The Binding Stone (The Djinn Series) (25 page)

“Jewelry?”
I ask, stunned.

He
grins, eyes dancing with the same magical light as the stone in his palm. “If
you put this on, you will be tied to me forever.”

“Forever?”
I ask, hand fluttering to my neck.

“That’s
right, Little One. It is something that Kitra has been working on since
discovering she cannot increase her own powers beyond what she already has.”

I
withdraw from him. If it is something that woman has created, it cannot be
good. I will not use it.

“It
binds you to a matching stone,” Achan continues, seeming not to notice my
reaction. He pulls the matching stone from his other pocket and holds it out.
“The idea is that you will give the owner of the stone whatever he wishes for.”

“Achan,
you need no stone for that. Do you not know that I love you? That I would do anything
you ask?”

His
eyes meet mine, and the pain is worse than that of the lead in the room.

“Then
it won’t be a problem,” he says. “If what you say is true, this will change
nothing between us. And if I use it on you before Kitra does–”

“Then
I will belong to you and not to her?” I ask.

“That’s
right,” he says.

I
stare at the thing in his hand, wondering what I should do. “Why can’t we just
go?” I ask. “I want to leave this awful place, Achan. Now that you know the
truth about me, we can do whatever you want. Go wherever you like. Perhaps to
see the pyramids and the great wall we have heard about.” I place my hands on
his wrists, pleading, cajoling him.

Cephas’s
large form shifts on the floor to the right.

“We
don’t have much time,” Achan says. “Put it on, Little One.”

“Why?”
I cry, trying to pull him up by his wrists. But he remains firm. “I do not
understand, Achan. If you care for me, why are you doing this?”

“I
do care for you. But I am also afraid. You hid your true nature from me, Leela.
You are the one who lied, not I. You set fire to my tent that night. If I
hadn’t learned of your kind from Kitra, I might never have known. Never have
read the signs.”

“But
I would never hurt you,” I say, sobs raking my chest.

“Then
trust me, and put it on.”

“Why
hasn’t Kitra put it on me if she made it?”

“Because
you have to agree to it!” he says in harsh whisper. “Your magic is stronger,
but she will figure out a way around it; it’s only a matter of time.”

Cephas
grunts and rolls over, pushing up dazedly from the floor. I scuttle back
further, nearly hitting the lead bars of the cage.

“Leela,
put it on and this will all be over. You do want it to be over, right? Who would
you rather be with? Me? Or Kitra? Or perhaps Cephas here?”

On
cue, Cephas lets out a bellow of rage, as though the memory of their fight is
just coming back to him. His black eyes, filled with hatred and rage, meet
mine. His aura glows blood red as he works his way slowly to his feet. He is
coming for me, not Achan. This much is clear.

“Please,”
I say, unable to tear my eyes from the monster.

“I’m
offering you a way out,” Achan says.

Cephas
reaches up and pulls a long lead stick from the air above, grinning at me. The
flames on the wall dance in his obsidian eyes.

I
reach for the ribbon in Achan’s hands and thrust it around my neck. The moment
the ends meet, they fuse together until it grasps my throat like a serpent. I
gasp, my hand pulling at the stone in the center. But it does not budge.

Achan
stands, throwing out his arm just as Cephas reaches me, raising the stick in
the air, ready to bash it down on my helpless body.

“It
is done,” Achan says. “She is mine.”

Cephas
growls but lets the stick clatter to the ground. Achan helps me up.

“I
do not understand,” I cry.

“I
must test it before I can let you out,” he says.

“Achan–”

“From
now on you will refer to me as Master.”

I
shake my head, not comprehending what he has just told me. “But, A...a...a...” My
throat closes, choking on the word. My heart races, panic setting in. What have
I done?

“Say
it,” Achan says, clutching the other stone in his fist.

“Master.”
I hear the word burst from my lips without my willing it. My hand flies to my
mouth, as though trying to push it back inside. But it is done. And there is no
going back.

A Promise Kept

“
ome
on,” I say. “We have to go. If we don’t keep moving, they’ll find us.”

Jered
takes a great shuddering breath and turns to grasp my hand in his. We are about
to run back down the passageway, but it’s blocked by Kitra, Mira, and Taj.
Their long shadows stretch so far, they almost touch our feet. We take a step
backward.

“Don’t
bother trying to run again,” Kitra says. Her voice is different than I remember
but has a similar cold quality to it. It is her smile that is the same. No one
else could look like that. Not ever. It’s as though I can still see my own
blood coloring her lips.

“You
are encased in a bubble of power that you cannot penetrate. Both of my Djinn
have created it.”

Taj
and Mira step in front of her protectively as she strides toward us. I do the
same to Jered, though he has given me no orders. She cannot have him. Cannot.

“So,
it
is
you, is it? My, my, my, what a small world this is, Leela. I will
finally have you after you were so rudely stolen from me.”

I
steel myself to take whatever is to come, wishing I could find a way to save
Jered. To get him out of here.

“You
will not have Leela.” Jered steps out from behind me and rests a hand on my
shoulder. I see his aura pulse and bleed, churning patches of indigo and
silver.

Kitra
laughs, the sound echoing off the stone walls into the distance. “Very brave.
But I think you will change your mind very soon, child.” She taps Mira and Taj
on the shoulders, and, moving as one, they fly forward, wresting me away from
Jered’s side, pulling me down the hall, and slamming me into the rock so hard
the breath is knocked from my chest. Mira’s hand is around my throat, not
completely choking me, but preventing me from moving my head. She holds one
wrist firmly; Taj holds the other.

I
watch helplessly as Kitra saunters toward Jered. I struggle against the others,
though I know there is little I can do.
Please make it quick
, I think. I
cannot bear to have him suffer any more.

“I’ll
give you one more chance to do this the easy way,” Kitra says.

I
see his right hand flex, the hand that bears the invisible ring. He looks past
Kitra to me, and I struggle to nod. To let him know that it is all right.

“Give
me the stone, and I will give you your freedom.”

Her
words shock something inside of Jered, and I see his eyes grow sharp. Sharp
like Achan’s. He actually smiles.

“All
right,” he says.

Kitra
beams at him. I stop struggling. I can only hope she is true to her word and
lets him go.

“Leela,”
Jered says, looking me straight in the eye. “You are free.”

The
stone in my choker cracks down the center and falls to the ground. Kitra’s face
falls with it. Taj and Mira loosen their grips, stunned. We all stand
motionless until Kitra finally screams.

I
am in shock. I cannot believe what has just happened. I am free. I burst from
the arms of the other Djinn with an insane laugh. We are still trapped with a
powerful Magician and two Djinn under her control on an island in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean.

But
I am free!

Caged

“
ou
idiot! What have you done? Now no one has her.” Kitra strikes out at Jered, but
I throw my power out in front of her, blocking the attack, and she is blown
backward onto the ground.

I
send a blast of power meant to incinerate Kitra, but Mira blocks me with a gust
of wind that repels my power. Part of the wall crumbles into a mixture of dust
and melted metal.

“Stop
her!” Kitra shrieks, and the others take to the air after me.

We
are a whirlwind of movement, so fast that it would be impossible for human eyes
to follow. If I can find a way to take out Kitra without being stopped, then
Taj and Mira will be free as well. The way Mira strikes at me, though, I cannot
help wondering if that is such a good idea.

I
risk a glance toward Jered and see that he is wielding his magic against Kitra.
Blocking her attacks; throwing some of his own at her. As I see a blast of blue
lightning fly from his fingers and scrape Kitra’s cheek, Taj catches up to me.
He grabs a handful of my hair and yanks me backward into the wall.

I
cry out in pain as Mira does what I could not bring myself to do. Lead hands
reach from the wall and pull my arms and legs against it, burning right through
my pants and searing my skin. Images flash before my eyes once more. I see
myself a prisoner in Kitra’s original home. Rhada hanging dead on the wall.
Masters locking me in rooms painted with lead, flogging me with lead pipes.

Screams
scrape at the inside of my throat as I thrash around like a caged animal. Taj
and Mira back away. Taj’s face is a mask, though his eyes glimmer with
moisture. Mira looks on with a satisfied sneer.

“Leela!”
Jered calls. His voice breaks through to my consciousness, and my tirade slows.

I
see it happen as if in slow motion. Kitra is on the floor; Jered has gathered
his power into his hands as I taught him the night he made a milkshake. His
miniature sun glows between his palms.

He
has the power to finish her in his hands. But he’s stopped. He’s seen me.
Watched me thrash against my bonds in pain and terror. I want to take it back.
Take back my reaction so that it never happened. But I cannot rewind time.