I stood, walked to his side and took his hand to offer what little support I could. Whatever weighed on his mind, whatever he had done, I was sure he had good reasons. Only God knew what had happened while we’d been apart. I was no one to judge.
“Where is this leading?” Faris asked, his patience obviously spent.
“To the fact that I know why Akeelah has failed to create the type of Djinn she requires. I find it hard to believe she found agreeable candidates.” He shook his head, looking mystified. “You see, the victims have to be . . . unwilling,” he finished with a huge grin of triumph.
“Crap,” Abby said under her breath, the hairs on her forearms visibly standing on end. She rubbed them down.
A lump of fear rose to my throat, making it hard to swallow. The hairs on my own arms rose like obedient soldiers. Maven took a step toward the doctor, fists clenched.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees. The mood had taken a turn for the worse. It was charged with tension and seemed to hold all five of us in a deadlock.
Gallardo moved sideways, closer to the French doors and said, “Leave me alone, Djinn. Your magic holds no sway over me.” And with that, he snatched the drapes’ pull-string and tugged it hard. The curtains parted with a metallic whoosh, revealing the darkness beyond.
Maven took another step toward the doctor.
“I would stay put if I were you.” Taking a hand to the door knob, Gallardo unlocked the deadbolt. He took a small step aside, his hand still behind his back. The door creaked as he cracked it open.
Faris shook on the spot, trying to overcome Gallardo’s command.
Maven took another step forward. “Whatever you think you’re about to do, I won’t let you.”
Gallardo’s hand jerked from behind his back, holding a knife, one that had come with the food cart. “Stop me, if you dare.”
“Maven,” Abby said, and it sounded like “Please, don’t.”
Gallardo laughed. “I know all there is to know about Djinn. But I always wondered how much of what I knew was actually true. I see now that all those years of study and research weren’t in vain. My simple command can actually prevent your every move to hinder me.” The madman laughed harder still, delight twisting his features into the mask of a vicious nine-year-old with a magnifying glass and a few bugs to incinerate.
“You are insane,” I said, joining Maven’s side.
“Guys,” Abby whimpered.
“Be careful,” Faris hissed.
I took yet another step.
The older man shifted to face me, pointing the knife straight at my gut.
If only Faris could produce a gun, a Taser, pepper spray, something to immobilize Gallardo, but using magic would only give our location away to Akeelah, making all our efforts to escape useless.
“What do you think you’re doing?” My anger swelled like a hot air balloon. “Why would you threaten us this way? We came to you for help and you do this? I should have listened to my instincts. I could tell you were no good. You had this messed up agenda from the start, didn’t you?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Maven inching closer.
“My dear girl,” Gallardo said after a short, derisive snort. “We all have agendas. How messed up they appear is in the eye of the beholder. In my mind, you are the ones who are mistaken. You mean to destroy a being that has come up with a plan worthy of praise. Poor Mother Earth could do with a little help. She can’t defend herself from us, can’t shake us. Much like a dog can’t shake the fleas off its back. Akeelah’s plan is nothing but laudable, in my humble opinion. I can think of a few characters we could all do without.”
A cool breeze blew through the open door. Maven took another step, eyes trained on the knife, fear etched on his features.
God, we need to shut the door. We couldn’t let Gallardo leave, not with the knowledge he possessed. I wanted to tackle him, but he was a mountain of a man. It would probably take all three of us to manage it. Then there was the knife.
But maybe it didn’t have to come to violence. Maybe we could talk him out of it. I started to say something, but Abby spoke first.
“You’re insane. You’re actually going to help that witch.”
Gallardo made no response. He simply raised his eyebrows and held a hand up as if to say “guilty as charged.”
My mind reeled. This was my fault. I’d gone out looking for this man and brought him into this. I had to stop him.
“You’ll regret it,” Faris said.
Gallardo turned his cold gaze to Faris.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” Faris continued. “That monster cannot be trusted. Don’t do anything rash. Whatever you expect to gain by helping her, you won’t get it. She has no regard for anyone but herself and her goal. Someone has to stop her, and we may be the only ones who can do it. Going to her is to tempt death.” Sincerity ran clear in Faris’s voice. Gallardo had to hear it.
I waited, holding my breath, as if releasing it would cancel out all hope of making him understand. He had to listen. He had to put the stupid knife down and hear reason. If he didn’t, he’d deserve whatever fate Akeelah would have in store for him.
The air seemed to crackle with the intensity of our electrified gazes. Abby had come away from the wall, apparently no longer scared of the knife. Faris stood next to me, shoulder to shoulder, rigid and expectant. Maven, closest to Gallardo, had his blue gaze nailed to the knife, his teeth working on his lower lip, betraying his concentration.
With a slow blink and a careless shrug, Gallardo showed us how much he thought of Faris’s warning. “There is a vanishing spell in case of an emergency. I’ll always have that up my sleeve.”
And just like that, I knew there was no talking him out if it. As if cut by the quick blade of a guillotine, the tension that had held us in place split in two, both halves dropping to the floor, leaving no doubt as to what we needed to do.
Maven moved first. He jumped forward as if ejected from a catapult, shoulders low like a linebacker ready to tackle his opponent. Gallardo reacted immediately, with reflexes too lithe for a man his size.
Without hesitation, he turned on Maven and stabbed.
40
Marielle
“No!” Abby screamed as Maven crashed into Gallardo, one hand around the larger man’s wrist, holding it back. The knife hovered above Maven’s face, trembling as they struggled.
Gallardo leaned forward, putting his weight into it. The knife inched closer toward my friend. Maven’s knees bent. His whole body shook with effort. Abby screamed again, a shriek of fear for Maven’s life, but also a war cry. She lunged forward, slammed against Gallardo’s side and practically bounced off.
It was my turn to tackle him. I aimed for his legs, hoping the three of us were enough to stop the hulking man, but just as I crashed into him, he took a step back. I hit only one of his legs. My bones rattled with the impact, but I wrapped my arms around his leg and held.
As I pulled, I caught a flash of Maven’s frantic blue eyes and red face.
If only Faris could help—give us super strength or something—but Gallardo had repudiated his magic, so there was nothing he could do besides cry out for help and growl in frustration when no one came to our aid.
Gallardo twisted his knife and slashed. Maven jumped back, retreating. Gallardo missed. Not knowing what else to do, I bit into his leg. He cried out. Abby came out of nowhere and, from the side, hit Gallardo’s arm. The knife flew from his hand and clattered to the floor. The mad doctor’s mouth twisted with fury. I pulled away as he readied to kick me and managed to get away.
Maven charged again, angling his shoulder toward the Gallardo’s stomach. He slammed into the wall of flesh and wrapped his arms around a trunk-thick middle. Gallardo staggered slightly, but didn’t even lose his breath. He took Maven’s arms, peeled them away and threw him off to one side.
Abby attacked again, her little fists hitting his chest, like a two-year-ol
d trying to beat on a gorilla. With a meaty hand, he grabbed her face and pushed her down to her knees. Her arms whirled like windmills unable to reach him.
I whizzed by Abby and went for Gallardo’s legs again and finally caught him off guard. He lost his balance and stumbled backward, hitting one of the still-closed double doors.
The jarring impact against his thick legs left me on the ground, blinking and trying to regain my bearings. Taking advantage to this, he pulled a leg back and threw a mean kick straight for my jaw.
“Marielle, watch out!” Faris cried out.
I turned, but just barely in time, and the side of Gallardo’s shoe still knocked my jaw. I cried out in pain. My mouth filled with blood.
Recovered, Maven slammed into Gallardo again and drove him against the door. Abby attacked, too, and dug her teeth into his forearm. Gallardo’s chest rumbled with rage and pain. He panted heavily, his face an ugly grimace. He seemed to be getting tired. It was now or never.
With all the strength I had left, I hurled myself against him. There was a groan of wood and then a crack. The door gave way and spilled us onto a cobblestone backyard, where we fell in a heap on top of each other. Abby and I rolled to the side and got to our feet, gasping for air.
Maven scrambled, climbed on top of the barrel-chested man and wrapped his hands around his neck. The older man seized Maven’s wrists and rolled. They switched places. One of his mallet-sized hands drew back and slammed against Maven’s jaw with bone cracking force. Blond hair whipped to one side as Maven’s head snapped with the impact. His eyes rolled, lost focus. He passed out.
Behind us, Faris growled in frustration. He had so much power and couldn’t do anything to help.
Short legs pumping, Abby ran to Gallardo, jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood up, legs apart with Maven, unconscious, between his feet. I moved closer, with the idea of kicking him where it would hurt the most. That had to be the only way to stop the monstrous beast. But, as I drew my foot back, Gallardo swung.
Abby’s feet flew wild.
A heavy combat boot caught me on the side of the head. The force of the blow made me sway and got my ears ringing. The small trees that dotted the courtyard spun, becoming black blobs against a dark gray sky. I staggered to one side. Faris caught me mid-fall and held me up. My vision blurred. My stomach rolled with sudden nausea.
Through a haze, I watched Gallardo unclasp Abby’s arms from around his neck and, still spinning, release her. Snarling like a feral cat, Abby went flying. She tumbled through the air, a light china doll on a doomed trajectory toward a wrought iron furniture set.
For a moment, it felt as if I were the one flying through the air. I tensed, bracing myself for the collision. Faris took a step forward, trembling. I put a hand on his arm. He could help Abby, catch her in an invisible mitten, and deposit her on the ground, unharmed. But Akeelah and her thugs were far more dangerous than a hard knock on the head.
Abby crashed on top of the round metal table and rolled off the edge. She groaned and curled inward, wrapping her arms around her stomach.
She’s fine. She’s fine, I assured myself, feeling like a traitor for letting her take that hit.
My blurry gaze returned to Gallardo.
He shook himself, breathing heavily. Chest heaving up and down, he looked at us from under bushy eyebrows, eyes blazing with hatred. Sweat ran down his face. He wiped a large hand across his thick mustache.
Baring his teeth, he said, “You’ll pay for this.” He looked skyward, craning his neck. His eyes danced around as if looking for something. I didn’t have to think twice to know what he intended to do.
“We have to get out here,” I said in a hissing whisper.
Had it all been for naught? Did we have no hope of stopping Akeelah? That’s when it hit me. Quickly, I leaned toward Faris and whispered into his ear. Once I told him what we should do if Akeelah found us, he pulled away, looked deep into my eyes and nodded.
“Hey,” Gallardo shouted as he noticed us. “You,” he said, shaking a finger at us as if we were naughty children. He smiled wickedly, then shouted at the top of his lungs, head thrown back toward the heavens. “Come and find us, Akeelah! We are here! I have the knowledge you seek!”
41
Marielle
As Gallardo’s gruff shout echoed through the courtyard, Faris and I stood hand in hand, looking up at the night sky, feeling as if we were holding our beating hearts between our clasped palms.
I held my breath, frozen. Nothing happened. The night was still for a moment, then a light came on in one of the hostel windows. Someone shouted in Italian and, by the tone, it had to be something ugly.
Faris shook himself. My lungs unlocked and started to pump. We couldn’t stand here waiting to see if Akeelah would respond to Gallardo’s call.
“Get Abby,” Faris said, pointing a finger toward the small shape under the shadow of the patio table. I ran to her while he hurried to Maven’s side.
“C’mon, Abby. Let get out of here.” She blinked up at me from the ground. She looked dazed and unfit to go anywhere. Quickly, I slipped my hands under her arms and dragged her back toward the room.
A loud boom sounded overhead, like a supersonic plane breaking the sound barrier.
“Akeelah,” Faris said between clenched teeth, kneeling next to Maven.
Gallardo laughed in delight and searched the sky.
Faris hauled Maven to his feet. “Wake up,” he ordered. Maven’s eyes snapped open. He blinked several times. “You’re fine. Get ready to leave.” Faris turned his attention to Abby and me.
Abby frowned and shook her head. “What the . . . ?” She righted herself without my help.
The cut inside my mouth disappeared and the side of my head stopped hurting. My gaze flicked to Faris’s. He nodded. He’d used his magic to heal us.
I pulled Abby along, but froze when a giant, shimmering sphere fell from the sky and crashed onto the courtyard. Cobblestones flew in every direction. A wild wind blew like a tornado. My hair whipped in all directions. Metal furniture slid out of the way, rattling and scratching the stone floor. Gallardo backed away, a forearm in front of his face, clothes flapping behind him.
The massive orb churned with electricity, glowing and cracking. I squinted through my wind-whipped hair, clutching Abby’s arm.
Slowly, the haze of dust and electricity around the sphere dissipated. I blinked slowly, sure that when I opened my eyes again, Akeelah would be standing in front of me.
But I was wrong.
My hair went still. I blinked my eyes open to find the courtyard gone and, in its place: two elevators, both open.
“Get in,” Faris ordered, pushing us into the one on the left. As we filed in, he hurried inside the other one.
“Faris!” I stopped, panic surging in my chest. I wasn’t getting separated from him. Not ever again. I started toward him, but he was quickly in and out—only stopping to punch one of the buttons.
“Decoy,” he said, practically picking me up to deposit me next to Abby and Maven, who stood dumbfounded, inspecting the straps around their shoulders and the helmets strapped to their heads.
“Oh, shit!” Abby exclaimed. She looked at Maven, then at me, making me realize there were things strapped to my own back and head as well as Faris’s.
“Parachutes?” Maven said, the word a scared squeak.
“The other elevator is going down. We’re going up,” Faris pressed the right-most button at the top of the panel. It lit up reading 163.
I blinked at the little screen above the elevator door. It read 161, which apparently was the floor on which we’d materialized. Abby swallowed audibly. Maven cursed under his breath. A few seconds later, there was a ding. The doors opened.
God, where are we?!
I racked my brain and remembered hearing the Willis Tower in Chicago has 108 floors. But 163? What building has that many floors? And on which side of the world?
Before I could come
up with an answer, Faris rushed out of the elevator. We followed him and met with a dark night sky sprinkled with stars. A jumping platform waited for us. Something Faris must have planted there with the same burst of magic that had transported us from Venice, had lined up the elevator, had provided the gear, and God knew what else.
We climbed onto the platform and followed the narrow metal plank to the very end. The wind blew with a deafening roar, even through my helmet. Faris indicated the goggles at our necks and put his on. I did likewise, hands shaking. Faris mimed something. He tapped his head and shook a finger at us, then made a plunging motion with his hand.
Don’t think. Just jump.
Thinking wouldn’t save us. Akeelah would be on our trail any second, we had to jump.
Heart in my throat, I watched Faris get to the very edge of the platform and jump without preamble. I hesitated for only a instant, because what else was there to do but jump? Besides, I would take my chances with Faris any day. I trusted him completely and would follow him to the end of the world. Fear of heights or anything else meant nothing compared to that.
I looked back at Abby and Maven, gave them a oh-well shrug—even when inside I was screaming holy-crap—and plunged head first after Faris.
I fought the urge to shut my eyes. A fierce, cold wind buffeted my cheeks, making me feel like a bulldog. An endless night appeared to rush upward as I fell. Adrenaline coursed through my body, filling me with a strange euphoric sensation. I wanted to laugh and cry and whoop all at the same time.
When I came to my senses, I spotted a huge, illuminated body of water that looked as big as a lake, but couldn’t be—not with its perfect blue color and interesting shape. Around it, there were many tall buildings and barely any flat land. Impossibly, my heart hammered faster and harder. What if I fell in the water? What if I crashed into one of the buildings?
Frantically, I searched for Faris. I spotted him, a dark shape barely perceptible against the night sky. Slowly, I aimed my body in his direction, changing my course little by little. I thought of Abby and Maven and prayed they were behind us.
Two Hearts Asunder (Djinn Empire Book 2) Page 25