The Azar Omnibus: The Complete Azar Trilogy (The Azar Trilogy Book 0)

by Grace McGinty

  Rebecca’s face went white, and her gaze grew even wilder. Azar could almost taste her regret over the outburst. Rebecca opened her mouth to say something, but smoke filled the room, accompanied by a loud bang and a flash.

  Azar's first thought was that a flash/bang grenade had been thrown into the room. She vaulted over the railing and onto the floor in front of her father's Council seat. The Adel had all moved to protect the Council members, and the Were were all on their feet, their bodies poised for attack. But no attackers came out of the smoke.

  When it began to clear, there were two men standing on either side of Rebecca White on the dais, dressed in what appeared to be eighteenth century courtier wear. One was wearing sapphire blue velvet short pants, tucked into tall black boots, with a frothy white shirt under a ridiculously ornate frock coat. The second man was almost his twin, except his clothes were emerald green instead of sapphire blue. It looked like they'd just appeared from the Renaissance Faire. It was so unusual that Azar could only stand there and gape, letting her fireball fade down to the size of an orange.

  Rebecca looked at the men standing around her before scuttling backwards toward Anton and the other Weres. Better the devil you know, Azar thought.

  The men held their hands above their shoulders, confident smirks twisting their faces. "Let us not be hasty," the blue one said in a cultured voice, his accent almost British but a bit off. "We are merely messengers."

  Jack strode to the dais from the shadows at the back of the room. "What are you doing here, Drustan?" There was palpable anger in his voice, and it made Azar edge closer to him. The Councilors were covered, but if these two were here to take Jack captive, then the Djinn were in serious trouble. If they could use Jack to find the Great Weapons, for whatever nefarious reasons, it didn't bode well for the Djinn.

  The man in blue, who must have been Drustan, looked shocked to see Jack striding towards him, but the expression was quickly chased away by scorn.

  "Brother, I did not expect to see you in the halls of the Djinn. The last the Courts heard, you were hiding away in the wilds of some forest. How have you come to be in the middle of the concrete jungle?" Although the words seemed innocuous, each one was dripping with disdain.

  Christos, the Shaitan Councilor, let his voice and malice echo around the room. "I think the more pertinent question here is who the hell are you?"

  Cold shivers crawled up and down her spine, and they slowly intensified until they felt like bugs crawling through her body, just under the skin. Azar knew that the little display was barely a taste of Christos’ power. She forced herself to edge slightly closer to Jack while everyone’s attention was on the Shaitan Councilor. She was only a few feet away when the two men in the middle bowed low at Christos, and then to each of the other Councilors in turn.

  "Pardon our poor manners. I am Drustan, royal messenger of the Unseelie Court. This is my compatriot Brennus, royal messenger of the Seelie Court. We come with a combined message from our respective Royal Courts for the Council of the Djinn." He turned towards the Weres in the room, who had huddled into a defensive mass. "It is convenient that the animals are here too, for you were our next errand. Brennus, if you will?"

  Jack’s back was stiff, and his muscles were held so taut that she could see them trembling under his light cotton shirt. Drustan threw him another sneer over his shoulder.

  The other man spoke, unrolling an old school parchment-style proclamation. His voice was so deep and melodic, that Azar got side-tracked listening to the rumble and pitch of his voice rather than the words. Jack pinched her on the arm and she snapped out of it.

  "... of the Royal Houses, do request that the Djinn of all continents submit to Fae rule hencewith. Failure to do so will result in a declaration of war from the combined might of the Fae. The Royal

  Houses of the Seelie and Unseelie Fae have benevolently given the Council of the Djinn up to seven days to agree to subjugation under the combined rule of The Houses. The status of the full-blooded members of the Djinn will be granted the same rank as the full-blooded members of our own nobility. Half-bloods will be given permanent servitude, and will become the trusted servants of said nobility."

  The silence was so still, a pin dropping would have sounded like a cymbal crash. Everyone sat in silence, and Azar realized that the majority, including the Councilors, were entranced by Brennus' voice. The silence stretched on until Azar couldn't stand it any longer.

  She cleared her throat. "I don't speak for everyone here, but I can personally say kiss my ass.” Drustan grimaced and turned away from her, as if she was something distasteful. But her outburst seemed to have snapped everyone out of their trance, because suddenly there was a wave of angry curses being hurled at the two Fae men.

  Brennus raised his hand and yelled, "SILENCE!" The room went instantly quiet. "Furthermore, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts hereby declare that all Were creatures will return to their rightful standing of servitude to the Fae, in their ancient role as the Fae's servants, laborers, pets and concubines." People must have realized they were being entranced earlier, as fewer succumbed to the spell of Brennus' voice the second time.

  Anton stood, his back straight and regal, his alpha powers swirling thick on the air. "Never."

  Drustan looked down from the elevated dais to the Weres. "You were given a warning as a courtesy, Wolf. You stand no chance against the Fae. You were created to be our playthings, and it is the role to which you will return. This is fact. I suggest you start coming to terms with it, because we can be benevolent masters, or we can break you all individually."

  With that, he screwed his up his nose and looked back at the Councilors. "The position offered to those of you with full-blood is a generous one. Your lives will continue in the same pattern as usual, however you will be governed by the Fae, and not by your Council. You will find the Fae rule is a generous one." His voice rose, and grew hard. "However, if you war with us, you will get no generosity and when you have lost, you will find yourself subjugated with the half-bloods and the Weres. Your can choose the severity of your subservience, but have no doubt that the end results will be the same. You will be ruled."

  He turned to Jack as the voices of the Djinn started to bounce off the walls in terror and outrage. "Brother, you should return to your homeland and your people. The Court has missed you. It is best that you aren't seen to be aligned with these creatures when the clock strikes their final hour."

  The look on Jack’s face was unmasked hatred. There was definitely old and bad blood between these two. "I am not your brother, Drustan. Your people are not mine. I am a lion and you are but a house cat. I stand with the Djinn in this matter."

  "Then you can watch them fall around you," he replied with barely concealed malice and with another flash and thunder clap, they were gone.

  Chapter 17

  The explosion of noise after the Fae poofed out of existence was deafening. The hysteria was palpable. The Djinn had spent a millennium reassuring themselves that they were the big fish in the pool, only to realize that the pool was infested with sharks and they were just as much prey as the rest of the supernatural world. Apparently having the rug pulled from underneath you was a noisy business.

  The Councilors were hustled away by their respective security teams, and Azar briefly caught a glimpse of Bast escorting the Sila Councilor out of the room.

  Azar leaned into Jack’s side. "Well, I didn't see that coming."

  He gave her a smile that had no humor in it. "I did. Let us go and find out if your Council will see reason now."

  He put a hand on the small of her back and guided her through the mass of Weres and Djinn who had spilled down to the main floor. She caught Anton's eyes in the middle of the writhing mass and stopped, put one hand over her heart and bowed her head. Anton nodded back. He had understood. Azar would fight for them if she could. She was Pack, and she took her place seriously.

  Jack hustled her along, and the crowd stared at them and moved away,
as if he were about to bite. Despite the fact that he’d been moving around amongst them for days, and had just openly pledged his allegiance with the Djinn. People needed an active focal point for their fear, and he was conveniently located. It raised Azar's ire and she death glared back at every person who looked at him like he was a disease. Despite her anger, she saw that Jack looked as serene as usual.

  "Don't worry, their anger doesn’t bother me. You should try being green in the Dark Ages. Before that, I could convince them that I was Jack of the Green, here to make their crops grow and make sure their cows didn't fall over dead, but come the Dark Ages people wanted to stone me to death."

  Azar raised her eyebrows. "Are you trying to tell me that it isn't easy being green?" She worked very hard to keep her face straight, and apparently Jack wasn't familiar with Kermit the Frog, because he just nodded stoically.

  They finally left behind the crazy crowd, and headed to the emergency stairs. She was pretty sure that the Council members would convene to the conference room where they’d heard Freya's case yesterday. They would be in full war council mode. Or maybe they were deciding to sell out the half-bloods and the Weres. She wouldn't put it past them.

  They climbed the old stone stairs, which looked like they belonged in a medieval castle rather than a subterranean compound in the middle of NYC. There was a large contingent of bodyguards blocking the door to the conference room, and when they saw Jack, they converged into one tight wall.

  "This floor is closed. You will have to turn around and go back where you came from." A large burly guy, who actually looked like he was meant to be security, or a gorilla at the zoo, growled at her and Jack. The underlying menace didn't faze Jack in the least.

  "I wish to speak to the Council. I believe they will be as eager to speak with me as I am with them." He sounded completely reasonable, like there wasn't a dozen highly trained killers crowding the hallway, just looking for a reason to maim something. Azar guessed that being immortal, and actually unkillable, would give a person that kind of self-assurance.

  Azar thought that so many bodyguards in one hallway seemed like overkill, especially due to the fact that the Fae had just popped into the room, even when it was full of guards. She was pretty sure a dozen guards would still be inadequate protection if they decided to pop in with a more malicious intent.

  But she didn't think the guards would react kindly to her musings, so she held her tongue and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible behind Jack’s broad shoulders.

  One of the guards went into the room to convey Jack’s request, and Azar couldn't see Bast or Killian in the remaining crowd of guards. They were probably already in the conference room with the Council Members. It was reassuring that there were at least two calm voices of reason in the room.

  The guard re-emerged and waved Jack forward towards the door. When Azar tried to enter the door behind him, the Gorilla Guard thrust out a beefy arm and blocked her way.

  "The Fae only," he growled. Azar wondered if had any other pitch than a grizzly rumble. Maybe it was his natural voice, the result of one too many punches to the voice box.

  Jack reached back and grabbed her hand. "She comes with me." His voice was so authoritative, the guards could do nothing but comply.

  After seeing Brennus' little voice trick earlier, she wondered if it was a trait that all Fae could do with their voice. She'd remember to ask, but not now surrounded by trigger happy bodyguards itching to shoot holes in something. They let her pass unmolested and she strode into the packed conference room.

  Although it was quite a large room, it was filled to the brim with Adel bodyguards, the Council members, as well as the commanding officers of the Adel. Everyone turned towards Jack as he walked in, and she saw Killian sitting at the conference table, Bast at his back. Both their eyes were looking between her and Jack, and that’s when she realized she was still holding Jack’s hand. She snatched it away, and then mentally slapped herself for looking so guilty about an innocent gesture. Her face burned red with embarrassment, and she prayed that someone would speak and shift the focus off her.

  Killian was looking between her and Jack appraisingly, and Bast's brow was knitted as he stared at the Fae man. She wished she could have gone to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She would have told him that she loved him and she barely even knew Jack. Sure she lusted after him a little bit, but she loved Bast in a place that was buried deep in her soul.

  She’d carefully omit the crazy attraction she had to Jack, that felt like she was one half of a magnet being pulled inexorably toward the other.

  The Jann Councilor finally spoke. "Please, sit." He motioned Jack to the only available chair.

  Jack pulled the chair out and offered it to her. She gave him a warm smile but shook her head. He took the seat, his long legs stretching under the table.

  "I've come to re-offer my services in finding the Great Weapons." The weight of so many measuring stares would have crushed a less powerful man.

  Christos broke first. "You have to see our predicament here, Green Man. We are trying to understand your altruistic motives. Altruism isn't something we encounter much in this modern era. Except perhaps in the case of your Ifrit protector there, who seems to want to throw herself in the path of every possible misdeed she can find." He was mocking her, but she'd take it as a compliment.

  Apparently, Jack was going to interpret it as a compliment too. “Indeed, she is quite a special person. But please do not misunderstand my intentions. My motives are extremely self-serving. My job, or perhaps purpose would be a more accurate word, is to keep the balance amongst all living things on this planet. I have decided that to keep the balance in this situation, the Great Weapons must be returned to Djinn hands. After that, the rest is up to you. It is not my place to interfere with squabbles over power."

  The Sila Councilor scoffed. "Do you mean to tell me that you have no vested interest in your own people? That you have no care if the Fae rise or fall?"

  "They are not my people."

  "Are you not Fae, Green Man?"

  "I am more than Fae, and less. I am Tuatha Dé Danann. I am the direct descendant of the goddess Danu. I am irrevocably tied to the fate of this planet. I am the Earth and the Earth is me. The Tuatha Dé Danann share many of the same characteristics as the Fae, and in times gone by, we passed so many centuries in their Royal Courts that we became tied to the Fae in the minds of the supernatural community. But in actual fact, we are quite different. Tuatha Dé Danann are the personification of the goddess Danu. What you now call the Fae are the People of Danu; her followers, if you will. So to answer you question, I am not Fae."

  Azar tried to wrap her head around the whole concept. She was not up to date on her Celtic theology.

  Christos apparently didn't have any such trouble. "Let us rephrase our question then. Are you sure you have no vested interest in the survival of, as you put it, your followers?” His tone was still mocking, but she was beginning to think that cruelly sarcastic was just Christos' default

  "You cannot beat the Fae armies." He said it as if he had witnessed the future and already knew the outcome, without a shred of doubt. There were protests from around the table but Jack just raised his hand. "That isn't a reflection on your fierceness in battle, it is merely a fact. The Fae have not been living out amongst the humans. They have stuck to their mounds in the Emerald Isle, and bred armies and trained them to be the most elite warriors to walk the Earth. They outnumber you significantly and they have more magic than the Djinn possess, even those who you deem pure bloods. And you all possess a fatal flaw. One cut from a Great Weapon, and you cease to exist. The magic in the weapons is old and lost to the Fae, and I believe they wish to regather them to recreate their enchantment.”

  He stood and strode around the room, and she resisted the urge to follow him. His face was serious, she knew that he was about to drop an even bigger bombshell. She tensed her jaw.

  "It is a fact so old that i
t isn't even written in your histories, that long before there were humans or the Were, before even some of the Fae races, the Djinn were indeed once the slaves of the Seelie Fae."

  There was a dull roar of denials around the room, as if they thought that the loudness of their protests could change what they heard. Jack turned and grabbed Azar's wrist, his hands wrapped around the Anadari Bracelets. "It is true. Even these cuffs are Fae workmanship. They were used to keep you all permanently enslaved. The fact that you still use them to this day, even founding your entire societal system around their use, has baffled me for millennia. You were the slaves of the Seelie Court, until one of their Kings took a Sila as a lover, fell in love and she convinced him to release the Djinn from their eternal slavery. He was a good king, a kind king and it was eventually what got him assassinated." His voice grew hard. "There is no place in the Royal Courts for softness."

  The room was so still that it was as if the crowd was holding its collective breath.

  It was Saraf who broke the silence "Be that as it may, how will the Fae defeat us here in the Americas, if they cannot set one foot outside of Europe?" Saraf made a good point, although they must have found a way around it, because there were two standing in the hearing room less than thirty minutes ago. Three if you count Jack, which apparently he didn't.

  Jack actually smiled. "The thing about the Fae is that you have to trust them to do exactly as they say, and any inferences you may garner from their words will be on your own head. In this case, the law states they aren’t to tread a foot out of Europe, so they learned to levitate."

  "Are you serious? They just learned to levitate?” Azar thought she whispered, but everyone turned to look at her. She forgot there was no such thing as whispering amongst the supernatural ears of the Djinn. Well, at least not in such close quarters.

  “Through breeding programs, they have promoted the ability to levitate within their bloodlines.” The thought of them using their people like broodmares made Azar feel a little ill. “Indeed, Brennus and Drustan stood a mere fraction of an inch off the floor in your court room, but it was enough that they didn't break the ancient mandates of the Fae.”