Stifled (Summoned Book 2)

by Rainy Kaye

  As dusty as my mouth feels, I don't want any more interaction with Ian than necessary.

  “No, thanks.” I choke on my words.

  “You're dehydrated.” She caresses my face, but I'm too sore to pull away. “I'll do it.”

  She crosses the room and runs water again. Then she returns to my side.

  Eileena is beautiful woman on the outside, the sort who never felt obligated to lift anything in her life. She doesn't even put up her own hair on most days. So holding me upright with one arm around my shoulders is not an easy task for her. I can't help much, between the agony both front and back, and the fact my wrists are still tied.

  She puts the cup to my lips, and I drink because I will be worse off if I don't. The water stings going down, but it mellows my stomach. She sets the cup on a small stand next to the cot and helps me lay on my side again.

  It's just us. Everyone else has gone.

  She sits on the edge of my mattress, hand on my arm over my jacket. I would like nothing more than to be comforted. To feel like I am home, that the familiarity of being around her was warming.

  Instead, it feels like I escaped under the fence and had my jaunt around the neighborhood. Now I've been found and brought back.

  I still don't understand so many aspects of this situation. I don't understand why she is in cahoots with Ian, why the vase is so special, or why she spent so much effort hunting me down.

  And I really don't understand why I just sit here, letting her clean me up like I'm a small child or a pet.

  The only thing I do understand is the familiar feeling sinking into my chest. It's despair.

  I try to remind myself Eileena has no control over me. I am free.

  It doesn't seem to make much difference.

  ***

  In the morning, I wake to the sound of feet shuffling. I force my eyes open. The light jabs hard enough to hit my brain. I moan, squeezing my eyes shut.

  Someone approaches the bed. Eileena, no doubt. I hope she thinks I'm still asleep, but after a minute, she speaks.

  “Come on, let's get some food and water in you.” She prods my shoulder.

  Is she afraid I might spook? Or does she just seem nice now that I know what other jinn wake up to every morning?

  Nice, except for that having her group jump me incident.

  My eyes flutter open, and I focus on her. She's as glamorous as ever, with flawless tan skin, thick black hair, and elaborate dress. She's like Fiona except with more elegance and poise.

  Her thin hands help me upright, the blanket falling away. The cool air slinks under my jacket.

  She picks up the glass of water from the nightstand, and I submit to the awkward drinking thing again. Staying hydrated is the only way I will remain lucid enough to figure out what to do.

  “I had some oatmeal made up.” She takes the glass to the sink. “Or I could bring you some mashed potatoes. Need to keep it light for now.”

  “I'm not hungry,” I say, hoping my opinion has some weight. I'm sure she thinks I need to eat, but my stomach is churning and the last thing it wants is food.

  “We can wait a while.” She returns to the bed and sits next to me. She places her hand on my arm again. “You look terrible. Please stay calm so I can let you out to wash up. It'll be easier if you behave yourself, Dim.”

  I want to tell her she has no right to use my nickname. That this is a business arrangement.

  But it's not. This is family.

  This is where I belong.

  It's just not where I want to be.

  I turn my head to look at her, and my skull throbs. “What do you want from me?”

  “I want to know where you are. I want you safe.”

  As my brain continues to wake up, I recall this situation doesn't make sense. She spent an enormous amount of money and time searching for a jinn that isn't a jinn, and that never was hers to begin with.

  As if that wasn't troubling enough, I also have no idea where Syd is. If I ask, Eileena might latch onto my weakness. I'm not sure how much Eileena knows about what happened between me and Syd, and I'm not going to risk putting her in danger.

  I decide to keep to the safer topics. “What is your partnership with Ian about? Why did it piss off Lyle so much?”

  “I told you before, Dim, the jinn belong to the Arabs. I'll do what it takes to return the bonds to my people.” She smiles at me, knowingly, and lowers her voice. “Ian is the easy one. He's so terrified of the jinn, he's more than willing for me to tighten the reign on them.”

  More things come together.

  “That smell in the basement—the place where he killed Hasiba—that's what was on the fabric in Billy's garage. The crazy guy the squatter tortured was Ian.”

  “I don't know anything about that. Apparently there are a lot of things about Ian I didn't know. I'll be dealing with that now that I have what I want.” Her eyes flare with hatred, and for once it's not about me. Eileena might be a twisted monkey in her own right, but Ian has made her shit list. “What I did know was that Lyle kept sending someone to steal from me so he could investigate what I was up to. I was furious. Then I realized he had inadvertently led me to you.”

  I swallow hard.

  “He's hurting Kalila,” I find myself saying.

  I regret unveiling my thoughts to her. I want nothing from this woman.

  Her expression darkens.

  “Clearly JiNet does not care for their jinn as they should,” she says, her tone thick. “The people I have chosen understand the jinn for what they are. They respect them. I'm very near understanding how to transfer the bond.”

  I know the plan formulating in her brain, because it's the same as the one I'm trying to talk myself out of in the back of my mind. A new partnership. One where I give up my freedom and help bring the jinn to the Arabs she has chosen. A compromise where the genies get the short end of the stick, but the lesser of two evils.

  As much as I would like to throw that idea overboard, life under Eileena would be better for Kalila. Eileena is not kind, but at least she's not sadistic.

  I look up at her, and I feel like I'm pleading for her help: “How do we get Kalila away from Lyle?”

  “That's the first problem.” Eileena sighs and rises to her feet. She adjusts a clip in her hair. “We have to find out what he has her bonded to.”

  “His ring.”

  Eileena's hand stills on top of her head.

  “She's bonded to a ring,” I say. “So if I bring it to you, then what?”

  Eileena lowers her hand and frowns. “I'm not sure yet, but the item works like a conduit between the master and genie bond. If we have the ring, Lyle won't be able to summon her. It's a start, until I can figure out the rest.”

  Something about this plan feels right. I don't want it to, but I had never planned anything past rescuing Kalila. Now I know for sure I need to steal the ring, and I know what to do with it after I lob it off Lyle's hand.

  “If I bring you the ring,” I say, “you'll be good to her. . .right?”

  Eileena smiles. “I love my jinn.”

  I hate the uncomfortable warmth settling in my chest. I embrace it, anyway. Syd freeing me was a fluke, something the other jinn will never have the privilege to experience. For some of us, Eileena is as good as it gets.

  She studies me before continuing. “How do you intend to reach Lyle, though?”

  “Shadi is working on getting me inside.”

  Her smile grows. “You convinced Shadi to betray Fiona?”

  “That's the story so far,” I say, making a mental note not to move my arms. A few more rubs of the rope against my wrists, and I might catch fire.

  “That's impressive, Dimitri.” Her expression drops. “But we do have a little problem. If I send you off, I have no guarantee you will come back. I can't summon you, and I don't trust you.”

  Whatever hope was forming in me cracks. I have to find a way to get Kalila away from Lyle, even if it means getting on Eileena's good side. There
was no point in me returning to the US and going through the last few weeks if I fail helping the female jinn.

  “We can start by cutting the ropes,” I say, voice even.

  Eileena runs her gaze over me again, probably noting my body language. I would try to act dejected and un-threatening, but as Syd would say, where's the acting? At the moment, I don't feel like a guy who knows six ways to kill someone with his bare hands.

  Without a word, Eileena crosses the room and disappears out the door. She returns with a pair of scissors and stops halfway across the room.

  “Come here, Dimitri.”

  I pull to my feet, ignoring how my abdomen muscles feel like they're about to tear open, and approach her. She signals for me to turn around, and I obey.

  Nauseating pain burns down to my bones as she works to cut the ropes. I grind my teeth. At last, the tension releases. I pull my arms forward, joints aching and shoulders knotted.

  “Go wash,” she says.

  My head is dizzy, so I halt until the feeling fades away. Then I trudge to the sink. A glance at the mirror explains why she is so concerned with me cleaning up. I'm smeared with dirt and blood like I was done up for a war movie.

  She watches as I flip on the water and pull off my t-shirt. It sticks to my back and sides.

  I'm a mess underneath too: bruised, scabbed, and swollen. I use the soap from the dispenser and run the water as hot as I can stand it to sponge bathe and then scrub the mats of blood out of my hair. She brings me a clean towel. I dry off and drop down onto the cot.

  Her gaze follows me. I need to stay predictable to earn her confidence. Not like there's much else I can do right now anyway. Even if I did make it out the door, her men are apparently hanging around out there. I would rather not give Ian any excuses to try to beat the demon out of me—again.

  With as much nonchalance as I can muster, I say, “I'd like to eat now.”

  My stomach has settled, probably because the rope isn't sawing into my wrists anymore. Plus, I'm a little more inclined to eat if I'm not being fed. It's just one of those things.

  She nods and goes to the door to order someone to make more oatmeal. In a few minutes, Ian passes her a tray. She brings it to me at the cot.

  Oatmeal, apple juice, and water.

  Prisoners can't be choosers. As I eat, I notice the vase is missing. I decide against asking her about it. She is probably suspicious of my intentions.

  So am I.

  I would like to think I have something devious brewing, a plan to backstab Eileena and free us all to ride into the sunset. I got nothing.

  Eileena continues to stand in the middle of the room, watching me. After a moment, she swoops in to take my dishes. They're already empty.

  Damn.

  She passes them out the door then turns back to me. “I will arrange for you to continue to see that girl of yours.”

  So Eileena does know about my relationship with Syd. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given how keenly her men stayed on my trail. At least she doesn't think it's unnatural.

  I try not to react as the reality of the situation begins to sink in. Eileena is deftly destroying everything Syd and I have achieved. And I'm doing jack shit about it.

  I want to make a run for it, but there's the little issue of her hired guns. The ones who keep finding me no matter where I go.

  Kalila needs me, but I don't know how I'm supposed to help anyone when I can't even remember to save myself first.

  “I need to piss,” I say.

  Eileena points across the room to a room divider. I amble over to it. There's a stainless steel toilet on the other side. The situation is all kinds of awkward, but it would be a lot more so if she hadn't cut the ropes.

  When I finish, I return to my cot. “Now what do we do?”

  “Dimitri, I can't stay here all day,” she says. “I'm going to have to send Ian down to watch over you.”

  “Can I get Thor? Well, any of them except Ian.”

  “No, I'm sorry,” she says, gentle and genuine. “I've sent the others back to the States. Ian won't harm you, I promise.”

  She gives me a reassuring smile and leaves the room. A few minutes later, Ian clomps down the steps.

  Oh, boy.

  He goes straight to the wall opposite of me and starts hammering. A few bangs later, he takes a step back. He has hung a cross. Like the ones covering Hasiba's basement wall, as if they were tally marks counting down her days imprisoned. Or chronicling the number of failed exorcisms.

  He places the hammer on the top step and paces with his hands behind his back. I watch him. Back and forth. He glances at me, winces, and keeps pacing.

  “What finally did her in?” My voice is surprisingly strong in the quiet room.

  He twitches, but doesn't reply.

  “Did you hold her under a little too long?”

  No answer.

  “Did you beat her too hard? Or maybe you tried to starve out the demon?”

  I want a reaction from him. Some indication that he feels even a tiny bit of remorse for what he did, and not just because he doesn't have a genie anymore.

  “How did it work out, Ian? Did the fiend die with her? Was it worth it?”

  “Don't speak to me, demon,” he says with shaky authority, stopping and holding up his hand.

  “I'm the demon?” I chuckle and rise to my feet. “I'm not the most evil thing in the room for a change.”

  He glances at the door then focuses on me, but off from my gaze. He's trembling.

  I stalk toward him. “Are you going to betray Eileena?”

  His eyes widen.

  “Are you going to help her gather the jinn, then exorcise us in one go?”

  “Halt,” he says but it's not convincing.

  “Or what? Eileena already told you to keep your hands off me, didn't she?”

  He retreats a step.

  He is a coward, nothing more. Waste of my time. I smirk and return to my place on the cot. He goes back to pacing, daring an occasional sideways glance at me. Every time he does, I make sure I'm staring at him.

  ***

  I'm not sure how much time passes. It's hard to say when there's no sunlight, no clock. Just a steady overhead light.

  It gives me plenty of time to think, even though I don't want to.

  The truth is, if I were a truly nice person, I would keep Kalila's ring myself. I know I would never try to transfer the bond or summon her.

  I don't want the ring, though. Lyle is going to spend the remaining beats of his heart searching for her, and whoever has the ring is going to be on the run. Forever.

  Besides, Eileena wants the jinn badly enough that she will pour all her resources into making sure Kalila is safe.

  Resources I don't have.

  As much as I would like to take comfort from that fact, I still feel like a jerk. I know first-hand how miserable life as a genie is. I was given the rare opportunity to escape, so the least I could do is make sure that ring never slips onto the wrong finger again.

  The way it turns out, the most I can do is take it off the one already wearing it.

  Maybe Syd is right: I am just a human. I was a lousy genie, and now I'm going to be an equally lousy human.

  Eventually, Eileena returns with a food tray. She dismisses Ian, then hands me the tray. Toast and fruit and more water. I'll take it.

  She stands watch as usual. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I was jumped by three guys and kicked in the chest,” I say, swallowing down food I don't even taste. These small meals aren't cutting it. “Otherwise, I'm peachy, thanks.”

  She smiles, and I try to ignore her gaze fixed on me. She shifts weight from foot to foot. It's not until I finish eating that I realize she's anticipating something. I can't tell if she's excited or nervous or scared.

  She crosses the room to me, and I offer up the tray while studying her face. I am unable to decipher what's going on in her head.

  “Did you want me to find you a doctor, D
imitri?”

  “You know, that was the question you should have asked before I fell asleep with a concussion,” I say. “Just a thought.”

  She leans down to take the tray. “I'm not as adept as Karl was with hostages.”

  “You just need practice, and you'll do great,” I say with a droll smile.

  She laughs as she heads to the door. “Even though I tried to talk her out of it, I always understood why Silvia had her sights on you.”

  Any humor in me dies. If Eileena has one reason to turn a blind eye to Ian trying to exorcise me, it would be over Silvia.

  I should say something, but she hasn't snapped yet and I don't want to risk pushing her. What exactly would I tell her, anyway? I'm not even remotely sorry for what I did. Nothing means more to me than Syd. Not even Kalila's freedom.

  I have no idea what I'm doing here. Eileena is going to use Syd against me at some point. I can already see it coming.

  I need to get out. For the first time since I woke up tied to the chair, I survey the room.

  The cot is against one wall and a small table stands next to it. Opposite is the sink and mirror, and the cross. To the left, the toilet and on the other side of the wall, a showerhead and drain. The door is the only exit, and I don't know what is on the other side of it except Ian.

  I could take Eileena hostage, but something tells me that would just help Ian's agenda. He's playing for his own team, and Team Ian wants me dead.

  Eileena interrupts my thoughts. “Silvia always meant well, but Karl never gave her a chance to put her world into the context of the real one.”

  “Yeah,” I say because it's the only safe answer. No more, no less.

  Eileena rubs her earlobe with her finger and thumb, studying me. A half-smile forms on her face.

  She lowers her hand. “I want to show you something.”

  Before I can reply, she's out the door. I notice the click of the lock on the other side. Figures.

  I need a plan. If I ditch out on Eileena, Kalila's fate as Lyle's jinn is sealed. If I hang around—doesn't matter, because that isn't going to happen.

  I am no one's pet.

  A few minutes later, Eileena returns with Ian in tow. He has a gun on his side in a shoulder holster.

  My gaze lowers to Eileena's arms. She's holding a small bundle of blankets.