The Binding Stone (The Djinn Series) (11 page)

I
throw out a hand to stop her, gripping her arm. “You’re not listening, Mira.
He’s just a boy. I can go, kill this master of yours, and then Taj can retract
his spell and–”

“Why
risk it? Don’t tell me you actually believe he’s going to free you after this
is over?” Her bitter laugh pierces the air.

“I
will,” Jered says from behind me. I quiet the smile threatening to break
through. I will not lose focus. I will not let her kill him. It isn’t
necessary.

“Leela,
you are stupid,” she says. “A thousand years, and you still haven’t figured it
out? Humans suck. They’re power-hungry greed-mongers with no souls. He will
betray you.”

“So
let me make that mistake. It’s only myself at risk. I thought you wanted me to
suffer, Mir.”

“Oh,
I do. And it is only you at risk. This time.” She looks past me, drinking in
Jered’s appearance. I feel his body close behind me. The warmth of his breath
raises goosebumps on my arms. “Fine, then. As long as I see him give the command
for you to kill her and release us.”

Jered
rests his hands on my shoulders and spins me to face him. Turns me away from
the threat.

“I
can’t tell you to kill someone,” he says. He speaks softly, only to me. My
heart sinks into my stomach.

“You
must,” I say. I plead. I want to shake him, to force him to listen to me. “If
you don’t, you will die.”

“I
can’t be responsible for something like that.”

“I’ll
be responsible. Let me do this. I want to do this. Simply say, ‘Leela, you may
do what you want to Mira’s master.’”

“It’s
dangerous for you, isn’t it?” he asks. “She has two Djinn to protect her. She
could order them to do something terrible, couldn’t she? Leela, can they kill
you?”

“It
is irrelevant,” says Mira, stepping into my line of sight. “If she doesn’t know
she’s coming, she won’t have a chance. I guarantee you that neither Taj or
myself will jump to protect her like Leela did for you.”

“You’re
talking about cold-blooded murder,” Jered says. “There has to be another way.”
I am terribly aware of his hands still resting on my shoulders.

“Either
you give the order, or you remain an obstacle I must remove.” Mira takes one
menacing step forward.

“Jered,
think carefully on what you say.” It is the best I can do.

“One
more question,” he says, squeezing my shoulder.

“I
tire of this,” Mira says.

“Think
of the suffering I will endure if you are right and he betrays me,” I say
quickly.

“I’m
beginning to think you’d suffer worse if I freed you,” she says.

“Mira,
is there a way to free you and Taj without killing your master?” Jered asks.

“Only
if she frees us. And that will never happen.”

“What
if we trick her?” He asks. “Make her free you by accident?”

“Bzzz.
Sorry, your time is up.”

The
room around us rumbles as white flames shoot out of the walls. I feel the heat
of the explosion through the protective bubble I throw around us. Time slows
and debris sprays through the air, pieces of Jered’s furniture and belongings
reduced to shards. Fragments of Jered’s life obscure our view, as the inferno
engulfs my shield. I have mere seconds to get us out before she sees.

On
the ground outside, I turn to ask him to remove his restrictive commands only
to find him lying immobile on the grass.

Wake Up Call

“
ered!”
I scream and fall to my knees beside him. His skin is pale blue in the light of
the moon. Dark splotches of soot pepper his face and chest. “Breathe,” I say.
And until I see him draw a breath, I realize I’ve been holding my own.

I
heal him quickly, knowing Mira will be thorough with her search, especially
when she doesn’t find me freed and waiting. He coughs, clearing his lungs, and
I push away the smoke billowing out from the house so it will not choke him.

“You
have to tell me to help you. Be specific,” I explain as he takes in our
surroundings, wide-eyed. I’ve been commanded not to talk of leaving.

“Save
my mother,” he says. “Go, now!” I vanish and reappear within the smoldering
house. Damn him and his obsession with others. He could be dead by the time I’m
done here. I search through the heavy smoke for the woman and find her beneath
a beam, which has fallen from the ceiling. Her eyes are closed, her face
covered in grime. I don’t know if she’s alive.

Exasperated,
I throw the beam from her with the wave of a hand. I lift her in my arms and
reappear before Jered. I am relieved to find him alone and unharmed. Without a
word, I lay his mother at his feet, and he throws himself on her, crying and
shaking her shoulders.

“Jered,
move. I must save her.” My body jerks toward them, desperate to fulfill my
master’s wishes. Jered nods and allows me access.

I
examine the woman on the ground. I place my hands on her chest and focus my
energy on her aura.
Breathe
, I will. She draws deep on the night air,
and I feel Jered’s hands on my back. I shiver despite the heat pulsing from the
fire.

“You
did it!”

“She
needs a doctor, Jered. I can’t reach her.” I stand, searching his face. I watch
the glow of the rapidly expanding flames reflect off the surface of his eyes.

“What
do you mean you can’t reach her?” He grasps my arms desperately, jostling me
like a flashlight he can make work.

“I
tried. Truly. And she’s in there, but...but I can’t get her to wake up.”

I
would do anything to take away the pain I see through the flickering shadows on
his skin. But I cannot. I feel helpless.

“Mira
will find us any minute,” I say. I must make him see the danger he is in.

“Take
us all to the hospital.” I nod, and we are in the emergency room where, after a
moment of chaos and confusion, doctors rush out with a stretcher for Jered’s
mother. We follow in their wake, two teenagers who’ve escaped a horrible
accident.

I
hurry things along without a word. Once she is set up in a room and a nurse in
light blue scrubs has taken Jered’s information, I squeeze his arm. He remains
limp.

The
nurse shuffles from the room with a smile that does not reach her eyes, and
silence falls over the tiny space, punctuated only by the mechanical beeps and
whirs of modern medical equipment. The smell of rubbing alcohol burns my nose.
I reach up, and the curtain that separates Jered’s mother from the other bed
snaps closed.

“We
should–” I begin.

“I
won’t leave her.” He says this without taking his eyes from her pale face.

“She
won’t know whether you’re here or not,” I say, cupping his face in my hands.
“And if we stay, Mira will find us. She could kill every human in this
hospital.” I say this hoping his need to protect others may outweigh his need
to be with his mother.

“I
wish I’d never bought that ring,” he says, and I believe he means it as a
command.

“I
can’t rewind time,” I say, dropping my hands and pushing back the lump climbing
up my throat.

He
nods. Swallows. As he turns to face me, a fierce new determination fills his
eyes. “Take me to my father’s house.”

“Jered–”

“Leela,
I’ve heard it said that you can’t control the hand you’re dealt. But I can stop
avoiding it.” He pulls a hand back through his hair, and I watch the cloud of
debris spread out from his fingers. “I guess I’ve always known I was different.
But I talked myself into believing that was how everyone felt. Well, I think
it’s pretty obvious now. So it’s time I took control of the situation. I need
to confront him. He’s got to know about it. You said yourself he’s a Magician.
He can help me.”

“Jered,
you are hurt. You are in shock.”

“Now!
I gave you a command.” I flinch at his words, but do as I’m told. I don’t have
a choice.

We
materialize on the neatly manicured lawn as dawn breaks over the horizon,
bathing the large Tudor style house in its own golden aura. The sky behind it
is pink and raw, like the skin beneath a scab. Crickets still sing in the quiet
of the early morning hour. 

I
reach for Jered’s arm, but he shifts away from me, and my hand falls on empty
air.

“I
have to talk to him alone. Can you give us privacy?”

I
disappear, grateful that he phrased it as a question and not an order. I don’t
want to leave him when he isn’t thinking straight. What if Mira finds us? What
if his father is as dangerous as I fear?

I
watch as Jered rolls his shoulders and draws a deep breath in preparation.

“Good
luck,” I whisper, though I know he cannot hear.

The Beginning

ne
moment I am keeping company with the herd, enjoying the clear night sky,
glittering with countless stars, the next I am falling to the earth, unable to
control my own body.

All
I see now is pain. Blinding. Incomprehensible. I have never felt its like. It
rips the breath from my body, tears my chest apart from the inside. I claw the
ground, reaching for Achan, whom I know isn’t there. He is at a Council meeting.

I
do not know how long I lie there, alone in the dirt, struggling for air, but
when the hurt finally bleeds from my body, it takes with it a piece of my soul.
I can feel it there, an empty hole in my heart, and I cry as though I have lost
someone I love.

The
sheep ignore me. I imagine if it were Achan convulsing on the ground, they
might have at least bleated for help. But to them I am merely a distraction.
One that has taken their beloved Achan away.

“It
is the Council that is really doing it,” I tell them, when I find my voice. “I
am content to stay here, among you. It is their own hunger for power that
steals his time. But if he is happier when he is with us, is it not for the
best?”

I
did not really expect an answer.

“See
if I stop another beast from taking one of you.”

I
am desperate for Achan to come back. Certain that in his strong arms I will
feel whole again. More than that, though, I worry that the pain I have just been
through has something to do with his safety. Perhaps I ought to go find him. I
know he has asked me to stay away from the village, but he does not need to
know.