Stifled (Summoned Book 2)

by Rainy Kaye

  I'm on my feet and standing in front of her. She turns the blankets over. A tiny squished-up face blinks against the light.

  Eileena says with undeniable elation, “This is Karl's son.”

  The world fades to black. My lips mouth, “What?” but no sound comes out. I put out a hand to steady myself.

  “I thought. . .I thought. . .”

  At least I can speak again, even if nothing coherent.

  “Not mine,” she says. “From his affair. The bloodline, Dim.”

  She sounds like I'm supposed to be happy too. That I should be fuckin' overjoyed they found another master.

  “But. . .he can't. . .”

  “All we needed was the way to summon you.”

  They have a way to summon me? How is that even possible?

  I stumble back a step. I still can't see much, just hazy forms of Ian and Eileena, and that baby in her arms.

  The baby that has the master bloodline. The baby that will be able to summon me as soon as it's old enough to speak. The baby that Eileena is going manipulate for his entire life. Just like she did with Silvia.

  “Lyle thought he would take away my chance at a jinn by taking my vase,” she says. “What irony he sent you to claim it, all by accident.”

  The vase. The one from the pottery shop.

  It is mine.

  My legs collapse. I hit concrete. A sharp pang shoots through my knees. My hand goes to the ground.

  Karl used that vase to summon me. I'm bonded to it.

  Or, I was.

  My vision begins to clear. I squeeze my eyes shut until my head doesn't feel like it's floating anymore. Then I peer up at Eileena.

  “You know Syd freed me, right?”

  Her gaze tears from the baby to look at me. “Who?”

  She doesn't know. Karl must have never told her just how big the Walker-Ballantyne clan is. Not like they all got together for Christmas.

  “Syd, my girlfriend. The one you said I could see.”

  “Sydney, yes. We've been watching her house. I told you this.” Eileena sounds baffled. “Her last name is Ballantyne, not Walker. No relation.”

  “Wrong. Syd is Karl's niece,” I say, cautious. This could end up with Father Karras over there trying to expel my demon. “Syd had the master bond.”

  Eileena stares at me. I can practically see her brain churning behind her eyes.

  At length she says, “That can't be.”

  I nod slowly, pushing up to stand.

  She turns to Ian. “Is Sydney related to Karl?”

  “Yes, ma'am. Operations told me on our way down to Mexico. Figured you knew.”

  She wobbles on her feet. Literally. Enough that Ian pries the bundle of terror from her hands.

  She turns to me. “I thought only—”

  The door bursts open. I jump back.

  Syd and Shadi spring down the stairs.

  “Everyone fuckin' freeze!” It's Syd, waving a pretty impressive gun around.

  Where the hell did she get that?

  Shadi grabs my shoulders from behind and ushers me toward the door. I take a few steps. Syd yells something. I look back as she slams the butt of her gun into Eileena's stomach. Eileena drops with a solid clonk.

  “Wait! Wait!” I try to pull away from Shadi but he yanks me toward the door.

  Ian bounds across the room to place the baby on the cot. Then he lunges at Syd.

  Syd brings up the gun and cracks him across the head. At least she has a proper weapon this time.

  I shove Shadi off me and reach for Syd.

  She waves me away. “Go, go! The truck is outside.”

  Truck?

  Ian arches around her. She turns to follow his moves.

  I dart forward and kick low, into his legs. His knee buckles and hits the ground. He bounces up, turning, and dives after me.

  And we're off. I bolt up the stairs. Shadi is right behind me. I halt two seconds. We're still in the school or whatever it is. The kids are huddled in a corner with one of the women.

  I shake my head and barge out the front door, into the sunlit desert. There's no truck, no vehicle of any kind. I keep running, catching a glimpse of Ian racing after me.

  “Dimitri, over here!”

  It's Shadi.

  I turn, kicking up dust, and veer course toward him. Ian all but screeches to a halt, then doubles around and charges after us. Shadi and I take off together around the building. Come to find out, the playboy can run.

  I say between gasps, “We have to go back for Syd!”

  “She's fine. She's fine.” Shadi is struggling to breathe too.

  “Where the hell is the—”

  Ian screams, cutting me off.

  I skid to a halt and swing around to face him.

  He's dead-still, one arm outstretched. Kalila stands a few yards in front of him. She's wielding her badass scimitar.

  Her voice carries through the open desert: “Does this look familiar, Ian?” She raises the scimitar. “Do you remember using it to summon Hasiba?”

  “Back off, demon!”

  “You didn't back off Hasiba!” Kalila takes a step closer to him. “You killed her!”

  “This has nothing to do with Hasiba,” he says, voice shaking.

  Provoke an angry jinn on a wish. Great idea, jackball.

  Kalila pounces and swings the scimitar, again and again. The blade swipes just out of reach of Ian's stomach. He turns and flees.

  I nudge Shadi. “Split up.”

  He nods and takes off to the right. I head left, circling behind the building and coming out the other side. Ian is tearing through the desert, dirt billowing in his wake. Kalila streaks after him, with the same speed and agility she had in the forest.

  He glances over his shoulder, then picks up his pace.

  I barge in from the side. Shadi is racing from the other direction.

  Ian is whimpering. This is straight out of a nightmare for him. And I can't think of anyone more deserving.

  We close in.

  Ian turns and stumbles backwards a few steps. “Stop! I won't let you bring me to hell!”

  Geez, if he busts out with, “The Power of Christ compels you,” I might actually laugh.

  He glances at Shadi, and then at me. I darken my expression. I have the look perfected. Years of doling out bullets to the brain does that.

  Ian swivels around, takes two steps, and halts. Fahim looms in front of him, with an expression as warm as a slab of marble. The world goes quiet, and I get the distinct impression Shadi and Kalila are giving Fahim some room.

  Ian contorts his face, takes a few stiff-legged steps forward, then charges Fahim. Without even blinking, Fahim clothesline him. Ian lands on his back with a thump.

  Kalila moves in, stalking him like a predator. It's practiced, a sharp contrast to her delicate features.

  She is the epitome of the genie bond.

  Ian scrambles to his feet, facing her. With a choked whimper, he takes a step back.

  Kalila's fingers tighten on the scimitar. She squeezes her eyes shut, trying to get up the courage. I know how it feels to hold the murder weapon.

  A gun clicks. I turn to Ian.

  “You won't take me,” he says with resolve. “I won't let you.”

  He shoves the barrel of his gun into his mouth. I cover my face with my arm and turn away. A gunshot explodes. A thump sounds behind me.

  I peek over my arm at Kalila.

  She's staring ahead of her, at Ian, lips parted. Then she drops the scimitar and runs.

  “Kalila, wait!” Shadi dashes after her.

  Syd calls my name. I face the school and put up my hand to shield my eyes from the sun.

  She races toward me, her shoes slipping on the dirt as she comes to a halt. Her eyes are fixed forward, on Ian's body, no doubt. I still haven't looked.

  “He deserved it,” I say.

  Her expression tightens, and she throws herself against me in a hug. I wrap my arms around her and pull her in closer.
We stand tight in our embrace despite the heat or the fact a dead body behind us is already beginning to smell a bit funky. Fresh corpses and sunlight don't go well together.

  “You look awful.” She pulls away and brushes back my hair.

  I tingle a little. Before I can reply, I catch sight of someone half-running, half-stumbling toward us. It's Eileena.

  Syd turns to follow my stare. “God damn this bitch.”

  She takes a step toward Eileena.

  “Hold up,” I say, grabbing the back of her shirt.

  Eileena pants and uses her hand to fan her face. Her eyes focus on Syd.

  She asks between gasps, “Is it true?”

  Syd looks back at me with raised eyebrows.

  “She didn't know you are related to Karl,” I say.

  “Oh. . .” Her face relaxes, and she looks back to Eileena. “Silvia and I are cousins. My father and brother were killed, so I was next in line when. . .she died.”

  Eileena swallows hard. “I never knew. . .But why would you. . ?”

  It's like the words are too hard for her to say. Maybe because she can't comprehend all of this yet.

  “It was the right thing to do,” Syd replies with a shrug.

  And it's all that simple for Syd. The question that baffles more than fifty masters, the answer that torments more than fifty jinn. Yet Syd could never pretend it was more complicated than that.

  Despite how incredibly bad timing it is, I take Syd's hand and guide her to face me. She pulls her attention from Eileena and looks at me with questioning eyes.

  “Tell me what you want,” I say, and I've never needed an answer more than now. “Please.”

  “What do you mean?” Her voice is soft.

  “I do everything you ask, but it's not enough. I don't know what else you want me to do for you.”

  She smiles, and there's so much adoration behind it, I almost doubt it's meant for me. “I don't want anything else, Dim. Not for me. I really did think you would be happy to find other jinn, but it didn't turn out at all like I expected.” She straightens the front of my jacket. “I want you to figure out what you need from life to be content.”

  “You,” I say. “I just need you.”

  “No, not just me. That's the problem, the reason you wind up acting like you're still in the bond. It's a process. We'll figure it out, for both of us.”

  Just like that, everything feels on the right track again.

  She pecks me on the mouth. “Can we go home now?”

  “We can, but don't we need to find the others?” I stretch to see into the distance. “Where did they go?”

  Eileena grimaces. “So the plan is off?”

  For the first time, her tone addresses me like a real person. Like someone with the ability—and freedom—to make choices. I'm not sure how to process it. Like most things lately. Syd's probably right: I need to start figuring out how.

  “What plan?” Syd scowls. “What I miss?”

  “I have the same question for you,” I say with a laugh. “Fahim? Really?”

  “Of course I brought Fahim.” Her face sparkles with the grin of a daydreamer. “He's like The Rock of jinn.”

  She has a point.

  “Look,” I say, “Eileena is going to keep Kalila's ring until she can figure out how to transfer the bond.”

  “Transfer the bond? Why not just free them?” She throws her hands in the air. “What the hell is wrong with you people?”

  Eileena tugs on the collar of her dress. “Without the master bond, I wouldn't know how to free them anyway. I've spent so much money trying to get information from JiNet on how these bonds work, but I didn't learn enough.”

  I give a half-frown. “Do you think Ian was, just maybe, using you? I'm sure there were hefty donations involved.”

  She lowers her head.

  “It's over now, either way,” I say, and then sigh. “Let's go get that ring.”

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Syd glares between me and Eileena. Then settles on me. I'm in trouble. And way more intrigued by the prospect than I should be. Her eyes flash. “So, we're just going to hand off Kalila to this madwoman?”

  Eileena scoffs.

  Syd throws eye-daggers at her. “Shut it, cupcake.” She turns back to me. “Well, Dim?”

  “Well, what?” I start walking.

  She follows after me. “Are you seriously going to give her Kalila?”

  “Well, no,” I say. “I can't give her Kalila. Have you met Kalila? She carries a pointy weapon. No way I could pick her up.”

  Syd growls. “Are you giving her the ring?”

  “What? No. That would be like marrying my mother.” I glance over my shoulder. Eileena is trailing behind us, grumbling and yanking her dress off the brush. “By the way, that woman takes grounding pretty seriously.”

  “Dim! Stop fuckin' with me.”

  “I don't wanna. You're not saving yourself for marriage now, are you? Because that ruins at least four of my most favorite pastimes. . .”

  Syd continues to yell at me as we approach the truck. It's a black four-by-four lifted Tundra with a light bar on the front. Shadi stands next to it, hugging Kalila against him. Her face is buried in his chest. Fahim poses at the front of the truck, arms crossed and holding the scimitar.

  Warmth spreads through my chest until I'm grinning.

  I can't wait to see what the rest of my life holds.

  ***

  On the return trip from Mexico to California, Kalila rides with Shadi and Fahim in the truck. Syd and I go with Eileena. I claim the backseat for a little extra space to stretch out.

  From behind the steering wheel, Eileena says, “It's going to take eleven or twelve hours to reach L.A. Maybe we should stop to rest after we cross into Arizona.”

  Syd flips her hand in dismissal.

  “He doesn't look so good back there,” Eileena says.

  Syd practically radiates hatred as she glowers at Eileena. “Oh, now you're worried about him.”

  I'm too exhausted to be appalled at our new alliance. I'll freak out about it after breathing no longer hurts enough to make me lightheaded.

  Eileena glances at me as she cruises along the Mexico 15. “Where are we meeting up with the jinn?”

  Syd starts to make a biting comeback, but I interrupt.

  “We aren't. They're going back to their masters, and Shadi will call Syd when he can get away from Fiona again.”

  “Where are you staying at?”

  Syd's head snaps up. “Don't you know? Did your henchmen not inform you?”

  “I had lost track of you until I heard you crashed the divan party,” Eileena says.

  She's surprisingly cool despite how Syd is itching to strangle her. Then again, she did live a quarter of a century with Karl. She must have tempered her reaction to hostility after the first half-dozen tortured hostages or so.

  “We aren't staying anywhere. We'll get a hotel.” I try to adjust in the seat, but my joints burn, and I barely have enough energy to push myself up. “Syd, where's our car?”

  “I ditched it in a parking lot in L.A.”

  “So you mean it's impounded.” I sigh and let myself slide down in the seat again.

  “I have a house outside of Los Angeles,” Eileena says. “Well, I guess you knew that. You can stay there until Shadi calls.”

  Syd scoffs. “We'd rather chance it with the bums on Venice Beach.”

  Was she this lippy when I met her?

  “Syd,” I say, pleading. “It's only for a few hours. Eileena, you don't intend to chain me in the basement, do you?”

  She glances back at me, smile fidgeting on her lips. “The house doesn't even have a basement.”

  “Attic? Kitchen pantry?”

  Syd turns in her seat to face me. “Are you seriously going to walk into this hag's trap?”

  “I'm useless to her,” I say.

  “Not useless” Eileena says. “I still need you to bring me Kalila.”

  “Well, I disagree.” Syd
huffs and drops back down in her seat. “I disagree with all of this.”

  With the last of my energy, I reach over to play with the back of Syd's hair. She lifts her arm behind her and strokes her fingers over my hand, and the simple motion is full of fear and urgency.

  I haven't forgotten I'm in pain because Eileena ordered three men to kick the shit out of me while I was drugged and tied up. I'm just too tired to run. We need to get back to Los Angeles, find our car, and figure out what to do next. Until then, we all have to get along for a few more hours.

  The warmth of Syd's hand on mine lulls my brain. My arm slides off the back of the seat as I slip into pleasant darkness.

  I snap back awake and shove myself up in the seat. “Wait, did we leave a baby in the basement?”

  “No, don't worry,” Eileena says, “I left him with the orphanage mothers.”

  “Orphanage? What if they, I don't know, adopt him out? Do they know he's Karl's son?”

  “Karl's what?” Syd's voice is shrill. “Karl had a son?”

  “Yes, Karl's son was born right after. . .the incident at the mansion.” Eileena hesitates. “It's not that sort of orphanage, Dimitri.”

  My brain tries to wrap around what she is saying. How many kinds of orphanages are there? What makes this one different? It looked like I would expect any orphanage in a poverty stricken part of a country to look like. That is, except the sign on the wall.

  Vivo Para Servir. I live to serve.

  “Those are jinn,” I say, but the concept seems far away.

  “JiNet decided to streamline the process,” Eileena says. “Raise them all under one roof and then return them to their master when the time came.”

  “Those are genie babies? You take them away from their parents?” Syd sounds like she's going to throttle Eileena for real now. “To brainwash them?”

  Eileena puts up one hand. “Not me! This is something new they're trying with the next generation. I don't approve of it. I don't approve of a lot of things JiNet does.”

  “Well, we have to go back and get those kids,” Syd says, matter-of-fact.

  I pat her shoulder. “One thing at a time, Joan of Arc. Let's figure out how to save Kalila first, then we'll come up with a plan for the orphanage.”

  But even as I try to calm my battle-ready Saint of the Jinn, I see a beacon of hope. If the next generation of genie are gathered together in an orphanage, we just might be able to end this madness once and for all.