall him.” Omar rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier. I’ve been really struggling with my evil side the last day or two. Alexander and I will need to make ourselves scarce until the battle’s over. We do not trust ourselves to help.”
I nodded. I’d expected as much. “Thank you for what you’ve done. Go somewhere far away and stay safe.”
Omar said goodbye, then shifted into a hound and disappeared through the corner of my living room.
My heart pounded in my chest, making me feel short of breath and panicky. The anxiety crept up my throat, almost choking me. Two in the morning. Could we possibly be ready by then?
“We need to let people know,” I said.
Abel nodded. He was putting the movie away we’d just started. We wouldn’t have time to watch it now. Nicole handed me the last of the spheres that needed charging, and I quickly gave the command for each of them. As soon as I was finished, I made phone calls. Rauel, Chief, Coolidge, Eleanora, Cole, the Russells, and even Jack, who now had a phone so we could get a hold of each other easier.
Chief and Cole got the same instructions: keep innocent people safe. Cole still wasn’t able to get around, but people listened to him, including his own chief.
I let everyone know we’d be having a meeting at Abel’s warehouse around ten that evening. And then Nicole cooked dinner while I paced in my little kitchen, too nervous to do anything else.
“How are we going to succeed with such a small group?” I asked.
“Well, who’s on our side?” Abel asked. He was sitting at the table, cleaning his guns.
I leaned against the wall and stared up at the light. “Fire vampires, ifrits, and my closest friends. Not enough.”
“We’ll be facing thousands,” Abel said. “We need more help.”
“No,” I said, resuming my pacing. “We can’t ask anyone. They’ll turn against us.”
Abel glanced at Nicole. “Do you know yet what the spheres do?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be finding out tonight, now that they’re all activated. They haven’t been used in a very long time, and depending on the situation, I’ve been told they act differently. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “Should be soon, though.”
My personal tasks looked impossible to achieve. I had to snuff Lord Kenan’s fire before I could stab him with a spike that I had to steal from a hound I couldn’t kill until Lord Kenan was dead. I stopped pacing, burying my face in my hands, trying not to succumb to the panic that still hadn’t subsided. Impossible. It was all impossible.
Abel and Nicole both sensed my anxiety. Yeah, I wasn’t doing anything to hide it from either of them. Nicole set aside the serving spoon she held and she and Abel came to me, putting their arms around me.
“We’re going to be fine,” Nicole said. “You’ll see.”
Abel placed a kiss on the top of my head. “She’s right. And remember, you don’t have a deadline anymore. If it looks like Lord Kenan is going to
win, I’ll snatch you up and take you far away where we can hunker down until it’s time to attack again.”
“And hope our friends don’t all die in the meantime, forcing us to come up with another army and live depressed and guilt-ridden lives?”
He shrugged. “I’m sure we could find plenty of supporters if we ventured to other dimensions.”
“Why didn’t we do that this time?” I asked. The Russells probably had hundreds of people who would be willing to fight. We definitely didn’t have enough time to gather them before Lord Kenan came, though.
“Probably because I didn’t have the idea until just now.”
I smiled.
He pounced on his little victory that had gotten me to smile. “See? Even if everyone you love dies, as long as you and I get away safely, we’ll still have a backup plan.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” Nicole said. “I sort of want to live.”
I chuckled, putting my arms around the two of them. “We’ll beat him this time. We have to. He’ll continue growing in strength and power if we don’t, and who knows if a next time will ever come.”
Nicole had arrived early, but Austin had been tied up on the ranch. The luxury of having a personal jet allowed him and Dave, his dad, to meet up with us by the time the meeting started, though.
Abel and I wandered through the warehouse, greeting and thanking those who had come to support us. And then I started the meeting.
Almost immediately, the topic of where we should attack came up. I wasn’t surprised that the ifrits were the most opinionated about the location. They insisted—absolutely insisted—that the foothills where Eleanor and I had found them would be where the end of the battle would take place.
“So, we can start fighting his people before then?” Vincent asked. “Just making sure we’re on the same page.”
Jack nodded. “Thinning his numbers is a good idea. We can’t allow them to leave the foothills, though—otherwise, the ifrits won’t be able to help nearly as much. Our powers will be strongest near the rocks.”
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