The Jackal Prince

by Rebecca Goings

  “She is my princess,” Siraj replied. “Surely that holds weight with the gods. Surely my god won’t let her go mad.”

  “That, my friend, is the only true hope you have. It is the only thing I’ve found that can counter such powerful magic. Whenever Mother bound me with her power, my prayers to the god of Falcons were what broke those bonds. Pray with her. Pray for her. And pray for yourself, Jackal. The fate of your caravan is at stake.”

  Siraj shivered from head to toe and glanced over his shoulder. Yasmin finally slept, but the woman before him no longer resembled the woman he’d married.

  The weight of his dilemma finally crashed down on his shoulders. With a cry, Siraj doubled over and tried in vain to catch his breath. “Gods give me strength!”

  ~ * ~

  Yasmin cracked her eyes to a dark and quiet carav. She was warm under the Falcon’s blankets, and couldn’t help but notice the sleek body next to hers. Siraj’s breathing wasn’t even enough for sleep. Concentrating on him, his thoughts of worry and fear permeated her heart. He didn’t know what to do. There in the dark, he was praying. She reached out to touch him.

  “Siraj.” Gods. Even to her own ears her voice was ragged and rough. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” he whispered, taking her hand. She didn’t believe him. His emotions raging through her head gave him away.

  “Do you honestly believe prayer will save me?” She tried to rein in her own despair and bit her lip to hold back her tears.

  Siraj took a deep breath and sighed, then rolled to face her. Even in the dark she could see him. His eyes betrayed his exhaustion. Their fingers tangled beneath the blankets and Yasmin attempted to pull away. He wouldn’t let her.

  “I am the steward of my god and you are my wife. If there is any man in the desert the god of Jackals listens to, it is me. Of course I believe prayer will help you.”

  Kill him.

  That voice! It was hard to breathe as her terror churned inside her. “Gods!”

  “What is it?”

  Yasmin’s hot tears fell into her hair. “The voice, I heard it again. By all that is holy, Siraj, you must leave me.”

  “I will not.” His countenance was as hard as stone.

  “You must! It was a mistake to marry me, Jackal. I am a threat to you, and to your entire house. Your god will not save me. He will smite me to save your life.”

  “Yas—”

  “You must denounce me,” she whispered, interrupting him. “In front of Falcon’s caravan. You must tell one and all I am no longer your wife. I cannot keep you shackled to me when I’m so tempted to hurt you. I must leave you. I need to—”

  “No!” Siraj’s one word seemed to hang in the air. “Don’t you dare say that to me again. You might be my wife, but I am your prince, Yasmin, and I order you never to speak such words. You are the one I have chosen. I will not cast you aside. I cannot believe you would suggest such a thing, considering how long I have searched for you.”

  A sob escaped her and she touched his cheek. Her withered fingers soon trailed up into his hair. “I could never live knowing I had hurt you. I love you too much!”

  “Then have faith in me,” he pleaded. “Have faith that I can save you, that all is not lost. I love you too much to lose you now.”

  “This madness, I can feel it,” she confessed. “It’s pressing on my belly like a rock, and it’s going to drag me to Kaldaeron.”

  Siraj shook his head. “No, it won’t. Zara has made you a pendant for you to wear. I put it on you while you were sleeping.”

  Yasmin looked down to where his fingers toyed with something on her chest. There lay a gorgeous jackal, carved and polished from a single piece of wood. It resembled her armband, with its head back as if baying at the moons.

  “This wood is infused with the magic of the Spider and his princess. Amani’s magic is cultivating plants, but Ziyad’s magic is protection. It is our hope that it will be enough to protect you.”

  She clutched his hand in her own. “What if it won’t? What if it’s not enough?”

  “It will be. We must believe in the god of Jackals.”

  “The god of Jackals did nothing to save your father,” she reminded him.

  “My father was a tyrant,” he answered. “I’ve often wondered why the god of Jackals didn’t turn away from my father the way the Cobra turned from Jaden? I believe my god revealed to me that he is a patient god. Where the god of Cobras strikes with fury, the Jackal is patient, waiting to see what will happen. I believe he knew I would overthrow Nestor and seat myself upon the Jackal throne. Because of this, I do not believe he would turn away from the woman I love.”

  Siraj caressed her face with the back of his hand. “Remember, I prayed to him every single day for years that I would find you. He would not take the mother of my heirs from my arms.”

  “B-but isn’t that what happened to the S-Spider Prince?” she asked, unable to keep from trembling.

  Siraj took a deep breath. “The Spider had a different path to walk than I do, Yas. His god knew of the accident that would befall his princess and provided him with another. And Ziyad loves Amani more than I’ve ever seen a man love a woman.”

  Without warning, a harsh wind blew outside, whistling along the cliffs of the Falcon’s oasis. Sand pelted the carav and fear prickled down Yasmin’s spine. With a whimper, she closed her eyes and tried to stop the magic spiraling from her soul. She could feel it now, exiting her body, practically stealing her breath.

  Siraj pulled her closer to him until his warm arms enfolded her. “I will not leave you,” he whispered in her ear. His love melted the ice in her veins, and the wind died down outside.

  “We cannot stay here,” she said, moaning into his chest. “I will not sacrifice the Falcon’s caravan.”

  Her husband smoothed her gray hair and kissed her forehead. “We’ll leave in the morning. You have my word. Can you hold on until then?”

  Yasmin honestly didn’t know. With every moment that passed, her insanity churned within her. It seemed as if her skin was the only thing keeping her body from flying into pieces.

  She took a ragged breath. “That’s up to the god of Jackals.”

  Twenty Two

  Siraj awoke to the deafening crack of thunder booming across the sky. A fierce wind rocked the carav while rain pelted the slats, and shouts outside reached his ears. He sat up, glancing around the room in confusion. Zara and Khalil had slept in the far corner with their son, and apparently were awoken by the cacophony.

  Cold dread clawed at Siraj’s belly. Yasmin was gone.

  “Where is your wife?” Khalil exclaimed, jumping from his own blankets.

  With wide eyes, Siraj couldn’t find words to speak. He touched the blankets. They were cold. Yasmin had been gone for some time. But her robes were there, as well as her Jackal armband. It was as if she’d simply disappeared into thin air.

  “It never rains in the desert!” Zara cried, stating the obvious. “Unless…”

  Khalil gave her a worried look before striding to the door of the carav. Yanking it open, he soon became wet as fat drops of rain drenched the front of his robes. Another flash of lightning lit the darkened sky, soon followed by a clap of thunder so loud, Siraj had to cover his ears.

  “Gods!” Khalil slammed the door shut. He swallowed hard and turned to face Siraj. “There is only one explanation for this.”

  Siraj’s heart beat wildly in his chest when he found Yasmin’s pendant mixed within her robes. Wherever she’d gone, she hadn’t taken her protection with her. “Khalil,” he whispered. He held the necklace up for the Falcon to see.

  Without waiting for his old friend to say a word, Siraj was on his feet, adjusting his own robes. “Yasmin’s out there somewhere,” he said, his face set. “She needs me.”

  Khalil stopped him before he reached the door, blocking his path. “You don’t know what you’ll be dealing with when you find her. She disappeared sometime in the night. For all we know, she has
succumbed to her insanity. This storm is proof of that!”

  As if to accentuate his words, another flash lit the carav, soon followed by the roar of thunder.

  “She needs me!” Siraj yelled again, about ready to push his friend out of his way.

  “Jackal, wait!” Zara’s voice pierced his anger and he turned to her. She made her way to him and took the pendant clutched in his fist. She wound the leather strap around his neck and took a step back. “If Yasmin isn’t wearing it, then you should if you intend to go out there.”

  “You made this for her,” he said.

  “It’s too late for that now,” Khalil said, opening the door once again. “But if you insist on saving your princess, you will need to be protected from her power. I will come with you.”

  Siraj took a deep, shuddering breath, but nodded.

  Glancing at Zara, Khalil said, “Stay here with Akim. Keep him safe.”

  Zara opened her mouth to say something, but a palm tree by the oasis’s edge exploded with fire as a bolt of lightning struck its base. Siraj covered his eyes, momentarily blinded by the flash. The rumble of thunder rattled every bone in his body, and the smell of burning wood wafted on the wind.

  “God of Falcons!” Khalil screamed, pointing. “She is on the cliffs!”

  Siraj looked out through the pouring rain and saw a figure gazing down upon the water, with arms held high to the heavens. At that moment, lightning seemed to arch from her fingertips to the clouds above. The figure writhed with what looked like pain.

  “Yasmin!”

  Without another thought, Siraj leapt down the steps and raced across the sand. Khalil was one step behind him, yelling for him to stick to the waterline. It didn’t take long before the Falcon had caught up to him and gestured for Siraj to follow him up a steep path that wound along the cliff face.

  A woman’s scream reached Siraj’s ears and panic nearly overtook him. He needed to reach her before her magic killed her. He ignored the flames in his legs and the fire in his lungs as he chased Khalil up the cliff.

  But they’d barely made it halfway up when another bolt of lightning struck the path, blocking their ascent. Bushes that had grown along the trail caught fire, keeping the men from climbing any higher. Birds screeched here and there as the fire assaulted their aeries, and Khalil’s falcons took wing, flying high on the air currents.

  “We must go back!” Khalil yelled against the wind.

  Siraj stood his ground. “No, I will not leave her!”

  “There is another way up the cliff, we must go that way. Trust me!”

  The Jackal gave one more glance to the top. He couldn’t see his wife, but he could feel her, and he knew without a doubt she could no longer control the magic that was releasing itself.

  “Hurry, Falcon. We must hurry!”

  Khalil nodded and led Siraj back down the cliff. Siraj couldn’t afford to let the fear within him overcome his heart. Yasmin needed him. She needed his strength. He’d been gifted with great strength from the god of Jackals since birth. Perhaps there was more to his magical ability than merely lifting heavy objects.

  “Please!” he cried to his god. “Please don’t take her from me. Let me save her. Help me save her!”

  Once they reached the bottom, Khalil rounded the cliffs and followed a different path up the backside of the rock face. Siraj refused to give in to his exhaustion. The life of his princess was at stake.

  ~ * ~

  Ecstasy coursed through her as Yasmin released her magic. Electricity pulsed through her entire body, stiffening her nipples and buzzing her clit. Gods above, it was heavenly, standing in the pouring rain, her skin whipped by sand as she came mightily against the magic flowing through her.

  Every inch of her skin crackled and she tossed her head back, staring up to the heavens and letting her power flow into the sky. Somewhere in her befuddled brain, she knew if she let her magic go where it would, the Falcon’s entire caravan would be destroyed. She couldn’t allow that to happen.

  But the more energy she released, the more her body succumbed to the intense rapture. Never in her life did she imagine her orgasms could be quite so vigorous or long-lasting. Even now, she gasped against her pleasure that plundered on and on, heightened every time another wave of magic escaped from her fingertips.

  Thunder crashed all around her, but that was nothing compared to her own screams of passion. It was too much, she couldn’t take it. Her pleasure continued to crest, bringing her to the point of pain. But she couldn’t stop it, couldn’t keep herself from coming over and over again.

  Her body writhed as she tried to get away, but there was nowhere to go. This is what the god of Jackals had told her to do, but now that she had begun, she couldn’t stop.

  Had the god of Jackals really spoken to her in the night? Or had she merely been delirious? The urge to kill Siraj had once again risen to the fore and she’d had to work hard to hold on to her sanity. She’d even raised her hand to his chest to stop his heart. But a masculine voice had spoken in her head before she’d surrendered to her urge. It was different than the voice of her insanity, booming through her much like the thunderclaps that now roared across the sky.

  It had told her to flash to the cliff top. It had told her to cast into the sky. It had told her to fling all her magic away from herself.

  Another wave of pleasure rippled through her and Yasmin gasped, standing on her toes and thrusting her hips to experience it fully. But it was hard to keep her footing, and soon, she fell to the ground, arching her back and crying out to the heavens.

  Her hand wandered to her clit, but the moment her fingers touched herself, she cried out in agony at the burning fire.

  Cast to the sky! the voice shouted once more. Look for my light. You are almost ready.

  With a shriek and a few hot tears in her eyes, Yasmin once again focused her power on the sky and sobbed as more pleasure-pain coursed through her, zinging down her arms and legs, forcing her to come once more.

  “God of Jackals!” she yelled against the wind. “Help me!”

  Without warning, a beam of blinding white light shot down from the clouds, surrounding Yasmin on the ground. In that instant, peace flowed into her, silence surrounded her, and her body found blessed relief.

  She was finally, wonderfully with her god.

  Twenty Three

  Siraj’s breathing stopped and his heart railed painfully against his ribs at the sight before him. He’d reached the top of the cliffs with the Falcon only to watch helplessly as Yasmin’s body was lifted into the air in a beam of light.

  They were too late.

  “No!” Instantly, Siraj’s eyes burned. Without thinking, he dashed forward, but was tackled from behind.

  “You cannot save her!” Khalil yelled into his ear. “She is gone!”

  “No, get off of me. Yas. Yasmin!” Siraj struggled against the Falcon.

  “If you go into that light, you will be killed yourself. The desert needs you, Jackal!”

  Siraj twisted out of Khalil’s grasp and sat on his knees, watching in terror as Yasmin’s body jerked this way and that. She was dying. The magic in that light was tearing her apart. He was not going to sit idly by and let her go.

  He took hold of the jackal pendant around his neck and sprang forward before the Falcon could stop him. Ziyad’s magic would protect him, or else the god of Jackals would have to choose another prince for his steward.

  Siraj had promised he would never leave Yasmin.

  He meant to keep that promise—even if it killed him.

  Once he entered the light, the sounds of the storm faded away. Rain no longer soaked him through, but something tugged on his robes and pushed him again and again. He could feel claws raking his skin, but they didn’t draw blood, and it was all he could do to fight them off.

  “Yasmin!” he exclaimed. She was too far above him, he couldn’t reach her. But that didn’t stop him from trying. Her body convulsed and he saw for himself the wounds she sustained f
rom the magical claws. He seethed with fury.

  “Release my princess, by the authority of the god of Jackals!” he screamed. Siraj had once witnessed the power of his god years ago when every deity of the desert had demanded retribution from the Cobra Prince. He could only hope his influence as the Jackal’s steward was enough to calm Yasmin’s raging magics.

  Instantly the light went out and Siraj had only a moment to be shocked before Yasmin fell to the ground. His body cushioned her fall and they both went down, crashing to the dirt in a heap. The clouds broke and the wind died down, revealing the shining golden orb of the morning sun.

  But all Siraj cared about was the woman in his arms, who was bleeding all over his fine golden robe.

  “No, no, no,” he canted, smoothing her hair and willing her eyes to open.

  “Jackal!” Khalil cried, falling to his knees next to Siraj. “I am so sorry.”

  Tears of frustration, pain, and horror escaped Siraj, falling onto Yasmin’s lovely face. Her wounds were deep, and she even had two claw swipes on her face, which crossed over her nose, almost taking one of her amazing lavender eyes.

  Unbelievably, her lids fluttered and she gasped for breath, shocking Siraj to the core.

  “She lives!” the Falcon yelled. “My daughter!”

  Siraj didn’t spare him a glance, but from the tone of his voice, Khalil was overcome with emotion as well.

  “Yas, can you look at me?” Siraj bit his lip and prayed he hadn’t just seen what he wanted to see. She moaned and tossed her head, but beyond that, remained slack in his lap.

  “Yasmin,” he said again, his voice firmer. “Open your eyes. I order you as your prince.”

  Despite her wounds and her bruises, Yasmin’s eyes cracked open and her gaze sought his.

  “So beautiful…” she whispered through thickened lips.

  “Shh, don’t talk now,” Siraj cooed before releasing a sob. He held her close and tucked her face into his neck. “Stay with me, baby, please. I cannot live without you.”

  “He said…it would be beautiful,” she moaned with a sigh.