The Binding Stone (The Djinn Series) (19 page)

He
moves to lay a hand on my arm, and I flinch away. His eyes flash with hurt and
frustration, but I cannot undo it. I fight back the tears that well behind my
eyes, forcing myself to breathe.

“Jered,
I must tell you everything.”

“Tell
me, Leela,” he says, sitting on the plush brown sofa next to Gabe, who is now
munching on some food from the snack bar.

I
pinch my eyes shut because he’s done it again. Given me yet another command.
But I was going to tell him anyway.

“Your
father is not who you think he is.” I let this information sink in, but he does
not react. “You see, the first Magicians are the ones who enslaved the Djinn.
There were three of them. Two of them have found a path to immortality.”

Jered
leans forward now, drawn into the story. I think for a moment of how it felt to
kiss him. How I’ve treated him. What it must be like to be him. These things do
not help.

“They
were able to transfer their essence into the body of another Magician. Not just
any Magician. A relative makes it an easier transition.” I wait for his
reaction. Surely he sees it now.

“So
they transfer their souls into another human being?” His face is filled with
disgust.

“Yes.
Their children who also have magic,” I say, waiting for it to register.

“They
kill their own kids?” Gabe asks, potato chip frozen in his grasp, forgotten.

“Yes.
Their souls are displaced. They are forced out of their own bodies,” I say.

“That’s
sick. And I mean that in the bad way,” Gabe says.

But
Jered’s face is flushed. His nostrils flare, and he leaps to his feet. “You’re
accusing my own father of being a monster?” he asks. “Of planning to kill me?”

“Jered,
I am sorry,” I say. “I knew him – know him well. His real name is Achan. He
fooled me once too.” I look away at the water outside. It appears so calm from
here, but I know it is always flowing. Always moving.

“I
can’t believe you, Leela. How can you lie to me like this?” Jered is right next
to me now.

“I
cannot lie to you. You commanded me to tell you,” I say.

“You
actually fell for this?” he asks, his tone mocking. Harsh. “What? The other
Djinn told you that, and you bought it?”

“No,”
I say, looking him straight in the eye. “I knew the moment I saw him who he
was. He admitted it all to me.” I am still determined to tell him all.

“Then
you lied to me before.” He is directly over me now, red-faced and waving his
arms. “You certainly omitted the information, if that’s true. So which is it,
Leela?” He grabs my arms, pulling me off balance.

“Jer–”
Gabe stands, and Jered spins around, letting go of me and lashing out with a
hand as his blood-red aura flows across the room toward his friend.

I
react without thinking, moving Gabe to my other side before the energy can
strike. The cushions are torn off the sofa in a whirlwind. Chips fly
everywhere.

We
stand still and quiet for a minute, each unable to face the other.

“Perhaps
I should go find your father after all,” I say, eyes still cast downward.

“Go
ahead. I...I need some space anyhow,” Jered says.

“Gabe,
do you want to go home?” I ask.

He
looks from me to Jered and adjusts his glasses. “No. That’s all right. I should
stay with Jered.”

I
nod and disappear.

Who We Are

verything
is a mess. What is happening? I have to find Achan because he has answers. I
know he does. Maybe he’s my best chance right now anyway. That thought sends my
mind reeling.

I
float through the wreckage. Mira did a thorough job. Yellow police tape flies
in the breeze, secured only on one end. An unpleasant scent fills the air,
perhaps spoiled food from Jered’s broken refrigerator. The damage appears
confined to their slice of property. The neighbors on either side remain an
untouched picture of suburbia, complete with satellite dishes, minivans, and
tricycles askew in the driveways.

“Achan!”
I call out. I know he will be close. This is what I would do.

The
distant sound of traffic fills the evening, and the sun sinks behind large pink
clouds that look just as raw as they did when we arrived this morning on
Achan’s doorstep. A sudden thought flits through my head. One more sunset, and
there will be nothing stopping Jered from freeing me. Assuming, of course, that
he would still want to. I laugh bitterly and settle on the crooked beam of what
was once the overhang of Jered’s back porch.

“Here
to finish me off?” Achan’s voice sends a shiver down my neck, and I wonder if
it is from fear, the chill in the air, or old habit.

“No,”
I say without turning around. “We need to talk.”

“How
did you find me?” he asks.

“You
thought he’d come back here. I know you.” 

“So
you do, Little One.” His fingers find my cheek, and I shrug away.

“I
hate you,” I say.

“I
know.” He slips down next to me, careful to keep his hands to himself.

“He
doesn’t deserve to die,” I tell him, watching the last leaf struggling to fall
free of the maple next door. Doesn’t it know that as soon as it succeeds, its
life will cease?

“Few
mortals do, Leela. You didn’t deserve what happened to you either.”

I
laugh at the way he makes it sound like there was no blame. It simply
“happened.”

I
allow myself the luxury of examining his face. Soaking in his smell. His
warmth. I see now that there are differences. Small ones. The curve of his
nose, the shape of his lips. But they are minor things, and his whole persona
is so clearly Achan that those things are drowned out until insignificant.

I
wonder if he remembers his original self as well as I do.

I
place my palms on either side of his face, stroking his hair back like I used
to. He closes his eyes, relieved, and a small smile plays at his mouth. I trace
the shape of his face with my fingers, slowly, wondering what this man before
me would be like if Achan hadn’t stolen his body.

“And
tell me, Achan, what would you do with me if you owned me again?” I whisper.

In
answer, he closes the distance between us and presses his lips to mine,
gathering me to him by my waist. My body responds as usual, but all I can think
of is Jered, and all the hurt floods back.

I
pull away.

“I
see,” he says.

“No.
I don’t think you do.” I fly into the sky, but Achan follows me, taking hold of
my hand.

“Bring
me to him, Little One. It will be over quickly, I promise you. And he will feel
no pain as long as he doesn’t struggle.”

A
sickening sensation passes through my stomach. I must ask one more question.
His answer will dictate my actions.

“Have
you already done something to him?” I ask, tracing a casual path from his
shoulder to his waist.

“I
was almost in when we were interrupted earlier.”

I
recall Sophie’s excellent timing. “And?” I press forward with both my words and
my hands.

He
answers with ragged breath. “I left an opening in his aura. A place where I can
climb inside quickly.”

“What
does that do to him?” I ask, lips pressed to his ear, slipping a hand beneath
his shirt.

“It
opens his emotions. Makes them powerful, less controllable.” His head tilts
back, his mouth parted.

“Can
that harm him? Other than making him emotional?” I ask.

“He
will grow more and more unstable until I fill the hole, Leela. Only I can
change it. There is nothing for you to do, so you will have to accept that.”

I
do not like this answer.

“I
need you to kill Kitra,” I say, withdrawing my hands and gazing back at the
rubble that was Jered’s home.

“Kill
Kitra?” He laughs. “Don’t you think I would have done it already if I were
able?”

“The
Djinn are on an assignment for her. You can get to her now.”

“And
what’s in it for me?” he asks, though it doesn’t take Sophie’s mind-reading
skills to know he plans on taking possession of them.

“Jered,”
I say. “And all three of us.”

“I
should collect some supplies at my house,” he says at once.

I
nod. I know what is waiting for us there. Know what the others will do when
they see him. I don’t actually expect him to kill Kitra.

Nor
do I expect him to live through the night.

I
spin in the air, still grasping his hand, and we materialize in the hallway of
his home. I expect to be greeted by the others, but instead a shrill scream
finds my ears. It is the sound of pure suffering. I know that sound well.

“That’s
Elle,” Achan says, brow furrowing with confusion. He runs in the direction of
the tortured voice, and I follow, invisible.

“Elle?”
he asks at the doorway of Sophie’s room.

“Peter!
She’s gone.” Her strangled cries punctuate each word.

My
hand flies to my mouth in horror as the meaning sinks in. Once again, I was
blind to the truth. Once again, my mistake costs too much.

I
see the note that she holds up with a shaky hand. Achan reaches for it, and I
read it over his shoulder. The magic makes words appear in scrawling
handwriting.

If
you want to see your daughter again you will not call the police. I will
contact you with my demands shortly.

But
the note, the real one underneath, is fashioned from glowing green letters in ancient
Aramaic. I know Achan sees them as well.

If
what you say of your Master is true, then he will come for his sister.

I
read the words again and again, trying to make sense out of them, trying to
fight the icy panic that threatens to overtake me.
Not Sophie
.

Achan
lays an impatient hand on his wife’s head, and her face grows blank and still.
He looks up, hand trembling, sweat breaking out on his brow.

“We
will get her back,” I say, becoming visible.

“You
can’t bring them my son.” He spits his words at me like venom, the muscles in
his neck straining until they look as though they will pop.

“What?”
I ask. Nothing should surprise me anymore. Still he’s managed it.

“They
are my only two safeguards right now. You will not cost me my immortality. You
will not.” His face is ugly and twisted. He glances toward the hall, and I know
he is weighing his chances of getting to the lead vest, so I slam the door with
a breath.

“You
would sacrifice your daughter so that you can kill your son?” I ask. I need to
hear it from his lips.

“You
don’t understand!” he says. He is all spit and fury. “It is difficult to start
over. To have to deal with raising children until the right one comes along.
The older this body gets, the more tenuous the situation.” When he sees my face,
he tries a different tack, his old handsome features sliding back into place.
“I’ll do what you want, Leela. We’ll wait until they realize it didn’t work.
Then when the Djinn come back for Jered, I’ll go kill Kitra. It’s perfect. And
I’ll free you, Leela. I won’t need to keep you if I have them. Two is enough.”

“Enough
of your lies,” I say.

“It
is no lie! I will take a blood oath. Anything.”

“Begging
does not become you, Achan. Nor does it matter. It appears only one of us has
grown a conscience over the past thousand years. I will not sacrifice another
living soul for my own freedom.”

“Then
you are a fool.”

“Perhaps.
But you are a marked man. As soon as the command is lifted, I will find you. I
promise you that. And if I don’t, I’m sure Taj or Mira will.”

I
should anticipate Achan’s next move. Perhaps I don’t care enough to prevent it.
He throws his hands in either direction, and his wife, Elle, is thrown through
the window, while he escapes in a burst of speed through the door.

I
throw out my own hand, catching the woman in mid-air and laying her neatly on
Sophie’s bed. I cover her forehead with my palm. “Sleep,” I say.