Jinn

by Jessica Cage

  “You think so?” Jax turned to the djinn. He knew exactly who he was. “I take it you have firsthand knowledge of the warlock.”

  “What do you think he promised those witches who are helping him now? They are no more than slaves, doing a continuous spell to keep his prisoners there. The moment they are not needed, he will toss them aside. I’ve seen it before.” Jinn looked to his two companions, djinns like himself. Created and discarded because Daegal sought to create something, or someone stronger.

  “You have?” Jax dug deeper. The better he understood their enemy, the better chance he had at finding a way to defeat him.

  “Yes. After he turned us, we were made to stay with him.” Bruto stepped forward, placing a hand on Jinn’s shoulder. “I can’t erase the memories of the things he did, and the people he used, all in the name of gaining more power. This man is ruthless, your Cast will likely not survive this.”

  “I can’t say I care if Cast survives.” Jax laughed. If he had his way, the ice dragon would have been taken out a long time ago. “What happened? How did you get free?”

  “Luck, a happy mistake, whatever you want to call it.” Jinn shrugged, recounting in his mind the day they were stolen. “He lost us, the vessels containing us were all taken. In retrospect, you’d think he would have been more careful, but I think the power got to his head. He thought he was untouchable. It was through a series of thieving, bargaining, and bribery that we all went our separate ways. For me, it was decades before someone realized I was inside the vessel. There was nothing we could do about it. It seems he has created more, or at least found a way to trap others that were already out there.”

  “You’re saying he doesn’t honor his deals?” Briar asked.

  “Unless he has turned a new leaf, which I highly doubt, no, he doesn't,” Rosie muttered, and rolled her eyes which told Jinn that she was ready for the conversation to be over. She, like anyone else who knew the warlock, hated the reminder of her creator. He knew that it was all she could do to not think of the man who stole her happy life away from her.

  “Sucks for Cast, but we have to stop this guy. Something tells me that once he takes out your people, he isn’t going to stop there.” Jax was reconsidering his position of hands off. If the warlock in question had created beings of such powerful magic, there was no telling what he would do. It meant that the dragons wouldn’t be safe from him. No one would be.

  “Looks like we’re in this together.” Briar smiled at the man she hoped to someday be able to call her friend again.

  “Just like old times, huh? Guess I should introduce the team.” He turned to the squad of men standing behind him. With each introduction, the man whose name he called stepped forward. “Here we have five of the best we have to offer you. Joe is a great strategist, Rick is a fighter, strong and fearless. Brandon is quick, the fastest we’ve got. The twins, Marcus and Maximus, are like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”

  “You give us your best?” Briar questioned. She’d expected a standard escort, not the elite lineup he’d introduced.

  “Well, you’re a powerful entity yourself. We need someone who can keep up with you.” He winked, and she caught his meaning. The dragons didn’t trust them. The men were the best because only their best had a chance of taking down the fairy queen should she step out of line. “I will meet up with you all later, I know the route you’re taking. Unfortunately, there is only one open path that will allow access to Cast’s island. I will meet you before you enter.”

  “Great, a journey through dragon land, and on foot. This should be fun,” Praia muttered, catching the eye of Rick who smiled.

  “You’ll be safe.” He winked at the fae girl before catching Joe’s elbow to his side.

  “All right then, let’s get a move on, shall we?” Rosie sauntered forward, eyeing the dragon men. “I would really like to hurry up and get back to my penguin babies.”

  “Did she say penguin babies?” Briar looked to Jinn who laughed and shook his head.

  “Don’t ask.”

  “This place is gorgeous.” Praia spoke softly as they walked on. She’d been to the lands once before the dragons claimed it as their own. Her memories in no way did the place justice. Again, the group was pushed to the edges of the country, traveling by foot through what was once known as Gippsland Lake Coastal Park. Once a little human community, the area had been returned to nature. Rising seas washed away all evidence of its former inhabitants. The dragons were eager to let the area return to the sea—it meant there would be plentiful fishing grounds and a reinforced barrier land. Still there was enough land left to make the trek that would take them to the former island of Tasmania where Cast was being held. Even in its swamp like state, Praia reveled in the beauty of it all. Her enhanced senses gave her access to sights the others may not have been privy to.

  “It gets even better, you know.” The flirtatious dragon, Rick, moved closer to her. “This is just a small taste of what the Cascades has to offer.”

  “Is that so?” She couldn’t help herself. The man was gorgeous, with smooth ivory skin, eyes that lit up like stars, and a smile that could shatter the sun. It wasn’t often Praia got a chance to be near a man without scrutiny, so she had to flirt with him, especially with the way he was looking her over.

  “Yes, perhaps someday I can give you a full tour.” He winked at her, flashing that stellar smile again. “What do you say I take you for a flight? You can climb on my back, I’ll carry you.”

  “Keep it in your pants, Rick,” the dragon described as a nerd said. Joe was usually left with the task of keeping the wayward dragon in check. Rick had promised so many women a midnight ride in the sky, in exchange for a roll in the hay.

  “Oh, let the boy flirt a bit, no harm in in.” Rosie popped over to Joe’s side. Her finger ran along the flesh of his muscled arm. “At least, none that I’ve ever found.”

  “Here we go,” Bruto muttered, catching a hard side eye from Rosie.

  Jinn smacked him on the shoulder. “Let it go, old man.” Someday the two of them would stop denying the real reason they were always at each other’s throats. Jinn, however, wouldn’t be the one to point it out. That would be the day hell froze over and the sky above opened to swallow them whole.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Bruto shrugged. “Let’s get this over with so I can get back to my ice cap.”

  “So, Joe, I assume you’re the head of this group?” Briar addressed the supposed group leader. She knew that when it came to dragons, the most important was always introduced first as a show of respect to their status.

  “You assume correctly.” He smiled and gave a respectful bow to the queen, though she was not his own.

  “Good. Tell me, what is the plan?” They walked on, but nothing more had been told of their intent. Briar had hoped the dragons would think to explain themselves, but when it became clear that they would not, she had to speak up.

  “It’s about a day’s walk. We will do about three quarters of it today, stopping for a rest in a boarding home which we use for guests who may not be well received in the general population.” He peered over his shoulder at the collection of beings following them. Not many of them would be welcomed with open arms … well, possibly the bear. His people had a weird affection for bears. “It is fully stocked with what we need. There we will gather our strength, spend the night, and get back at it first thing. Jax will meet us on the path to Cast’s island. He is needed to open the passage.”

  “He is? Why?” Mysti asked the question. Since they touched down, she hadn’t moved far from Briar’s side. Every move she made was closely shadowed by her second.

  “What keeps Cast trapped on that island is blood magic. The blood of the king was used to seal it. Because of that, only he or one of the royal family can open the gates.”

  “Understood,” Briar answered. Jax would in fact be joining them. She thought he might sit things out, but if he was the key to the door, she could count on him being there.

&nbs
p; “Wait, did he say that we aren’t going directly there? We can’t lose another night,” Praia chimed in, she pulled her eyes and her thoughts away from the hunk at her side for a moment to join the conversation being held. “We can’t wait another day! The eclipse is tomorrow!”

  “We will get there in plenty of time, during the day when they will least be expecting an attack,” Brandon, a wisp of a man with a mop of brown curls on his head, who’d remained silent since his arrival, spoke up. He needed to squash any concern that Praia may have brought up in the group. Rumbles of worry were already spreading, and as the man usually tasked as pacifier, he couldn’t allow the group to get riled up.

  “Briar, you have to see that this is a mistake. We can’t keep waiting, the clock is ticking,” Praia spoke up again, ignoring the reassurances offered. There was much more on the line for them than anyone else, the urgency wasn’t the same.

  “I agree,” Mike offered. Praia’s anxiety was contagious, and the members of his group were already beginning to stir because of it. If the eclipse happened before they made it to Daegal, they were screwed, and every person with him understood what that meant. “The closer we get to that eclipse, the weaker you all become, and the less likely it is that my people get out of here okay.”

  “Even if I do agree with you all, this is not our land. Like it or not, we have to play by their rules. If we work effectively, tomorrow we will get to Daegal in time enough to stop his plan,” the fairy queen stated with a confidence and surety that was more than anything a mask to hide her mirroring concerns.

  Jinn pulled Briar to the side. “Are you sure about this?” Out of respect for her new status, he let her call the shots. It was necessary for the end goal: peace. However, there was an undeniable flaw facing them—if they failed, it would mean Daegal would succeed and Nitara’s life would be at stake. He wanted peace, but not at the expense of her life.

  “Not at all, but really, what am I going to do?” She was stuck in another territory, and she couldn’t throw her weight around. Besides, she was a new queen, not established at all. “You have any other ideas that don’t end with us getting chased down by a bunch of fire breathing dragons?”

  “Unfortunately, no I don’t.” He looked over his shoulder at their escorts. “I don’t like this.”

  “Well, I suppose we will have to go along with their plan.” She paused, thinking. “You think you can reach Nitara again? Maybe get a message to her or gather some more intel as to where he is in his plans?”

  “I’ve tried, trust me, I have. There is something blocking me. I think Daegal may have realized I reached out to her, I’m not sure how.” Twice he attempted to reach her, to hear her voice again and reassure her that he was coming to save her. Each time he hit a hard block that refused him access to her. She was still there, but the connection was being scrambled, interrupted somehow.

  “Shit. Well, I guess we’re going in blind.”

  “Looks like it.”

  The walk wasn’t very eventful. Besides a stray animal here and there, they ran into no other living beings. From time to time, off in the distance they would see dragons taking flight in the sky. Brandon told them it wasn’t common to have so much air traffic. He assumed the locals were just trying to get a sight of the odd collection of beings there on a common mission. Mike wasn’t the only one looking to broker peace. To see them together, meant that there was hope for change. There were others, however, who wanted to see them fail and took to the sky hoping to get a view of the moment when it happened.

  As they progressed, the group remained segregated—very few mingled outside of their own. Mike’s people remained by his side, bringing up the rear of the group. Rosie mixed and mingled, but Bruto kept to himself on the outskirts of the group as if preparing for a quick and easy exit should things get hairy. The fae and fairies, though similar in many ways, shot questioning glances across the path. Praia, often fielding questions about the new queen, tried her best to launch her own inquiries about the dragons. It wasn’t often she was able to be around them, and despite the dislike between their kind, she was always very curious about them. Though it was Rick who answered most of her questions, the twins, Marc and Max, chimed in from time to time, filling in gaps in the information. She was surprised by how open they were but accepted their gift of knowledge happily.

  “Here is where we will stay for the night,” Joe announced, pointing ahead to the three brown buildings that stood out like a sore spot in the area before them. There were no other structures, these three having been rebuilt after the human town was washed away. As he said, it was a guest facility.

  “About time,” Mike huffed. “Remind me again why we are walking when all of you have magic that can transport us?”

  “A show of respect.” Briar shook her head, laughing at the expression on his face. For a king, Mike was horribly out of shape and every excursion they went on further proved that he needed to hit the gym.

  “Right, right. Respect.” He stomped forward, muttering how the dragons could have respected them by giving them a ride to the damn place.

  The buildings looked more like office space than a place for rooming. Though there were beds, food, and water, that was pretty much it in the way of accommodations. No one complained. The spaces were quickly divided up—again, people staying with their own. The centermost building was where Jinn, Praia, Mike, and Briar held up with the dragons.

  “I hope you don’t think I will be sleeping here.” Rosie pointed to the bed and shot Bruto an abhorred look as if he had chosen the accommodations himself. “Look how hard this mattress is. I’m not about to ruin my fragile figure sleeping on a thing like that!”

  “Oh hush, woman. It’s one night!” Bruto commented, ridiculing the woman who scrunched up her nose, indicating the sheet she lifted from the bed had a foul smell.

  “I will do no such thing. If you want to sleep like a peasant, feel free. I will not.” She dropped the fabric to the floor, turned, and exited the room.

  “Where are you going?” Against his better judgement, Bruto followed Rosie out of the room and into the hall.

  “To create something more comfortable for myself, obviously.”

  “You can’t do that, Rosie,” he warned. “You heard what Briar said, we are in their land, we need to respect their customs.”

  “You want me to be concerned with who, the dragons? If they are so concerned about me creating a little plush nest for myself, they have to seriously reevaluate their priorities.” She huffed and continued on her way. “I will not charge into battle after sleeping on that brick of a mattress under sheets that stench of animal urine!”

  She climbed the stairs to the top floor. Reaching above her head, she pointed her finger at her chosen spot on the ceiling. The material above her cracked and turned to dust as an opening appeared. From above a staircase carpeted in pink and paired with a gold banister fell to her feet. She clapped her hands, giddy to enjoy her creation. Bruto followed the woman up the stairs to the luxury bedroom she’d made.

  “Damn, this is a lot more than just a comfortable place to sleep.” Bruto scanned the room. With high ceilings, and large paned windows, the space was triple the size of the room she’d been given. Plush cushions lined the walls, just as they had in her home. At the back was a large vanity and closet filled with clothing she would never have a chance to wear. In the center of the room, draped in lilac and fuchsia silks was a large round bed. The place was a getaway, nothing meant for an overnight stay.

  “Well, hell, tomorrow could very well be our last day in the land of the living. Shouldn’t we enjoy our final night?” She twirled around the room before falling in the bed.

  “I supposed we should.” He laughed at her as she pulled herself back to her feet, the plush bedding making the task more daunting than expected.

  “See, you agree with me.” She walked over to him, swaying her hips in a familiar way that always led to Bruto saying something inappropriate and ended with him rec
eiving a firm hand across the face. Realizing the trap, she was setting, he backed away and headed for the exit.

  “I’m going to go see what they got for grub. Will be nice to have something I didn’t have to conjure, you know.” He laughed nervously and bolted down the stairs.

  Rosie giggled at the man; as large as he was, he was still afraid of her. Rosie always took pleasure in knowing the affect she had on Bruto. She peered out the window and stared up at the sky, watching dragons fly off in the distance.

  As the sun began to set, the atmosphere calmed. Dinner was served, outside under the darkening skies, a feast fitting their objective. They were going into battle and they needed fuel. Mike’s men, having never enjoyed such a delicious meal freely, stuffed their plates and their stomachs with succulent meats, warm breads, and pasta with cream. The dessert tray was quickly cleaned of its puffs and pastries. There was plenty to go around. The dragons had prepared the meal for them as instructed by their king. They were guests and he would not have word get out that he hadn’t shown them the absolute best hospitality.

  “Thank you for this.” Jinn nodded to Joe as he watched the others eat. For a moment it seemed they were actually getting along, their preconceptions of one another fading. Good food had a way of bringing people together. “You didn’t have to prepare such a meal.”

  “We dragons never go into battle on an empty stomach. You’ll need energy if what you say is true, and we burn a lot of energy.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Breathing fire had to be a major calorie burner. “So, Jax will be meeting us tomorrow?”

  “Yes, with others as well. We are merely the escort party.” Joe nodded at a fae woman who walked by, flashing a wide smile his way.