Rogue Spotter Collection

by Kimberly A Rogers

  “Hasim doesn’t like you?”

  Now, it was Layla who laughed. She grinned at me, teeth bright in the moonlight. “Oh no. Hasim adores me, though he is still insistent that I stumble my way into too much trouble.”

  I must have still looked confused because she rolled her eyes. “Our families agreed to a marriage match between one of the daughters of Serkan and the sons of Altan. Typical Jinn politics of ensuring none of the families grow too distant from the rest of the clans in terms of kinship and marriage alliances. I picked Hasim who happens to be the grandson of Ali Altan, our current chief of elders.” Her smile grew mischievous as she added, “Hasim accepts his fate although I have had to train him a little.”

  “I believe I am the one in charge of your training.”

  I jumped as Hasim appeared beside us, his tone dour but something much warmer in his eyes above the lower fold of his keffiyeh. Layla laughed and then raised her fingers in a quick flicking gesture that caused a stirring of power I could just barely detect before the keffiyeh’s fold was tugged free to expose Hasim’s face. She then sauntered over to him. “Ah that is as a guardian, my dear. In everything else, I train you.” Then, she rose on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

  “Layla, you know better than to do that,” Hasim scolded. “One day someone will see, and we shall both be dragged before the council.”

  She merely kissed his cheek again. “Nonsense. Why would the council make a fuss? The only thing they might do is force you to actually propose and set a date for the wedding.”

  “I cannot marry you yet. You know the customs required. And, you know very well why it must wait, especially since you also chose to join the guardians.” Hasim glanced at me and then reached toward Layla brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek. “Take your cousin inside before your family’s roof receives more visitors. And, do not do anything reckless, Layla.”

  The wind suddenly changed blocking out whatever it was she said in reply. Hasim, however, threw his head back and laughed before he stared at her with enough heat to warm even a wintry desert night. He said something that made Layla smile before he blinked out of existence. The wind died, and she made her way back to me. “Come along now, Cousin Lauren.”

  “Why must you wait?”

  “Oh. It’s an old rule from when Petra actually suffered attacks and potential encroachment. Hasim is the leader of the guardians, and he cannot have his attention divided by a wife for ten years. I’m bound as a guardian to the same strictures for only two years and then I am free to marry if there is a replacement guardian to fill my role for the first year of marriage.”

  “How long have you been a guardian?”

  “Five years now.” Layla sighed. “One of Hasim’s cousins decided to resent the fact that I chose Hasim over him and made a motion to the elders that Hasim’s ten years should count from the moment of my choosing him and neither the proposal nor the wedding could occur until the time was fulfilled. When the council agreed with the ridiculous conditions, I chose to become a guardian. Or else I would never get to see Hasim.”

  “Why did Ali and Hanna not protest?”

  “They did. However, because they were personally involved as heads of the family, they were not permitted to cast a vote. It is meant to prevent bias, though in this case I wouldn’t be so sure.”

  That was more than enough to remind me of the precarious nature of my current situation. “The council won’t allow me to speak to them about why I came here, will they?”

  “I don’t know. They might, if enough of them are curious. However, as I said, Grandmother will not be allowed to vote.” Layla glanced over her shoulder at me. “Come on, we’ll trade knowledge. I’ll teach you tricks for controlling our more powerful Jinn abilities in exchange for your story about how you and Mathias came to be together. I’m certain it’s a wonderful story.”

  “More like one filled with utter insanity and impossible odds,” I muttered. “Nobody would believe me if I wrote it all down.”

  She laughed. “All the best stories are like that, Cousin.”

  * * *

  Chapter Nine

  Lauren

  Layla and I practiced for hours. It wasn’t easy. I kept getting nosebleeds when I tried to use my Jinn talent for something big, and I couldn’t even begin to summon the sand passages as Layla called the Jinn’s ability to appear and disappear. She couldn’t decide if it was because I was only half Jinn or if it was the partial seal lingering on my abilities.

  Bits and pieces of memoires of seeing Baba make similar gestures flitted through my mind as I practiced. Despite not having had the memories of my parents for long, there was something in practicing Jinn tricks that made me feel . . . closer to Baba. If it gave me even a hope of a chance for succeeding in this rather hopeless quest to save Mathias, I welcomed it.

  “Jinn magic is both physical and mental. You have the ability to bend others’ perception of reality, which is a power even the dragons can’t fully replicate. It’s similar to what the Fae possess with their glamours while not quite the same. Although some Jinn believe we are connected by blood to the lost Fae. There’s a bunch of boring arguments about that, which I don’t bother to follow. Who knows what the truth is now besides the Creator? It’s like the argument between the shifters about whether dragons and Therians are kin.” Layla ceased speaking abruptly and then looked through the window.

  I followed her gaze. A jolt of surprise went through me at the clear daylight lightening the sky. It was past sunrise. And, it was now the third day of Mathias’ shrinking week. Dabbing away the remnants of my most recent nosebleed, I tried to keep the dread from showing even as it tied knots in my stomach.

  “Even if the council doesn’t hear you out, I’ll help you leave Petra.”

  My gaze was jerked back to Layla. I shook my head more out of instinct. “No, I could not ask that of you.”

  “You’re not asking, and I’ve already made up my mind. I’ll help you get out of Petra and to Amman. It will be faster if I go with you anyway, especially since I can summon the sand passages for our use. I’ve been to Amman before so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get us there.” She paused as a wind rushed through the open window and then nodded to where a faint glimmer of sand appeared in the center of the room before vanishing once more. “That’s a summons from the council. Give me your hand.”

  I barely had time to finish cleaning away the blood before she reached over to grasp my hand. I forgot to grab my jacket before the sands squeezed around us, and I instinctively closed my eyes. The journey was better this time, less . . . terrifying for lack of a better word, perhaps due to all the practice I had been doing in the hours leading up to this.

  Opening my eyes, I realized we were back inside the Treasury. And the council was all watching me with unreadable expressions, even Hanna sitting to the left of Ali was showing no emotion as Layla released my hand. The 9s remained steady above their heads and in the shadows of the room. There weren’t as many in the shadows this time, however. I had no clue whether that was a positive or negative sign.

  “Lauren Serkan, daughter of Elam Serkan,” Ali intoned, “the elders of the Jinn will hear your reason for seeking us out. Speak.”

  This was it. I swallowed hard before I dared to take a step forward as I met each of the elders’ gazes. “Elders of the Jinn, please accept my thanks for hearing my voice this day. I have sought you, the kin of my father, out because I need your help. The entire paranormal community stands at risk of exposure due to the mad plans of Weard Enterprises and its leader to conquer not only the ambassadorial species but also the norms and the rest of the paranormals. No one will remain hidden from this war should it occur.”

  “And, what is it you would have us do? Go to war for you? The Jinn do not join battles,” one of the elders snapped, his gaze fierce and beard almost bristling with disapproval.

  I shook my head, standing my ground despite the instinct screaming to step back o
r hide. “I do not ask for soldiers. I am asking only for enough help to allow the dragon princes and the Fae to band against Weard. I have already spoken to one of the princes, and she assures me that she will push the councils into stopping this threat if I can bring her a way to prevent exposure. Weard has retreated to their Chicago headquarters, and the norm population in the New World has been on edge during the last few years.”

  “Why do the Fae and dragons not negotiate a truce with Weard?” the other female elder interjected. “Surely, they can come to terms without our interference or violence.”

  “Because any paranormal who is mad enough to call himself the Nephilim is not open to negotiation,” I snapped. “There is no way to prevent the loss of innocent lives and exposure without the help of the Jinn. You don’t have to fight. I am not asking you to fight. All I ask is that you send some of your people to Chicago, with me, so they can create a glamour that will hide the soldiers and prevent the norms from realizing anything is happening at Weard headquarters.”

  The council was utterly silent and then a blast of sand struck me, pushing me across the room before I managed to raise my hand dispelling the sand enough to keep breathing. I raised my voice as I continued, “Please you must listen!”

  “To lies? I think not!”

  “Enough, all of you!” Ali interjected.

  The blast of sand ended, and I was able to see the council again. Ali had a hand on Hanna’s arm as she glared daggers at one of the other male elders. Probably the one who had just tried to suffocate me into silence. Ali settled a stern gaze on the group before he turned to me. “You said the leader of Weard Enterprises is calling himself the Nephilim?”

  “Yes. Do you know him?”

  The troubled look creasing his brow didn’t bode well at all. What came out of his mouth confirmed my fear. “The Nephilim was the name of a great evil. A paranormal who claimed to be of Nimrod’s direct bloodline, and one whom we have long believed was killed during the campaigns to purge our world of the most powerful paranormals, the Tens and descendants of Nimrod. In the aftermath of these purges, our ancestors chose to withdraw from the world. We aided in the struggle to purge these madmen, and yet it seemed fear would soon turn a sword against our own necks, much as it did the Spotters.”

  “And I respect that choice, believe me. However, when the world is in danger of falling once more to a madman who will stop at nothing to burn all who resist and to grind the survivors beneath his feet like a rampaging god of old, how can any of us sit by and watch from the relative safety of our hideaways? If we do nothing, our world will burn and all hope for the future with it!”

  “How could he achieve such a thing?”

  I wasn’t certain which elder had asked the question, but I answered even knowing it would not go over well. “The Nephilim has control of the Crown of Nimrod, and he has captured Spotters to make it work for him.”

  “The Crown of Nimrod was lost! Ages ago. No one has been able to find it.”

  “I did.” I swallowed hard before continuing, “My parents were killed looking for it, and I found it with the help of my husband. Unfortunately, it was the Nephilim who actually sent me on the quest and when I succeeded . . . He tricked me into reassembling the crown.”

  “Only a Spotter could manipulate the Crown of Nimrod,” the female elder hissed.

  “I am a Spotter. Please, if you would just agree to help, I can—”

  “Use us to fix your mistake!” she shrieked. “We should hear nothing more from this half breed traitor. Did her father not die to keep the Crown of Nimrod out of Weard’s hands? Now, his daughter quite literally handed it to the very monster she wants us to battle for her sake?”

  I opened my mouth to protest only to choke on the taste of sand filling my mouth.

  “You will be silent!”

  “You will say nothing more!”

  The shouts echoed through the chamber as another blast of wind knocked me off my feet. I spat out the sand only for more to fill my mouth as soon as I did so. No one helped me. They probably couldn’t.

  I heard shouts of ‘Myrmidon’ and knew they were discussing Mathias. Layla must have tried to help by giving them that information. Or at least distract them. I spat out more sand before I forced myself to my knees and then to my feet despite the wind howling around me. Raising my hands, I brought them back down in a sharp slash and something gave an audible pop. I spat the sand out of my mouth once more and this time it didn’t return. Thank God, it had worked even without me being able to speak.

  Coughing, I turned my attention to the council. They were still shouting amongst each other although Ali was watching me. He didn’t try to stop me as I raised my left hand and rasped the command to release. The wind buffeting me instantly ceased and now the entire council’s attention was on me. I coughed once more and then forced myself to speak past the grittiness coating my mouth and tongue. “I made a mistake. I readily admit to that. I messed up by trusting blindly, but I had no idea the Nephilim had the means to disguise himself as a harmless low number. Not even Mathias, a Myrmidon, knew that he was a threat until it was too late. We couldn’t have prevented the Nephilim from stealing the Crown of Nimrod away from us. However, I am willing to fight to make this right. Lives are at stake.”

  “Yes, including your husband’s,” the woman murmured. “A descendant of Nimrod himself as a Myrmidon. And, one who should not have survived this long.”

  “Mathias sacrificed himself so I could escape from the Forge of Hephaestus. Had he not done so, he would not be in Weard’s hands with mere days left to live.”

  “You want us to help save one man,” a male elder interjected, his words slow as he stroked his forked beard. “A man who shouldn’t exist and whose death would restore balance.”

  “I love my husband with all that I am, and I would give almost anything to save him from such a cruel death as the Nephilim intends for him,” I stated before taking another step forward. “However, I know this is so much bigger than just rescuing Mathias. Our entire world is at stake! Do you think Petra will stand alone against the Nephilim when he has finished conquering the dragons and the Fae? When he unleashes the worst of all paranormal species, the creatures we’ve all worked to contain? Or when he chooses to root out and use more of the ancient artifacts that will make him all the more powerful, if not invincible? Are there not weapons still outside of your protection that would allow him to do such things? You’re Jinn. You have been keepers of the artifacts of the paranormal community for centuries. My father told me that, and do you truly think the Nephilim won’t know the same? A year, two years, a decade from now when the Nephilim has turned his eyes on Petra and the treasures of the Jinn, you will call for aid. And no one will come because there will be no one left who does not follow the Nephilim. And, you will look back on today and curse your cowardice and selfishness in refusing to help when there was still hope. Please stand with me! Help me to stop this destruction from happening!”

  “You speak with passion, Lauren Serkan,” Ali said simply. “However, passion alone cannot move a mountain. The elders have already voted.”

  I blinked. “You . . . You mean you already knew what you were going to say before you summoned me.”

  He nodded.

  “Then, why summon me? Why allow me to speak?”

  “To decide whether you would be spared after the birth of your child,” he said as simply as if he were remarking on the weather.

  I raised my chin. “And, what is the council’s decision?”

  “You committed a grave error in allowing an artifact as powerful as the Crown of Nimrod to fall into the hands of one such as the Nephilim. However, your youth and inexperience in the ways of the powerful meant you would not know the signs to look for beyond a strong glamour. Therefore, your life and that of your child will be spared . . . Though a sealing will be required on the babe to prevent it from carrying after your ill chosen mate. You will be commended into the care of the clan of your fa
ther.”

  “What about Weard? What of Chicago? They will begin attacking the members of both councils on Yule. Doesn’t any of that matter?”

  “Petra will stand even if Chicago falls, even if Isamnion of Fortriu with Auberon and Titania falls. Even if all the dragon princes of the west and the four dragon kings of the east fall, Petra will stand. For we are the Jinn and, like the wind, we can never be truly vanquished.”

  I shook my head slowly, fury and despair clawing at my throat. Yet my words escaped in a low hoarse tone as I stated, “You would allow the entire world to burn around your ears rather than risk stepping outside the bounds of your sanctuary. Did you never learn that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing?”

  No one answered. They didn’t even pelt me with wind or sand this time. I met each of their gazes before I continued. “Go ahead and sit here and do nothing. That is your choice to make. It will be your choice to live with and the consequences of it. But I will not make the same choice. I spent my whole life running and hiding, trying to stay out of this messy chaos that is the high numbers. I may understand the appeal of it. It’s still so much more appealing than anything about to happen.”

  I shifted on my feet as a wind started stirring the sand left in the chamber and fluttering everyone’s clothes. I ignored it as my voice gained strength, and I raised a hand defiantly. “I will not be silenced, and I will not be forced into running away anymore. I choose to stand up. I choose to make my voice heard. And I choose to fight for the world, for the friends I have made, and for my family. For my husband and child. Because my child should have the choice to live in a world where the Nephilim is not in control, and where he or she can choose what he or she wants to be, what he or she wants to do, and not have those choices taken away out of fear of exposure or being constantly hunted. I will not stand by and watch the world burn outside the shelter I’ve made for myself. It’s a terrifying thing to stand and fight. However, it’s far more terrifying to know I could have done something to stop it and did nothing. That is my choice whether anyone else stands with me or not.”