“You forgot about the gorcs.”
“Nasty beasts,” she muttered. “There is nothing for it. She will just have to avoid the Jinn.”
Merlin nodded slowly. “Unless we can do something about it. The Jinn are not far from us, Flora. They do not know you or me. We can perhaps give them something to chase?”
“You are kidding me, right?” But she was already following him as he led his way out of the small domicile they shared, at least temporarily. He got the two horses ready and Flora mounted without another question, despite her obvious reservations. Now that she was working with him to help Zamira do what she had to do, Flora would not hold back. He knew that much about her. Once she committed, it was with her whole heart.
They rode out in silence through the middle of the night. There was a time to talk to Flora about his plans, and a time to surprise her. This was one of the latter moments.
She wouldn’t agree with what he had planned, so best to throw her into the deep end with no warning.
Ahead of them, the rain had eased off, but not in a natural manner. No, the Jinn were holding the weather off themselves. Well, except for their prisoner.
As they drew close, Merlin could see something—a body perhaps?—staked out, hands and feet spread wide, face-down in the mud as the rainstorm hammered his body. Other than that body, there were four Jinn, all lower than Maks in power but together they could hold him. Interesting. If that figure in the mud was Maks, it said a great deal about his placement in the Jinn hierarchy.
“Hello, there,” Merlin called out with a hand over his head. “Could we share your fire for a bit? There are some nasty-looking gorcs out hunting tonight. Perhaps stronger numbers could keep us all safe.”
Flora snorted at his words, but he knew the Jinn perhaps better than anyone else. That being said, they reported directly to the emperor. He would have to tread carefully.
Very, very carefully.
“Go away,” the smallest of the Jinn said. “We don’t share our fire with other supes.”
Flora dismounted and sashayed into the middle of the clearing, her soaking wet clothes clinging to her lovely, dangerous curves. “I just want to warm my hands a minute if you boys don’t mind then.”
All four Jinn perked up. Powerful supes they might be, but they were still male, and Flora was most definitely a beautiful woman. Merlin had to hold back a smile of appreciation for how quickly she took control of the situation.
Men should be warned not to trifle with a priestess of Zeus.
He stood on the outskirts and let her do the magic that only a woman could. His ears picked up a noise that sounded like a groan and he turned his head ever so slightly. Outside the circle where the rain was being kept clear, there was indeed a figure pinned face-down. The dirty blond hair and wide shoulders confirmed his suspicion. . . Maks was on the shit side of the Jinns.
“Those gorcs, they were running south hard.” Flora gave an over-the-top shudder. “You think they could be headed for something big, maybe? A fight?” Flora flicked those eyelashes of hers a few times, and the Jinn closest to her leaned her way. While they were occupied, Merlin slowly made his way toward their prisoner. The Jinn normally didn’t take their own kind prisoner. In fact, he had never heard of a case where one Jinn had turned on another. Ever. So just what was going on with Maks and his fellows here?
Why would they pin him down like this? Had he. . . fought them? Considering who his father was, Merlin struggled to see how this situation could have come to be.
Standing just inside the barrier that kept the rain from falling, he glanced down at Maks. “What exactly are you doing out here?”
“Fuck,” Maks muttered into the mud, which made Merlin inexplicably happy. He didn’t like the Jinn any better than Zamira did, but for different reasons. They belonged to the Emperor and the Emperor was his enemy.
“Really, flouncing the mud?” he asked softly.
Maks pulled against his bonds, but there was a trickle of magic running through them, telling Merlin that Maks was not going home to any sort of glory or honor. He was being taken back to the desert against his will. Likely to be killed.
“Is Zam okay?” Maks asked.
Merlin just stared down at the young Jinn as the shock settled around him. The Jinn were not known for caring about anyone, most certainly not their sworn enemies. “What does it matter to you?”
Maks tried to turn his face, but the magical bonds held tightly. “Is she okay? Did she make it back to Ish with the jewel?”
Merlin tapped the bottom of Maks’s boot with his own, his thoughts circling around this Jinn and Zamira. “Zam is of no concern for you. You should know that. This is not Romeo and Juliet, Jinn. You cannot have her in your life. It will end up killing her, but not before it shatters her heart.”
Maks’s back muscles bunched under his shirt. “I just. . . can you make sure she’s safe. Can you handle that much, mage?”
Merlin frowned. This was not the behavior of a Jinn, not by a long shot. The whole situation was screwball. “What are you really, boy? You aren’t a Jinn, are you?”
Maks pulled at the ropes again and Merlin took a step back. He couldn’t help Maks and get away with it even if he wanted to, and he really wasn’t all that interested.
But Zamira needed to find her strength, and she was drawn to this one. . . much as Merlin might hate it. Besides, if Maks wasn’t a Jinn in truth, that changed things.
Merlin walked over to where the horses were tied, finding the one that belonged in the Stockyards. “Batman, is it?” he muttered softly. He didn’t dare place a spell on the beast to be able to find Zamira, but he was betting she was close enough that the horse would find her on his own. He cut the hobbles from around Batman’s fetlocks and then made a shooing motion with his hands.
As soon as Batman backed up, Merlin turned and strode toward the fire. Flora had kept the Jinn watching her with the attentiveness a starving man gave a buffet. He grabbed her arm and kept walking. “Time to go. I just remembered I left a pot on the stove.”
“What?” she squawked, and he tugged her arm a little harder.
“Wave goodbye to the nice men. Thank you for allowing us to warm up a bit.”
She waved but frowned at him as he all but shoved her onto the back of her horse.
He climbed aboard his own mount and gave it a hard boot, sending it out into the weather.
Flora kept up and he ignored her questions as they galloped away from the Jinn’s encampment. To the left of him in a flash of lightning, he saw Batman race northward.
Toward where he knew Zamira lay unconscious.
Flora finally got in front of him with her horse, forcing him to stop. “Are you insane? What is going on?”
He opened his mouth but didn’t dare tell her what he’d done. That he’d acted on a whim, on a belief that maybe love had a place in this world after all. That maybe love was what Zamira needed, not more challenges. Because he knew what Flora would say. That he was a sentimental old fool who had no idea what he’d just done.
“I think that’s enough time. I was worried they would pick up on our abilities.”
She frowned. “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t telling me all the truth? What did that boy Maks say?”
Damn, so she noticed him talking to Maks.
“Nothing of importance. Protesting his innocence. The usual words of a condemned man.”
As soon as he said condemned, he knew it was true even though Maks had said no such thing. Marsum would not allow a traitor to live, and if they’d staked the young Jinn out like that, then that was what Maks was. A traitor.
The question Merlin had now, though, was far more complex.
Just what the hell was Maks if he wasn’t a Jinn?
Chapter 9
Noises all around me made me think perhaps I was having a psychedelic dream, but I was fairly certain I’d not eaten anything that would create what my ears were picking up. A pair of goats being strangled, the roar of a lion, hooves everywhere, and was that one of old Will’s insults. . .
“You cream-faced loon!” she screeched. Lila’s voice was the best thing I’d heard all day.
I turned my face into the rain as it poured over me, so happy, I couldn’t hold the grin off my stupid face. “Macbeth and it’s thou, not you.”