by Stark, Jenn
The moment we were all settled, I turned to Ahmad and scowled. “You need to start talking, right now.”
He spread his hands with an affable smile. “But of course. I understand your surprise and concern. The Arcana Council has not reached out for a quorum vote in—well, it’s been generations. Even their attack on the gods of magic was not something for which they sought permission. In all truth, after the war on the gods, I’d thought myself well and truly free of the Council’s machinations. I suspect all three of us did.”
Nikki put it together first. “The Magician didn’t know about you guys until recently,” she said. “The three at-large Council members. He should’ve, but he didn’t.”
Ahmad nodded. “He did not. Or perhaps more truly stated, he no longer knew what he didn’t know. It would appear those memories were returned to him quite recently, and, acting on the potential of more Council members existing, he put the vote out for general response—and turned up three unexpected participants. The Sun, the Moon, and the Star, all of us—”
“The Moon and Star?” I interrupted him, seizing on the titles. At last, some real information. “You know them? Who they are?”
Ahmad grimaced. “I regret I do not. They ascended before my time, and I abandoned my formal Council position almost immediately. I’d never met any of the existing Council before Eshe…and now, you. But fear not. Once your Magician learns of their existence, I am sure he will be requiring your services again to track them down. I merely thought I would do you the courtesy of moving up the timeline. And of course, I need you as well.”
There was so much to unpack in Ahmad’s response, but I could only stare at him for a long, disbelieving second. Then I shook myself. First things first.
“You voted against the Council acting as a solid unit against the Shadow Court,” I accused. “Your suggestion about us taking them out individually is bullshit. The Council will always be stronger together.”
“Do you think so?” Ahmad asked, and settled back against the leather cushions. Across the limo, Danae studied him with an icy glare. She had also been used, I understood. Neither of us cared for it.
“The Council is bound to follow policies set in place long before our time,” Ahmad continued. “Policies that may have made sense at the dawn of humanity, but not now. Not when the networks of Connected are as robust as they currently are, and the world is on the cusp of knowing who really walks among them. We have been watching the effect you have had on those communities, Justice Wilde. We are aware of the popular support you have generated.”
“That support isn’t…” I trailed off, glancing away. It was such an automatic response for me to discount any support by the Connected community, psychics who were not operating at the level of the Council. Those people didn’t know, didn’t understand what their support truly meant or what it could and could not do. I was not about to put them at risk. That had always been my thinking.
But was that the right course? Was this the time, as Sariah believed—and apparently Danae along with her—to rise up with the Connected communities, or, at the very least, help them rise up on their own? Was this the time to allow them to step into the light? It had always been safer in the shadows, but did that mean these people had to remain in the shadows forever? And was it my place to make those decisions on their behalf anymore?
All these thoughts rushed through me in the space of three seconds, and I pushed them to the back of my mind just as quickly. This was not the time to consider all that.
“So what is it exactly that you intend to do?” I asked Ahmad. My eyes tracked the movement of cars and pedestrians on the wide streets outside our vehicle. We were driving through downtown Dubai, arguably one of the most exotic cities in the world. Yet other than the luxury brand names shouted from business marquees and storefronts, and the glitzy vehicles choking the street, it could have been Scottsdale, Arizona. English signage was everywhere, and the wide sidewalks were thronged with conservatively, but expensively, dressed shoppers. Palm trees waved in the gentle breeze as we turned down another street, apparently heading for the city center. “Where are we going, anyway?”
Ahmad smiled. “I expected to pick up a tail outside the airport, but so far, we haven’t. We’ll circle the downtown area and head out to my residence shortly.” He gestured dismissively to the opulent storefronts. “There is nothing much to see here. One day, I will entertain you at my home in Bahrain. There, you will see the soul of this part of the world. The beauty and the mystery. Here…” he flicked his fingers. “There is no soul.”
He kept going before I could react to that. “Meanwhile, I intend to do exactly what the Council expected of me, of you as well, when they made their decision not to act. I expect to use you as bait. Without question, very powerful bait—but bait nevertheless. Regardless of their flirtation with the High Priestess, the Shadow Court has fixed on you in a way that is unquestionably dangerous for their future livelihood. They are poking the bear, to put it more colloquially, with seemingly no concern about getting mauled to death. There has to be a reason for this. They would not put themselves at such dramatic risk unless there was a potentially powerful reward.”
I nodded. He wasn’t wrong, I’d been asking myself the same questions. The first real assault the Shadow Court made on me could end only one of two ways. Either I would shut them down, or they would bring me to harm, and that would be the act that would draw the Council into full-out war. Even those members of the Council who didn’t agree with me couldn’t allow the possibility of an upstart organization picking us off one by one. A certain measure of respect had to be maintained, or everything was lost.
“The Shadow Court has been on the move for several months now,” I said. “Why are you acting now?”
Ahmad shrugged. “Because the nature of their movement has changed. Yes, they have been acting out for several months and causing no end of difficulty. But they weren’t in my own backyard. Now they are, and there’s only so much I’m willing to put up with. They have extended themselves too far. So I will allow the Arcana Council to risk its most valued asset to attempt to draw the Shadow Court into the sunlight. I will soon have a great deal of resources at my disposal to strike out against them, and I am pleased to see the level of resources you have brought to bear as well.”
He looked over at Danae. “Your reputation precedes you, Mistress of the Iron Sea. In a land once overrun with djinn, your skills will be put to the test. And you, Miss Dawes, are not without your abilities as well. Subtler to be sure, but we have been watching you.”
“If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that line,” Nikki said drily, crossing one well-muscled leg over the other. Ahmad didn’t miss the movement, and his eyelids flickered momentarily before his jaw firmed.
“Exactly. And now comes the true test. Now that you have emerged into the light, how far will the Shadow Court go to engage you in battle, and how quickly will they—”
Wham!
The explosion rocked the side of the SUV like we’d been T-boned by a freight train. The vehicle jerked violently to the side and tilted, as the passengers sprawled against each other.
A speaker crackled over our group as the driver reported in.
“We’ve got temporary roadblocks up ahead, Sheikh Ahmad. Roadblocks. No egress. Repeat, no egress.”
“Roll through it,” Ahmad ordered. “Go to the Gardens building.”
“Yes, sir,” the man’s voice came back, the words clipped. The SUV picked up speed—
Wham! This new impact was from the front of the SUV, the equivalent of us running into a concrete wall. The vehicle bounced back, then took a hard right onto a side street.
“What the hell?” Nikki demanded. “I finally get to play bumper cars and there’s no cotton candy?”
Ahmad’s security guards braced him with their bodies as a volley of bullets strafed the side of the vehicle, but the sheikh’s hooded eyes were on me. The SUV careened around a corner, then jolted f
orward again.
“You knew this was coming?” I demanded. Fury lit along my nerves. If this bastard had led us into a trap for the second time…
“No,” he protested as we lurched against each other, another slam to the side of the SUV sending everyone into motion. He crumpled against Nikki, and she grabbed his hand and set him back to rights. She looked at me and shrugged, confirming at least that much. Ahmad hadn’t planned this attack. Not directly anyway. He looked up and narrowed his eyes at the view through the windshield, then jerked forward in his seat toward the front of the vehicle.
“Down, down,” he shouted, pointing not to us but ahead, out on the street. A second later, I understood what he meant. He directed the driver to take us into a half-built structure, what looked like a parking garage. It wasn’t a bad idea. If we were going to be attacked, this would at least keep the damage away from the public—and hide the worst of the fighting.
We bounced beneath the gaping maw of the steel-and-concrete building, picking up speed as we drove into the gloom.
“Don’t you guys have cops in this city?” Nikki carped as the SUV screeched around a sharp turn.
“Only for certain situations.” Ahmad fell back into his guards as the driver braked hard. “I own this building. There are other vehicles here. We can make the switch beneath.”
I twisted in my seat to see that more cars were flooding into the construction site behind us, and still others coming in from additional openings if the flash of lights was any indication. We weren’t going to lead this merry band back out again, no way. Did the Shadow Court really think trapping us in this parking garage was going to work?
I felt the burn of magic along my fingertips, then something else as well. A deadening weakness that overlay the flicker of power. Oh shit.
“Dead zone?” I demanded, turning to Ahmad. “You brought us into a dead zone? Are you out of your freaking mind?”
He stared at me with wide, confused eyes. “What are you talking about? There is no dead zone in Dubai. That magic was restrained to the old world, not duplicated here.”
“Well, it is now,” I grated out. “Nikki? Weapons.”
“On it.” Nikki lunged with brutal efficiency, ripping one rifle out of the left guard’s arms and tossing it to Danae, then wrestling for the second weapon. The guard protested, shocked to his core, and she reached back and coldcocked him square in the jaw. He crumpled against the back of the SUV as I went for Ahmad’s weapon, fire flickering just enough to make the Sun yelp and lurch back.
“Take it, take it,” he shouted, clearly more interested in seeing what I would do than in protecting his dignity. What was with this guy? I didn’t have time to care. I yanked his gun out of its holster, then spun fast enough that the vehicle blurred around me. My magic abilities were stunted, apparently, but they weren’t completely destroyed. I still had speed and fire, just not a lot of it. How was that possible?
Weapons secured, we slammed against the doors and burst out of the still-rolling SUV. The one still-conscious guard leapt after us at Ahmad’s order, pulling new weapons free, but at least he had the grace not to level them at us. Instead, he sent out a strafing fire, covering us as we burst into the parking area, lit up from all sides with temporarily strung lights.
We didn’t have long to wait. Dozens of figures rushed from the shadows, some on foot, some on motorcycles. My third eye flipped open, and I could see the deadening impact on the energy currents that jumped and jittered around the space, yet the electricity clearly wasn’t affected, either in the lights or on the bikes. If those worked, and if all life-forms were joined together as one, which was the true nature of what being Connected meant, then shouldn’t that simply be—
“Dollface,” Nikki snapped as the assault group nearly reached us. “We shoot?”
“No.” My hands went out toward the nearest string of lights, and I felt the current of electricity flow through me, lifting me straight up off the ground. Only it wasn’t simply the current of electricity lifting me, but my own fiery wings, magic-wrought holdovers from a previous battle I’d fought between the earthly planes of this world. I generally forgot about this particular manifestation buried inside me until they decided to show up all on their own. Like now. Forcefully.
Apparently, the dead zone didn’t apply to wings of fire.
I grunted in real pain as the wings shot straight out from my back, stretching wide in crackling, hissing arcs. They parted in full and lifted me off the floor a good two feet. Every single one of our attackers stopped and stared in absolute horror at me for one second…then two.
“What in the…” Danae began, but Nikki only cackled.
“Now,” I said. “Shoot the lights.”
I didn’t have to tell them twice. I flinched as Danae, Nikki, and even Ahmad, newly outfitted with his own gun, his eyes gleaming with excitement, turned their automatic rifles skyward and systematically blew out one line of lights after the other. With every new section dropping into darkness, the minions of the Shadow Court screamed and balked, running into each other in utter confusion. Demons? If not, they were doing a damn good impression. They were being directed through the same electrical impulses that had deadened my power, but now the balance shifted as my wings connected to the currents of energy racing through this space, and chaos reigned. As quickly as they’d attacked, they turned on their heels and started running.
“Get to as many as you can,” I yelled at Nikki, and she plunged into the throng, passing her hands along arms, cheeks, necks, and shoulders as the crowd raced for the exits. Their work apparently done, my wings shoved themselves back inside my body, and I dropped to the concrete floor, staggering a bit as I sucked in a tight breath. Damn, that’d hurt.
“This way,” Ahmad shouted, and jerked his gun toward another ramp toward the back of the structure. We raced up it to where new vehicles sat, pristine and unharmed, all of them ordinary SUVs, though oversized ones, not limousines. We piled into the closest one and were off again.
“Will there be more?” Ahmad asked, his eyes wide as he turned toward us. His skin was flushed and his teeth chattered. “I’ll need to call the authorities if so. Even in Dubai, there are limits.” He didn’t seem too upset about it, and I glanced at Nikki.
“There won’t be more from this crowd,” she said. “Not demons, but low-level Connecteds, and amped to the nines. They had one assignment, and they all had it down with the same level of fervor. Like they’ve been hypnotized or drugged with a combination prime directive and flash-mob technoceutical. Their job was to attack Sara Wilde, overcome her and anyone she was with. They literally were supposed to overtake you with boots and stones, though. No magic. No power. Nothing but the might of the people. They were told you wouldn’t fight back.” She grimaced. “That’s some seriously creepy shit.”
“You got that right,” I muttered.
“No—no, it isn’t,” Ahmad said, flapping his hands at us. “It makes perfect sense. If they came after you without magic, you should only have been able to counter them with guns and violent force. You would have become the thug that you rail against, Justice Wilde. The Shadow Court knew you would not do that. They didn’t know you would beat them at their own game, though.” He looked at me. “How did you negate the power of the technoceuticals they were under, though? How did you have that ability?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea.” That wasn’t exactly true, but I wasn’t in any mood to split hairs with Ahmad.
He slapped his hand to his ear and nodded. “We are clear,” he said. “There are no more roadblocks, and in this vehicle, we should not gain so much notice.”
“And no cops either?” Nikki asked, still clearly put out about that.
Ahmad flashed a triumphant grin. “No. And most importantly, we beat the Shadow Court at their own game. That’s what’s important.”
“No,” I countered, not bothering to hide the bitterness in my tone. “We didn’t stop them. We taught them. Now they know one
more way I can react when they attack. Eventually, they’ll figure out all my tricks. This isn’t a game that I want to keep playing. Not with them.”
Not with you either, I said in my own mind. Ahmad was the Sun, the bright ray of hope on the horizon, a god to the ancient world, even. But right now, he was nothing but a mystery to me. And he was the one who held all the power. That wasn’t going to last long.
“Easy, dollface,” Nikki murmured, her manner shifting as she picked up on my darkening mood. I glanced her way, and she met my gaze, Danae equally still and certain beside her. We needed to understand what was going on here.
Beside me, Ahmad relayed another volley of orders to his men, practically chortling with delight. I grimaced. None of this was going to be easy. And it was all going down faster than I was ready for.
17
We reached Ahmad’s residence an hour later. Surprisingly, it wasn’t within the city limits, but perched just beyond the far northern edge of Dubai, an elegant estate that spread over what had to be a billion-dollar seafront. Man-made hills and ridges rose on either side of us, artificial follies to obscure the palatial home beyond the walls of turf and stone. The house itself was relatively low-slung, but then it didn’t need to be a skyscraper when there was nothing to obstruct it from the stunning view of the Persian Gulf. Its white walls and huge panes of glass served as a perfect counterpoint to the sandstone walkways that were threaded throughout the property, leading down to the beach and over to what look like a walled garden.
“I hadn’t planned for such an exciting introduction to my home.” Ahmad gave a rueful chuckle. “But I hope you find it to be restful after your long journey. We have much to discuss, but you will need time to relax and refresh yourself. My entire estate is at your disposal. I beg you to take advantage of all I have to offer, and we will talk of our plans this evening.”