Djinn Rebellion Boxset (Books 1 -30: A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy

by Cage, Jessica

  “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 it.” 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.

  “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 hold the 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 receiving 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 effect 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.

  “I think you’re more than that, but either way, we are appreciative of your efforts in all of this.” Their conversation was cut short, interrupted by the sound of music and laughter in the background. They turned to see Bruto, hands full of food, dancing to his magically produced music. The upbeat tempo wasn’t his usual operatic choice, but the bottle of beer in his left hand had put him in a different mood. The music helped to further lighten the atmosphere and ease the tension between the species there. Both fae and fairy joined in on the dancing, neither ever able to ignore a good song. The shifters laughed and watched as the drunken djinn was overtaken by the magical cousins and pushed off the dance floor.

  As the party continued, Jinn found Briar. She sat at a table in the grass, surrounded by her guards, Mysti right at her side as always. “A word?” he asked.

  She nodded to her companions—she didn’t want them to follow her. Leaving the table, she walked with Jinn and watched the dancing as she did. It was hard, even for her to ignore the urge to dance.

  “I have a bad feeling about Joe.” Jinn followed her line of sight.

  “You too?” She turned to walk in the opposite direction of the subject of their conversation. Her gut told her that something with the guy wasn’t right. She’d been keeping a close eye on him. So far, he hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary, but she still didn’t trust him.

  “Something doesn’t sit well. He seems familiar.” He shook his head. “I can’t place what it is.”

  “Familiar, in what way? Have you met him before?” She looked over her shoulder to the dragon who now stood with one of his own, scanning the party with his eyes.

  “No, I’ve never laid eyes on the man, I definitely would have remembered him.” He leaned in, lowering his voice even more, afraid of being overheard not only by the dragon, but any other one of the creatures with advanced senses. “It’s more along the lines of how Bruto and Rosie were familiar to me before I ever knew them, it’s something that ties us together.”

  “Something that ties you together?” His words tumbled around her mind, pieces of a puzzle slowly forming to make one disturbing picture. “You don’t mean …”

  “Yes, the magic that created us.” Jinn found Joe again. The feeling was undeniable. Across the way, Bruto caught his gaze and gave him a knowing nod. Jinn wasn’t the only one to pick up on the abnormality.

  “You think he is in on this with Daegal?” Her guards still sat at the table where she left them, most of them relaxed, but Mysti had her eyes trained on the queen. Sensing her discomfort, she moved to come to her, but Briar lifted her hand and her eager guard remained where she was. If Joe noticed her running to the queen’s side, it would do more harm than good. He couldn’t know that they suspected him.

  “I wouldn’t put it past him, or anyone else.” The djinn peered around the party in front of them, lingering momentarily on Mysti, a pause Briar hadn’t caught. There was no magical familiarity there, but his gut still told him that something wasn’t right with that woman. She never did anything to make him suspect her, but then again, neither had Joe.


  “We need to let the others know, subtly.” She touched his shoulder and smiled, keeping the appearance of two friends in casual conversation.

  “Agreed.” He returned a small smile and paired it with a low chuckle.

  “Do you think Jax is aware?” What if her former friend was involved? Had he led them into a trap?

  “No, I don’t. If he was, the feeling would be there with him as well, but it isn’t. I don’t get it from any of the others, only Joe.”

  “Well, that’s good. Only one traitor amongst us.”

  “Let’s hope so. Let’s hope he isn’t planning to fuck over his own people as well as us.” He grunted. “They already have one crazed dragon locked up. Who’s to say he didn’t spark some inspiration in the others? This could be a play for power. Hell, if Daegal is involved, that’s definitely what it is. He loves promising power he can’t or doesn’t want to deliver.”

  “What if he is taking us in the wrong direction?”

  “He isn’t, I’ve been tracking our movement. I know this place well. Spent many years here once. Besides, the others don’t know he is dirty. They would have spoken up if we were going the wrong way.”

  “I’m going to speak to Mysti and the others, they will get the word out into the group quietly. Can you take on Mike and your friends?”

  “Bruto knows, and if he does, so does Rosie. I’ll talk to Mike.” Jinn stepped away from Briar and headed directly for the food, using the appearance of hunger as a misdirect for any suspicion that may have been raised by their hushed conversation. In addition, Briar’s touch on his shoulder and soft whispers should inspire rumors of a budding romance. It wouldn’t be something the fairies would approve of, and the djinns would be pissed if they believed it possible, but it was better for them if people suspected illicit behaviors. He kept his eyes away from Joe, focusing on his task of filling his plate and chatting with whoever came near. Not too much, though, as that too may cause suspicion as he hadn’t been too quick to converse with anyone the entire time they’d been in the Cascades.