Tears flowed down Lila’s face as she attacked her friend.
Maks did the only thing he could. He grabbed Lila by the tail and then pinned her wings to her sides. “Lila, you have to fight her power! You have to!”
She let out a tiny roar. A snarl and then she closed her eyes, tears still falling. Maybe that was all she had left to her in her control.
“I’ve got her arms, I need to . . . fuck the sun!” Zam cried out and she shook her head. “The scorpion stinger, it needs to be on her! I need someone else to take it off!”
He looked around. He couldn’t let go of Lila. Fen was wobbling across the floor, unbalanced from his fight with Lila. “The kid!”
“Reyhan!” Zam yelled. “To me!”
The cub bounded across to Zam and shifted to two feet, wobbling a little. “What do you want me to do?”
Dani groaned, eyes closed, hurt and momentarily not throwing her weight around, but he could see the strain in Zam’s arms as she held the Storm Queen tight.
“Take my necklace off,” Zam gritted out the words. “Hurry.”
She bowed her head as Reyhan slid the necklace off. And then put it over her own head. “Like this?”
“No!” Zam cried out and the kid startled backward. “No, take it off, put it on the woman here!”
Reyhan frowned. “But I like it. It’s pretty.”
Zam’s entire body was shaking as she kept Dani’s hands pinned. He fought with the still-writhing dragon in his hands, unable to loosen his hold. “Listen to me, Reyhan.” Zam’s eyes shot to the sun going down. “Put it on the woman here. Now. Please!”
Reyhan frowned and pouted, her hands going to the necklace.
As the light of the day disappeared, she began to lift it off her neck toward Zam as Maks continued to wrestle with Lila. “Fine!”
“Fen, help her!” Zam yelled and the white maned dragon shot to Reyhan, clinging to her back.
Too slow, it was too slow.
A blinding light filled the air, the glow coming off the necklace, and the stinger seemed to come alive. It shot toward Reyhan’s chest, driving in deep, a trail of blood sliding down her shirt. She cried out and her eyes went to Zam’s.
“I’m sorry, I should have listened better.”
Zam let go of Dani and reached for Reyhan, but her fingers went through the empty space where the kid and Fen had been just a moment before. A howl poured out of his mate’s mouth, one that turned into the roar of a mother lion losing a cub. Her whole body shook as she clutched at the space where Reyhan had been.
And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
Dani groaned and opened her eyes, but her hands were already lifting, crackling with power. A spell woven of death and pain, she flicked her fingers at Zam.
Keeping Lila tucked under one arm, he leapt forward and tackled his mate, taking her down and away from the Storm Queen. The magic shot over their heads, slamming into the wall behind them.
Zam spun out from under him, stood and pulled a weapon he didn’t recognize. A long spear with an edged blade on one end. More than that, though, what caught his attention was the look in her eyes.
As if it was not Zam he was seeing, but someone else—her eyes were deep red. She spun the pole arm toward Dani, not hesitating, not for even a hairsbreadth.
Dani barely dodged the first swing. Maks still had Lila pinned under him and she was squirming to get out.
“I’m good, I’m good!” Lila screamed. “Let me help!”
He wasn’t sure that he could trust her, not when she’d been so obviously captured by Dani. But he let her go.
Lila flew up and went straight to Zam, wrapping herself around her shoulders. “Oh shit, Maks! This is bad!”
“How can it get worse?” He rolled to his feet and took a stance between the two women. Not that he was trying to protect Dani. Not at all. He just wasn’t sure who was in charge of Zam’s body right then.
30
Zam
Lilith had me in her hold completely. I could feel my body moving, could feel her directing my limbs. “That’s right, Storm Queen. You’re going to die,” I purred. “I can see the knowing in your eyes.”
Dani snarled and flicked her hands at me. I spun the pole arm, catching the spell, wrapping it around the weapon and then flinging it back at her.
She screamed and dove to the side, taking her out the door to the upper rooftop. I followed, though saying I followed was not correct. Lilith followed her while I fought desperately for control of my own body.
“I am running things now,” my voice said, and I knew that Lilith did not mean that for Dani. It was for me.
You’ve been laying low. Making me believe you really want to help. Now it was my voice that was inside my head.
Her laugh was sharp and hard. “See, you are not so stupid after all. I am a demon, you idiot. I have no interest in anything but my own designs. And with you so graciously taking the source of all magic into you, I knew it was time to make my move. That is enough power for me to rule the world with. I can go straight to Asag. That is the beauty for me—I don’t have to follow the rules.”
“You did what?” Dani screamed. “You can’t! You can’t take it, that’s the only thing keeping Asag at bay!”
Lilith swung the weapon at Dani again, almost sloppy in her movements. Then again, it wasn’t like she’d had a body for a long time.
What were my options? I thought through my limited options while Dani and Lilith fought. There was screaming and then a thud. I had to make my move.
I reached for my connection to Lila who I could feel on my shoulders. Pain had disrupted her before. I need you to hurt me.
Lila growled. “I don’t want to.”
You must.
I couldn’t feel anything, but by the screeching coming out of my mouth, Lila was clawing the shit out of me. Lilith. Whatever.
There was a moment where the pain broke through and I took a deep breath, took hold of my alpha power and grasped the reins of my body. I stumbled back and stared down at the body of Dani.
She’d been cut to pieces. Literally.
Head, legs, and arms had been sliced off.
Lilith surged in me, and I snarled. “Not today, demon.”
I went to my hands and knees, fighting off her attempts to control me. And when that didn’t work, she did something I didn’t think was possible.
She pulled me into the dreamscape.
My body fell to the stone rooftop, Maks was hollering, Lila screamed my name and then I was standing on the roof facing a woman I’d never seen before, but I would have recognized her anywhere.
Her hair was blood-red, and her eyes matched that impossible color. Her body was sleek, and she sported a small pair of mottled red wings. Two sets of arms sprouted from her sides. She put one set on her hips and the other she folded.
“So it has come to this. Winner takes all.” She smiled, showing off only four very sharp pointed teeth.
I stared at her. “You were always lying to me.”
“Darling,” she laughed. “Don’t be so surprised. I’m a demon, it’s what I do. It’s what I live for.” Her smile widened.
And before I could take another breath, she launched herself at me, all four arms reaching for me.
As if I would just lie down and let her take my life.
Fuck her and her stupidity.
I kicked the left bottom wrist, snapping the bones, spun low and grabbed the right bottom arm. I kept on turning, twisting the arm around and up behind her, angling it for a clean break. She howled and tried to follow me.
“You forget,” I snarled as I jerked her arm hard, cracking it right at the elbow. “I’m a shifter, a Jinn, and a little bit dragon. Which makes me mean as fuck when it comes to fighting. Weapons or no weapons.”
She twisted around, bottom two arms dangling. Using a wing, she cut it toward me, slicing through the air. The tips of her wings were pointed and caught the light. Maybe they weren’t metal, bu
t they’d act like a weapon.
The tip of one just caught the front of my chest, ripping through my shirt but not cutting the skin. Even so, the heat off the point of her wing seared me, burning.
Wings were next to go then.
I crouched, leapt up and in the middle of my leap I shifted into my house cat form. Lilith screeched as she missed me. I went up and over her shoulder, twisting in mid-jump and shifting back to two legs. As I dropped, I grabbed the base of her wings, so I held her tight.
“I’ll kill you! You’re dead!” she screamed.
“Not likely you’ll be the one to kill me. And it sure as camel shit in the desert won’t be today.” I growled as I kicked her in the back, still holding her wings. Over and over I hit her, feeling things break, feeling her wings slowly tear from their connection to her body.
All the anger and frustration, all the holding back, all the keeping things in control went out the window. I was done with trusting anyone but Maks and Lila. I was done with this garbage. Lilith may be a demon, but I was a goddess-crowned alpha of the desert. A guardian. A Jinn. A shifter. These were my strengths, and even without my magic, that was enough. I was here to protect and save those I loved.
To keep the balance of our world.
I didn’t realize I was screaming, didn’t realize those screams were coming out of my actual mouth until I blinked and was looking up into Lila’s terrified face.
I clamped my mouth shut and lifted a hand to her. “I’m okay.”
“Are you sure because . . . that was . . . horrifying.” She reached over and patted my cheek, and then I was sitting up, Maks was holding me and I was holding Lila.
But someone was missing.
I lifted a hand, remembering. “Fen. He got sucked through with Reyhan.”
Lila burst into tears. “He tried to get that necklace off, but she was yanked through by the scorpion tail. He went with her.”
“He will protect her.” I nodded, thought it was a shitty comfort. “Lila, we will go after them both. You know that.”
“I do,” she sobbed. “But it’s just . . . this isn’t how I thought it would end.”
Me either.
Me fucking either.
31
And of course, it wasn’t the end of our day, not by a long shot. Maks helped me stand, and as we turned, the old woman stood blocking our way back into the castle. Not that I wanted to go through there, but with Fen gone we were trapped.
He’d done the right thing by going with Reyhan. He had. But we were screwed up shit creek without a paddle—or a dragon to carry us over it.
“You killed her.” Arin looked past us, her face unreadable. “That . . . is unfortunate.”
I braced myself, my hand going to the weapon that was Lilith. Her voice was silent as I gripped the handle of a sword. Not flail, not pole arm, but sword. This was her natural state then maybe?
Regardless.
“It was not how I saw things happening.” My voice was scratchy from all the screaming.
Arin’s eyes were hooded. “Nor was it how I saw it happening. I saw a dark-haired Jinn woman taking the army of rhuk and an army of unicorns to face Asag. I always thought it was my granddaughter.” She squinted her eyes at me. “But you will do.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Just like that, you’d trade her out?”
“She is dead. Asag is not. That must happen. So, I will help you. And like I said, my life was also in the balance. Dani would have killed me should I have failed her again.” She bobbed her head once as if that was that.
“Yeah, I’ve had your help,” Maks said. “It is not without its lies and costs.”
“Everything costs.” Arin smiled. “But that one beside you, I felt her battle a demon just now . . . and win. That is no small thing. She holds the source of magic inside of her without using it. That also is no small thing.” She took a few steps toward me, her hands spread wide. “The trick with demons is to know their rules and use them against them. Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to use Asag’s game against himself?”
“There is no other choice,” I said. “We face Asag. As soon as the last challenge is completed.”
Because I wasn’t going to let a small thing like a footnote fuck me over. We would play by the rules and then we would use the rules to hang the demon up. I’d take this source of all magic to Pazuzu and be done with it.
Inside of me, Lilith rumbled that I was a fool for giving up all this potential power. I pushed my will against hers, shoving her away from the surface. I was not letting her out, not even a bit. For good measure I imagined a set of chains wrapped around each of her limbs, tying her down. She would not be getting free.
I rolled my wrist which rolled the sword in my hand. But before I could say anything else, someone pulled themselves up and over the edge of the roof. Late as always to the party.
“I am here, my love! To take you to the heights of pleasure with a flouncing that you will never forget!” Vahab flopped himself over the edge, soaking wet, disheveled. Right onto the chopped-up body of the Storm Queen. He grimaced and all but flew backward until he hit the far side of the wall, then glared at me. “Now you’ve doomed us all!”
“Lilith did it,” I said, though I wasn’t entirely unhappy. After all, I kind of wanted to chop Dani into pieces myself.
“But it is part of the game!” Vahab yelled. “The strongest two Jinn must flounce and create a child!”
I frowned. “That’s stupid, all of it.” What did Asag do? Just randomly try to come up with the hardest things to happen in order for him to get banished back to the realm of demons?
As soon as I thought it, I knew it. Yeah, that’s exactly what he’d done. Fucker.
“That is not the exact wording,” Arin said, her eyes drifting over Vahab. “It is the two oldest Jinn that must create a child. Beyhron. That is word for ‘oldest,’ and it is sometimes used for ‘most powerful’ in the demon tongue. In other words, it is often translated incorrectly.”
Maks stared at her, his body tensing. “Then why the hell did you let Dani try to fuck me?”
“Because I could not convince her otherwise.” Arin was terribly calm, as though it did not sting her that granddaughter had been killed. “Would you want to believe that your grandmother was the answer to a riddle you believed to be about you?”
I put my hands to my head. “So, you can have Vahab then, he is the oldest male Jinn.”
Vahab squeaked. “What? No.”
“He is the first Jinn,” Lila piped up. “The very first. The one they stuck in the Vessel.”
Arin’s eyes lit up. “You are that Vahab?”
He closed his eyes and the life seemed to slip out of him. “I am.”
I didn’t feel bad. Vahab hadn’t even asked about Fen. Maybe he—Vahab—was all about getting rid of Asag, but Fen had been his friend. Or I’d thought they’d been friends. And Vahab hadn’t even tried to help him or stay with him as he’d died.
Arin crooked her finger at Vahab. He slowly got to his feet and followed her out of the space, head down, his body obviously not interested in the old woman, not one bit.
“What if I cannot perform?” he muttered.
“She has something to help you,” Maks called after Vahab. “These tiny blue pills.”
Lila clung to me hard and the three of us stood there with the snap of the wind around us tugging at wings and hair alike. The silence was hard. Reyhan and Fen were gone. Taken. But I had to believe we would get them both back.
“What do we do now?”
“We look at all the rules that we have to follow, and we answer each quest that is demanded of us.” I reached for Maks, and he took my hand, drawing me to him. Into the safety of his arms once more, I knew it wouldn’t last. But like all things in my life, I took the quiet moments when I could. “We’ll go after Reyhan and Fen. He’ll protect her.”
“I know he will,” Lila whispered, “I know it.”
And because I trusted Lila, I tr
usted Fen. I tightened my hold on Maks and leaned into him.
“We have to get this to Pazuzu.” By this I meant the magic inside of me.
The wind around us picked up and the beat of massive wings filled the air. We turned to see a rhuk swooping toward us.
Cassandra let out a screeching call and landed precariously on the edge of the roof. She looked down at the broken body of Dani. Her head shot forward, and she plucked the Storm Queen up in pieces, flinging her arms, legs, torso and head into the sky. One by one each piece of her was caught by a rhuk and swallowed down.
“You freed my family.” Cassandra tipped her head to us. “And so, we will go with you to face Asag.”
She tipped her body to the side and a figure slid off her back, down her wings.
Pazuzu stood in front of us, dressed in blue just like before. “You have the source of all magic? Cassandra called to me when she felt Dani die.”
I nodded, not sure I wanted to give it to him. “I do.”
He smiled and tears gathered in his eyes. “It is a living thing. Do you understand?”
Again, I nodded, feeling the beat of it in my chest, like a second heart. “I know.”
“Then set it free, desert guardian.”
His words unleashed something in my body, and I started to shiver as the water I’d breathed in came back out, climbing up through my guts and up my throat to my mouth.
Yup, I puked out the source of all magic. Go me.
Glittering silver flecks and rainbows danced within it as it floated at head level, writhed once and then exploded.
Tiny droplets went everywhere, brushing against our faces, shooting out into the world at a speed that I could not follow with my eyes, but I could feel still.
Because one tiny droplet stayed with me.
Happy to be with me, happy to be a part of me.
Maks hung onto me, and I realized then that my legs had gone wobbly. “Thanks.”
“I got you,” he whispered.
Pazuzu bowed at the waist. “You have one more challenge, Zamira Reckless Wilson. One more challenge to see this through and face Asag.”
Kingdom of Storms (The Desert Cursed Series Book 8) Page 18
