The Binding Stone (The Djinn Series) (33 page)

“Taj, you seemed to enjoy her company. Kill her.”

Taj turns toward Sophie, his face as frightening as I’ve ever seen
it. He stalks forward deliberately, coming to rest inches from her. Her hands
reach for her throat, eyes rolling back in her head. I flinch as she falls to
the ground, eyes shut, unmoving.

“Good,” Kitra says. “Now it’s time to punish our friend here.” She
indicates me. “But what can I possibly do that will be bad enough? Flogging made
little impact on her.” She taps her lip with her index finger as she circles
around me.

I stand stock-still, unable to pry my eyes from Sophie’s body.

“I would kill someone you care about, but it seems they are all
already dead,” she continues. “As I recall, there was only one thing that ever
truly frightened you.” She comes to a stop behind me, lips grazing my ear.

I continue my statue-like stand. Whatever frightened me a thousand
years ago cannot touch me now. What is the worst she can do? She’s already
taken Sophie.

“I have someone I want you to meet,” she says, clapping me on the
shoulders. “Don’t move from this spot, Leela. Taj? I think you might be
interested in this as well.”

Kitra leaves the throne room, and Taj runs to Sophie. He scoops
her into his arms and hugs her to him, laughing. She giggles right back. But
how can this be?

“I gave her a fake tiger’s eye,” Sophie says with a wink.

Taj turns toward me, ready for Sophie’s command. Desperate to
remove the choker now that Kitra is not present to complicate the situation.
But we hear footsteps, and he freezes. Sophie jumps from his arms and runs back
to the ground, pretending to be dead. Taj remains at my side.

“I’ll keep up this little charade for your sake, Lee. But only
until you give the signal.”

I
cannot risk another misstep. As long as Kitra controls me, he must not attack
her. I would see it coming and be forced to protect her. And I will not lose
him too. “Get Sophie out,” I whisper. “Listen to me, Taj. She commanded I make
it so ‘they’ can’t get out. One at a time you could do it.”

Before
he can respond, Kitra reappears at the door, smiling. “Ever wonder what
happened to your first master, Taj?” she asks. “Well, let me tell you. After
he lost you, I was a tad angry, as you can imagine. So I asked Mira to turn him
into a statue for the foyer.”

She
moves aside, and two human servants wheel in an enormous slab of marble. My
vision blurs. Inside I am shaking. Just the sight of him elicits tremors that
threaten to send me into hysterics.

I
feel Taj’s fingers entwine with mine.

“You
may move now,” Kitra says, sweetly.

My
muscles relax, and I fall against Taj for support.

“Come
here, Leela.”

I
walk forward until I am before Kitra. I glance at the thing next to her, and
she waves the humans away. He looks exactly the same as I remember. Every
bulging muscle frozen in time. Even his stub teeth are marbleized. Now I know
why the statues in the hallways wear such expressions of terror.

“Leela,”
Kitra says, unable to disguise her glee. “Turn Cephas back to flesh and blood.”

Demon from My Past

wave a trembling hand through the air, wanting to run but unable to do so. The
marble statue in front of me cracks. Chunks of rock fall to the ground at my
feet, revealing the person trapped inside.

He
steps from the rubble, coughing up a fine cloud of dust. The first thing his
eyes fall on is Kitra.

“Do
not let him hurt me,” she says quickly. “He may be a tad upset.”

He
stops his progression, turning slowly to face me. Recognition lights in his
eyes. A deep rumble grows in his chest.

“Cephas,
have you enjoyed your nap? I trust you will not disappoint me again?” Kitra
asks in an ancient yet familiar tongue.

I
really want to back away.

“You
remember Leela? And Taj of course? They are mine now, in case you are
wondering. And if you are a very good boy, I shall let you have some time alone
with Leela here.”

I
could signal Taj. But I cannot risk it. Not in front of Kitra. I cannot blow
this. I order myself to get control.

“So,
tell me Cephas. Are you ready to accept me as your queen?” Kitra asks.

Say
‘no,’
I think.

“Kitra?”
he asks in an ancient language. “Is that you?” His voice is hoarse, yet
painfully familiar.

“The
one and only,” she says.

“Yes,”
he answers, dipping his head in a bow.

I
shut my eyes tight.

“Good.
I shall take you to a cell down in the dungeons, which is lined with lead. She
needs punishment badly, Cephas, and I know you are the best.”

He
watches me eagerly, licking his lips.

“There’s
really no rush,” I say. “Take care of your friend’s needs first, Master. Surely
Cephas is hungry after a thousand years.”

This
earns me a slap from Kitra. Cephas laughs.

“Punishing
you will be enough to quench his thirst. Now come.”

Taj
follows, but she stops him with a hand.

“Stay
here and wait for me.”

He
looks to me, jaw working quickly. I meet his gaze but do not move to signal
him.
Get the others out of here
, I try to tell him with my eyes. It does
not matter what happens to me, I keep reminding myself. If he escapes with the
others, then Kitra is one Djinni down, and the people I care about are safe.

I
repeat this to myself like a mantra as we descend toward the dungeon. My eyes
flitter around the passage and through the orange glow spackling the stone
walls. I search the shadowed corners to make sure Jered, whether as himself or
Achan, was smart enough to get out. I breathe a little easier, seeing that
Gabe’s body is gone as well. I hope this means he’s recovered and safe.

Kitra
pushes me into the cell. I stumble forward, collapsing onto the coarse hay. I
watch the enormous shadow engulf me as Cephas’s hands reach down, pull me up by
my wrists, and secure me in the same shackles that held Jered in place.

Panic
sets in. I’m once again hanging from the ceiling in a small dirty room, surrounded
by Cephas and Kitra. I’m not sure, but I think I may be hyperventilating. The
air is suddenly thick. No. It’s the smell. The overpowering scent of incense.

My
head snaps toward Kitra, who laughs delightedly. “For old time’s sake,” she
says. She takes a knife from the air, and I feel my eyes grow wide. “Perhaps a
little drink?” She strikes at my arm, and blood spurts out and down my shirt.
She presses her mouth over my stinging skin and draws deeply from the cut.
After a long minute filled with the sound of my sobs, she wipes her mouth on
the back of her hand, offering the knife to Cephas.

He
takes it and strikes without hesitation at my collarbone just above my chest.
His beard prickles as his mouth works against my skin. I cannot help the
violent shaking in my body. It isn’t just the pain. It’s the memory becoming
real.

“I
think I will leave you to it,” Kitra says. “I have another Djinni to punish.
Leela, you will obey his commands so long as they do not harm me. Remember,
Cephas, don’t kill her. Just make her wish you had.”

Cephas
turns me to face him, forcing my head down with one hand to look into his ugly
maw. My blood still runs down his chin. He lifts his other hand and flexes it
while two rows of lead rings circle his fingers. I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Uh,
uh,” he says. “Keep your eyes open.”

The Beginning

itra
does not let me out of her sight, but I behave at my best, going about my
business, doing what I am told. I have no wish to offer her any excuse. Of
course I have not had a moment to let Taj and Mira know what I have
accomplished either.

Achan
pulls me to his side after lunch. Kitra is distracted by her guests who have
arrived from the West. They are exotic-looking people. A
woman and a man, with smooth faces and straight glossy hair. They seem
apprehensive but perhaps more confident than those who are used to the strange
Council that has taken root here.

“I
have a plan,” Achan whispers, pressing me back against the wall and pretending
to nibble at my ear. “Act like I am kissing you, while we talk. I want you to
steal the stone from Cephas. The tiger’s eye.” I tense at his words but
continue to behave as he commands. “Once I have two Djinn, Kitra will not be
able to use the others against me, even if she were to find another.”

I
nod and busy myself with kissing him. I turn over his words in my head. I have
been commanded to steal Taj’s stone. But he never told me to give it to him.
Just assumed that I would. My heart nearly skips a beat.

“Yes,”
I hear the strangers telling Kitra. “We do know of some of these daemons you
speak of. If you share with us how to control them, we will help you get more.”

“Leela,
come here,” Kitra calls. Achan’s eyes light like liquid fire, but he does not
stop me from ducking beneath his arm to obey. “This is one of the creatures
that I own. I will share incredible powers with you right now, if you tell me
where to have my other slaves find some more.”

The
two exchange looks, like they do not believe her. “She does have the eyes,” one
whispers in a foreign language. I wonder if Kitra can understand them like I
can.

“Very
well,” says the man. It is impossible to miss the hunger in his eyes as he
drinks me in from head to toe.

“Splendid,”
says Kitra. She takes out a leaden knife and grabs my wrist. I cry out as she
slices the inside of my arm. “Drink.”

“Is
this a joke?” the woman asks, hand on the hilt of what looks like a dagger.

Kitra
holds my arm firmly in her grasp. “No,” she says evenly, staring at the
strangers without blinking. “Do it if you want power like mine. Stay still,
Leela.”

I
freeze. The man steps forward and leans down over my arm. He sucks at the wound
tentatively, and then more greedily. His jaw works as he takes in my blood. My
heart races. What if Kitra allows them to drain me, as she did Rhada?