The Band of Shadows (The Djinn Kingdom Book 3)

by LJ Andrews

  “How do you know this? Father, you didn’t…”

  “No,” he said. “But I know who did. The signs are clear, and the answer to who killed Smythe is all part of why I am with the band of shadows.” Varick paused until meeting her eye with shame. “So, my girl, I assume that no-good captain told you all sorts of stories about my past.”

  Nova nodded. “But I knew the lies from the truth. I…found your ledger at our home. I know everything about the mutiny against Captain Phoenix.”

  “A decision I both regret and revere. I would never have met your mother or had you if I hadn’t, but I’m afraid it has now caused a great deal of pain in our lives.” Varick stood and clapped his hands together. “There is so much more to discuss. I’ve missed so many years and precious moments with you, Nova. I want to learn everything, but there are people I must acquaint you with because I fear your mother was taken back to the Djinn temple as part of a more sinister plot. Smythe was a casualty of that same plot.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said.

  “Come with me. You must meet Hadwin under kinder circumstances,” Varick said, pushing the heavy door open and entering the ring. Atlas and Kale stood far from the people dressed in black and looked relieved as they returned.

  Nova’s jaw dropped. “I’d rather not meet the man who nearly killed me,” she protested.

  Varick stopped and took her hand gently. “Please, Nova. Hadwin is an important part of my story.”

  Reluctantly, Nova allowed her father to drag her toward Hadwin, who stood uncomfortably in the same spot where he’d subdued her.

  “I should have sensed who she was sooner. I knew something was different but I couldn’t pinpoint it,” he said as soon as she was close. “Forgive me, Varick…and you, Nova.”

  Her father held up his hand. “This is on me, Hadwin. I never in my wildest dreams expected Nova to be classified as a Dia pirate. But now after hearing her story, it makes perfect sense. I’m afraid Kamali is in danger, Hadwin.”

  His gold eyes looked at Varick intently until Nova broke their focus.

  “Why are you trying to stop pirates from going to Dia? You did it once,” Nova said to Varick.

  “We stop them because of the great sacrifice your mother and I went through keeping the Djinn in the temple away from this kingdom,” Hadwin said.

  Nova eyed him. “Pardon me? You and my mother?”

  “Nova, do you sense anything about Hadwin?” Varick asked. “Anything different?”

  Glaring, Nova faced Hadwin once again. She studied his smooth face, his dark hair. His eyes never dropped from her face. Those eyes. Those golden eyes. Nova’s heart seemed to skip a beat. He’d been so certain of himself during their battle. The words he’d whispered beat against her heart as if an arrow of truth shot her in the chest.

  You cannot defeat me. I am greater than you, in ways you cannot know.

  “No,” Nova whispered. “You are…you’re a Djinn.”

  Hadwin smiled and nodded, though his eyes were still searching hers.

  “I’ve never been near a Djinn like you, Nova. Part human, part Djinn. I suspect that is why I didn’t see your power straight away. Have you had difficulty using yours?” Hadwin asked.

  “How did you know?”

  “Every Djinn has unique personalities just as mortals do, but the personalities present as unique powers, much like fingerprints. I subdue any other Djinn power. I weaken it. I must have been affecting you without even realizing it. But now that I know who you are, I recognize you were fighting against it during our battle. I’ve only seen one other Djinn capable of overpowering my wall. You were the reason the arena shook, weren’t you?”

  Nova shrugged, unsure how to react to what she was hearing. “I’ve done things of that nature before.”

  “Much like your mother. It’s amazing. You seem to have taken on bits of her power print. She could move solid stone if she wanted.”

  “Wait,” Nova said. “If you are a Djinn then that means you are my mother’s…”

  “I’m her brother,” Hadwin finished for her. “We’ve met before, but you were only a young child. I don’t expect you to remember. Your mother and I felt it wise if we maintained a distant relationship once she escaped the temple. It posed too great a risk of being found, but I tried to conceal her from a distance. Once you were born, though, I wasn’t needed as much. Her power was gone, and she kept yours from forming. The temple couldn’t find us. Please, Nova, if I would have ended up…today…if I would have harmed Kamali’s child, please know I would never have forgiven myself.”

  Clearing her throat, Nova stepped slightly closer. “What sacrifice are you talking about, when you say it was made by you and my mother?”

  “There is a forgotten history of this kingdom, Nova. But, simply put, your mother and I created Launi.”

  Nova gaped. It wasn’t possible. How could it be? “Why…why would you do that?”

  “To be free from the temple?” Hadwin said simply.

  Nova held the sides of her head as the story boggled her mind. Behind her, Kale, Atlas, and Briggs listened intently, and she could feel their eyes watching her every move. “I don’t understand. If you’re Djinn, if mother is Djinn, why do you both hate your home so much? She told me not to trust anyone from the temple, but never explained why.”

  “Nova, has anyone reached out to you from the temple?” Varick asked, his eyes blazing like embers.

  “Lurlina has only tried to help me,” Nova burst out. “She says if I come to the temple, Mother will be there, and we can be together, like a family. She’s given me no reason not to trust her!”

  Hadwin’s eyes darkened. “Lurlina, was the one who reached out to you? Nova, do not let her in. You are the final obstacle for her in getting her opening into Launi Kingdom. Nova, your mother rebelled against the temple. I escaped after the uprising, but Kamali only escaped because your father took her. Until Varick came, Kamali was treated like an enemy of our family for her part in the rebellion. Lurlina is not your friend.”

  “Which is why we must do all we can to get Kamali back,” Varick said firmly. “I will not rest until Kamali is out of that prison. It explains so much, knowing the Great One is behind his return. Nova, Lurlina has already set in motion events to force you to the temple so she can use you to gain control of the kingdom.”

  “What kind of things, and why does she want the kingdom?” Nova asked, feeling overwhelmed as the truth weighted her shoulders and wanting to know who her father said had returned.

  “It is hard to explain,” Varick said slowly.

  “Varick, I don’t know if ye should be sayin’ so much so soon,” Briggs interrupted.

  When her father hesitated, Nova straightened. “No, I’m not a child! Tell me what I need to know. If Lurlina wants me, I need to understand so I can defend myself.”

  “Varick,” Hadwin said, clutching his chest, his eyes wide. “He found us; he’s here.”

  Her father’s eyes widened as he clasped Hadwin by the shoulders. “Are you certain?”

  Hadwin nodded. “I can feel her power near.”

  Varick cursed, flipping around on Nova. “I need you to stay hidden, Nova. No matter what happens, stay out of sight.”

  Varick wrapped his strong arms around her before rushing toward the canopied podium.

  “Conceal the children and gather your weapons,” Hadwin was shouting to the crowd.

  Mothers and fathers handed their small children to designated people who rushed them out of the ring while in the next moment unsheathing curved blades of all sizes from their dark clothing.

  “Come this way,” said a tall woman with long charcoal hair. “Your father wants you out of sight.”

  “No!” Nova wrenched her arm out of her grip and darted toward the podium.

  “Nova, wait!” Kale shouted through the sudden commotion.

  Underneath the canopy, there were three padded chairs for comfortable viewing, but behind them was a large arched
door built into the hillside. With the door left open, Nova could see a long, dark tunnel cutting deep into the side of the arena.

  “Nova, wait,” Kale said, breathless. Atlas and Briggs had followed close behind.

  “Something’s happening, and I’m going to help,” she insisted.

  Kale threw his hands up. “I’m with you. I just wanted you to wait for me, feisty.”

  Nova scoffed, but couldn’t help smiling as she pushed into the cool tunnel, leaving the scrambling arena behind.

  Chapter 15

  Ghost of Phoenix

  Glowing lantern light cast ghostly shadows ahead of them as they rushed through the moss ridden stone tunnel. Nova’s lungs filled with heavy earth smells and damp stone as she followed her father’s trail. Varick wasn’t far ahead.

  Turning around a bend, they saw Varick stepping behind another heavy arched door, clanging the metal edging closed. Nova cautiously opened the door and stepped into a small, dimly lit room laden with heavy chests toppled on one another.

  “How did I know you wouldn’t stay put?” Varick said without looking up.

  He rummaged through an open chest, removing a thick leather belt with a long sword latched to one side. The sword boasted a stunning gold hilt and intricate designs engraved on the steel blade. On the opposite hip was a loaded silver flintlock pistol, and he shoved a small knife deep into his boot.

  “Father, who’s here?” she demanded.

  Varick rummaged through a small chest just opposite the large weapon arsenal he’d pillaged. Gently he removed a linen cloth and handed the sapphire hilt to Nova. “Hadwin said he’d seen a Djinn weapon. I never thought to investigate further, I just assumed it was taken from Dia pirates. I believe this belongs to you. I’m sure you’ve gathered by now it was your mother’s. When I took her as my prize from the temple, she carried it with her,” Varick said longingly. “Every day she threatened me with it, calling me a thief and every other name she could think of. And being the arrogant fool I was, I offered her a free shot, every morning, until one day she stopped threatening me and I stopped seeing her as a prize. Take it.”

  When her fingers caressed the sparkling jewels, she was encompassed with newfound strength. Smiling, she clasped the dagger tightly—ready for whatever was threatening the outer walls of the arena.

  A sound of roaring thunder seemed to shake the surrounding skies. Kale withdrew a gold dagger and small blunderbuss pistol from an iron trunk, while Atlas took his pick from a line of spectacular hanging cutlasses.

  “He’s here,” Varick whispered to himself.

  “Who?” said Atlas.

  Varick breathed deeply, never taking his eyes from Nova. “Captain Phoenix.” Another boom across the skies shuddered the weapons magazine and spurred Varick into motion. “Follow me,” he said, dashing back into the dark tunnel.

  “Father, wait,” Nova called, sheathing the dagger through her belt. “The Captain Phoenix? I thought he was dead.”

  Varick looked over his shoulder as Kale and Atlas spilled after them. “This is another part of my story. When I betrayed Phoenix, he wasn’t killed; he was trapped in a place he could not return from, at least not without the help of the Great Djinn.”

  “Is that Lurlina?” Nova asked softly.

  Varick nodded. “She’s released him, or the dark shadow that’s left of him. He serves her now, and he will not rest until he fulfills her bidding.”

  Varick cocked his pistol, readying it to fire, before pushing through the doorway at the end of the tunnel. The arena was lined with dark members of the band of shadows. Overhead, a terrifying ship sailed just above the treetops, its booming guns firing one after another as if to show its strength.

  “I don’t understand,” Nova said, her chest clenching at the looming threat above. “Release him from where?”

  Varick turned, keeping the ship in the corner of his eye. “Nova, there are people who need our help, people your mother once tried to save by creating Launi. The people of the Below, that’s where all the band of shadows escaped from. Lurlina and the temple rule the Below with tyrannical power. The people are her slaves, and she will not stop until she rules Launi the same way.” Varick covered her head when a blast from the ship sent spraying shards of rock through the ring.

  Pulling Nova closer, he shouted above the noise. “Lurlina wants those who rebelled hundreds of years ago to pay. Hadwin and your mother led that rebellion, and those who escaped from the Below formed Launi Kingdom. Hadwin has not stopped trying to free people, but at significant risk. These people,” Varick said pointing to the dark haired, pale band of shadows, “are all from the Below.”

  The ship released a hailstorm of bullets into the arena. They took cover beneath a stone table off one side of the ring. When the shower of gun power ceased, she glanced at the ship’s decks. People with long dark hair fired. Their faces were pale but smooth.

  “But…but those people on the ship look the same as the band,” she stammered.

  Varick nodded, stepping out from the cover. “Many people still worship the Djinn as their great rulers. They fight for the Djinn, for they cannot see the truth. The band of shadows has saved many lives, but there are still more that need to be freed.”

  Nova gaped as the people from above dove into the arena from long ladder ropes dangling off the hull. The band of shadows released a synchronized battle cry and took up arms against their own people.

  Varick fired his pistol and clashed his blade against a slender man dressed in fine blue silk clothing. In a clean swipe the attacker fell, his fine clothes stained burgundy. More warriors spilled into the arena, their feet weightless on the ground as men and women pounced like animals across the stone edges and wooden benches. They flipped above the heads of opponents, both the attackers from the ship and the band of shadows. The people of the Below fought furiously with nimble, quick movements only capable by one taught in a different land.

  Clanging metal brought her attention back to the present. Kale was being sunk slowly to the ground by a fierce woman, her long raven hair braided intricately behind her neck. She pressed against his dagger with a long, curved sword gleaming in a gilded sheen. Her dark eyes were rabid with fury as she pushed harder, forcing Kale into submission.

  Nova pulled her dagger from her belt and darted toward the woman. The dagger seemed to meld with her hand, drawing the power of the blade into her own. With a strength almost forgotten, Nova shoved the woman away from Kale.

  She stumbled, then caught her balance gracefully. She snarled at Nova before leaping off one of the wooden benches, tucking her knees as she rolled over Nova’s head and landed behind her.

  Nova braced herself as the woman’s blade hit the sapphire dagger. Nova spun on her heel, slicing the blade angrily as the woman pushed her harder toward a wall. Feeling a surge of burning power, Nova swung the dagger hard so the hilt slammed into the woman’s high cheek bone.

  With a cry of pain, the woman doubled over, spitting a trail of blood onto the stone floor. Nova raced forward, shoving her to the ground before straddling her as Atlas rushed to her side, kicking the woman’s blade out of her reach.

  The darkness surged through her veins. This woman was nothing compared to her. Nova heaved angrily, lifting the Djinn dagger above her head, ready to strike.

  “Finish her, Nova. There’s more coming,” Atlas shouted.

  Nova breathed deeply, the air seeping into her lungs in ragged puffs, her arm trembling as she hesitated against the pure desire to thrust the blade into the woman’s chest. All around her men and woman were in furious combat. Kale blasted his pistol, though she knew he intentionally missed. It was only to distract until he could disarm.

  Honorable, she thought.

  Briggs took on two crouching men dressed in vibrant silks of orange, blue, and green. He blazed a furious trail of expert swordsmanship into their attempted trap.

  “Nova, hurry! Finish her,” Atlas shouted, slicing his blade across the chest of the limbe
r man coming after him. It wasn’t a fatal blow, but Atlas had intended it to be.

  Her eyes blazed in contempt when she glanced back down at the pinned woman. She was young, just like her, but when she met Nova’s eyes her brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Djinn?” she whimpered, her fear evident.

  “Nova.” It was her father’s voice. Varick was nearby with Hadwin, subduing three attackers with the help of several from the band of shadows. “She doesn’t know any better.”

  Nova closed her eyes, feeling her hand tremble from holding the dagger too tightly; she heard all the voices roll together into one tight ball in her chest. The pressure was suffocating as if both sides inside were colliding.

  Stop, she pleaded. Just stop.

  For a moment, all the chaos seemed to stop and she could see Lurlina’s arrogant smile from a solid gold throne.

  “Stop!” Nova screamed.

  At her voice, the arena swayed as stones toppled from the walls. The holding cell she’d once been locked in cracked, and the heavy door fell from its hinges. A ripple of power, though unseen, blasted through the arena, knocking all those in the center to their backs and breaking a gaping hole in the hull of the ghostly ship which had lowered into the ring.

  An eerie hush fell over the battle. The arena was filled with wispy gun smoke that burned her nostrils. Small bumps raised over Nova’s arms when she looked around and seemed to be the only one moving in real time. Everyone seemed too stunned to move, except for clomping, methodic boots. Each step jingled with large buckles, though she couldn’t see where they came from through the heavy gun smoke.

  Nova squinted as people around her began to move, and even the woman trapped below her weight looked in the direction of the steps with anxious fear. A dark outline broke through the thinning smoke, broad, looming, and threatening.

  Nova scanned the battlefield. Varick lay a short distance away; his eyes were closed but his chest rose and fell with deep breaths. Kale was pressed up against a stone wall, being held in place by two men holding knives against his throat. Atlas was the closest, coming to his knees from toppling during the blast.