by Jessica Cage
“What the hell did you do to her?” Bruto held himself back even though he wanted to charge the man who stood by with an air of indifference as the woman he loved floated in front of him, unconscious.
“I did what you asked of me, I helped.” Genesis growled the words, a warning to Bruto that he wouldn’t take kindly to any unwarranted attacks.
“You call this helping?” Bruto pointed at Rosie’s body. “How exactly is this helpful to us?”
“She is unstable. Until we figure out what to do to fix it, she will remain like this. But at least she isn’t trapped inside of this place just stewing and allowing that darkness to grow.”
“This is actually a good thing.” Zaria waved her hand over Rosie’s body, and the woman was wrapped in a layer of red magic. “This will help to keep her stable and monitor her progress. I can compare it to what I’m getting from Ryesen and see if there is any correlations. Wait, we?” She stared at the djinn they’d summoned. “You plan on sticking around?”
“Yeah, firebird, I like it here in this new world!” He laughed. “I think I’ll explore things a bit, after I help you lost puppies figure this thing out.”
“Wonderful,” Bruto scoffed.
“What’s next on the team agenda?” Genesis stretched his arms and flexed. “I’m ready for more action.”
“I think we need to go and crash the Summit.” Ardyn spoke for the first time, having been the observer. His mind was busy calculating what their next move should be. He’d also been enjoying watching his mate thrive and analyze. Every question he thought of she asked, and even a few he hadn’t.
“Summit? Please do explain what this is. Is a it a party?” Genesis beamed. “I haven’t been to a good party in quite some time!”
“No, not a party … it’s a gathering of sorts. All of the world leaders will be there. I’ve been going over things, and I think we’re going to need help from the covens. All signs point to Daegal and the spell cast to bring him back. Who better to help us stop that from happening than the people who understand how his magic works?”
“You want to ask a bunch of witches for help?” Bruto shook his head. There was no way he was going to be joining that quest. “Good luck with that.” He hadn’t had the best history with the covens—it was the major reason why he’d gone into hiding to begin with.
“Yes.” Ardyn looked to Jinn. “And it’s not the light witches I’m thinking about.”
“Sounds like fun!” Genesis laughed. “Let’s go.”
“I think I’ll stay behind, watch over her.” Bruto kept his eyes on the floating form in the room. “Besides, something tells me my troubled history with the covens won’t help move matters along.”
“I think that's best,” Nitara, who had been hovering around him, interjected as she touched his arm. Despite his outwardly appearance, she could feel that he was calmer, more at ease to have eyes on Rosie and know that in some way, she was okay.
“All right. So, shall we get going?” Genesis rolled his eyes like an impatient child. “I’m getting bored and I really don’t like to be bored."
“Yes, okay, let’s go.” Jinn sighed heavily, not wanting to have to deal with the newcomer any longer than they needed to. The faster they got things moving, the faster they could be done, and he could take his ass back to his realm. “Ardyn, please lead the way.”
When the others vanished from the room, Bruto moved Rosie to their bedroom. He positioned her body above the bed and sat in the armchair next to it. From the side closet he heard a noise, something falling to the floor. He opened the door to find Pepper, Rosie’s most beloved penguin and apparently the only one not smart enough to leave the island. He scooped his frightened body into his arms, happy to have at least something to hold on to, and returned to the chair beside the bed.
As he pet the bird to calm him, he pleaded with the woman he loved, “Come on, Rosie! Please, I can’t lose you.”
In the soft light of the red field around her, with a shaky penguin on his lap, the soft lullaby of a past life tiptoed across his lips to coax the soul of the woman he hoped to save.
It was the sound of singing that drew her to him. She swayed her hips as her feet carried her to the crooning that was a mix of both a cool jazz and something deeper, older, and filled with soul. She couldn’t help herself. It had been a long time since anything made her feel the way his voice did. When she heard him, it was the first time in centuries that her heart wasn’t filled with anger. His voice calmed her spirit, and the closer she got to the sound, the more peaceful she felt. As she rounded the corner, which took her down a dark alley, she saw him there, standing at the back of the bar building, singing an operatic jazz melody that she couldn’t place.
“Your voice is beautiful.” Rosie stood there watching the man who had yet to note her presence because his back was to her. When he jumped and turned to her, the moonlight touched his face, revealing strong features that reminded her of a love she once claimed for her own.
“Thank you. And you are?” The devilish grin on his face told her that he was one who would make for a good time. He might even cause her a bit of trouble.
“The name is Rosie.” She held her hand out to him and he swaggered over to her, grabbed it with is own, and placed his lips to the back of her hand.
“Rosie, it’s nice to meet you.” He winked. “I’m Bruto.”
“You're a djinn,” she said matter-of-factly, and threw the man off his game for a moment.
“What?” He dropped her hand and backed away.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell. I’m like you.” She slid her eyes along his frame as she allowed purple light to dance across her skin for a breath of a moment. “Surprised you couldn’t tell.”
“I haven’t come in contact with many others before.”
“I've met a few,” she shrugged, “but none with a voice as sweet as yours.”
“Well, thank you. Where is your master of the moment?” Bruto waved his hands around. “He must give you wide range to roam.”
“Mine? Well, I don’t have one.” Rosie smiled in a wicked way that caused a glint of excitement to shine in his eyes.
“Really? Someone wished you free?” Bruto could hardly contain the excitement her admission had given him. “I heard it was possible, but never met a free djinn before.”
“No, not exactly.” She became lost to him for a moment as her mind wandered to the past, but she quickly returned. “However, it is entirely possible.”
“Mysterious. Perhaps one day you will let me know how you did that.” The sound of frustration rolled across his lips. “I, unfortunately, am still bound to a vessel, and as soon as my current master finishes boozing up, I’m sure I’ll be granting more ridiculous wishes for him.”
“Hmm, where exactly is your master?” Rosie’s voice lowered and her eyes narrowed with mischievous thoughts.
“Inside.” Bruto nodded to the bar behind him. “Currently filling himself to the rim with hooch.”
“Mind if I pay him a little visit?” She stepped closer to the stranger, but then halted. “Daegal.”
“What?” Bruto froze; he hadn’t heard the name that passed her lips in a long time.
“He’s the one who created you.” She sucked her teeth.
“Yes.” He stepped back from her. “You work for him? How the hell did you know that?”
“Fuck.” Rosie paced the ground in front of him, considering her next move. Did Daegal still have eyes on this one? Would he find her if she helped set him free? Was he left there as a trap? She hadn’t sensed the warlock in the area, but perhaps he had finally found a way to cloak himself from her. He was still alive after all these years; she could tell he was out there, lurking and waiting, but for what, she didn’t know.
“How’d you know that?” Bruto tried to step in front of her to stop her tracks but she sidestepped him.
“I can feel his magic on you, like a signature.” The anxiety over possibly bringing up old demons was getting t
o her. The rage, anger, hurt—all of the emotions that usually engulfed her were starting to return, but she forced herself to still and looked at the man who’d caused it all to go away. “If I get you free, will you sing for me again?”
“Hell, I’ll sing for you until the end of time,” Bruto promised freely.
“Great! Now, point out to me which one of those guys in there has your vessel, and I’ll do the rest.” She started toward the bar then stopped and peered over her shoulder to him. “I don’t hear any singing.”
“Right, of course.” Bruto began to sing the tune that he would forever call the symphony of her destruction. She never told him how she did it, but by the time he stopped singing he felt the tether of power snap and he was once again a free man.
“Where exactly does this summit take place?” Zaria asked as Ardyn shuffled through items in his lab.
“It’s in another realm, a magical one that was created after the world’s ended. Each leader owns a portal that takes them to this realm. And while there, all powers are neutralized,” Ardyn offered, and the others nodded.
“Excuse me?” Zaria snapped her fingers, causing everyone else to look at her. “Why are you all so calm? Doesn’t that mean we’ll be defenseless? I don’t like the idea of that.”
“Yes, we will be, but so will they.” Ardyn frowned. “The problem is that the portal locks after they cross through. It was designed that way purposely to avoid anyone attempts at a power grab. Back in the day, when the world was still up for grabs, things were not so civilized. One leader, and no more than two guards, can pass through. And they need a special charm to make it work, which I thought I still had here but I can’t seem to find!” He slammed his fist against the nearby table.
Zaria was right by his side and whispered into his ear, “You okay?”
“Yes. It’s just, I can’t believe I lost it.” He shook his head, allowing for an awkward pause.
“So, where can we find one of these portals?” Jinn refocused the group from Ardyn’s emotional outburst.
“There is one in every capital. My father owns one, and I’m sure so does Briar. Even Graham has one here in Reverie.”
“We aren’t going to Graham,” Nitara snipped. She still hadn’t gotten over their last encounter in which the new Vampire leader had accused her of being ungrateful. If she saw him again it might not end well.
“Luckily, he isn’t our only option here.” Jinn touched her shoulder and she whispered an apology. The entire group was falling apart.
“So, we’re off to find a portal.” Zaria tried to sound cheerful about it but really there was fear in her tone.
“Or, and I’m just tossing this out there for shits and giggles, we could just create our own.” Genesis grinned widely from his outstretched position on the chaise lounge that sat by the window. “Really, you all act as if you don’t have immense power coursing through your veins. It’s sickening. I mean, talk about a waste of power! If we’re going there, we might as well make an entrance!”
“We don’t even know where the portal is supposed to go, how do you suppose we make one?” Ardyn questioned. If he could just whip up a portal, he would have.
“It’s simple enough. Take me to the one that belongs to your dear old dad and I’ll do the rest.” Genesis stood. “I guess I’ll be the one doing everything around here because the rest of you are a mess. No wonder you needed me to come and save the day.”
“I’m going to knock that dumbass grin off his face,” Nitara muttered to Jinn. She’d taken on Bruto’s role as hot head in his absence.
“Settled down woman,” Jinn winked at her. “There’s a line ahead of you.”
Briar stood at a massive, ornate podium that was placed at the forefront of a grand hall clearly designed by someone who was a fan of gothic cathedrals and fantasy films. High arches lined the walls above balconies that would host the arriving leaders. Each balcony was decorated to represent their people. As she scanned the massive room with her eyes, she took in the weight of the moment. This would be her first time attending a summit meeting, not as a guard but as a queen. It was customary for the fairy, the more dominant of the species, to get things in motion.
Each one who arrived wore an uneasy expression. So much had occurred in the recent months that challenged the social and political climate to transform and not everyone was happy or comfortable with that change. There were representatives from all areas—dragons, wolves, trolls, and more were still arriving. Each of the balconies lining the walls lit up as the owner to its portal crossed over.
The more people arrived, the more chatter there was to fill the halls. The sounds of their upset echoed back to her from the high ceilings. More and more discourse, more discussion about events that she was there firsthand to witness, yet all they could offer was speculation. She tried to ignore the feeling of disgust in the room filled with cowardly leaders.
“Everyone, please! I need you all to settle down. There is a lot to discuss today.” Briar raised her voice just enough to be heard over the jumbling sound of the others.
“You mean like the shit going down in shifter land?” The orc ruler, Valky, yelled out, and received a round of hisses and growls from the leaders from the shifter territory. He stood and leaned the weight of his massive form on the balcony which groaned beneath him. “We all hear the rumors that are flowing through our towns, people talk. Something isn’t right with our shape changing friends over there.” He pointed his fat, blue-toned finger to their area and grunted. The massive guards at his side—both shaved bald and sporting combat wear—grunted in agreement with their leader.
“That is a topic that will be of some concern, yes. But we must do this in an orderly and respectful manner.” Briar again tried to rein in her own emotions to address the issues at hand.
“Respectful?” Mino—the troll leader whose purple hair ran out around her tiny form, spilling outside of her balcony as a curtain that covered the imps beneath her—jumped into the conversation with her shrill voice. “I don’t find it respectful that they have some disease running rampant through their home and they haven’t informed anyone of it! What if this thing spreads? What if it crosses into one of our territories? We have opened our borders for trades with the shifters. How do we know it’s not a product of their land that is causing this and it is being transferred all over the world?”
“I can assure you that is not the case,” Kamshi said with a cool demeanor. He, like Briar, had expected the reaction from the others. “The cause of this issue has not yet been shared with the world because we are trying to understand it ourselves. Once we know what we’re dealing with, we will gladly let you all in on the details.”
“How can we trust that?” Mino demanded, and pointed to the empty balcony that sat just to her left. “Where is Akasha? The panther queen just doesn’t show up and we aren’t supposed to mention it? It looks suspicious and you know it does!”
“Are you implying that we have ever been, in any way, untrustworthy?” He stood from his seat and placed his hands on the balcony railing. “What would be the point of us sending out half-assed information to you all? To allow for further speculation and panic? Look at you, you’re supposed to be the leaders of your people, the strongest of your kind, and even you cannot handle yourselves. What do you think your people would do?”
“We have been met with nothing but secrecy and yet you expect us to be calm!” The orc king yelled.
“People, we will get nowhere like this! There must be order.” Briar raised her voice another octave to be heard.
“Order? Right … and what have you, the fairy queen, done about this?” Venetia, the selkie representative, slammed her tail in the pool of water that filled her balcony.
“Excuse me?” Briar could feel it, the rage, disappointment, and disgust boiling to the surface, edged on by her own affinity for fire.
“Your people wanted to be the dominant power, and here you are, at the top, but what the hell are you doing to pr
otect this world?” Venetia splashed again to emphasize her point. The red hair that usually fell around her full face and wide eyes was pulled up into a bun. She pointed her finger out at Briar in accusation. “Hell, there are reports of battles in the Cascades, warlocks seeking control over the world, and just recently, a band of your friends who went into shifter territory. What a coincidence that it was after they left that the reports that everyone is speculating about started. How are we to know that you aren’t the cause of all of this as well?”
“I would watch my tongue if I were you.” Briar could hardly contain herself. One more word and she would lose it.
“Answer the question.” Valky commanded, and it was all she could do not to fly up to his balcony and toss him over the edge.
“You all believe we are the cause? Is that the conclusion you’ve come up with?” She stepped out from behind the podium. “While you sat idly by as the world went up in flames, me and my people were on the forefront! I don’t remember hearing from any of you when Daegal made his presence known! Even now you flinch at just the mentioning of his name! You hear so many rumors. Right now, you report back to me every secret I knew and some I didn’t. Do you mean to tell me not one of you knew he was here? Not one of you saw the destruction he planned? Did any of you step up to solve that problem? No, you cowered away and let us handle it as you always do. We do now, and have always, wanted nothing but the best for this world. We work to ensure that it is safe, that all of you ungrateful beings are safe! Have any of you stopped to recognize the newest portal owner?” She pointed to Mike, who frowned but accepted that it was necessary to her point. He held his chest out proudly as she continued on, “Mike, the King of the Slithers, the people you all turned your back on. We did as well, but I wasn’t afraid to open my eyes to the injustice, the horrible way his people were forced to live, and I am working to correct that wrong, because it is necessary for the wellbeing of this world.”