“Sources lie,” Jax snapped back. “Are you accusing us of something?”
“Jax—” she began.
“Look, I know my land, and I know my people, there is no Daegal in Cascades.” His jaw tightened, and for a moment so quick she barely caught it, his eyes flashed red.
“No, that is not what I’m doing. I would not have invited you here simply to accuse you of any wrong doing.” He settled back into his placid pacing. “Like I said, he is very powerful. Perhaps he used that power to find a way inside, without you knowing about it.” Briar considered the avenues the warlock would be willing to take, and she was unable to rule out anything. Including bribing a dragon, even if Jax thought it improbable. “Can you be sure that no dragon would have aided him?”
“There is no one.” He spoke quickly and turned away from her.
“You still have that tell; you know. It gives you away every time.” She eased in closer. Jax never played any games with Briar because she could always tell when he was bluffing. “You suspect something, or someone. Who is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jax casually increased the distance between them, pretending to be admiring the details in the decoration of the space.
“Jax, come on, let’s drop the games, this is serious.” She could only coax him for so long. The queenly way was still new to her; the old Briar pushed to the surface.
“Look, Bri, I really wish I could help you, but I can’t.” He was near the exit, ready to walk away from the entire mess. The dragons had no stake in the fairy problems, and he wouldn’t be volunteering their sources on a hunch. There had to be more in it for him if he was going to convince his father to go along with what she wanted.
“I’ll tell you where she is.” She’d hoped not to have to use her trump card, she’d hoped that he would be willing to help without a bribe. She knew it would never happen that way, but she still had hope. Very minute hope, but hope, nonetheless.
“Excuse me?” His leisurely progression toward the exit ended. He wanted her to make it worth his time, and she’d done just that.
“I know you have been looking for her, all these years, wondering where she is. I know where she is.” It always came down to a girl, Briar knew that. Throughout the years she’d watch so many men risk everything for the love of a woman. Jinn was doing the same, and Jax was no different.
“That’s a game you don’t want to play, Briar.” The flesh at his neck tensed and momentarily scaled over, but he was able to push the transition back. A shift in the middle of a fairy city, inside of the queen’s chamber, would be an act of war no matter what their relationship was in the past.
“I’m not playing any games with you, Jax. Inda is alive and well. She will likely kill me for telling you, but at this point, I’m fresh out of options. I need your help, and if you want to see her again, well, you need mine.” Jax had to have a stake in the game. He was like all the other dragons—stubborn, hardheaded, and believed he was above the troubles of the world. Daegal would come for them next, without a doubt, but Jax wasn’t concerned with possible yet uncertain futures.
“You have some guts, bringing me here to blackmail me.” He walked back over to her, heat raising from his skin. “If you were any other person, this would go a very different way.”
“You knew what this was when you came, why else would I call you here?” Briar stood her ground, her own temper rising. She wished she’d opted for combat gear instead of the formal wear. If Jax wanted a fight, she would give him one. “You knew I needed help and you came ready for a bargain, to make a deal. Well, here is your offer. You help me get this bastard, and you get your girl back … that is if she will take you back.” Briar shrugged. “All I can do is get you in the same room.”
Jax thought about the offer. He made a show of it by rubbing his chin and resuming his pacing, but Briar knew she had him where she wanted him. “I can grant you and your people safe passage, just let me know when you plan to come.” He would have to convince his father, but with recent changes, Jax was being given more responsibilities and more authority. There wouldn’t be much resistance. “I will return to the Cascades and do some digging. If I come across anything, I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you.” She nodded in appreciation of his agreement to her terms and indicated for the aid to retrieve his coat.
“What of my information?” He took the coat from the small fairy and turned a hard gaze on Briar.
“I’m no fool, Jax. Keep up your end, and I will keep mine.”
“You know, the queen thing fits you.” He smiled, knowing the statement was much more of a dig than he let on. Briar never wanted to be queen. She’d told him plenty times that it was not something she desired to ever have to deal with. Jax left the room wearing a wide grin and tossing his cloak to hang over his shoulder from two fingers.
“Do you trust him?” Praia questioned when the doors closed, sealing the two inside the room alone again.
“Yeah, we were friends at one point, before the wars turned our people into enemies. I swear,” Briar returned to the seat she’d avoided for so long, and slouched into it, “this was all supposed to be so much better than what we had before. Look at us, we’re horrible! Wars and killing, and people kept in cages. There are children out there living like animals, we are worse than the humans. We did all this claiming to have a better way, to be able to fix this world, and here it is worse than it ever was in the hands of the humans. We are a plague, all of us. Sometimes I really wish we had never been revealed. I wish that we had kept on living as we were. At least then, things made sense. Then, I could look out on the world and hope to be able to make a real change. Now? Now all I see is more pain, more hurt, more fear than I ever saw before.”
“You can do something about it, you already are,” Praia stated softly. She realized Briar was in a bad way. With everything moving so quickly, the woman never had a chance to stop and mourn. She was second in command to the queen, they were best friends, and she was gone. To top that off, Briar was forced to be reminded of her every second of every day. Each meeting, briefing, and conference call she’d had to attend, called Alesea to mind.
“Yeah, okay.” Briar sighed and dropped her head back to look up through the glass ceiling to the sun above.
“You’re the queen now, and maybe you didn’t want that, but you are.” Praia moved to the base of the steps that led to the throne. “That means you have the power to make change. In a way, you’re already doing that. You’ve helped Mike and his people, which is a way toward peace between the fairies and the slithers. You’ve just gotten Jax to help, which yeah, okay, was kind of blackmail, but it also means you have a way to connect with his people. And then there is me, fae, wandering the halls of your home freely and not one fairy here has ever made me feel like I’m not welcome to be here. That is because they are loyal to you. They trust your decision, your gut instinct about me and every other choice you’ve made. They will follow you toward the peace that you are hoping to achieve.” She sighed, hoping her words were getting through. “Many people dream to be able to change the world. They hope that in some small way, they can make an impact. You actually have the means to do it. You have a platform, a voice, use it the way you would have wanted Alesea, or any other queen before her to use it.”
“You’re right. I have to do more; I have to make a change.” Briar sat up in the throne. “Thank you, Praia.”
“Any time.” The fae smiled, happy that they were becoming friends.
“What was that about?” Mysti entered the room, having escorted Jax and his men away from Vilar. Once out of the city, they took flight, back to the Cascades.
“That was about Briar getting us the help we need to get into the Cascades. We have less than two days left before the eclipse,” Praia answered without thinking. She caught her mistake and apologized. Eventually she would get used to Briar’s status as queen.
“I need you to get word to Mike and his people
,” the queen instructed her second. “We need the strongest, we’re taking the fight to him.” Briar stood. “Praia get the fae together, we need all the help we can get. We’ll have to use magic to transport us, there is no time for any other way.”
Jinn left Vilar after speaking with Briar about what he’d learned from Nitara. Still keeping the secret of Degal's plan. If they hadn't figured it out by his return, he would tell them then. Realizing where they would be headed and just what they were up against, Jinn knew they would need a lot more help. Though his friends were few and far in between, there were still a few people in his debt. He left it that way, for a time such as this.
Since the war, Earth had taken a turn for the better. If there was anything to be said for the transition of power, it was the rejuvenation of the earth. Places that had been all but wiped clean of their resources flourished again. The ozone was being repaired, in large amounts due to the fae and fairy magic. Which meant the world was able to cool down again with the discontinuation of human manufacturing. The polar ice caps were restored by the ice dragons who used the area for their mating season. Even if the inhabitants of Earth hadn’t quite figured their shit out, the planet itself was prospering.
Jinn stood on the snow-covered lands of Antarctica. He hadn’t been to the area in years and it took his breath away to see just how much the place had changed. It was majestic and terrifying all at the same time. Even with his power, the cold threatened him. If exposed too long to the elements, he would suffer just as anyone else. He pulled the parka he’d conjured around himself tighter.
The entrance to the hideout was just up ahead. It was kept in the frozen lands, because much like the scorched lands, no one wanted to live there. Where no one wanted to go, a person looking to lay low would thrive. Of course he would need the help of an outlaw … who better to take down a warlock gone dark?
He lifted his hand to the tall wall that appeared as a thick slab of ice, meant to deceive any unwanted visitors. The familiar signature of an old acquaintance. Blue light emanated from his hand, a key for a door only those like him could unlock, and the hidden passage opened to him, revealing a long hall and the sound of opera music. Jinn stepped inside and the exit sealed behind him, causing the music to echo around him.
Cautiously he moved forward, walking down the hall to the source of the sound. The light just ahead—produced by carefully placed candles—glowed, giving some light to the hall; not a lot, but enough so that he wouldn't trip or need to conjure any of his own. He didn’t want to alert the resident of his arrival just yet. Better to scope the situation out, and make sure his old pal hadn’t gone insane after being in solitude for so long. If he determined the guy would be of no use, he could leave without incident. As he reached the end of the hall, he could see that his friend was in good mind and spirits. Jinn stood in the doorway, looking at the fool who danced in front of him with a person he knew didn’t really exist.
“Well, I see you’ve got yourself a new girlfriend.” Jinn laughed and leaned his shoulder against the frame of the door.
The oversized man stumbled backwards, startled by his voice. “Shit, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” He waved his hand, and his curvy blonde dance partner faded into nothing, leaving trails of orange smoke behind. “Hell, you know I was always one for a good dance.”
“You’re still the only person I know to dance to opera.” Jinn shook his head. “How the hell have you been, Bruto?”
“As good as a djinn in hiding can be. Did you come here to tell me all my enemies have died, and I can go free?” Bruto, an oversized djinn with red hair and skin so pale he could be mistaken for a vampire, flashed a bright smile hopeful for good news.
“No, I'm not here with news of the apocalypse.” Jinn chuckled and looked around the place. It had long since been transformed from the cavern of ice he’d left Bruto with. Of course, the djinn had all the magic in the world and could make the place into whatever he pleased. For Bruto, that meant making the space bigger. Tall ceilings with chandeliers all powered by candlelight, which seemed a bit risky considering the structure, but the flames weren’t real, they were conjured elements meant for show. Large canvases of classical art hung on display, covering nearly every wall. The walls themselves were solid, not ice, painted brown with false windows that gave display to images of the hills of Ireland. The floor was a beautiful hardwood that tied the space together. At the back of the room he could see two double doors. Bruto had done some expansion on the place.
“Well, come on in, and tell me what brings you to the frozen tundra.” The djinn was welcoming, happy for a real person to converse with.
Jinn walked further into the room, noting all of the possessions the man had conjured for himself. He was living the good life, a free djinn, only not. Bruto had a lot of enemies, and though he was strong, he was no match for the entire collective of the witches of the Ashen. Convincing him to take part in the expedition was going to be a tough gig. Jinn had the upper hand, though. He’d saved Bruto’s life on more than one occasion, the last time being the most dire situation the man had ever been in.
Bruto pulled out a seat at the large table that sat to the left side of the room and indicated that Jinn should take the one across from him. As Jinn sat, two cups of coffee appeared. With the steam rising from the mug, he could smell that there was much more than coffee.
“A little early for whiskey, don't you think?” He eyed the beverage.
“Not when its Molly’s Irish Cream!” Bruto winked and smiled at Jinn knowing he’d hit a weak spot.
“How the hell did you get some of that?” Jinn leaned in and smelled it. “This seems fresh, not conjured.”
“Let's just say I had an in.” Bruto laughed a deep chuckle that resonated around them.
“Yeah, I don't even want to know.” Jinn lifted the mug to his lips, taking a sip of the beverage, and allowed the flavor to wash over him. Mentally he was transported back to his time in Ireland where he'd run into Bruto. At the time, the djinn was on the run, just after he’d pissed off a strong witch who would come to be one of the High Council for the Collective. Jinn helped him escape her, and when the Collective was formed, he helped to hide the djinn from the covens.
“So, you were going to tell me why you’re here.” Jinn savored his drink, but he knew Bruto understood that he hadn’t showed up for a cordial visit.
“Yes.” He took another sip before placing the beverage back on the table. “I'm here to cash in on a favor.”
“As you mentioned. What is it that you need?”
“I need you to help me fight a powerful warlock of the Collective and stop him from wiping out both the fae and the fairies.” His words were like the ice outside the cavern, they brought a frost to the room that stilled the phony flames that danced and threw their light against the walls.
The soft operatic music that had been playing in the background stopped and Bruto sat straight up in his chair and abandoned the relaxed position he previously had. “You need me to do what? Are you out of your mind?”
“No, I'm completely sane.” He took another sip of his drink. “Right now I really wish that I could claim that I was a few marbles shy.”
“Why would I risk everything, risk getting caught out there to help a bunch of Tinker Bell wannabes who never lifted a finger to help me?” Bruto leaned forward, ready for the answer. Jinn knew it had better be a damned good one if he wanted to convince him to help.
“Because, they aren't the ones asking for your help. I am, and you owe me.”
“Yeah, man, but damn.” He stood up, pacing in front of Jinn. He wanted to get out of his lonely sentence to the icebox, but not to go to war with the same people he went into hiding to avoid!
“He has Nitara.” It was time to drop the bomb—no amount of convincing would work otherwise. Bruto was a man of passion, he needed to have a stake in the game, something he cared about.
“What?” The large man paused his movement, turning his gaze to Jin
n who remained in his seat.
“Yeah, he has Nitara, and a few others as well.” Jinn never liked how much Bruto liked his wife, but in this case, it worked for the cause.
“I thought she died.” He perked up, happy to hear that the woman he once mourned was alive and well.
“That seems to be what he wanted us to think.” Jinn couldn’t be sure that Daegal was the one who falsified reports of her death, but it made sense. If everyone thought she was dead, no one would come looking for her. Including Jinn.
“Shit, man.”
Jinn knew he had him. If there was even a chance that he would deny lending a hand, it went out the window when Nitara came into the picture. Bruto looked at her like a sister. The two became very close when Jinn was unable to be with her, and when Bruto lost his own wife, a mortal who wished him free, it was Nitara who helped him through it. For a while, it was a bond that Jinn hated, but he’d learn to move on from it considering he was never around them when they knew one another. Their time together was one he’d never gotten to witness, and he was glad for it. Bruto may have been one very dead djinn if Nitara had fawned over the man in front of her husband.
“So, I can count on your help?” Taking the last sip of his coffee and wishing there was more to continue the warm buzz that had spread over him, Jinn stood from his seat.
“Yeah, you got it.” Bruto paused. “Anything for Nitara. I mean, for you, too, but especially for her.” His solitary laughter was cut by Jinn’s following remark.
“Great, because we need to go get Rosie.” If he hadn’t been afraid the man would change his mind, Jinn would have laughed at the mixed expression on Bruto’s face. It was a look of disgust, fear, and somehow, enthusiasm.
“Fuck, Jinn! Was it your plan to destroy my entire night?”
“We need the old team, man.” He shrugged. “No way I can do what I need to do without everyone on board.”
Djinn Rebellion Boxset (Books 1 -30: A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Page 15