I looked at her and frowned. “But then how’d you get away?”
She grinned, her eyes sparkling. “You happened. You did something and his magic was gone and all I felt was warmth, and a burst of energy that . . . well, for lack of explaining it better, it felt like you. I could feel how much you loved me, and it set me free.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you shitting me?”
“Nope, not one little bird turd of shit.” She grinned. I stared.
“Lila, that isn’t possible. I didn’t feel a thing.” I stumbled over the words. There had been a brief moment, but it was there and gone before I could say it was anything.
“Well, it’s what happened.” She shrugged her wings up and then winged ahead of me and flew backward. “Maybe that’s how magic works for you. You just don’t feel anything.”
I snorted. “That’s ridiculous. How can that even be?”
“I just know that Maks didn’t let me go, Zam. You freed me.”
I wanted to deny her again, but she turned and flew behind to check our back trail. “I don’t have any magic, Balder,” I said and patted his neck.
He blew out a big breath and bobbed his head. I stared between his ears, seeing the glitter of the water in the distance. The Jinn had really gone way to the west. I hadn’t even realized just how far until now.
The sirens saw us again, waving. That was likely why. Even the Jinn were not immune to the sirens’ calls.
That wasn’t really what I wanted to think about, though. What if Lila was right? What if I did have magic? I shook my head even as I wondered. Maks had to have let her go. That was all there was to it. Sure, I loved her to pieces, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Maks loved her too.
That had to be what she felt. There was no other answer. Because what was magic when you couldn’t feel it? Nothing, that’s what.
The problem was I couldn’t fully deny what everyone around me was saying. Maggi, Destry, and now the Jinn saying I was more than what they thought. I gritted my teeth and stared ahead. No, they were wrong. I would know if I had magic running in my veins . . . wouldn’t I?
My hand went to my neck, but there was no necklace anymore. The one I’d worn for years, the one that had blocked a curse laid on me by Marsum.
A curse that nothing would ever go right for me, that I would fail at everything. I frowned as my thoughts jumbled together. If nothing went right, and I had magic, would that suppress the magic? Would that be what I was dealing with?
I rubbed a hand across my forehead. “This is giving me a damn headache,” I grumbled.
The whoosh of wings told me Lila was on her way and I turned to see her flying hard for me. I squinted my eyes. There was no one behind her, so she wasn’t being chased.
She tipped her wings and landed on Balder’s rump, and he gave a little buck hop.
“I saw them,” she breathed out. “The three of them are riding hard for the south. They went right past our trail.”
“They didn’t see you?” I asked.
She grimaced. “Maybe Maks did, but he was the only one looking up.”
“So he’s okay?”
Lila rolled her shoulders. “I’m not sure. I didn’t get close enough, but he’s upright on his horse. And those horses aren’t going to last long. Maybe another six hours and then they’ll start dropping.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing he lost Batman,” I said.
“Maybe he let him go knowing what would come,” she replied. She had a point. There was enough of Maks left that he was fighting where he could. Defying the other Jinn with little acts of rebellion.
Leaving his horse behind so he didn’t run him into the ground was something the Maks we knew would do. I smiled to myself even while my heart struggled around the painful beats and my eyes watered.
“We don’t have to ride as hard now if they passed us by already. If they were smart, they would have let the hyenas loose to track us,” I said.
“They think they are better than everyone else,” Lila said. “They would never stoop to use someone else to do a job they believed they were better skilled for. Those hyenas won’t last, though. They’ll drop and then we could be dealing with them again.”
She had a point.
I eased Balder to a walk. We reached the shoreline a short time later, filling our water bags and letting Balder have a deep drink. There would come a point where the water was no longer fresh, but salt, and we needed to take advantage of it while we could.
“Tell me about the layout of the Jinn’s Dominion,” Lila said. “Maybe we can come up with a plan that will actually work for getting in and out.”
I laughed, but there was no mirth in it. “This will be like walking into a lion’s den with bloody steaks strapped to our asses. Just in case you were wondering.”
“Yeah, I figured as much. But if they think we’ll come roaring in like lions to face them, they don’t know us all that well.” She preened as she spoke.
I laughed for real that time. “You have a point, Lila the Fierce.”
I closed my eyes and let the swaying of Balder’s steps act as a rhythmic form of meditation. “The Jinn’s Dominion is built like a hub with the weaker Jinn on the outskirts, working through four levels of their power structure to the central hub where only the most powerful Jinn sit.”
“Well, that’s stupid. Shouldn’t it be a mix?” Lila muttered. I let it slide, even though I agreed.
I tried to see the maps in my head my father had pored over. Ex-marine that he was, he was all about the strategy of a battle, the lay of the land and how to use it to his advantage.
“Each ring is marked by five towers, so as you draw closer to the center the towers are closer together and so much harder to get by.” In my head, I could see the map as my father’s hand sketched it out in the sand. I squatted to his left, and Bryce to his right. I spoke the words that he’d given to us then, verbatim. “Going to the middle between the outer towers takes you directly into the path of the next rim of towers. It’s much more challenging than just taking the safest path. The watch towers are manned by the Jinn’s dead. Great flying creatures that have no purpose except to protect and guard the inner sanctum of the Jinn.”
“WHAT?” Lila bellowed the word. “I know all the flying creatures out there. What are they?”
“Like a twisted man, a blend of gargoyle and dead that leaves a body almost impenetrable to traditional weapons like swords, and a soul commanded by only the first Jinn.”
Lila grunted. “The first Jinn, meaning Marsum.”
I nodded and opened my eyes. “Yeah, I think so. The reality is the four rims of the Dominion are guarded not only by Jinn of varying powers, but these dead Jinn too. Even after they die, they aren’t released from service.”
Lila shuddered and I had to agree. At least in death, you should have some measure of peace even if you were an asshole.
That was what waited for Maks if we killed him. Not freedom. More enslavement. Maggi was wrong about that much, his death would bring him nothing but more chains.
We rode on, discussing the possibilities, always coming back to only one truth. No matter which direction we took, we needed to go in small, which meant stashing Balder somewhere safe, somewhere we could get back to.
There was only one place I could think of. The Oasis. It wasn’t far from the Jinn’s Dominion which was why it had been used as a place of parlay.
Night fell and we stopped and set up a small camp, no fire. I didn’t dare with the Jinn and their new pets having passed us by earlier that day. I wrapped myself in my cloak after feeding Balder and sharing some of my dried food stores with Lila. Not really all that tasty, but it filled the void in my belly.
“Do we want to set a guard?” Lila asked, yawning and stretching.
I nodded. “I’ll stay up for a few hours, then I’ll trade off. We’ll leave before light.” I pushed to my feet and dropped my cloak. The night air was warm enough, I didn’t need it if I was going to b
e up on my feet circling our camp. Lila burrowed into the material still warm from my body with a happy sigh.
I walked to the edge of the sand before it turned into rock and stared south. My heart was torn into little aching pieces, and I hated this new pain as much as I’d hated Steve. I grimaced. “I really have shit choices in men. Either they betray me, or they are forced to betray me. Maybe I need to be celibate after this.” I let out a breath and a soft shuffle caught at my ears. I turned and dropped to a crouch, my hands going to my kukri blades.
A thud, and then another of hoof beats . . . I lifted my head as a shape emerged from the southern dunes. Black coat, a limping step, and no rider.
“Batman?” I stood and he snorted and shied to the side, stumbling. “Easy, easy, buddy.” I held my hands out, and he sniffed the air in my direction and then hurried to me. I pulled a few oat balls from my pockets, partially crushed, but he didn’t care as he took them gently from my palm. I ran my hands over him, checking him for wounds or other injuries. That same bum leg of his was swollen and there was a bone out of place. He grunted as I probed it, a grimace on my face. A fracture then. I frowned and my hand went to my kukri blade on my right thigh. There was no fixing a break in a horse’s leg, not out here, not on a horse that was meant to run.
“Oh, buddy, I’m so sorry,” I stood and pressed my head against his neck. “Was this why Maks let you go?” He shook his head side to side and his mane flipped over to me, smacking me. A thin piece of material tied in the dark threads was rolled tightly and had bumped me.
I untangled it, thinking it was just some fly-away from him being loose on his own. But the material rolled out in my hands, words etched onto it with charcoal.
I saw the first few lines and my eyes blurred. Maks had left me a note.
“Zam, I know you’ll find this because I know Batman will always find you and Balder. He knows where his home is, just like I do. I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I thought I was strong enough to resist Marsum’s hold on me. I think Shem knew what I was getting into. He suspected at least and he asked me to make the choice for you if I thought it would happen and Marsum would take over me. The closer I get to Marsum, the tighter his hold will be on me. I can feel the noose tightening already. I know I can’t convince you to leave your pride and run for the hills, so I will say this. There is a pathway through the four rims that will take you into the inner sanctum. It starts near the northern tower. Watch for the flickers of golden stone beneath the sand. That is your path, and it will give you the best chance to survive both in and out.”
I took a breath, barely realizing that I hadn’t been breathing, then continued. “The rest, well the rest is I can only say thank you. For a little while, I knew what it was to be part of a family, to know that you loved me for who I was, and not because you saw in me a conduit to Marsum’s power. I will never forget you. I will never forget the night of the țuică. It was then I knew you would be the last woman I ever wanted. Don’t try to save me, Zam. I know you’re thinking about it. It’s that damn heart of a lion you have, but there is no way to make it happen. There is no cure for being a Jinn. Tell Lila I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt her. Tell her I am and always will be proud to call her my little sister. My fierce Lila. Do right by Batman. I couldn’t let him be killed by the Jinn. I knew they would do it. But I knew they would make him suffer.”
He signed the end of it simply, Maks. Though to be fair, I could barely see through the blurring of my eyes. Batman nudged me with his nose, put his head on my shoulder and tugged me to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his thick neck and clung to him. “Shit, Batman, I can’t do it either. I can’t just let you go any more than I can let him go.”
He held me tightly, his jaw bone digging into my back. I stood there for a few minutes, my heart and mind racing.
Lila thought I had magic.
Merlin thought I was special.
My mother had died to keep me from Marsum.
That all had to mean something more than just being a simple shifter. It had to.
“Screw this bullshit. I’m not giving up.” I slid down until I was on my knees in front of Batman. His left front leg was swollen, hot. The fracture would only continue to spread, and that meant it had to be healed right now if he was to go on.
“Lila, let’s hope you were right,” I said.
I wrapped my fingers around his leg, feeling the crack under my fingertips. He snorted and bumped me with his nose. “Hang on. I don’t know if this will hurt or not.”
Yeah, I was stalling. Mostly because I didn’t want to know that I couldn’t do this, because if I couldn’t do it then I would have to end Batman’s suffering. As merciful as it would be, that was no small thing to do to cut a horse’s throat. Especially one that you’d trained and worked with for years.
I ran my hands up and down his leg, massaging the swollen area, working the blood flow as I worked to slow my breath.
I closed my eyes and wrapped my fingers tightly around the section of his leg that was cracked.
Please, I don’t know what you are, or if you’re my magic or even if you can help me. Batman’s leg is hurt. Please fix it. We need him. I repeated the phrase over and over until sweat beaded on my upper lip and my hands ached from holding him so tightly.
He gave a low groan and my hands tingled for just a moment, like I’d buried my hands deep into the sand at high noon, feeling the warmth of the desert. A rush of energy caught me off guard and I opened my eyes to see the bonds of my pride wrapped around me. Not just the lions I sought, but Maks and Lila too. Their energy flowed into me and from there it pulsed into Batman. The colors wove around one another and under my hand the bone cracked, only it didn’t crack apart. I could see it under his skin as clearly as any picture, and watched as the bone slid back together with a soft click. Batman jerked his leg up, holding it as if I would clean out the hoof, bobbing it there. The colors soaked into his skin and then they were gone as fast as they’d been there.
I took my hands away and he lowered his hoof, took a step and then another. Perfectly sound, I could see it already.
To say I was shocked was a small understatement.
“Holy shit. Holy fucking shit!” I lifted my hands to the sky, fists clenched. I fought the yell of triumph because I didn’t want to wake Lila, but apparently, I’d been gone too long, and she’d taken note.
She flew in beside me, breathless and her eyes wide. “What’s happened? Wait, is that Batman?”
The words rolled out of me so fast I wasn’t sure she’d understand me. “Yes, that’s Batman and then there was a note in his mane and the note was from Maks but Batman’s leg was broken and I knew I would have to put him down but I didn’t want to and I remembered you think I have magic, and Marsum wants me for some reason and Merlin thinks I’m special and I thought that the only thing that I had to lose was a little pride and really no one would even know if I failed but I didn’t fail and oh my gods, Lila his leg healed and it was all of us together, it’s not me it’s the pride, my pride and it was all of us, all the energy wove together to heal him.” I drew a breath and she lifted a wing tip, stalling me.
“Wait, can I see the note?”
I handed it to her. Batman trotted over to Balder and the two boys butted noses and then sidled up to one another, happy to have their friendship united once more. But that . . . I couldn’t know that. That they were happy to see one another. I frowned and stared at them. I could read their body language, but there was no way I was picking up on emotions.
I searched myself and there was nothing there, just my own feelings. My own elation at doing something I didn’t think possible but that needed to be done.
Batman would be okay.
And then I remembered the rest of the note. Maks saying goodbye.
Ah, gods of the desert and sand, that hurt. Lila finished reading the note and handed it back to me.
“Do you think the way in, is the way in?” she asked. “Or is it a trick?”
I didn’t let myself answer right away. I let her question soak in for a moment. The north tower was directly south of the Oasis where the Jinn had wiped out my family. It had a certain sense of coincidence I couldn’t deny. “Yes, I think it’s a way in. As much as Marsum and the Jinn want us to believe Maks is totally gone, he’s not.”
We went back to the tiny camp together. Balder’s head rested across Batman’s back, sound asleep.
Maybe it wasn’t much, but it lifted my heart to see them together. They were friends, buddies, and they’d been through a fair amount of shit together. I sat and Lila climbed into my lap and promptly went back to sleep.
I stayed awake all night, thinking about the Jinn’s Dominion, how we would get in and out with three other full-sized lions.
Maybe a little bit of magic dust, and the heart of a lion, and a small dragon would be enough.
Because by morning, I had a plan.
Chapter Seventeen
Five days of riding at a quick but not brutal pace brought us to the southern tip of the Caspian Sea.
We saw two more sets of standing stones and one blood vine that tangled itself around a body. A man. “Who do you think got caught?” Lila asked as we stared at the shrunken body.
“No idea. He was naked.” I was sure it was a man. The body was too big, too bulky, even after being drained.
She leapt off my shoulder and swept toward it, staying high as she inspected it. A single pass and she was back to me. “Werehyena, I think.”
Well, that worked in our favor. I hoped. Except for the fact that it gave the Emperor more strength.
The seals native to the Caspian Sea barked at us as we past headed east, still hugging the curve of the water. Their barks followed us, announcing our passage as surely as any guard dog.
“Shut up, you ding dongs!” Lila hollered, diving around them and teasing them. Which of course only set them to barking more as they leapt for her.
I glanced over just as she snatched a fish right out of a seal’s mouth and flew away, cackling. I grinned. She’d found her chutzpah again, no problem. I, on the other hand, was more and more nervous the closer we got to our destination. I wondered if this was how she’d felt going into the Dragon’s Ground. Which meant I needed to suck it up and hold my shit together.
Jinn's Dominion (Desert Cursed Series Book 3) Page 17