“Why would I want to do that?” Frowning, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything, but I just got word about a little bug that flew in …” Briar chewed her lip waiting for Inda’s response.
“Jax?” The woman was pacing the floor.
“Yes.”
“Fuck, how did he get here so fast?” She peered out the window as if she would be able to see him.
“Apparently, he was nearby.” Briar shrugged. “I swear, I have nothing to do with this.”
“I believe you. Shit, I knew this would happen the second I got here.” She stopped in front of Briar; the pacing hadn’t helped to calm her down. “He knows I’m here.”
“Yes, and he isn’t leaving until he sees you.”
“Great! I don’t want to deal with him, Briar.” Inda looked at her friend with eyes that carried so much more than the anger she showed to the world. She was afraid to see her ex. She was afraid of what that reunion would look like, and what it would do to her.
“I realize that. So, I instructed the others to keep him distracted while we sneak out through the secret passage. Boxi will meet us at the exit.”
“Thank you.” Inda took a deep breath, happy for the escape route.
“This isn’t going away, you know. He will still be here when we get back and he knows that you came from Reverie now, so even if you dodge him, he’ll just go there.”
“Fuck.” She was right. Inda had nowhere to go. Jax was on her trail now and he wouldn’t stop chasing her.
“Would it be so bad to just talk to him?” Briar led Inda to the back of the room where a small hidden door blended into the panels. She placed her hand on the surface and her magic unlocked the hatch that held it in place.
“What exactly am I supposed to say? We fought, I left, I’m back but nothing has changed. That man is an egotistical asshole! He expected me to turn my back on my people for him! I couldn’t do that then, and I can’t now. If something should happen and I’m called away again …” She choked on her words and the tears she fought to hold back.
“Is that why you haven’t reached out? You’re afraid you’ll have to leave him again?”
“Yeah, that’s a big part of it.”
“If that is the case, why did you return here? I mean, there are so many other realms and worlds that you told me about. So many places for you to explore. Why come here if you’re afraid of what it means to be here?”
“I don’t know. It feels good, though, just knowing he is in the same world even if we can’t be together.”
“You may not want my opinion here, but I am going to give it. You’ve already wasted so much time apart. Perhaps, you can put your fears aside and go to him. Even if it doesn’t last forever, share that time together, cherish it because you never know when it will be ripped away for good.”
“Are you speaking from experience here?”
“Look at that,” Briar snapped her fingers and looked at her bare wrist, “it’s time to go!”
“Avoidance, classic.” Inda wiped her face of the tear that had escaped and smiled at her friend who ushered her through the hidden door.
“Yes, you should know!” Briar pulled the door shut behind her.
Mike stood outside of Jinn’s home as he continued his internal debate. It was hard to walk away from his wife and daughter with the knowledge that if Jinn agreed, it would mean that Mike would be away from them for a lot longer. There was only one way that he could think of to convince the man to step up, and that meant not only one, but two journeys for them to partake in. Great.
“Jinn, buddy, open up, it’s your favorite guy in the world!” Mike yelled at the door. Knocking had done nothing to get him inside. Off in the distance, just out of view, the rest of the welcome party waited. Of course, they wouldn’t join him on the doorstep. When he still got no answer, he continued to belt out requests to be welcomed inside.
“What the hell do you want?” The door flew open to reveal an angry man with bloodshot eyes and breath that reeked of whiskey. “What is this? Everyone piss off Jinn week? Who’s next up to bat?”
“Come on, man, just let me in. This has gone on long enough.”
“No.” Jinn moved to close the door, but Mike put his hand in the way, stopping him. “You want to lose that hand?”
“Just hear me out, please.”
“You know, the last time I heard you out, it ended up with me here. Why the hell would I want to do that again?”
“Look, I’m sorry about that, no one knew it would go that way.”
“Well it did, and I’m done now.” A bottle appeared in his hand and he lifted it to his lips. “So whatever rescue mission you’re here to propose, keep it to yourself.”
“You don’t want to know why I’m here?” Mike pushed. “I’ve left you alone all this time, because I wanted to respect your boundaries, but it’s time that something be done. You can’t stay like this, man.”
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that your being here has something to do with the annoying bird of fire that showed up here the other day. She couldn’t get to me, so you were called in.”
“Perceptive.” Mike tapped his head. “You were always one for details.”
“Not really. After the hot head flew in, I put up an alarm system and was alerted when you and the rest of your crew arrived.” He peered over the man’s shoulder. “You’d think fairies would be better at hiding.”
“Great, cat’s out of the bag.” It was no point in him being on the front line when the entire plan was a bust before they even arrived.
“I’m not helping Nitara, not this time. She made her choice.”
“I agree with that. Hell, until I spoke with Inda I was all for this change you’ve made. Unfortunately, it’s been brought to my attention that it may not have been her choice, not entirely.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, Inda can explain all that. Like I said, your decision about Nitara is yours and I support it. I’m here for something else.”
“What is it that you could possibly want?”
“I know that the reason you’re like this isn’t entirely because of Nitara.” Jinn eased up and allowed the door to open a bit more. Mike was on to something.
“Then what is it about?” Jinn turned from Mike and headed into the house. This was his okay to come in. Mike followed Jinn inside.
“Your wife wasn’t the only person you lost that day.” The door shut behind him. Apparently, Mike was the only one allowed in; he still had some convincing to do. “Praia is still missing.”
“Yes, she is.” Jinn took another swig of whiskey before falling onto the couch.
“That’s not your fault.”
“The hell it isn’t!” He slammed the bottle on the table. “If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have been out there.”
“She chose to help, and it wasn’t just to save Nitara. If you remember, the entire world was at stake.” Mike stood. Jinn wasn’t completely placated yet. The man was on the edge and if Mike let his guard down, he might end up out on his ass. “Look, I was going to wait to bring this up, wait until I had something solid, but I think now is a good time to reveal all of the cards.”
“Spit it out, Mike.”
“I think Praia is still alive.”
“What?”
“Like I said, I was waiting for a definite response, but yeah, I think she is.”
Jinn stepped closer to the man, so close that he thought he might hit him. “What do you know?”
“We searched the entire area where she fell, found everything down there but her. I even got in with some mermaids to help the search, but there was no trace of our girl. Then we start hearing rumbles about a new djinn hanging out in wolf land. So, I figure we should extend the search that way. I got word about a girl; she can’t remember who she is. I think it’s her.”
“So why haven’t you gone to get her?” Jinn nearly growled.
“Well, she is in wolf land as I said, and if this girl is Praia, she is mixed up in some real mess.” He stepped back, not wanting to be within arm’s reach of the man. “There isn’t much that I can do if what we’ve heard is true. It’s gonna take someone much more powerful.”
“Fuck.” Jinn ran his hand through the dreads that fell around his face.
“Yeah. So I figured we go and help with Nitara, then perhaps she can use her leverage with the vampires to broker some sort of trade with the wolves.”
“That’s a long shot.” The vampires weren’t a kind group. They would want something in return for their help. He was already tired of trading favors. It was the reason he was in this mess to begin with.
“Yeah, it is, but it’s a shot. If not, I’m sure we could come up with something.” Mike’s shoulders relaxed and the breath he’d been holding released.
“Nitara made it pretty damn clear she doesn’t want to be with me anymore.” Jinn shook his head. He didn’t want to go running after her again. Not after what happened the first time around.
“As I mentioned earlier, that isn’t exactly her fault.” Jinn had been too upset to really consider what Mike or Inda had to say about the woman who crushed his spirit with one blow.
“She told me she is in love with someone else, that I was too late.” Maybe it wasn’t her fault that she loved someone else. They’d been apart for so long, but it meant that she was no longer his to love. She was no longer his to save.
“Okay, look, what I’m going to say is going to sound farfetched. Hell, it took me by surprise, and I’ve seen a lot of crazy shit, but we do have proof that it’s true.”
“Once again, spit it out.”
“Daegal cursed Nitara. I know you guys were wished free of your bottles or whatever, but he found a way to give her another vessel.” He spoke calmly. “Nitara is no longer a free djinn.”
“She left me because of a vessel?” It made sense. It also explained why Nitara wasn’t affected the same way the others were when she was held captive by Daegal. He didn’t need to bind her; she was already his to command. “She could have told me. We could have gotten the vessel and freed her!”
“It wouldn’t have been that easy.”
“No?” Jinn huffed. “You think I can’t take any asshole out there?”
“I’m not saying that, man.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“She left because the vessel … well, it isn’t a normal circumstance.”
“I swear to god, Mike, if you don’t just spit this shit out now I’m going to hurt you.” Jinn’s jaw tightened as he held back the urge to hit his friend. The man was dangling pertinent information in front of his face.
Mike still hesitated for a moment before finally giving voice to the insanity that was Nitara’s current situation. “Her vessel is a vampire.”
“What?”
“Look, I won’t even pretend to understand what the hell is going on with that, but it's true. Her vessel is the King of the Vampires, and when he called, she had no choice but to go.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“No idea, but I’m going to suggest that perhaps, he stopped her from doing that.” When Jinn didn’t have a retort, Mike took that as his cue. “You know, the others are waiting. Sybella is here as well, to help you decide what you want to do here.”
“Praia is lost, and Nitara is trapped.” Jinn shook his head. “When are things gonna get better? Daegal is dead and he is still fucking up my life.”
“Well, think of it this way, we get this all worked out, and then you’re done with Daegal and his tampering. Unless the man finds a way back from the dead.” Mike laughed.
“You think that’s funny, but I wouldn’t put it past him.” Jinn groaned before waving his hand at the door which opened. “Tell your minions to come in.”
“It looks like Inda succeeded.” Graham entered their new hideaway. Shortly after Inda took flight, he found an old rail line that had gone unused for nearly a century. Ardyn worked his magic to make the space more welcoming. Inside of the tunnel, was a fully functioning center of command combined with what some would say was a hotel of five-star amenities. Graham told Ardyn he’d gone overboard, but after the first day, he’d come to see the benefits. Especially the fridge that was always stocked with blood, and it was the good stuff. Besides, it was safer than the rundown old structures that he’d chosen before, especially with Sarah sniffing around. Every vampire in the region was suspect. There were very few people he trusted.
“Jinn’s on board?” Ardyn perked up in his seat in front of a massive wall of monitors, all of which displayed random images from around the world. Jinn was a key piece to his plans. If the man had decided not to come through, they would have had a hell of a time accomplishing their goal. “That’s great news, one less thing to worry about.”
“Yes, it took some convincing, but he’s coming. Apparently, Nitara crushed him when she left.” The vampire grinned and Ardyn scoffed. Graham was actually happy that Nitara had hurt Jinn. The truth, that they both knew, was that she never would have done it if she didn’t feel it absolutely necessary to protect him.
“I’m sure the knowledge that she didn’t have a choice in the matter helps relieve his worries.” For Ardyn’s offered opinion, he received a glaring frown.
“Actually, no. They had to sell him on it with the promise of saving some girl from wolf territory.” Graham cracked open a bottle of blood from the stocked fridge. “It would appear that getting his wife back isn’t as big of a prize as it was the first time around.”
“I can imagine it wouldn’t be.” He went back to tinkering on his latest project until Graham’s delivered message completely registered with him. “Wait, what did you say? Why would they need to go to wolf territory?"
“No idea. I didn’t ask too many more questions. Once wolves were mentioned, I lost interest, no offense.”
“Yeah, none taken.” He frowned. Graham should have asked more questions. He should have gotten every detail available.
“Are you worried they may ask you to tag along?” Graham teased. He knew how much Ardyn wanted to avoid his home. Yeah, he would have loved to be welcomed back with open arms, but that wasn’t going to happen. Ardyn was changed, and wolves—hell, all the shifters—as ironic as it sounded, were against change.
“No, not at all.” Even if they begged the man to go, he wouldn’t. His concern was Nitara. Once she was free, he was done with rescue missions.
“Good, so we can move on.” If Ardyn wasn’t signing up for the second leg of the party, there was no sense in discussing it further. “What’s the latest? Any word from Nitara?”
“As a matter of fact, no. I haven’t heard from her since our last run-in when you nearly ruined everything.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ve been trying not to reach out to her. Figured it would be best if she lay low right now. Didn’t want to call any unnecessary attention to her.”
“Look, I already explained myself for that. When are you going to let it go?”
“Yeah, you did. And no, I won’t. I’ll keep busting your balls about it regardless of explanation.” It was the same thing Graham would have done to him if he’d taken such a foolish risk. Hell, Graham still busted his balls for the one time he’d been seen running through the fields too close to the general population. A human girl witnessed his blaze of blue fur cutting through the woods. If Graham hadn’t caught her before she got to the others, the entire world would have known about Ardyn. That was something they wanted to avoid for as long as possible. Especially when he was so unsure of himself and had very little control over his powers. It would have been a recipe for disaster.
“We need to find a way to get to her and figure out what the hell is going on.” Graham needed to refocus the conversation. Ardyn could toss all the jabs he wanted later.
“I have eyes on the inside. I’ll check it out.”
“Eyes? What eyes?” Graham stalked ov
er to him. “You didn’t tell me about any surveillance on the inside.”
“As if I would tell you, the man who has problems keeping his mouth shut!”
“Oh, ha ha.” Graham thought about keeping the next bit of information to himself but figured he would share it with the hybrid. “Sarah came to see me.”
“Sarah? As in wife of our enemy?” Ardyn dropped what he was doing. “Now this is information that needs to be shared! Spill.”
“She wanted to buddy up to me. Tried to get me to agree to work with her.” Graham finished off the bottle of blood and dropped the empty container into the trash.
“Did she throw herself at you?” Grinning, Ardyn waggled his eyebrows. Graham had some juicy gossip and Ardyn wanted every drop.
“Yeah, as if that was appealing.” Graham laughed. “You should have seen her; she basically shook her ass in my face.”
“Are you telling me that you weren’t even the tiniest bit tempted to take her offer?” It had been so long since Ardyn had a female shake anything in his direction, he got aroused just thinking of the prospect.
“The woman isn’t loyal to the husband she has, why would I trust her to be loyal to me?” Graham had had enough of tawdry flings. If he was going to be with someone it had to mean more. Mindless sex no longer pleased him and that was all Sarah would ever be able to offer him.
“Question is, why would she even think of coming to you?” Ardyn narrowed his gaze. As far as he knew it, Graham was enemy number one for the current royal family. Sarah had to have a reason to think that she could approach him in such a way. “Did something happen between the two of you?”
“Perhaps.” Graham shrugged and winked at the inquiring man.
“Oh, now you get tight lipped?” Ardyn crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Graham. “Now is not the time to be hiding things, man. I need to know everything, especially if it affects how people are going to respond to what we have going on here.”
“Fuck.” He was right. Ardyn needed to know everything, but Graham wanted to keep his secrets. That was how he’d survived, nothing that didn’t need to be told ever was. “She was the one who told me about Nitara’s bond to Tyrellis.”
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