Oracle’s Haunt: Desert Cursed Series Book 4

by Shannon Mayer

  The Jinn were mean as snakes on a good day, and the hyenas they rode were ugly as a giant’s asshole (yeah, I’ve unfortunately seen one up close). And we charged them like knights of old, the Jinn wielding magic, and Ford and I wielding weapons. The Jinn closest to me—Asuga’s brother—came toward my left and I held the flail in my right hand. We galloped hard, closing the distance fast.

  I put my right heel into Balder’s side and he leapt to the left as the Jinn cast a ball of red flames at our heads. I ducked down, the heat searing across my shoulders, and as I came up, I swung the flail with all I had. I screamed as I struck; the fury and pain of Maks there in front of me but my not being able to save him came out of my mouth, a battle cry I couldn’t hold back.

  The twin balls slammed into the right arm of the Jinn, and for a moment, I thought the weapon in my hand laughed, a mad cackle rippling through the air. The blow was hard and clean and the limb sheared off, flying into the air above our heads, following the arc of my hit. Time slowed as both the Jinn, Lila, and I stared at the arm. Not because it was horrific, which it was; the blood sprayed us both, and our mounts; the bone was white as freshly fallen snow.

  No, we stared because the spikes in the balls elongated, reached up and grabbed at the limb, and then . . . well, for lack of a better description, ate it. The limb was pulled to the weapon and then was just gone. Eaten up.

  Well, that was a fucking twist.

  “May my wings never tangle with that shit,” Lila squawked, hunching tighter to me. And then we were past the Jinn and his mount. Balder spun on his haunches, turning tight, far tighter than the hyena could move as I worked to control the downswing of the flail.

  Asuga’s brother screamed even while he bled, but he spun the hyena whose jaws were open wide.

  This time I couldn’t dodge the magic that he threw at me. The ball of power hit me in the side, and my ribs collapsed inward with an audible crack. I slid to the side of my saddle, fighting for air.

  “Take my arm, would you?” he roared. “I’ll take you apart piece by piece, sand whore!”

  “I said not to hurt her!” Maks roared.

  The hyena, of course, had no such restrictions, though, and did not respond to Maks. Jaws snapping, it lunged at Balder’s chest.

  “Up, Balder!” I yelled with what breath I had.

  I clung to the saddle as Balder slid to a stop and popped up on his hind legs as the hyena slid beneath us. Asuga’s brother rolled clear of his mount, his arm no longer bleeding, but still missing.

  It hadn’t grown back.

  Balder needed no encouragement. He came down hard on the now-confused hyena that was under him. With a defiant whinny, he slammed his steel-hard front hooves into the hyena’s neck. There was a clear crack as Balder landed, drumming the hyena over and over, dropping it flat to the ground, its spine broken cleanly.

  Balder was not done, though, and I still hadn’t gotten my breath back more than a gasp.

  He reared up again and came down, stomping the life out of the undead creature, until its head was nothing more than a mushed pile of fur and brains.

  I still held the flail, though my hand and arm were numb. I couldn’t drop it, and I couldn’t lift it to put it away.

  Asuga’s brother lifted his good hand, and magic swirled around it like a thick morning mist, gray and impossible to see through.

  “Death is too good for you,” he snarled. With a flick of his wrist, the magic spun toward me, right at my head.

  I had one chance and it was more instinct than actual knowledge. I had to get the flail up to catch the spell. A scream ripped out of me as I snapped the weapon in front of my face. Red hot knives jabbed at my innards, my own ribs piercing me as I fought to stay alive.

  The magic hit the flail and once more, the weapon drew it in, absorbing it, shivering with what I could only call pleasure.

  I stared at the Jinn, his face twisted with rage as he lifted his hand again. “Keep her alive,” he said quietly.

  Damn it. “I will.” We circled one another, carefully.

  “Tell her I love her,” he said.

  My guts twisted and all I could do was nod. How many families had been torn apart by Marsum and his games? Games he was still playing even now after he was dead.

  From my other side came a roar from Ford as he fought the other pair. I wanted to look, to make sure he was okay, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off Asuga’s brother.

  “Lila, Ford okay?”

  “Bitten, but holding his own,” she said.

  The magic Asuga’s brother spooled was bigger than before, spreading outward like a desert sandstorm around him. There was no way I’d be able to catch it, not this time.

  And we both knew it. All I could do was limit the casualties.

  “Lila, get high! Help Ford!” I said. She launched upward. I couldn’t save me and Balder, but I could get her out of the way. I had to believe she’d survive this.

  I dropped my reins and clutched at my side, the flail hanging from my other hand. There was no way. No way I’d—

  A dark blue curl of magic slid around the Jinn in front of me, weaving its way up his legs so slowly, he didn’t seem to notice. At least not until it got to his belly. He lowered his hands, though they were no longer spinning his death magic.

  “I said,” Maks spoke calmly, but still his words echoed as if he’d shouted, “not to hurt her. That’s a killing blow, young Asgo.”

  The eyes of the Jinn in front of me went wide. “Master, she is a cull. She should be killed. She’s leading you around by your balls—”

  He got no further. The blue magic snaked around him so fast, I didn’t see it move. I only saw the result as Asgo’s body was yanked apart in all directions, an explosion of blood, guts, and a wisp of magic.

  I turned toward Ford in time to see him in full lion form—so much for fighting on two legs—tackling the hyena in midair as it went for a snorting and wild-eyed Batman. They went down in a tangle of limbs, but Ford was on top and his mouth was around the hyena’s neck in an instant, ripping its head free. The other Jinn was belly down in the sand, his head nowhere to be seen.

  Ford stood over the hyena and let out a bellow, the sound echoing around us.

  Lila dropped close to him and I finally turned to where I knew Maks stood behind me, his eyes like a warm weight on my back.

  And he was far closer than he’d been only moments before. Close enough that I could see the flecks of darker blue in those eyes that had so entranced me from the beginning of our journey together.

  “Why did you save me?” I asked. “Really, why? Marsum has to know I’m not going to stop trying to get rid of him permanently.” I carefully put one arm around my middle, holding my ribs together. The pain of speaking made tiny rivulets of sweat run down my body, but I had to hold this together.

  I had to . . . talk to him. Find out why he was really doing this. No matter that Maks loved me; Marsum had wanted me in order to control me and a new generation of Jinn. To make me his mate. That couldn’t still be the case, could it?

  “Because you belong with me. All the souls I carry can see that. There is a connection,” he held one hand out, palm up, his voice lowering, “that neither of us can deny. It is why you feel heat when I am close, why you were drawn to Maks. Come to me, Zamira.”

  Something in his voice did just that, he called to me. To my soul. And despite all the pain in my body, I slid off Balder’s back. Each step shot fire through me. But even that pain didn’t clear my head of his voice, of the comfort and safety he offered me.

  I stumbled and had to stop to breathe through a particular shard of broken ribs poking at my lungs, and the red-hot pokers helped clear my mind a little, for just a second. I knew I should fight this, I should fight him. But . . . I lifted my eyes to him. “Your Jinn hurt me. You let him snap my ribs like toothpicks.”

  Maks held out a hand and his magic, deep blue, swirled toward me. Lila screamed for me to move, but a part of me did believe h
im when he said he didn’t want to hurt me. I had to believe that Maks was in there somewhere.

  That he still loved me.

  Besides, I couldn’t fight him, not when I could barely breathe, never mind lift the flail. And would I use it? Would I use the flail on Maks if there was no other choice?

  The magic wrapped around me like it had done to the Jinn. An image of my body being pulled apart, exploding, hit me so hard, I thought I was going to puke.

  Lila still screamed and Ford yelled, but they were distant, and I could ignore them as Maks’s magic slid over me, sunk under my skin and pieced my ribs back together as if they’d never been broken. But he didn’t stop there.

  He might as well have his hands on my bare skin, under my clothes, sliding across my belly, down my arms, along the back of my legs. My head snapped up and I stared at him as a slow smile slid over his face. Heat curled through me and my breath hitched as the magic softened further, like silk.

  Hot silk so fucking tantalizing that I wanted to roll in it and push my ass up for a hard slap while Maks—

  “Stop it,” I said, and even I heard the weakness in my voice.

  “I don’t think you want me to do that. My power on your skin, my mouth on yours, and your own power rising to meet it . . . I think you want it more than anything else, Zamira.” He took a few steps toward me and then stopped. He crooked a single finger and his magic wrapped itself around me tighter, lower, sending my heart rate into overdrive.

  Fuck, I was going to have an orgasm right there, standing in the middle of the desert, and he hadn’t even touched me.

  As sure as shit stinks, it was not fear that had me panting. “Stop!” I threw the word out, desperate because I was climbing a hill of pleasure that would have me begging if he didn’t stop now.

  I closed my eyes and tried to find my own magic, something that would fight this. In the moment, I didn’t even think of the flail, forgotten in the heat of my desire for him. A hand brushed my cheek, wiping away a tear I didn’t know was there.

  I opened my eyes. Maks had closed the distance between us, and now filled my vision.

  Eyes so blue, they rivalled the clear summer sky, and I could see nothing but him, no Marsum, no other Jinn.

  “I did this to you. I brought you this pain of losing him,” he said softly, his lips brushing against mine. “But I can make it better too. I can teach you to manage your power. I can help you find a strength you never thought possible. And we would be together.”

  Except he’d said this pain of losing him. Talking about Maks in the third person. Because he wasn’t really Maks anymore.

  I drew a breath as he exhaled, as if I couldn’t breathe without him. As if we were already tied together so strongly that nothing would ever tear us apart again. I wanted so badly to lean into him, to let his arms come around me and hold me tightly, but I hesitated.

  Was someone screaming my name? Maybe, but the sound was so distant over the thud of our hearts beating in tandem that it was like a whisper in the back of my mind.

  “Maks, I—” I’ll never fully know if I was going to tell him that I would go with him. That I didn’t want to leave his side. Or if I was going to deny him.

  A streak of blue and silver scales entered my vision on the right side and a round, rock-hard dragon’s body slammed into my right shoulder with so much force that I was flipped backward a solid eight feet. I skidded across the ground on my ass, Lila clinging to my chest as she screamed in my face.

  “He’s hypnotizing you, blasted idiot!”

  Her claws cut into my skin but I didn’t scold her. The new pain and her filling my vision instead of Maks helped to center me as I scrambled to my feet and backed away as fast as I could. I kept going until I bumped into a large body that radiated the heat of the desert.

  Ford braced me, still in lion form, sliding around my side so he was in front of me. Protecting me from his own brother. I dropped a hand to his back and clutched at a handful of his thick coat.

  My throat tightened, and I nodded to Lila. “Thank you. Both of you.”

  She didn’t loosen her hold. “There is too much between you. You can’t get close to him like that again.”

  Too dangerous by far, I should have known. But how could I have? All the other Jinn I’d faced (sure, there weren’t that many) hadn’t been able to sing my soul to them. I paused, those words resonating in a way that I didn’t fully understand.

  That was exactly what he’d done.

  Laughter echoed around us, a woman’s voice that was full of cruelty where once there had been love and concern for me. Full of desire for power where once there had been only the need to protect those less than her.

  Ishtar slowly appeared next to Maks, and for just a moment, I thought she was there in person. But no, the lines of her body and the smooth silken, cream-colored dress were far from solid. Like a ghost, she faded in places, translucent to the sands behind her. But her voice was strong and clear as she called across to me.

  “I would have thought you of all people would have learned the power of the heart, Zam. Did Steve and his betrayal of you teach you nothing? Maks will be no different. You think you are the only woman he is calling to him?” Ishtar laughed, throwing her head back in a way I’d never seen before. Fully gone was the woman I’d known as a surrogate mother. With each gemstone I’d brought her, she’d gained in strength until now she was mad with it.

  Her words were a lead shot in my belly. Of course, I suspected Maks was calling to Nell too. That he was using her to track us.

  Not the time, though, this was not the time to dwell on that.

  “Yeah, Steve taught me lots,” I said. “Like how those you loved the most are more likely to fuck you over and laugh when they do it.” I held up a hand and flipped her off, forcing a grin on my face.

  Her laughter died as if I’d flipped a switch and not my finger at her. “So true. Did you not love me the most before you decided to keep the last four gems for yourself?”

  Four gems? I had three. Next to her, Maks smiled and the bastard had the gall to wink at me.

  Lila let out a low hiss. “She thinks we took the Jinn’s gemstone from Marsum.”

  “And Maks let her believe it.” I ground my teeth as I took another step back. The two horses were there, crowding us. No point in trying to explain to Ishtar that Maks hadn’t told her the truth. It would be the thing to say, right? Who wouldn’t deny it?

  I shrugged. “You started it, the whole betrayal thing. And like a good fight, my father taught me not to start it. But I will always finish it.”

  I curled my hand deeper into Ford’s coat. “Shift.”

  He did as I asked, back on two legs once more and completely naked. Ishtar’s eyes went to him immediately. “You always did like the well put together men, didn’t you?”

  I shrugged. This was a stall tactic on their part, but for what? What, or who, did they have coming to help them? We needed to be ready to run at the first chance.

  “What can I say?” I smiled, reached over and blindly slapped Ford on the ass. He grunted, shock and a distinct pleasure rolling from his connection to the pack to me. I blocked that shit the second I felt it. This was all posturing, all ways to get in Maks’s head and throw him off. The same way he’d been trying to get into our heads.

  And maybe this was my way to purge him from my head too. Maybe a good roll in the hay with someone else would help. Worked for guys all the time. Why couldn’t it work for me?

  Ishtar lifted a hand and I tensed, but all she did was lower it to Maks’s shoulder. “I was so pleased when the new leader of the Jinn reached out to me. His suggestion that we combine forces to bring you to heel was . . . well, let’s just say it was inspired.”

  “Dissembling harlot, thou art false in all!” Lila yelled.

  My mouth quirked and I nodded. “That’s a good one. The Comedy of Errors, right?”

  Lila bobbed her head. “Yes, I’ve been waiting to use it. Nothing like timing it pe
rfectly.”

  I watched Ishtar’s face tighten and her eyes narrow. I waited until her magic curled around her, flowing rapidly before I filled her in.

  “Chill the fuck out, Ishtar. The harlot is Maks, not you. Though, I’m pretty sure you’ve slept with a number of men only for gain so, maybe both of you can take that title?” I smiled, reached back and took hold of Balder’s dangling reins. The smart boy that he was, he lowered them right into my hands. Next to me, Ford tensed and I felt him move, mimicking my movement.

  Ishtar slid her arm farther across Maks’s shoulders in a move that was far too intimate for my liking. I let out a low hiss and Ford grabbed me to stop me from taking steps forward. Ishtar smiled.

  “You’re right. I do like powerful men. Like the Emperor. Like Merlin. And now . . . like Maks.”

  Anger and jealousy rocketed through me like a viper’s strike, vicious and deadly poisonous. Everything in me wanted to run over there and knock her away from him, to physically smash her smug face as she wrapped her arm around Maks.

  Or to see him push her away. Which he did not.

  The pouch around my neck containing the clear diamond began to heat, and rapidly. A split second and then the diamond might as well have been directly against my skin, soaking in the anger and jealousy that poured out of me.

  “Zam?” Lila whispered. “You’re shaking.”

  Ford reached over and put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not real. He wouldn’t sleep with her.”

  Maybe he was right. Maybe it was just like my ass slap on Ford, a way to hurt the other. Only it felt real. The image in front of us looked like Maks didn’t mind, and I knew Ishtar, knew that she wasn’t kidding about powerful men. She did like them, and they liked her.

  “We have to go,” I said through clenched teeth. “They are stalling, which means more of those stupid hunters are coming.”

  “Why doesn’t Maks just take us?” Ford didn’t let me go, and his solid presence and question helped for a moment.

  “I don’t know.” And I didn’t. And then Ishtar slid a hand over Maks’s waistline and dipped lower yet.

  I could see nothing, the rage blocking my vision so acutely that I could only use my other senses. Hearing Lila gasp, feeling Ford tense, smelling the horses as they sweated behind us, nerves making them shake as they picked up on my emotions.