The Binding Stone (The Djinn Series) (27 page)

Taj’s
face is like stone. My heart aches. It is happening all over again. I suppose I
deserve this. I have waited quite some time for karma to find me. I glance at
Mira and am surprised to find tears in her eyes.

Kitra
lifts a hand. Beneath her scarlet sleeve, two bracelets glint. One has a red
stone, the other golden and brown. I know there is nothing in this world that
can stop Mira and Taj obeying her command.

I
lay my cheek back against the cold stone. She will make me torture and kill
Jered. I do not doubt it for a moment. And once more, I am helpless to prevent
it. The evil bitch wins again.

A
stone materializes in her hand. An emerald. A length of black flutters from her
fingers, a matching stone glimmering at its center. My body shakes
uncontrollably as she swings it lightly back and forth with a chuckle.

“I
will do it willingly, if you let them go,” I hear myself say.

“How
touching. But I don’t think so. It will be far more fun to make you hurt them.
Besides, we have to learn a lesson somehow, don’t we?” she asks.

“Please,”
I say. “There must be something I can offer.”

“You
have nothing to offer that I don’t already possess.”

I
sob into Taj’s shoulder and feel his lips brush the top of my head.

“So
the question is,” says Kitra. “Which one is going to do it. Any volunteers?”

Taj’s
grasp tightens even more. He freezes in place, and I think I know how he feels.
If our positions were reversed, I would want to blend into the stone. Anything
not to be noticed. But I doubt he has anything to worry about: I’m surprised
Mira isn’t jumping for joy at the prospect of revenge. Perhaps she is afraid
if she volunteers, Kitra won’t pick her, just for punishment’s sake.

“No?”
Kitra asks, her voice light. “Well then, let me see. Eeny meany minee moe.
Taj.”

I
watch as his head snaps upward to receive the command. Our eyes lock.

“It’s
okay,” I mouth. “I know.”

His
brows knit together, heart pounding out a sporadic rhythm against my own. It
feels good in some strange way to be this close to him. Comforting.

“So,
Mira. Put the restraints on her again. Taj, you come down here.”

They
move to obey. I feel the lead hands shoot out of the wall behind me, pinning me
down. One grabs my head this time, forcing it back and up so my neck is
exposed.

“Now,
Taj,” Kitra says. “Take this and put it around her pretty little neck.”

Taj
takes the ribbon in his own trembling hand and floats toward me.

“No!”
Gabe’s voice rings across the passage. Taj pauses, then continues on his path.
Kitra does not even glance back.

But
I can see.

Jered
has grabbed Gabe’s hand, quieting him. Tiny little Sophie has escaped all
attention as she creeps toward Kitra’s side. I hold my breath, not even meeting
Taj’s gaze as he draws close. His arms reach around my throat, and I feel him
hesitate as the cool surface of the stone touches my skin.

“This
has drawn on quite enough,” Kitra says. Taj squeezes his eyes shut tight,
anticipating her next words.

“Do
it
now
,” Kitra commands.

But
Taj does not.

His
hands snap away from me, and in one swift move, he crushes the emerald in his
fist. I stare open mouthed as a rain of fine green dust falls at Kitra’s feet.
The corner of Taj’s mouth turns upward as his eyes light up.

“What?”
Kitra asks. “How is this possible? Was I not clear?”

“Oh
you were crystal clear,” Taj says, landing neatly in front of her. “It’s just
that you forgot to say ‘please.’ Isn’t that right, darling Little Master?”

Kitra
spins on her heels to find Sophie holding the tiger’s eye stone.

“That’s
right,” Sophie agrees. “She ought to learn some manners, don’t you think?”

Kitra
lunges for the child, and I pull against the restraints that bind me, causing
them to cut painfully into my arms. But it isn’t necessary. Taj blasts Kitra
backward with the flick of his fingers, and she is thrown hard across the room,
her shoulder skidding across the ground.

“Mira,
protect me,” Kitra screams.

Instantly,
Mira stands ready before her. Sophie runs to Jered.

“Taj,
help him please,” she says.

“I
believe I am going to enjoy being your Djinni,” Taj says. This earns him an
adoring smile while he heals Jered.

“Get
me out of here,” Kitra hisses, grasping at her scraped and bloody arm.

Before
disappearing, Mira glances my way, misery written all over her face.

It
is the last thing I see before all goes black.

The Beginning

am not certain which one I hate more: Kitra, Cephas, or Achan.

Kitra
has had us arranging her new palace right over the top of her old home. Her new
symbol decorates the doors. She says that it is the Council. She is the sun
with an ever-watchful eye, while Achan and Cephas are the moon and star,
circling. Together they are the universe.

Kitra
enjoys humiliating me rather than Mira, whom she has claimed for herself. She
asks me to do ridiculous and meaningless things. Or things she knows I will
detest.

“Leela,”
she coos from the arm of a handsome but frightened villager. “Niv here does not
believe you will do whatever I say.” She laughs. “Wash his feet and feed him
without using your hands or your magic to aid you.”

Achan
has all but withdrawn completely, perhaps afraid to face me. Inside I cry for
him to come to my rescue as he did in the lead-lined room.

 Cephas
finds pleasure in torture. Whenever he is able to get me alone, he enjoys
picking up where he left off before the choker was in place. If my wounds
lasted, I would be covered in bruises and welts. Luckily it is rare that he and
I should be alone together.

But
nothing is as agonizing as watching my friends suffer because of me. Achan’s absence
bothers no one but me as Kitra and Cephas chain me up by my wrists in the
center of the dining hall. A punishment for not obeying a command quickly
enough, or so they claim.

I
have learned to escape into my mind when tortured, but this time is different.
It is different because they have called Taj to put on a show for them.

His
eyes are wet, his face scarlet as he strains against the command to swing a
lead rod at me. My strong, clever Taj cannot control it. None of us can. I do
not blame him, but I cannot say this through the pain or before my masters.
They would surely only make things worse.

And
so, when he beats me, his own screams are louder than my own.

Rooftop

hen
my eyes snap open, light floods in, and I wince. My hand automatically feels for
the stone at my throat. I find nothing but skin. I blink rapidly, pulling
myself into a sitting position on the bed. The window facing me is covered in
streams of flowing water, the sky beyond a solid mass of gray. A sudden wave of
perfume hits me full on. The scent of iris.

“What
happened?” I ask, looking around.

I
am surrounded by friendly faces. Gabe sits in the armchair in the corner, with
Sophie perched at the arm. Taj stands behind her, arms folded across his chest.
Jered is by my side, stroking my hair back from my face, his own face streaked
with tears.

“We’re
in the hotel, Leela,” he says softly.

“How
did we get here? Why was I unconscious? What time is it?” I can’t stop the
questions long enough to get a single answer. Finally Taj points a finger at
me, and I find I cannot speak.

“Settle
down there, Lee,” Taj says. “I did it. You were saying things in your sleep,
and I wasn’t sure you wanted them public.”

I
flush with this information. My fingers feel at the base of my throat again to
make sure it is truly gone.

“Jered
asked me ever so nicely to get us out, and since it was partially my own magic
that was keeping him there, well, I decided to comply.” Taj grins then
continues. “And it is Tuesday afternoon at about three thirty Chicago time. Or
so the clock claims.” He lifts his finger, and my voice returns.

“Then,
it really happened?” I ask. “I’m free?”

Jered
squeezes my hand, speaking through his sobs. “I told you I would do it. I love
you, Leela.”

I
glance around me on the bed and find the source of the perfume smell. There
must be a hundred iris blooms scattered over the covers near my feet. I look
back to Jered and his tortured face. Oh no. The tear in his aura. Would he have
freed me if he had been in better control of his emotions?

Should
it matter?

“Jered–”
I take his hands in mine and hold them down in my lap. “Did you do this?” I ask
nodding toward the flowers.

“Taj
told me they’re your favorite,” he answers.

“After
he pestered me for about an hour. It was either that or kill him, and Little
Master wouldn’t allow it,” says Taj.

I
swallow. “Jered, you aren’t quite yourself.”

“Yes
I am!” he shouts, his aura bubbling and glowing in shades of yellow and pink.
“And if you don’t believe that I love you, I’ll prove it!”

He
yanks his hands away from me and runs toward the window, throwing it open with
his magic. The sounds of storm and city flood the room. “I’ll throw myself out
into the night if you reject my love.”

“Oh
for shit’s sake, Romeo, settle down.” Taj claps, and the window snaps shut in
Jered’s face.

I
slip a hand to my forehead and breathe out slowly.

“Okay,
we have a problem,” I say. “Achan is the only one who can fix the hole in
Jered’s aura. But if he gets his hands on him, he will take over his body.
Thoughts?”

“Who’s
Achan?” Sophie asks. I see that though she lost her doll somewhere along our
escape, Taj has supplied her with a new one – a Little Taj this time.

“I
think Lee and I should have a chat. Would you mind, Little Master?”

“Okay.”
Sophie beams up at Taj. His eyes twinkle back at her, then shoot over to me
before he pops into nothingness.