The Band of Shadows (The Djinn Kingdom Book 3)

by LJ Andrews

  Nova had spent some time with Hadwin learning about the temple and the order of the Djinn, a world so foreign and familiar in the same breath. Her mother had been close to Lurlina, but Hadwin had explained her mother’s unique compassion for the people beneath Mount Dia. The rest of the Djinn family ruled them as deity, demanding servitude. Nova yearned to understand more, but Hadwin was needed by so many in the band, including her father, to plan and prepare, she hadn’t seen him since early morning.

  Kale had stayed by her side, quiet and solemn, until finally taking a moment to refresh his own clothes and scrub the weeks of prison cells away. Since meeting him, his shoulders had broadened, and his strong arms filled the clean white shirt nicely. He kept the billowing fabric casually untucked and the tie in the front left a part of his chest exposed. His brown hair was longer, and he tucked it neatly behind his ears, but the citrus scented breeze from the rough currents continued to blow it wildly about his face. Nova’s heart pounded as she imagined a new beginning with him.

  “I’ve been looking for you. My father has already gone to meet an ally he says will be of great use to us,” she finally said, breaking his concentration on the lazy clouds.

  Kale turned and offered a perfect smile. The bruise under his eye was fading and his olive complexion darkening from being in the sunlight after so long in the shadows. “Have you enjoyed your reunion?”

  She smiled, kneeling next to him. “I never imagined this time would ever come. He’s so different now that I know the truth about who he was, yet he’s also the same, loving father I had always known.”

  Kale smiled. “I’m so happy for you. It’s all I ever wanted. Has anyone found out how Phoenix found us?”

  Nova joined him in watching the peaceful clouds float wistfully by. “Hadwin says it was because of the Djinn inside me. Lurlina granted him her power to find me, which is why my dagger wouldn’t work on him. But something she said once bothers me.”

  “What is that?”

  “She once told me to not allow myself to be so arrogant as to think I’m invincible. She told me there were people in Launi looking for me. I’ve played it over in my head. She was right that someone was looking for me, but she was the one who’d sent him. She meant Phoenix all along, and it only proves how foolish I was for trusting her.”

  Kale leaned back on his open palms. “I don’t think you were foolish. You never truly let her in and that was wise. Anyone going through what you were going through would want to turn to someone who understood and said all the right things. She’s powerful and cunning. But she may have met her match with you.”

  She laughed and scooted closer, watching him closely. “You disappeared for a while. Briggs was the one who told me to check the coast before he left with Father.”

  “Now that we aren’t prisoners, I wanted to explore the island a bit. Clear my head.”

  Kale wrapped his arm around her when she nestled her head on his shoulder. “You seem distracted,” she said. “Is everything all right?”

  He sighed and turned his attention back to the clouds. “I don’t know where to start really. It’s been an…interesting few days.”

  “Kale, what aren’t you saying?”

  “I just…it’s what your father said. This Djinn, she’s supposed to be the most powerful being, and she wants you more than anything. I was in the navy, I’ve fought in battles, but I don’t know how to face this one, Nova,” he said, lowering his eyes to the pebbled beach.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s different now. I’ve never cared…I’ve never felt this way about anyone, the way I feel for you. I don’t know if I can risk losing you.”

  Nova’s breath caught in her throat as Kale looked away. The words she wanted to say seemed stuck on her tongue. How could they not fight? Kale had never backed away from the honorable thing. A darker side of her wanted to get angry, to force him to stand and fight like Atlas and the band of shadows had without hesitation. But a calm overpowered her as she gently turned his face.

  She studied his every feature. The flecks of green in his eyes had been something she’d never noticed. The small dimple on one cheek showed whether he was smiling or stoic. But she saw something in his countenance which revealed the truth of his words greater than she’d ever seen in Atlas.

  Brushing the stray hair off his brow, she smiled. “I don’t want to lose you either, Kale. But you know this is something I must do. I cannot pretend this risk isn’t there. Even if we ran and hid, if the band of shadows doesn’t succeed, Lurlina will find us. I want nothing more than to see you back at your father’s home, with little Theo and Jenna, and even cross Miss Hegan. At times, I wish I had never forced you into the life of a pirate. Your life would be so much—ˮ

  “Emptier,” he said firmly. “I would be the same man I was, always looking for something more and hoping each day I would find it. I am so much better because of you.”

  Kale pulled her face against his, kissing her with more passion than she’d experienced before. Nova kept her hand against his cheek, wishing never to let go, but knowing his fears were the same as hers. As he scooped her up and pulled her onto his lap, trying to get as close as possible, Nova reveled in the moment of peace and loving bliss.

  The days to come were unsure. And there was still much to do before the battle would commence if they could gather their allies while staying out of Lurlina’s sights. She was the Great Djinn’s connection, and the burden of keeping Lurlina from her mind and her friends weighed on her like a grindstone crushing down. There was no telling what they would face when they went up against Lurlina and the temple, but for now, she could stay in this moment, for she didn’t know how long it would last.

  ***

  The small ship tucked against the jagged coast of the rocky, uninhabited island. Varick tied the rope tight to the edge of a rusty hook jutting from the surface of a boulder.

  “I don’t like this, Varick,” Briggs said. “They’s got some kinda upside down interest in yer girl.”

  Varick gulped down the reluctance he felt as they trudged toward the breaking shack tucked beneath the tent of dead trees. “They have just as much reason as we do to end Lurlina,” he responded.

  “They be tricky. What if they do somethin’ to get their hands on the lass in return?”

  Varick turned quickly on his old friend. “Briggsy, I just got her back. Do you really think me so desperate that I would do anything to cause her harm?”

  Briggs held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just tellin’ ye what Nova has told me about what happened between them, that’s all. Be careful, and be smart.”

  Varick tapped on the cracking door, though it could hardly be called a door as it hung limply from rusted hinges. Beneath his hand, the door gave way and landed on the ground in a cloud of dust.

  His skin raised in caution beneath their dark stare. Their wickedness and greed were easily detectable just by watching their dry, cracked lips pull over their yellow teeth.

  “It’s been so long since you have sought our assistance. How good of you to remember us.”

  “Can’t you see we are not the first resort?”

  “They do not wish our help, but we know there are things we can bargain with.”

  Varick shuddered and stepped into the dank, musty room, nodding at each one. “Patus, Virtus, Co. I have a proposition for you, and I think you’ll be most interested to hear the details.”

  The Three Brothers glanced at one another, two with empty eye sockets, before turning back to Varick and smiling the same wretched smiles they’d worn their entire cursed lives.

  About the Author

  LJ Andrews loves to read and write fantasy. It helps to escape the everyday grind. She lives with her husband, four children, two dogs, and one paranoid cate in the mountains of Utah. When she isn’t tackling piles of endless laundry, playing Legos, or going to baseball games, she is writing.

  LJ loves to hear from readers at www.ljandrews.com


  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank Katie and Aubrey first of all. This is the closest I’ve released books and you both have read chapters like a boss, so I could get this series out quickly. Thank you to Derek for standing by my dream of writing and encouraging me to keep going when it got hard. Thank you to my four kiddos, you put up with a lot, and I admit I am happy I have encouraged you all to be a little more obsessed with pirates.

  Thank you to Amy Martin for your awesome editing skills. Thank you to killerbookcovers.com for creating such amazing covers for this series, seriously…you’re awesome.

  And thank you to my wonderful readers. Without you, no one would even know I exist. I wouldn’t be able to keep my dream alive without you. I love to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to reach out.

  Thank you, keep reading, and stay amazing,

  LJ