by Eve Langlais
“Why again are we doing this?” Jamaal complained as Tariq indicated he get into the back of the vehicle.
“Because,” Tariq remarked.
“We’re not heroes.”
“Nope.”
“We’re barreling into danger.”
“Yes.” Tariq didn’t disagree.
“We’ll never catch her in time. We’re way behind,” his brother noted.
“The third blood moon isn’t until tomorrow night.” Felicia indicated the asteroid in the sky, its hue more pink than red still.
“Great, still time for us all to see the world ending,” Jamaal offered with sarcasm.
“Or in time to stop it.” Tariq wasn’t about to add his pessimism to his brother’s.
“Stop it how? Because we both know your queen won’t allow us to kill Zane, and if they’re holding him hostage, then we won’t be able to rein in Ella.”
“Ella’s a smart woman. She’ll do the right thing.” He hoped. The life of one wasn’t worth the fate of the world. His gaze strayed to Felicia, and his forehead creased.
Is one life worth everything?
Depended on the life.
“Are we leaving yet?” Azzam asked, once again sticking his head out the window. Was it Tariq, or did his hair seem a little darker than before? His magical core a little thicker?
“In good time. In case you hadn’t noticed, we suffered the loss of a party member.”
His grandfather waved a hand and announced, “The witch acts as the gods command.”
“By going off on her own with no support or plan?”
“Who says she doesn’t have a plan?” Felicia remarked, clambering into the passenger seat, leaving the driving to Tariq for the first leg.
“Problem is her plan might end up opening a door that lets in a legion of demons. Excuse us if we’d rather not all die,” Jamaal retorted.
“Are you always so pessimistic?” Felicia countered. “Ella isn’t some helpless little sorceress.”
“How about rather than arguing, we put our energy to how we’re going to fight the demons and close that rift?”
“I vote we stuff Azzam in the hole,” Jamaal volunteered. Which led to another round of bickering, the lighter, teasing kind.
It didn’t last, though. Tariq drove as fast as he dared over the rough terrain. Unfortunately, despite being real close to the source of their problem, they’d yet to come up with a solid plan. Mostly because they didn’t know what to expect or what to do.
Azzam proved little help, other than saying the gods would reveal the solution when the time was right.
Hastening the answer with hands around his grandfather’s neck only got Jamaal a glare from Felicia that had him releasing Azzam and sulking in a corner.
The queen might not possess magic, and yet she oozed a power that influenced.
The moon remained a glaring reminder that they were running out of time. They needed to do something before it rose for the third time. How could they stop whatever the demons planned?
Why hadn’t they brought more allies? Sure, Tariq had no kin to call upon, and yet the vampires could have helped. Tariq and the queen could have also contacted the other races. Asked them for aid. Yet, here they were, alone on a hard-packed dirt trail, moving cross country, hopefully going in the right direction.
Two broken djinn, a mighty queen, and a confused male. Against a legion.
The question spilled from his lips. “Are we suicidal?”
Felicia snorted. “Excuse me? Where is that coming from?”
“Why are we facing the demons without any backup?”
“Because there wasn’t time to find anyone,” she stated.
“You had ample time to arrange transportation and supplies. Surely you could have hired some soldiers,” he prodded.
“I could have, but…” Felicia paused. “How would they have helped us? Humans would be susceptible to the demonic possession. Even vampires are not immune. I, for one, preferred to not ride with strangers who might kill us when our backs are turned. And, really, how would more people have helped?”
“It is how the gods wished it.” Azzam’s pronouncement was met with stares. He shrugged. “All mighty quests are undertaken by the few.”
“These few have the fate of the world in their less-than-many hands,” Tariq retorted.
“Then don’t fuck up.” Jamaal snickered. “Boy, is everyone screwed if we’re supposed to be the heroes in this tale.”
“There wasn’t really time to gather an army,” Felicia said, chewing at her lower lip.
“There would have been if we’d not wasted so much time traveling to you in the first place. But someone didn’t mention we had a time limit.” Tariq’s gaze in the rearview mirror focused on his grandfather.
“Just doing as told. According to the gods, we are exactly where we should be.”
“Which isn’t reassuring at all,” Tariq growled.
“What’s that?” Felicia leaned forward, and the argument was dropped.
As he slowed down, his headlights caught what she’d seen. The other truck, abandoned, the driver door hanging open. He stopped, and Felicia jumped out, making haste to check over the vehicle. He joined her. While she sniffed for blood, he spread his hands and looked for signs of lingering magic.
Nothing. Not a single trace of Ella. But on a positive note, no blood either.
In grim silence, they clambered back into their own truck and the trek resumed.
Maybe fifteen minutes or so before dawn, Tariq slammed to a stop by a copse of sad-looking trees. “We should stop and rest.”
“I don’t think any of us are feeling fatigued. We need to keep moving,” Felicia declared.
“The sun will rise soon,” he observed, having watched the growing hints of purple on the horizon.
“So I’ll swaddle.” She pulled out her gear and layered it on.
“We don’t need to rush. We’re only a few hours away at this point, and this might be our last chance for shade. The third moon is not until tonight. We have time.”
Felicia shook her head. “No, we don’t. Call it a premonition, but we need to be there. The sooner, the better.” She placed her hand on his. “I appreciate the concern, but…” Her voice lowered. “Either you move this truck, or I’m going to go vampire squirrel on your neck and drive for you.”
“Vampire squirrel?” he queried, putting the vehicle back in motion.
“It’s an expression Ella coined. Zane lets her watch way too many bad vampire movies.”
“Are there any good ones?” he asked.
“A few.”
“Then once we’ve saved the world, you’ll have to watch them with me.”
In the back seat, Jamaal gagged. “Seriously. You did not just say that. Hundreds of years old and that’s the best you could do?”
Tariq’s lips flattened. Felicia’s hand came to rest on his thigh and squeezed. “It’s a date.”
A date they’d keep, which meant getting them to that abyss and finishing this once and for all.
He drove even faster than the day before, stopping only to unstrap cans from the top of the truck and fill the tank. He didn’t care how much gas he wasted. He’d worry about that later. First, he needed to ensure they had a tomorrow.
The edge of the abyss loomed suddenly. A black crevice out of nowhere. Tariq only barely managed to brake. The truck shuddered as it continued to slide. It slowed as the gaping maw of the chasm loomed. There might have been a few sighs of relief as they stopped. Then a single gasp as the front wheels dropped over the edge, giving them a jolt.
“I think we found it,” Jamaal remarked.
“I think I need new robes,” Azzam muttered.
Sitting in the open, Tariq was more aware of the sun than ever. It was mid-morning, and it shone bright. Felicia might have covered herself as best she could, but he could feel how the rays taxed her. Just like being here taxed him.
The very air sucked at Tariq’s magic. Abso
rbing it. Stealing…
If it affected him, who was whole and strong, then how much worse for his damaged grandfather and brother? A glance at Azzam showed him sweating and Jamaal not far behind him. Their wounded cores had begun to seep again.
Not good. What could they truly do to help? Nothing.
“Time for the pair of you to leave,” Tariq announced.
“We are not abandoning you to be a martyr,” Jamaal snapped.
“This magical suck is going to kill you.” Tariq waved around at the air. “You’re no good to me dead.”
“He’s right. We can’t have you two slowing us down.” Felicia exited the truck with a hiss. “Why did it have to be the desert? Why not a lovely underground cavern system with lakes and pretty rocks?”
Jamaal went to follow her, but Tariq had already engaged the locks and then used the driver control to prevent Jamaal from changing it.
If his brother wouldn’t see reason, then he’d force the issue. Tariq stepped out of the truck and then expended some magic. Enough to yank it from the edge of the cliff. He jammed the door locks, given his brother had jumped into the driver’s seat. Sticking it in second gear, Tariq placed a magical rock on the gas peddle, forcing it to drive away. Jamaal would eventually wrestle control, but by then, hopefully, he’d see reason.
Felicia was already out of sight, having dropped below the crevice’s edge, moving quickly to avoid the sun. Looking at the long, winding path that hugged the rocky wall, he wanted to sigh. He’d already used as much magic as he dared. A djinn walking. He never thought he’d see the day. Meanwhile, Felicia ran as best she could, her shape a dark moving shadow against the reddish sandstone. He quickened his own pace to catch her.
When she paused in the shade of a shallow cavern, he joined her and asked, “Are you okay? Do you need me to create a shadow umbrella for you?”
She shook her head. “Save your magic. I’ll be fine. I just needed a little break because it was getting hot. I’m ready to go again.”
“Last one to the bottom gets head.”
She snorted. “You do realize, with that kind of incentive, I might just shove you off the path.”
He grinned. “Or we could tie and both lose.”
“Now you’re talking.”
He grabbed her gloved hand, and they began to run down the steep path, barely more than a single file track that, at times, was not even a few inches wide.
But they didn’t slow or falter, not when the deeper they went, the less the sun’s rays fought to singe her skin. They made no attempt to hide. He wasn’t sure if anyone would detect him using magic, and she was right. Save his strength.
No one sounded an alarm. As a matter of fact, they saw and heard nothing at all, yet he knew they were in the right place.
He could feel it. A certainty humming in his core.
He might not believe in the same gods as Azzam, but he understood the weight of portent. The shadows thickened, and it was dark enough at the bottom that Felicia pushed up her glasses and perched them atop her head.
“That’s better,” she said with a sigh. Felicia didn’t stand around enjoying it. She set off at a brisk pace, and he took long strides to keep up with his queen, who was fearless and ready for action.
It made her so sexy.
It wasn’t long before they made it to the edges of a camp: a half-dozen tents, crates, a few ATVs covered in camouflage netting. The signs of habitation meant Tariq held himself ready to fight.
Placing a hand on his arm, Felicia shook her head. “There’s no one here. No one alive.”
Since he could feel a touch of her hunger through their link, he didn’t question her statement. Much like he could sense magic for nourishment, she knew how to find food. They took a step between the first pair of tents. The door flap on one was pulled back, and he could see inside. A pair of messy bunkbed cots. An open chest with clothing spilling out of it. On the other side, the flap hung down. He kept going, warily watching the abandoned camp, the only sound that of a loose flap rustling with a breeze. Other than that, there was no movement. Not even a hint of smoke from a cookfire. Only as they passed the second set of tents did it occur to him.
There is no breeze.
That was when the monster attacked.
Eighteen
It came out of nowhere, lunging with a yodeled meow. Its claws sank into Tariq’s thigh, and he yelled.
“Argh. Demon!”
Whereupon, Felicia laughed. “It’s just a cat.”
He glared at her. “Just a cat says the woman who doesn’t currently have all millions of its claws sunk into her skin.” He turned his stern gaze on the feline, a kitten really, which decided to climb the rest of him and wrap herself around his neck. The little thing shivered.
“Get if off me,” he said through gritted teeth.
“It’s just a poor, scared kitten.” Only as the words emerged from her mouth did she grasp what she’d said. Scared of what?
The shadow gave her just enough warning to dive to the side. She hit the dusty ground hard and immediately pushed herself up. She spun and blinked at the monster.
“What is it?” It had the body and mane of a lion, yet despite the muzzle and sharp snarl, its features held a human cast. A ridge of spines went up its back, and its segmented tail possessed a barbed tip like a scorpion.
“Manticore,” Tariq grimly announced. “Don’t let it sting you. It’s poisonous.”
It was also stalking them, its shaggy head following Tariq’s slow movements.
“Distract it,” she said.
“I might not be able to do much.” He didn’t say it, but she heard it somehow. My magic is so weak.
Then it was up to her to save him.
The manticore lunged, Tariq yelled—mostly because the small kitten chose to launch itself, using its claws to find purchase to spring.
As her djinn lover dodged out of the way, Felicia darted closer. She grabbed hold of the manticore’s mane, the fur of it silken and fluffy. It would make a lovely coat.
The mighty beast let out a roar and shook its head. But she held on.
“Beware the tail!” Tariq shouted.
She whirled and narrowly missed being impaled. Before the deadly stinger could try again, Tariq was there, gripping it with two hands, muscles bulging.
“Kill it,” he hollered.
“If you insist.” Since a mouthful of fur wasn’t a good time for anyone, she had to rely on her nails. She drew on her vampire self, the one she kept under control most times. The tips of her fingers elongated and sharpened, enough she could rake them across the manticore’s neck.
It slumped to the ground, and Felicia licked the tips of her clawed fingers. “Gamey,” she said with a grimace.
“Says you. I say it makes a nice snack,” was Tariq’s reply. He had his head back and inhaled.
“Are you eating it?” she asked with a wrinkled nose. She eyed it and made a moue.
“It doesn’t have the greatest magic, but it has some. No point in wasting it.”
“Think there’s more of them?” she asked, looking at the other tents with suspicion.
“Doubtful,” Tariq said, peeking into another tent and emerging with a machete.
A strange and rough noise started. She turned to see the kitten had returned and rubbed against Tariq’s ankle while purring.
“Looks like you made a friend.”
“I’ve never had a pet before,” he said. He appeared confused as he stared down at the little creature.
“They’re like a girlfriend. Just remember not to come home smelling like another pussy.” She winked as she sashayed past him.
“Just so you know, I am a one-pussy kind of djinn.”
“You’d better be.” It didn’t take a crystal ball to see he was hinting he wanted something more.
She wouldn’t mind that.
But first, they had to find the temple of doom. The one in Ella’s vision. Funny how Felicia began to recognize the place from
that short video montage they watched. The slit in the rock, the tunnel with its muffled sound effects. The fear they’d arrived too late.
Tariq was right. Why did they come alone? How could she have been so stupid as to not see someone manipulated them? She never left home without a cadre of bodyguards. Or a packed lunch. She’d not brought anyone from her circle other than Ella and Zane, who were already part of the quest.
Tariq at her back was the only solid thing right now. But could she trust him to protect her? The djinn were known to be selfish. He’d shown himself different thus far; however, this would be a true test of his character.
Of hers as well.
Did the world really deserve the ultimate sacrifice of her life? What of Zane’s?
She’d better decide soon because the tunnel lost some of its murkiness as it widened onto a chamber filled with light. She hugged the wall to peek, noting the brackets studded around the cavern held torches that burned brightly. Could she blame them for the pulsing heat bathing her skin and penetrating even deeper than that?
Tariq paused beside her. He whispered, “I think we found the place.”
“Was it the stone temple that gave it away?” she muttered in reply. Seeing it via the screen replaying the memories and experiencing it in person were two different things.
How to explain the awe of being in the presence of something ancient and huge? The relic towered, the stonework an intricate work of skill and art. A thing of beauty…and chock-full of power.
She felt it, like a hum in the air that emanated from the rock wall framed in numerous etched stone pillars. She could almost see the magic in the glyphs, as if they glowed. Perhaps they did because the unsightly crack marring the wall certainly held some color. The fissure outlined and glowing in red. For Hell. Blood. Death.