He did indeed have a third bump, but I doubted it was a horn. And I doubted it had been Stella who had clobbered him. She let out a groan. “Damn you, Marcel. You said you knew what you were doing.”
I sighed. “It wasn’t either of you. It was a Jinn that did this. He took Kiara.” I’d been hoping they might have seen something, anything that could tell me. . . what? I couldn’t catch the Jinn now, they were too damn fast, and this one was injured and on the run.
They didn’t move like any other supernatural.
I narrowed my eyes and touched the sapphire on my chest. I didn’t think it would help me find her. It was tied to the Ice Witch and gave her power over the weather, over the cold as far as I knew.
I crouched and tipped my head back, heartsick over what had happened. I’d rescued Maks only to lose Kiara. And I’d left her behind, thinking her safer outside my circle.
The clatter of hooves told me Batman and Maks had caught up.
“You couldn’t have stopped him, Zam. Even if you’d taken her with you, he’d have grabbed her from the campsite,” Lila said softly, patting a claw on top of my head. “No one can stop the Jinn.”
Except I had injured him. The only reason there was one Jinn with Kiara instead of three was the standing stones. They’d saved our bacon. But not Kiara’s. I rubbed a hand over my face.
Indecision flickered through me. What the fuck was I going to do?
Marcel stood and wobbled, then helped Stella to stand as well. I pushed to my feet. Bryce needed me, but now so did Kiara. This was not a time to be indecisive. Time was not in our favor. The longer I stayed here, the more danger Bryce was in. The longer I stayed here, the more danger Kiara was in. But I knew the one I could save, and it was not Kiara.
“You two,” I pointed at the satyrs who were still holding hands. “I need you to go to the Stockyards as fast as you can. Tell Ish that a Jinn took Kiara. She’ll know what to do.” I hoped I was right and that Ish wouldn’t just be a fucking douche and say that’s what Kiara got for leaving with me. Which was a distinct possibility.
“This Ish, she’ll help the lioness?” Marcel frowned. “I’ve heard rumors that she’s a right bitch. Ish, that is.”
“Yeah, well, she can be, but she cares for Kiara. She’ll know what to do, and if anyone can stop the Jinn from taking her, it will be Ish.” I turned away because lying was not my strong point. I wasn’t entirely sure Ish would help at all, even for Kiara and her unborn child. But for the moment, Ish was the only hope Kiara--and I--had.
I couldn’t go after Kiara, not on my own. I glanced at Maks and he was quiet. Obviously, he wasn’t going to be much help going after her either if the way he’d been staked out in the mud was any indication. He must be one of the weakest Jinn around. I sighed. Of course, he was. Just like I was the weakest shifter, and Lila the weakest dragon.
What a trio we were.
“Go,” I said to Marcel. “And then I will consider your debt to me as repaid.”
He gave me a sloppy salute. “The offer for a flouncing is always there, you beautiful potty mouth.”
Stella snorted. “I don’t think so.”
Marcel opened his eyes wide and tipped his head at me. As Stella turned her back, he mouthed two words.
Save me.
“You shouldn’t have flounced her,” I pointed out as I mounted Balder.
Lila had been quiet the entire exchange and spoke only once Marcel and Stella were out of sight, galloping east toward the Stockyards.
“You think Ish will help?”
I wanted to say yes, but there were too many unknowns with her. “Honestly? I don’t know. But I do know I can’t face Jinn on my own, and he’s moving too fast. He’ll be back with his own kind before I ever catch up.”
I turned Balder and gave him a gentle push into a fast walk. After that gallop through the dark, he needed a break. There was no stopping, though. We didn’t have time to dawdle any more than I had time to wonder if I’d made the right choice.
The feeling of impending doom around us was only growing. The Jinn. The standing stones. Losing Kiara. Nearly losing Maks. Bryce in danger. Steve and Darcy looking for a stone that would make Ish more dangerous.
I shook my head as if to dislodge the feeling, but it did no good.
Something bad was coming for me, crawling across the plains like a spell I couldn’t escape. I glanced at Maks.
“You can go. I’m not going to make you come with us to the Dragon’s Ground.”
Lila let out a soft sigh. “We could use his help. I mean, if he really is a Jinn.”
I shrugged, fatigue hitting me hard. “I’m not going to force him to come.” I urged Balder forward and couldn’t help but listen for the sound of Batman’s hooves following. But there was no sound.
Despite everything that had just happened, despite the kiss and the fact that I’d save his life, Maks was not coming with me.
Chapter 12
Feeling Maks stay behind, not wanting to come with me, hurt my heart a hell of a lot more than I’d thought it would. Maybe it was because he said nothing. He’d not tried to argue why he should stay behind. He’d not even thanked me for saving his ass from his fellow Jinn. He’d just sat there, those blue eyes watching me, undeniably serious and lovely but giving me nothing in the way of what he might do.
The rain pounding on my head, the empty plain ahead of me. . . it had never felt more like a slap in the face.
Lila twisted around on my shoulder. “Thou art a boil! A toad! A horrible damn friend, Maks! Away, you three-inch fool! We saved you, and this is the thanks we get? Well, you aren’t going to be part of Zam’s pride at this rate! You don’t have the heart of a lion!”
I didn’t turn around though I wanted to. I wanted to rail at him too, to call him names as Lila was, to claim he was a selfish bastard, but I couldn’t. The reason? I didn’t really believe he was those things. He was as torn between his choices as Lila had been.
I probably would never know why he wasn’t coming with us. But if he wasn’t, I had to believe there was a strong reason. Maybe he thought the Jinn would come for him again. Maybe he thought we were safer without him. Both of those were possible.
But I would never know.
And I had to be okay with that lack of knowledge. I lifted my hand and touched Lila’s tail. “Ease off. You had a falling-out with your people, Lila. You know the pain of that loss.”
“Oh.” Just that, and she crouched down. “Now I feel like a mushy little rabbit turd.”
I smiled, but it was tired. “Don’t. Another time and I would have been screaming right alongside you. But the truth is, he has his path, and I have mine. He’s a Jinn, Lila. Nothing could have ever happened between us. Not really.”
“Then why did you kiss him?”
A slow breath escaped me, turning into a deep sigh as I spoke the truth much as I hated it. “Because I wanted to. And to say goodbye, I think.”
“Oh.” She wrapped herself around my neck like a leathery warm scarf. “That makes me sad.”
“Me too.” And it did. That was the worst part. There were a lot of things about Maks that made me like him, and none of them had a thing to do with what he was or wasn’t. He was a good guy. He was strong and smart, kind and thoughtful. That kind of man didn’t exist in my world as far as I’d been led to believe. And a good guy like that was fucking hard to find on this side of the wall.
We rode through the night, passed by the Jinn’s now-silent encampment and slowed. The ropes that had held Maks down were still there, sprawled out along with a fair amount of gear. I made myself bring Balder to a halt. The fire was still burning, and there were bags of supplies, food, and blankets along with four horses the Jinn had left behind.
“We should let them go, and then we can eat.” I slid off Balder’s back and went to the horses first, cutting off their halters as there were no buckles. The four of them took off, spinning northward toward the steppes. Which was good. They would be found by some herder and taken in.
I moved as if on autopilot. I couldn’t help it. Everything that had happened in that short period of time had rocked me and my confidence.