Jinn (The Immortalem Series Book 1)

by Jessica Cage

  “Yeah, well, it sounds to me like you struck up a deal with some shady people, Mike,” Jinn offered, because the latter was more likely the case.

  “Either way, it got me what I needed, didn't it? Look, do I need to continue to defend myself here? I got you the information, and you know now that it is true. What more do you need? What the hell does it matter how I came about the information? It’s all true, and sitting here debating it isn’t going to change fact to fiction.”

  “One of these days, you’re going to make a deal you aren’t prepared to square up on.” Jinn handed Mike a beer from the bar in the corner of the room, an offer of peace. The man was right. How he came about the information didn’t matter. Nitara was alive and in danger, all that Jinn was concerned with was making sure she survived.

  “Yeah, well, that day has yet to come.” He cracked open the beer and took a big swallow. “Besides, that’s how I get by. Bargains and deals. It’s a different world I live in.”

  “So, we’re headed to the Collective?” Praia asked. “What’s the plan for getting in and out?”

  “We?” Jinn shook his head. “We aren’t going anywhere, you’re staying here.”

  “Oh, come on, Jinn, I can help! When are you going to stop treating me like a child?” She pouted.

  “When you stop making that ridiculous face every time you don’t get your way.” He laughed at the silly way she poked her lips out and made her eyes as big and low as possible to further punctuate her disappointment. “Besides, you’ll need to stay with Sybella. We can’t leave her without protection. Mike and Briar will come with me.”

  On the couch, sipping on a mint tea, Sybella smiled.

  “Whoa, Jinn, man, I said I would deliver information, I never said anything about going to the Collective with you.” Mike put his beer down. “I mean, that place is crazy, and it gets worse every day as far as I know.”

  “No, you said you would help me, and if you want me to keep my end of the bargain, you’re going to gear your ass up.” He turned to Briar. “Any objections from you?”

  “Nope. I have my orders, as long as you require my help, I’m here.” She threw her hands up in the air, a sign of defeat, then went to the bar to make her own drink. Scotch, neat. She knocked back a glass and then poured another.

  “Good. Well, rest up, do whatever you need to do to get prepared. We leave in the morning.” Jinn stomped out of the room and headed to his bedroom, leaving the four alone. Not long after he left, Briar was snipping at Mike, Praia was complaining to Sybella, and the stocked bar was quickly emptied of all its contents.

  He drowned out the murmurs of the others with his own internal debate. Questions of his love for Nitara—would she be the same as he remembered? She looked the same in the vision, the inner light of her joy faded, but that would happen to anyone trapped in a cage and held hostage by witches. How long had she been that way? How many years did she spend chained up while he roamed free, refusing to get involved? If he had taken a side, might he have been able to save her? So many questions flooded his mind, but he knew that no amount of speculation could change what had occurred. All he could do was move forward. She was alive and he would find her.

  He laid his head on the satin-covered pillow. The shower did nothing to ease his mind. There was a burning at the pit of his stomach, the searing feeling of regret, of loss, and of heartbreak. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to sleep. He needed the rest. Nitara was waiting for him.

  “Nitara,” he whispered through the dark, his words barely audible. There wasn't time; he had barely made it to her and once the unconscious man was found, stashed in a nearby closet, they'd know he was there. He’d taken out several men on his way down to the dungeon she was kept in.

  “Jinn?” She looked confused as her ears recognized the sound of a voice she hadn't heard for over two thousand years. “Is that you? Heavens, I'm going crazy.” She moved to her knees and prayed for her sanity.

  “Nitara, yes, it’s me.” He moved closer into the light so she could see him, dark skin illuminated by soft yellow glow of candlelight.

  “How?” She pulled herself back to her feet, leaning against bars that seared her flesh, causing her to jump back. “How are you here?”

  “It doesn't matter, I’m here now. I've come to get you out of here.” He continued his approach and as he did she smiled, eyes wide and grin full, but something felt off. He reached for the lock, but her eyes darted frantically from the restraints to him, causing him to pause. Something was wrong.

  “What are you doing? Open it!” she pleaded for him to continue. “They will come. You have to get me out of here!”

  “Nitara, are you okay?” He took a half step back as he tried to get a gauge on the woman in front of him.

  “Yes, of course, my love,” the desperation was heavy in her voice. “Now, just open the door, and let me free.”

  “Nitara …” Sweat formed at his brow—the heat in the dungeon was heavy, moist, and it gave the space the smell of old wet towels. He considered their situation, and the woman in front of him. As much as he wanted to let her out, something in his gut told him not to. She wasn’t the woman he remembered.

  “Open the door, Jinn.” Her tone softened, she tried to lull him into giving her what she wanted.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Again he questioned her, needing reassurance that he was doing the right thing.

  “Open the door!” she yelled and slammed her hands against the cage, burning her flesh again. “Dammit! Let me out!”

  “Nitara—”

  “You leave me all this time, alone! Now you won’t let me free? Why are you here?” she screamed as she pounded her fist against the metal bars. “I will kill you. The moment I am out of here, I will hunt you down! Do you hear me? I will make you pay for this! You did this to me!”

  “I …” He backed away from the cage. She wasn’t who he thought she was; she wasn’t who he wanted her to be.

  “Jinn!” Never had she spoken his name with such hatred, or with such contempt.

  Just as he turned to walk away from her, the love who wasn’t as he remember, the lock fell away from the cage; the broken metal device clanked against the concrete floor. The door swung open with a high-pitched squeak of the hinges. He turned back just in time to see Nitara lunge for him, hands poised for his throat.

  The dream shook him, as he sat up in his bed, covered in beads of sweat. Nitara, what if she didn’t want him to come? What if she hated him? He wiped the sweat from his brow and lifted his hair from his neck to allow air to flow against his skin. He stood and looked at the king-sized mattress which now held a full impression of his body, outlined in sweat. He was going to need another shower.

  The soft tap on the door wasn’t enough to pull him from his thoughts, neither was the low whisper of his name when she entered the room. It was the warmth of her hand as it touched his arm which snapped him into the present, moments before he nearly killed her. His vision cleared and he saw the frightened face of Praia, his large hand, dark flesh, in contrast to the pale tones of her throat.

  “Praia?” He questioned if he held the fae girl he cared for, or the shrew of an ex that had just attacked him.

  “Jinn, please.” She pulled at his hand, but when he refused to let up, she placed her hand on his wrist and emitted a small shock, just strong enough to make him release her.

  “Praia, I’m sorry, are you okay?” He stepped away from her, as a feeling of shame washed over him. For the second time in a matter of hours, he’d attacked someone he cared for.

  “Yeah. I’m fine.” She rubbed her throat and coughed. “What the hell was that about?”

  “I’m sorry, I had a dream, it just really messed up my head.” He grabbed an elastic band from the bedside table and used it to tie his hair up.

  “Guilty conscience making you dream your wife wants you dead. Could you be anymore stereotypical right now?” She kept a safe distance from him. Jinn knew she cared for him, but the
man did just have his hand wrapped around her throat! “That is why I came here. I had a feeling you were struggling with this. Now, had I known you would try to take my life, I would have stayed in my room.”

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you, are you okay?” He examined her neck. There was a small bruise that would likely heal in a few hours, but he frowned knowing he’d hurt her. “Shit, does it hurt a lot?”

  “I’m fine. You wanna talk about it? Your dream, what happened?”

  “Praia, I just … it's been a long time since I saw Nitara, and this, who we are now, it's my fault.” His regret was unending. “Had I listened to her, we would have lived normal lives. We would have had a family, children. We would have grown old together on our little farm, happily. I just had to get involved, I had to interfere. It is because of my actions that she has spent an eternity in servitude and is now locked up like an animal!”

  “What do you mean? What happened?” She sat on the foot of the bed. “How is any of this your fault, Jinn?”

  “We weren’t always like this, Nitara and I. We were normal … well, close to it. We were witches actually. We left our coven at a young age though, choosing to live simpler lives. The coven was starting to look for power, to expand territory, and it was something neither of us wanted. Instead of joining the expansion, we built our home, a dairy farm, not far from a local town. We were one of the few in the area, so things were really good. We were happy. Nitara wanted to use our magic a little as possible, and I agreed to this. Until the nearby towns began to be attacked by something wicked, a dark evil. I refused to sit by and watch as they all suffered. Nitara asked me to stay out of it, begged me to. I didn’t listen.

  “I thought I could save them, protect them. I had no idea what was really plaguing their lands. It was the darkest magic I had ever encountered. I managed to get away and ran home. I should have never returned to her. It followed me and it cursed us, making us what we are now.” He fell back, sitting on the edge of the king-sized host of his nightmares.

  “You've been blaming yourself all this time?” She sat next to him. Jinn had calmed, and he knew that she could feel that shift. The girl had a weird way of understanding him like no one else had been able to. He was thankful for her, because she kept him grounded.

  “Who else is there to blame?”

  “I don't know … maybe the asshole who terrorized a village then decided to curse you for attempting to save it?”

  “She may not want to see me. She may not love me anymore.”

  “Yeah, that's a definite possibility, but we both know that it's not going to stop you from going over there, kicking some witch ass, and doing whatever the hell it takes to save her. You couldn't turn your back on complete strangers, people who meant nothing to you. There is no way you're walking away from this.”

  “You're right. Backing down from this isn’t an option.”

  “I know. Now, we need to get our shit together, Jinn. We need a real plan,” Praia spoke, still counting herself in on the mission she had already been formally uninvited to. “Mike may be able to get us to the right place, but something tells me it isn't going to be as simple as knocking on the door and asking for Nitara. Whoever has her is powerful enough to contain her. A djinn just like you. Sybella said you heard a witch chanting a spell. We need to figure out what it was.”

  “I believe I know what it was, the spell. I wasn’t sure at first, thought it was my mind playing games on me, but I've heard it before.” The sun was coming up soon, the last of night slipping away as the horizon turned a bright orange announcing the next morning. “Hoped like hell to never hear it again.”

  “What was it? Where do you know it from? That can help us piece this together, at least give us some indication of origin.”

  “It was used on us after we were made into djinns. It was how we became bound to our vessels.” Turning his back on the sun, he looked at Praia whose eyes were wide with excitement, calculating their next move. “They are trying to bind her.”

  “That wouldn’t be necessary, unless …” Praia lifted her eyes. For the first time since they’d known each other they shared the expression; it was one of hope.

  “She is free,” Jinn finished Praia’s thought, and as unimaginable as he thought it was since he opened the envelope containing her photo, he felt a sense of relief. Nitara was free, no longer bound to her vessel. If he could get to her in time, he could keep it that way.

  “If she is free, that means she doesn't have to do what they wish. They’re trying to bind her again so they can use her powers. Can that be done? Once you’re wished free, can that be taken away?”

  “I don’t know. Hell, we didn't even know that we could be wished free, until I was. There is no precedent for any of this.” He paused, taking his mind back to the vision Sybella gave him. “There were others there, other djinn in cages just like hers. A couple I recognized, friends from my past. Could it be possible that they are all free?”

  “That would make sense. Trap them and keep them contained until you can be sure they must obey you.” Praia was now pacing the floor as her mind calculated the information she’d received. “If they are still working the spells, that means they aren’t bound yet. So why haven't Nitara and the others used their powers to break free? What’s stopping them?”

  “The cages are enchanted. There is some powerful magic at work in there, I could feel it through the vision.”

  “Enchanted cages, powerful magic attempting to bind freed djinns and force them to do its bidding … yeah, this isn’t going to be some cakewalk. Do you think we should call in reinforcements? There are others who would help us.”

  “No, it's already going to be difficult enough with the three of us going. Briar is going to prove difficult to hide.” He shook his head. “I can smell her from here and it gets stronger as the sun continues to rise.”

  “I should be going with you,” Praia insisted, this time without the pouting face.

  “Maybe, but I think we have this covered. Mike has some people on the inside who will help us out once we get there.”

  “You all get to go and save the day while I get the awesome duty of staying behind and babysitting. This is ridiculous!”

  “Praia, I’m sure this is only the beginning of the shit we are going to have to face. Trust me, you will get your chance to kick some ass and save the day.”

  “Just make sure you get back here safely. Do try and keep Briar from killing Mike. Last thing we need on our hands is a murderous fairy.” She headed for the door, stopped, and frowned at the bed. “Oh, and you may want to take a shower and change those sheets before you leave.”

  “Boonie, baby! It's so good to see you!” The chubby man who was wrapped head to toe in tattered fabric meant to hide the appearance of his skin, wobbled up to their group. His full beard helped to further hide his discolored flesh; the sunglasses not only blocked out the sun, but prevented anyone from seeing his yellowed eyes with elongated pupils. He, like so many others, didn’t have the freedom of Mike who stood with a light jacket, and V-neck shirt. The trio had arrived just moments before, having transported from Jinn’s living room where a pouting Praia rolled her eyes at them, to the edges of the Collective. They were on the coast of what was once Tanzania. The smell of the Indian Ocean washed over them.

  “Cole, man!” Mike greeted him with an animated bear hug that lifted the man from the ground. “Thanks for securing a landing zone for us.”

  “No problem, Boonie. Anything for you, my man!”

  “Boonie? Why does he keep calling you that?” Briar gave Mike a side eye full of suspicion. She already lacked trust for the slither and now he was being called by a different name.

  “It's my last name.”

  “Boonie is your last name?” she questioned again, her suspicion of him unfaltering.

  “No, my last name is Boonsfield, Boonie is Cole’s thing. Is that okay with you, that a friend has given me a nickname?” Mike was losing his patience with the
uppity fairy.

  “Cole, nice to meet you,” Jinn interrupted before the two of them could take a simple conversation and turn it into more bickering.

  “Jinn, I’ve heard a lot about you, man. You saved my man’s life.” Cole shook Jinn’s hand and smiled. “I owe you many thanks for that.”

  “Yes, it seems I did, but no thanks is necessary.”

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but we need to make this quick. We don’t have much time to get you in and out of here before the shit hits the fan,” Cole addressed Jinn, instinct telling him that Briar wasn’t as friendly. He kept his distance and ignored her, as she did him.

  “Whats our route?” Mike put his arm around his friend’s shoulder. “Lead the way, captain! We are all eager to get our asses out of here as quickly as possible. This isn’t exactly a hotspot for vacationing.”

  “Underground, of course. These witches are pretty smart, but most of their protection spells are above ground. Only a few have the lower levels spelled, and if you ask me, if anyone is spelling the soil beneath their layer, that is a place you definitely don’t want to be!” Cole wobbled forward about ten feet before reaching down to open a camouflaged hatch. The earth around them was plentiful in its foliage, even in the Ashen—the witches cared for the earth, they protected it as a natural source for not only their magic, but for it's ability to grow. Plants were used for potions, and animals for sacrifice. There were many rituals which depended on the earth around them. It was in their best interest to insure its survival.

  “What is this place?” Briar spoke to Cole for the first time since their arrival.

  “This is safe passage, my dear.” The chubby man waved at the tunnel, presenting it to them. “It’s the best way to get around without being caught by those up above.”

  “It smells like ass,” she mumbled as the air picked up, carrying the stench from the opening out into the field.