The Binding Stone (The Djinn Series) (24 page)

“I’m
sure she has safeguards to prevent it. If not, it would be no good against her
own Djinn.”

“Right.”

“We
need to get her to leave,” Sophie says, tugging on my arm.

I
spin around, shocked. “Yes! Yes, that’s it. Good work, Sophie.” I ruffle her
hair.

“I’ll
do it,” Gabe says. “I saw something like this in Zombie Squasher 4000.”

“Your
video game?” I cannot keep the skepticism out of my question.

“Hey,
video games can come in handy.”

I
follow him down the steps. Sophie’s hand is clasped firmly in my own, Little
Leela trailing behind in her other.

The
first door is smaller than those above but still made of heavy iron. Above the symbol
is a rectangular window about the width of a face, striped with bars. I peer
over the opening and see a mound of dirt and hay punctuated by gray bones.
Shackles hang from the ceiling with disembodied skeletal hands still dangling
within.

“You’re
shaking,” Gabe reports.

“It’s
nothing,” I say, turning toward the passageway. One more door. I can do this.

We
stop outside, and I hold up a hand to halt our group. The silence is broken
moments later by a faint sound. The single moan carries with it such misery
that my vision is flooded with red. My throat closes up, and I cannot say it.
But Gabe does.

“Jered.”
Gabe’s face is ashen. I place a hand on his arm, feeding him strength just as
I’ve seen Jered do. His shoulders square in determination, and he fishes in his
pocket for a moment before pulling out the small black disc I’d given him. Is
he thinking of escape? My heart races. I’ll be dragged along with him.

But
instead of pressing the button, he takes aim at some far off point and throws
with all his might. The disc flies like a Frisbee and meets the center of one
of the torch brackets down the hall. The button depresses against the metal
with a loud
clank
and a giant hole opens in the wall. The torch, left
with nothing to support it, falls to the ground. Instantly, fire rises along
the dry hay in the hall.

Our
trio stands there for a moment, staring at the glowing inferno that takes off
with abandon. Alarms blaze, and I pull us all back against the wall.

“You
will have to show me this zombie game,” I say.

Gabe
blushes. “Well, um, to be honest, that went a little better than I was hoping.”

The
door to Jered’s cell is thrown open, and a young woman steps out. She is
dressed in a crimson bodysuit, her gold emblem etched on the back. Her long
auburn hair is pulled back in a braid, and I hesitate for a moment, forgetting
she is using a different body now. She has not been as careful as Achan. Or
perhaps she has searched for anonymity, afraid of being found. She looks no
older than Jered or Gabe, but I know the soul that lurks within.

Power
builds in my hands. She cannot hear the crackle over the roar of the fire and
the blare of the sirens. She isn’t even looking in my direction. But as I am
about to let go, I remember my command, and my hands fall uselessly to my
sides. I could have ruined my one opportunity to save Jered if I’d let go and
gotten her attention. I have to get control of myself.

Gabe
darts into the room the second Kitra is out of earshot. I follow with Sophie,
but not before adding magic to the flames and opening another hole in the
ceiling to make it look like the intruder has gone that way. It is the best I
can do to give us a chance to free my master.

My
eyes fall on Jered as I round the corner, and a gasp escapes my lips. His arms
are stretched above his body so that the toes of his sneakers barely graze the
ground. A leather whip lies discarded nearby. His limp form twists slightly,
and I see his bare chest glistens with sweat. The angry red lashes that
decorate his back stretch across his stomach. His face is gaunt, eyes half-open
and unfocused, and his hair is matted with blood.

The
reality of what I see hits me full force at the same time as the stinging pain
of the lead.

Unexpected

have seconds to make up my mind before the lead in the cell overwhelms me.
Seconds to decide what one spell I can cast, but I see no options. There is
only one choice.

As
I sink to my knees inside the door, I will Jered to heal. Some part of me knows
that this is not smart. That Kitra will just reinflict the wounds if she
returns before Gabe can manage to get us all out. I should have granted him
super strength instead...

“Leela!”
Jered’s voice is like a slap in the face. My eyes snap open to the sound of my
name, and I see with relief that he is all right. Perhaps he can use his magic
to help.

Just
as I begin to slip back into the blurred world of torment, the pain is parted
like a curtain. I lift my head to find Sophie standing before me, her small
arms raised, her eyes closed in concentration. The rainbow aura that normally
pulses around her has stretched out to cover me instead.

“Jered,”
I say. “Sophie is protecting me from the lead, but she cannot hold it long.”

“Get
us out of here, Leela.”

I
wave an arm. I cannot get us far with all this lead, but I have been given a
command, and I manage to make it upstairs to the kitchen. It is a long room
with steel counters running for what seems like miles and an enormous
open-flame oven built into the rock at the far end. The smattering of servants are
the first signs I’ve seen of other life inside the fortress.

Sophie
opens her eyes, and I watch them roll back into her head. I catch her as she
falls, gathering her to me.

“Sophie.”
Jered’s voice is filled with pain.

“She’ll
be all right,” I say. “She’s just exhausted all her energy.”

“She
saved us,” he says.

“Actually,
I think I did a pretty good job too,” says Gabe. “Tell him about my kick-ass
ninja move, Leela.”

“Don’t
congratulate anyone yet,” I say. “We aren’t out.” I gesture around at the
handful of human servants who have stopped their preparations to stare at us.
“I can only get us so far, and now that she knows we are here, she will order
Taj and Mira to reinforce all the magic she already has in place to prevent us
from escaping. It will be near impossible.”

“How
did you even get here?” Jered asks. “I told you to stay with Gabe at the
hotel.”

“No.
You told me to go back to the hotel. And to stay with Gabe. I did both.”

“God,
I can’t get anything right. This is all my fault. All of it. My mom, Sophie,
and now you guys are in danger too,” Jered wails. He sinks to the ground beside
me, head buried in his hands.

It
is then I realize he is not wearing the ring.

“What...what
have you done?” I ask, grabbing his hand.

“We’re
here because of me. Because I was stupid enough to think I could handle this on
my own. I should have let you go, I should have–”

“No.
I mean the stone,” I say, unable to take my eyes from his naked hand. I finger
the cold opal in my choker. Surely I would have felt it if he’d transferred
ownership.

“Oh,”
he says, lifting his head slightly. “Oh, it’s still there. I hid it. I hid it
so that she couldn’t take it from me. I remembered that if she killed me
without my giving it to her or her taking it, you’d be okay. I knew there was
nothing she could do to convince me to hand it over. She tried pretty hard,
though.” His aura grows dark, making my heart leap. I know firsthand the kind
of pain Kitra inflicts.

“So
I did this to keep her from stealing it,” he continues. “Since I knew I couldn’t
free you myself.”

I
lick my lips. Clear my throat. “You said it.”

Sophie
stirs in my lap.

“Said
what?” Jered asks.

“Said
‘free’ me,” I say. “And you didn’t choke.”

We
all stare at each other for a moment while Sophie sits up, rubbing her eyes
with her fists.

“Don’t
worry,” I say, casting my eyes downward. “I don’t expect you to do it. Not now
anyway. I never really did.” After all, I should know better. Even Jered can’t
be expected to go that far.

Before
he can answer, the door to the kitchen bursts open, and Kitra rushes in,
flanked on either side by a Djinni with glowing green eyes.

“Get
us out again!” Jered shouts. I wave, and we are back down in the dungeons. It
seems the least likely place for us to go. The fire still blazes,
thanks to my assistance, but it has been quartered off.

“Leela,”
Jered places a hand on each of my arms. I desperately want to cling to him but
force myself to focus. “Can you get Gabe and Sophie out of here? Back home?
They want us. Not them.”

“You
have to rescind your command to stay with Gabe,” I say. “Then I can get them
outside the fortress.”

“I
can fly us home,” Gabe says, sounding more like himself.

“Then
I rescind the command to stay with Gabe,” Jered says. “Leela, help them out.”

I
nod once and open a new hole to the outside. The alarms are already set off,
they know we are here, so there is no harm in it.

Before
climbing through, Gabe leans and whispers in my ear. I glance hurriedly at
Jered, but he is busy hugging Sophie goodbye. I nod after a moment and hand
Gabe his request.

Gabe
goes first, followed by Sophie. She hesitates on her hands and knees, looking
back over her shoulder in anguish. I smile at her, meeting her eyes.

“It
is okay, Little One. We will be fine. You must go home with Gabe.” A thought
comes unbidden to my mind. Achan will use her instead. If Jered and I don’t
make it out, he will take her body instead.

We
will just have to make it out.

“Close
this side, so they won’t be able to follow them,” Jered says. I do as I am
commanded, sealing off Sophie’s face from view. Jered’s shoulders relax, and
the colors in his aura swirl more freely.

“She’ll
be all right,” I say, laying a hand on his back. By the way his body trembles,
I know he is crying. Achan’s handiwork. His emotions grow more and more
unstable. I have to get us out of here, have to find Achan and force him to
reverse it.

But
how can I do that when I’m still not allowed to cause anyone harm?

The Beginning

chan
sets me gently on the floor next to him and removes something from his pockets.
He holds out his closed fist, then opens it to reveal a length of black velvet
ribbon with a stone set in the center. The stone is a large rounded opal that
gleams beautifully in the firelight from the wall.