“Do your bidding?”
“Do my bidding,” she repeated as her eyes widened again in a maniac expression. “And my bidding is to sacrifice all these silly kids just like they did when the sun would turn black in displeasure and demand human blood as a tribute. The apu was hesitant but not as hesitant as you would expect. After all, he is a creature who was once given human tributes himself.”
“But you’re not really threatening Nate, so why would he—”
At this, Wilcox made a mock pouting expression. “You mean would I kill my little cousin? Without hesitation.”
“Thanks, dear cuz,” Nate said with venom in his own voice.
“So the solution is simple,” I said. “Remove you, remove the threat—”
That’s when the worst thing happened.
From behind me I felt a powerful force rip Nate off of me. I turned just in time to see Deirdre standing over Nate, her broadsword raised over her head.
“You dare harm milady?!” she cried out.
“No, Deirdre—don’t!”
But my words were drowned out by the sound of a glass shattering noise.
Wilcox’s rings were all broken, releasing an army of angry, over-protective jinn onto the party.
Chapter 22
Changelings, Hyenas, Warriors and Angels
What happened next was nothing short of awe-inspiring, chaotic and terrifying. Thirty-one jinn burst out of Wilcox’s hands and belt. Thirty-one creatures—and not all of them were guard dogs like from the library. There were all types: a monkey-looking creature the size of a wendigo, a monster with a human head on a body the shape of a horse-sized chicken, a ten-foot-long ferret with a scorpion’s tail. Hell, I even saw a couple salmon bigger than park benches swimming through the air.
Thirty-one creatures of all shapes and sizes. Thirty-one creatures, each possessing immense power. Thirty-one creatures all hell-bent on doing one thing.
Protect Nate.
I expected the jinn to just go on an all-out rampage, but they didn’t. Instead, they hovered (well, those that could hover; others leered, crouched or just stood vigilantly, dozens of tiny eyes staring in every which direction) around Nate and Wilcox, employing the dead fountain as an ad hoc base of operations.
Legend said that whoever wore the broken crystal controlled the jinn. But Wilcox didn’t have the power to actually release the jinn. That was Sal. His protective magic would have forced them out in order to protect Nate. Nevertheless, now that they were released, they were under Wilcox’s control … and as long as her commands didn’t threaten Nate, they would do her bidding.
Wilcox looked around, turned to me and said, “This wasn’t how I imagined this going down.”
I lifted an eyebrow behind my cherub mask and scanned the crowd behind me. All eyes were on us—not surprising, given that thirty-one creatures suddenly appeared out of thin air. Deirdre was behind me in her ninja costume, her broadsword at the ready, but she was smart enough to bide her time and wait for an opening. The only eyes that didn’t seem to be on us were those of Egya and Mergen, who were nowhere in sight. I could only hope that they were up to something useful.
“I was going for more gravitas,” Wilcox explained. “Ah well, too late now.” Fishing around in her jacket, she pulled out the obsidian blade and pointed it at the crowd. Speaking to her guard creatures, she said, “Make sure nobody escapes.”
Jinn went every which way and the screams and panic began in earnest. I heard the loudest shouts of alarm toward the edges of the courtyard, which surprised me. I looked up and saw that someone had slid thick mesh fences across all the exits leading into the surrounding building. No escaping the mess hall, apparently. I don’t even know how they managed to install sliding cage doors like that without anyone noticing. These guys were good.
Then Wilcox pointed at the cleared-off alter on the fountain and said, “Bring me the virgin.”
A nasnas (a creature that looked like a man, if you cut him in half from navel to forehead) hopped through the crowd and picked up a large shirtless boy dressed like a Roman legioneer. “Hey,” he cried out. “I’m not a virgin! I’ve done it. Lots.”
Oh, brother. If it wasn’t so horrible, it would have been funny. But as it stood, seeing the terror in that kid’s eyes, there was nothing ha-ha about this moment.
I turned to Nate. “Come on, Nate—this won’t bring the gods back. This can’t.”
“You … you don’t know that.”
“Indeed,” Wilcox said with a laugh. “No one does. We’ll just have to try and then wait and see.”
The nasnas placed the large “virgin” on the tabernacle, and Wilcox commanded it to tie him up, handing the nasnas an ancient rope. As he was being strapped to the stone, Wilcox teased her sacrifice-to-be with the obsidian blade.
Turning to the crowd, she cried out, “I know what many of you are thinking. How do I know something that so many scholars, philosophers, scientists, politicians and theologians don’t know? The answer is simple—they know, too. They just don’t have the balls to say it.
“The gods left because we disappointed them.”
Then she began chanting. One hand on the blade, which she slowly raised above her head. The other on her gun.
“Nate,” I heard a voice say behind me. “Are you doing this?” Justin walked up behind me, perfectly in tact, not a single jinni attacking him. And then it hit me that none of Nate’s circle of friends would be harmed, just like the hex. The apu’s spell wouldn’t allow it. Five fewer people to worry about.
Justin walked past me, panting heavily. He had obviously been running. “Tell me she’s not telling the truth, Nate. Tell me you have nothing to do with this.”
Nate didn’t move as Wilcox continued her chant. Justin took another step forward, but two jinn—one resembling Swamp Thing, the other an actual dinosaur—positioned themselves so that he couldn’t progress. They didn’t attack him, mind you, but they didn’t let him through, either.
“Come on,” he said, “we can’t let her do this. This isn’t right. This isn’t right!”
But Nate’s expression stayed the same. He didn’t move. Nothing changed.
Justin wiped away a tear from frustration. “Why is this happening?”
“Because of me,” Sal said, his hollow voice somehow piercing the screams of all those being corraled by the jinn like cattle.
Justin gave him a curious look. “You?”
Sal nodded. “My spell. These creatures emerged because Nate was threatened. And she possesses the rings.” He pointed at Wilcox, who laughed in agreement. “As long as she does, they will obey her.”
“Then … turn it off,” Justin said.
“I … I can’t. I am an apu. My magic demands that I protect those I love.”
“And do you not love them?” Justin said, gesturing to the roiling crowd all around them.
Sal looked around and shook his head. “I tried, but none of them have accepted me. Not like you and Nate. They give me strange looks and speak to me with trembling voices. They’re afraid of me, and because of that fear, they keep their distance.” Sal’s eyes turned from their usual crisp sky blue to a stormy gray.
“And this will make that better?” Justin shook his head. “This isn’t right, Sal. If you can’t love them, then at least feel empathy for them. Protect them, too.”
I could see what Justin was doing—he was trying to get the apu to extend his protection spell. For a moment I thought that it just might work, but then Sal shook his head, a cloudy tear falling from his face. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“Fine,” Justin said. Showing exactly why he was the star of the football team, he faked past the two jinn and ran up to Nate. “If you can’t protect everyone, then maybe you can find it in your heart to choose.”
Then Justin did something that I will admire for the rest of my life. Knowing full well what would happen, he walked right up to Nate and punched him.
Right in the nose.
; Man, what I wouldn’t give to be the one to punch that kid in the nose.
Deirdre glanced over at me, arching one eyebrow.
“What?” I said. “It’s the Truth.”
Where was Mergen when I needed him?
Nate fell down as if in slow-motion, and before his butt could hit the ground with a thump, I heard a sound that could only be described as rolling thunder … rolling closer and closer to us.
“Shit!” I yelled out. “Justin!”
In one fluid motion, I slid between the dinosaur jinni’s legs and tackled Justin, pushing him behind me just as a dozen jinn turned on him, seeking to protect Nate. “Get behind me!” I pulled out my dirk and waited.
The jinn charged forward.
They would have to get through me first if they wanted Justin.
There were far too many for one ex-vampire, of course, but I figured I could cut down a few of them before they’d be able to get through me. At that moment, Deirdre appeared at my side and I realized that we might be able to dispatch more than a few before they eventually overcame us.
As far as last stands, this wasn’t the worst way to go.
I readied myself, gritting my teeth behind my mask, just as my father might have once done.
But the jinn didn’t attack.
Instead, they hovered about in confusion, staring at both Justin and Nate.
The jinn had been paralyzed by indecision.
Seems the apu wouldn’t let them hurt anyone in his charge … and this was something he took very seriously. Seems that even knowing his friend had used him and the pain and suffering that this had caused, he still could not let harm fall upon him. Say what you will about Sal—once he was your friend, he was your friend for life.
But at least the jinn weren't attacking anyone. Thank the GoneGods for small miracles.
Justin, standing behind us, cried out, “Come on. You coward! Come on!” But he didn’t try to get at Nate again.
“Nate,” I called over my shoulder, still facing the confused jinn. “You know this isn’t right. All you have to do is say one word and this can all stop.”
Wilcox’s chanting got louder as the obsidian blade rose higher in her fist. She was going to kill that poor kid any second now, and I was stuck on the far side of the fountain, surrounded by monstrous jinn, powerless to stop her.
I might have been powerless … but the Truth wasn’t.
Without warning, a hail of arrows flew at Wilcox. I turned to see Mergen lumbering into view at a speed that shouldn’t be possible for someone so fat. His bow was out and he was shooting arrows with a speed and accuracy that wasn’t only divine in nature—it was also very badass.
Mergen must have been seven feet tall now, and just as wide, his Santa costume ripping at the seams. He looked like a Jolly Ol’ Nick version of the Incredible Hulk. I guess the Truth of everyone’s terror became an all-you-can-eat foie gras–style buffet for him, literally funneling nourishment into his being. He grew with every cry, every scream, and his size and speed made him the most formidable warrior on the field.
But as accurate and fast as his arrows were, the jinn were faster. They caught every arrow before any could hit Wilcox. Not that this deterred Mergen any. He just kept them coming.
A thought occurred to me. Every single jinn was occupied stopping his typhoon of arrows.
A diversion. Hell yeah, Mergen!
I jumped up onto the fountain, skirting all the decorations and jinn toward the side with the tabernacle. Slicing off the tail of the ferret-scorpion jinni, I jumped on the poor sacrificial legioneer and struck at Wilcox. The ferret-scorpion tried to grab me with its paws, but it was too late. I was already up in the air again. But before I could make contact with Wilcox, two jinn zipped up between us, protecting her from mortal danger.
Mortal danger—but not pain. I brought down my dirk on the only exposed part of her—the hand that held the obsidian blade.
I missed. Sort of. I had been aiming to cut her hand clear off, but because of the angle, all I managed to do was cut through her thumb, the hilt of her dagger stopping my sword from making a clean cut.
Still, I severed her thumb. Anyone with opposable thumbs will tell you that you need a thumb to sacrifice a human.
Wilcox cried out in pain just as three jinn came on me. I was sure it was only a matter of seconds before they disemboweled me for my little maneuver, but instead, they softened my fall, gently putting me on the floor.
“What the—?” I started.
“You are willing to die to protect them,” I heard a voice echo.
I looked up to see the apu crying tears of confusion. He knelt down over me, sending a shifting dust of stone around us.
“Yes …?” I said.
“Then you are the real protector of this realm. Not I,” he said, and his impossible sky-blue eyes became gray and sullen, matching his stoney skin. “I surrender this place to you.”
“No more spell?” I said.
“No more spell,” the apu said, lowering his head.
“No more spell? You idiots!” Wilcox said, grabbing her bleeding hand. “You served your purpose. The jinn are free from their bounds of protection, and still under my control.”
“Not all of them,” Egya said.
In all the confusion, I didn’t see him sneaking up behind her. Egya wasn’t only silent, he was practically invisible—I had no idea how he got past all those jinn defenses. Until it hit me: he’d approached without the intention of hurting Wilcox, the jinn’s new sole master. He was just some silent kid moving in this direction—that raised no alarms, didn’t set off any defenses. His willpower to control his thoughts was incredible. How could he be so disciplined?
I could learn a lot from that kid.
He no longer wore his ridiculous ghost costume, but instead was shirtless, a Ngbaka throwing knife at his waist. He held a Ngombe sword in one hand, its looping tips looking like the scythe’s evil twin, and his other hand was held aloft, holding something that glinted in the light.
Then I realized what he was up to. He held Wilcox’s thumb in his hand, the crystal ring still on the flesh. Pulling it off and letting the thumb drop to the courtyard floor, he gracefully slid it onto his own finger and said in a tone far too casual for such an awesome move, “Jinn—bring me her belt.”
In a whirl, a giant hawk circled Wilcox and faster than you could say, Holy sh—, the belt was in Egya’s hand.
Wilcox knew she was done. There was only one move left for her to do, and the bitch did it. Raising her nine fingers with seventeen rings, she cried out, “Kill them! Kill them all!”
That set them off. Oh, GoneGods, did it ever.
Jinn went every which way at once—lunging on humans as they did. I watched in horror as teeth and claws and talons (and scales, in the case of the giant salmon) lashed out at totally shocked humans, and that’s when I realized there was no way to get out of this without casualties. Wilcox may only have control of half of the jinn, but that was still enough to cause mayhem and confusion.
The monkey jinni lunged at two kids who might have been dressed like dark elves (but then again, might have just been dressed goth). I leapt up and stabbed the creature in the back. It writhed in pain and turned to face me, twisting its long skeletal talon to strike my face. But I was ready for that. Ducking under its swing, I took advantage of its momentum to thrust my dirk into its neck.
It squirmed and tried to screech, but its cries of agony only forced fire-yellow blood out of its neck wound faster.
I managed to pull my dirk from its corpse and stay relatively unscathed.
One down—sixteen to go.
In the carnage, I saw Deirdre swinging her broadsword in defense as she ushered students across the courtyard. She wasn’t trying to kill any of the jinn, but rather place herself between them and the students. I suppose you could say she had pledged her sword arm to the entire student body. A student body that had been less than kind to her and all Others. In that moment, I f
elt a surge of pride for my fae roommate.
I also caught a glimpse of Egya. He was commanding the jinn under his control to protect the innocent. He, too, wasn’t going for the kill, using his long arms and powerful swing to protect those who were trying to run.
Mergen continued his barrage of arrows at Wilcox, filling the three jinn protecting her like pincushions.
But the three of them could only cover so much. This wasn’t going to go well, unless—
As I watched Mergen shoot another arrow, which lodged itself in the tiny forearm of the tyronasaurus rex, I saw Wilcox pull Nate away, through the crazed crowd, flanked the whole while by a swimming salmon. As she reached a far exit, the mesh door slid open just long enough for her to yank Nate through before slamming shut again.
She was taking him to McConnel Hall.
Evidently, she thought she’d watch the chaos unfold from the relative safety of the inside.
Remember how I’d said that, while certain ex-Others had lost their magical abilities, they still retained a certain amount of latent skill? Sure, I didn’t have a taste for blood anymore, but I’d always be a master at kung fu. Witches lost their powers to cast spells, but they could still use talismans they’d already imbued with magic. Werehyenas … well, I wasn’t quite sure what Egya could do.
Point is, I was determined to follow Wilcox and Nate, and a simple caged door wasn’t going to stop me. A couple hundred years ago, I developed a pretty kickass ability to scale just about any building wall. Castles were my specialty. So this courtyard’s perimeter walls weren’t going to pose any challenge.
I left the battle to rage on without me, quickly scaling the mesh cage and using it to launch myself to the overhanging awning above. Pulling myself onto that, I leapt to the other side of the roof and, without thinking of my own safety, propelled myself into the air.
Yeah. It was pretty awesome.
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