Resistant Magic (Relic Hunter Book 5)

by R. Leonia Shea

  “In case you need my merely human self to rescue you from the Vatican. Again.” He sighed, grinning. He leaned toward Sidaffri. “You’d never believe she’s a lionhearted relic-hunting witch, would you?”

  “Don’t make me shoot you,” I muttered.

  “With the weapons I created? That’s just mean.” He said with a wink. His expression turned serious. “We should stay off the street for a little while. If they’re trying to find you, being out in the open will take the challenge out of it.”

  “Who are they, exactly?”

  Kai shrugged. “Your guess is probably better than mine at this moment, but we can probably assume it’s not the Swiss Guard.”

  My guess was getting better by the moment. I looked at Sidaffri. “They thought you were male. Why?”

  She blinked. “I’m not sure. There are male jinn.” I watched her face and marked the slight widening of her eyes as she realized something.

  “Cooperation and teamwork,” I said in a low tone.

  She nodded and pursed her lips but still didn’t offer up any information.

  Kai shook his head. “Perhaps we should find a more private place before you braid each other’s hair and share secrets.”

  I headed back toward the gate but heard Kai’s frustrated sigh. I turned, and he pointed toward the back of the courtyard where there was a metal trellis leading to the top of the garden wall.

  Sidaffri jogged past him and climbed the trellis effortlessly, dropping over the wall to the other side. Kai grinned and bent down, linking his two hands as if offering me a boost. I knew it wasn’t going to go well either way, but I didn’t see much of a choice since our source for information was already over the wall. I pushed him out of the way and scrambled up the trellis and over the wall, dropping to the other side.

  It was a bigger drop than I had planned for, and I lost my footing, crashed to my knees, and went face-first into a raised vegetable garden.

  “Ooof,” I grunted, following that sound up with a string of curses. What was a little blasphemy after you threatened to assault a priest and used witchcraft in the Vatican?

  I heard Kai land, but I couldn’t detangle myself from the plants. I could smell cucumbers and tomatoes, and I felt Kai’s hands under my arms as he pulled me back to a standing position.

  “If you even,” I said, wiping the dirt and plant matter off my face.

  He bit his lip and reached out a hand, plucking an enormous leaf out of my hair. “I would kiss you right now, but I’m not sure we’re speaking yet.” He whispered, running his hand over my ribs. “You good?”

  I nodded. I glanced at the perfectly put-together Sidaffri with her spotless white shirt, and laughter bubbled up from deep inside me. I shook my head and looked up at him. “You’re my hero, so we’re speaking. Or at least I am.”

  “I’m the cavalry, Ari, and I always will be. Despite your best efforts to sideline me.” He said, plucking more leaves out of my hair. “You should be more careful. You could have lost an eye on a tomato cage.” His eyes traveled down to my chest, and he reached out and plucked a sock from my sports bra. “For this, I will expect an explanation at some point.” He bent his head, and his shoulders shook with laughter.

  I flicked his arm with my fingers, but I couldn’t not laugh. “I have a whole new appreciation for you because I didn’t know how Ka’Tehm was going to save me.”

  “Don’t underestimate our blue friend or your ability to save yourself.” I’d have to contemplate his faith in me later because Sidaffri was gracefully vaulting over the next wall like she was in a gymnastics competition. I stopped and looked at Kai, unable to keep the wry look off my face.

  He laughed and walked ahead of me, grabbing the top of the brick wall and pulling himself up before making a graceful leap to the other side. I had struggled to climb halfway up the shed when Basir landed on the top of the roof and looked at me with his wings outspread. He opened his black beak and waggled his tongue at me, clearly enjoying my situation.

  “Don’t even,” I said, hoisting myself to the top. I looked down at Kai, who held up his arms like he was going to catch me. I pressed my lips together and waved him away. The last thing I needed was to break my leg and his at the same time. I turned around and tried to lower myself gently to the ground, which almost worked except for the fact that I give my upper body strength more credit than it deserves. After more blasphemy from me and suspicious throat clearing from Kai, I stood, brushed the dirt off my behind, and looked around.

  We’d come to the end of our interior escape route, and we were cornered in a small yard surrounded by taller buildings. The house behind us had three floors of dark windows.

  “Perfect,” Kai said, heading toward the building and trying the door. “A little help?” He asked, looking at me. I walked forward and searched in my pockets, pulling out a powder that would theoretically unlock the door. I blew the powder into the lock mechanism, whispered “Resero” and sent a minuscule speck of energy into metal. I smiled when I heard the soft click. I twisted the handle, and the three of us entered the vacant house.

  Basir swooped in behind us, carrying Ka’Tehm as usual. I bent and touched the floor to reassure myself it was empty. “All clear,” I whispered.

  Kai walked to the front windows and peeked out. “Clear out front.”

  Sidaffri stood in the kitchen area, illuminated by the glow of the streetlights outside. “When do you tell me who your companions are?”

  I looked at Kai. “Kai and Basir, meet Sidaffri, the not-so-rampaging jinn. Sidaffri, this is Kai - the cavalry and Basir - the air support. The blue beaver is Ka’Tehm, and he’s kind of an all-around-big-help.”

  She smiled. “So, how are you going to set me free?” She asked, looking hopeful.

  Kai turned toward me and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “That’s an excellent question. How are you going to put the jinn back in the bottle?”

  Sidaffri shook her head. “I’m not going back in there. They have my lamp, and I’m,” She seemed to search for a word.

  “Resisting?” Kai supplied.

  “Yes. I am resisting. That is why I need to find Idral.”

  Kai turned to me. “Idral?”

  “A griffin,” I said, lifting one shoulder.

  He blinked at me for a moment before the corners of his mouth twitched up.

  “You are the most consistent person I’ve ever met,” Kai said, kissing my cheek before walking by me and sitting on the couch.

  He stretched one arm across the back and patted the seat next to him. “I thought the airport was interesting, but this,” He waved his hand at Sidaffri and then made a broader gesture before continuing, “Tell me all about this lamp and Idral and the great jinn rebellion.” He spread his hands out, and his eyes practically glowed with merriment.

  I gestured to a chair across from the couch for Sidaffri and joined Kai. “You do know this is way more complicated than I thought, right?”

  “My little witch, everything you do is way more complicated than you think it will be.”

  I bit back a sigh and lowered my head. I had to hide the laughter, or he’d be even more impossible. Sidaffri perched on the end of the chair and looked at us with naked hope in her eyes. “You will still help me, right?”

  I nodded, knowing it was probably a terrible idea. “Yes. Tell us who is holding your lamp.”

  Kai leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.

  “I can’t. It’s forbidden.” Sidaffri said in a near whisper.

  Kai turned toward me and whispered, “Should have seen that one coming.”

  “Just wait. This gets better.” I held up one finger and looked at him with an ironic smile on my face. “I found a jinn, but not the jinn. Some men came by to collect the male jinn they thought they had summoned.”

  Kai glanced at Sidaffri. “That’s definitely not the right jinn.”

  “Nope.”

  “So, who were those men?” Kai asked.

  “One w
as dressed like a priest, but we didn’t get around to introductions. Sidaffri, would you care to enlighten us?”

  She pouted a little, and I slid my eyes to Kai. He rolled his eyes and leveled a more challenging gaze at the jinn.

  She blew out a breath and held her hands up. “I didn’t recognize the voices of the men, but the jinn they were looking for could be Nahro or Shabe. They’ve both been missing for a long time.”

  “Missing?” Kai’s question was directed at me instead of the jinn. The tone of his voice indicated that he very much doubted they were missing at all; captured was more likely.

  Sidaffri looked troubled. “Our kind are easily bound to those who possess our vessels. Nahro and Shabe might be bound as I am, but they are also Sand Fire Jinn.”

  Kai and I exchanged a confused glance.

  “Warriors.” Sidaffri explained.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound like fun.” Kai whispered. He bumped me with his arm, “You might not want to look for them.”

  I shook my head. “Oh, I think we need to find them. Alexander the Great commanded Sand Fire Jinn, and it worked out really well for him. I certainly don’t want it working out that way for the Chanson in this war.”

  Kai nodded gravely, but Sidaffri made an uncertain motion with her head.

  “War?” She asked.

  “A Magical war. La Gilda Maghi controls some prime real estate that’s wanted by both the Chanson and the Alliance.”

  Kai gave a short chuff of laughter. “So the whole coincidence thing isn’t working for you anymore?”

  “Nope. We were called about fires, but I’m pretty sure someone knows me well enough to have guessed I’d wade right into these turbulent waters given the right bait.” I lifted my palm up, gesturing to Sidaffri.

  “But my lamp,” Sidaffri began, sounding desperate.

  I nodded. “Don’t worry; you’re first on my list. But you might have noticed that suddenly it seems like we have bigger problems that I’m going to need some help with.” I leveled my gaze at her. “You said Nahro and Shabe are also Sand Fire Jinn. Like you?”

  Sidaffri tried not to grin. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, she dropped into a cross-legged pose on the floor. “We are all Sand Fire Jinn, and you are correct about Alexander’s army.” She waved her hand as if beckoning my questions forth.

  I leaned forward and rested my forearms on my knees. “Are unbound jinn the only ones who can be summoned?”

  She weighed her words carefully. “Any jinn in range of a call may respond if they are not twice bound to someone. We all feel the magic when a summons is issued.”

  “Is the range of the jinn determined by the location of their lamp and the degree of their binding?”

  Sidaffri nodded. “Both are important. The magic required to summon a jinn takes power, and it doesn’t travel over a great distance. Any once-bound jinn within range can respond to a summons if they are so inclined. Twice bound jinn may only respond to the one who holds their vessel and their flesh.”

  “Once bound?” I had never heard those terms before, and none of my research turned up anything on degrees of bindings.

  She nodded. “Jinn are bound once when their lamp is taken. Sometimes, the finder understands jinn law, and they know to further bind the jinn with an iron pin through their clothing or flesh. An experienced sorcerer usually makes that the first and only wish. If a jinn is twice bound, they must do the sorcerer’s bidding until they are freed.”

  Perhaps the Chanson was summoning jinn just to get a read on how many lamps were hidden around Rome. If a jinn turned up to answer the summons, the logical conclusion would be there was a lamp in the vicinity. It was entirely possible they were building an army of jinn and that definitely wasn’t something that could be allowed.

  “You thought you were answering Peter because he’d need to summon you since he doesn’t hold your lamp?” I asked, possibly to distract myself from the uglier thoughts of what was really happening.

  Sidaffri looked sad when she nodded. A possibility began to crystallize in my mind, but I didn’t want to let Sidaffri have all of the information until I was more confident. Getting the jinn’s hopes up seemed cruel. I gave her the same beckoning gesture she’d given me.

  “Butros managed to take the pin out of my clothing a few days ago, and I thought he had found my lamp when I saw the gift.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the grape-sized gem.

  “Peter had no idea you were the jinn that answered the summons, or he wouldn’t have let me keep that disguise amulet. I don’t think he’s involved in the summonings that have been going on in Rome.”

  Sidaffri looked confused.

  “You’re sure about Peter?” Kai asked.

  I shook my head. “It’s just a hunch, but if he thought I was likely to run into Sidaffri, he wouldn’t have helped me get into Vatican City. He would have been too afraid she’d blab about his relationship with her.”

  “I felt another jinn there, but he left too quickly for me to identify who it was.” Sidaffri sounded defeated.

  Great, I was up to three jinn. When I got my hands on Peter, I was going to drag every scrap of information out of him. I thought about Sidaffri’s situation for a minute, and a thought began to form. “What happens when a jinn’s power is used to supplement witchcraft?”

  “That depends on the amount of power that is used.”

  “Can it cause a blackout?” I asked. Sidaffri’s forehead furrowed, so I rephrased. “Can it suck all of the magic out of an area for a short time?”

  She thought about that for a few moments. “I suppose it is possible if the jinn’s power is overused.”

  “What happens to the jinn if they’re over-used?” I asked. That seemed like a more dire question.

  “The jinn must return to their vessel to rest.” She said, acting as if it were no big deal for the jinn.

  “Would collapsing tunnels and creating explosions overuse a jinn?” I persisted.

  She nodded slowly. “In other places where the magic isn’t so brittle, it might not happen as easily. Here, the energy required for such things would be beyond the capacity of most jinn. If a jinn weren’t familiar with the structure of the energy here, they could easily shatter the current and cause such a disruption.”

  “Nahro and Shabe would also look for Idral if they needed help, right?”

  Sidaffri didn’t sound so confident, “Yes. We would all go to Idral if we needed help. Part of his job is to defend against sorcery to protect the jinn.” Her voice trailed off, and she nodded as if she had finished.

  “If we find Idral, maybe we can solve the mystery of the other missing jinn,” I said to Kai.

  “And if we round up all the jinn, what will we do with them?” Kai asked, propping his jaw on his palm.

  “Find out who they work for? Then maybe figure out how to free them, or at least prevent them from picking a side?” It wouldn’t be right to leave them enslaved, even if they were warrior jinn, maybe especially if they were warrior jinn.

  “That will be a popular decision, no doubt.” Kai drawled.

  I put my head in my hands. “Some days, my life is just one bad decision after another, but my mother would tell you that what is right isn’t always popular.” We all fell silent, lost in our thoughts about all the twists and turns this was taking.

  Sidaffri looked at us with a perplexed expression. “Who hired you to stop me?”

  “La Gilda Maghi hired me to stop the fires, and they suspected a jinn was causing them. It wasn’t a total coincidence that I was the one they called.” I flicked my eyes to Kai, wondering if my overly suspicious mind was at work again.

  He let out a strangled sound that could have been laughter, and nodded in agreement.

  Sidaffri tilted her head to the side. “And they are summoning warrior jinn?” She asked.

  I looked at Kai, and he shrugged. “You’re the archaeologist and the magic expert.” He said.

  He was half right.
“I think the warrior jinn might be getting used by someone who’s opposing the Guild. That’s the worst case scenario.” Kai grimaced in a way that told me he shared my suspicions, so I continued with my theory. “I think we have several jinn in Rome and maybe two groups trying to use them for something that’s not advisable.”

  “Jinn are fire spirits, so why use them?” Kai offered, trying to sound like it was a question, but I knew he was trying to lead me.

  I was already ahead of him, and I wasn’t sure I wanted Sidaffri to know the whole story. “Maybe because fire has been both the salvation and the destruction of this city? I haven’t quite worked out my whole theory on that.”

  Sidaffri tilted her head. She opened her mouth to speak, flickered, and vanished.

  “Whooo,” Basir said, looking at the empty chair.

  “That’s one way to end a game of jinn,” Kai said, standing and stretching. He looked around the house. “Since our company is gone, this would be a great time to express your gratitude.”

  I looked at him for a moment before leaning back against the couch dramatically. “I’m very, very happy to see you and so grateful you rescued me again. I would like to know how you knew where to find me, though.”

  Kai held up his cell phone. “The Find a Fattucchiera App?” I rolled my eyes, and he admitted, “Okay, we might have followed you.”

  “I’m disappointed I needed rescuing, but that’s beside the point. Thank you.”

  “So, have you figured out the mystery?” He asked.

  I huffed out a disgusted noise. “I think I’m close. The Guild hired me because of the fires, but someone in the Guild is holding Sidaffri’s lamp, and that’s definitely not sanctioned by the Benedicaria.”

  “Nope.” Kai grinned. “What else?”

  “The Chanson is knocking at the gates or at least at the tunnels of Rome, and I think two people we’re both familiar with figured this would be a great time to send in an outsider to make sure Rome stays independent. I think the Chanson is using jinn-powered magic because it’s how they get around the lamp, but,”