Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
“ W ho are you? What do you want?” I asked, even though I already knew who he was.
“I am the overseer of the original ring of Jedidiah of Judah, whom your people now call Solomon. You may call me Kabir,” he said. “I have come to meet you.”
“Why did you freeze Tony? He’s my trainer.”
Kabir spread his hands. “It is difficult for both of us to move freely in the same energy space. Perhaps he allowed himself to be stilled so that I could be here and speak to you.”
“Sorry, but I don’t believe you. Tony would have told me if there was going to be a problem. He can be a bastard at times, but he would never put me in danger without warning me. Usually, he takes care of the bad guys and informs me of his success afterward.”
“I am no threat to you, child. I’m a...” he paused to smile at me. “I’m a potential benefactor. I wanted to meet you and offer to become your trainer. You would find me much easier to work with than that being you are currently stuck working with.”
I crossed my arms. “I was raised by the High King of all Demons. Conn taught me how to deal with a self-serving person who was offering me something too wonderful to be true. My father has been the only man to ever fool me. You’re going to have to try much harder than that weak story if you want to convince me of your goodwill.”
Kabir laughed. “You are shrewd despite your youth. I can see why both rings want you. It’s been several millennia since someone so worthy has come along. Both rings long to be used by someone with a pure heart. Does this not flatter you?”
He held out his hand and opened his palm. A gleaming gold ring lay in the center. He picked it up and tilted it toward me. It showed the real seal surrounded by green, blue, and amber jewels.
“Look upon the original ring and feel its power. I could train you to use it. You would afterward become the most powerful being to walk this world in centuries. You could tell a mountain to move and it would. Your voice alone could stop an army. Whatever you could imagine would be within your grasp.”
I studied him. “That’s fascinating. What’s the catch?”
“The what ?” Kabir asked.
“The original ring would get me. I would get the original ring. What would you get? There’s always a price to be paid.”
“There is no price for one of the chosen,” Kabir said, spreading his hands wide.
My grunt was loud. “Look, I’m not calling you a liar, but I come from a family of witches. It is the rule of magick. There is always a price to be paid for practicing the craft.”
“The ring is not made for the practice of magick, girl. It rules divine manifestation,” Kabir said, smiling at all the extra words he used to describe the original ring’s power.
Instead of gazing at the ring, I looked at him and held his gaze. “Science is the practice of controlling knowledge. Magick is the practice of personal power controlling the natural elements of this planet. I’m guessing divine manifestation would be letting you or your deity control me and tell me how to use the ring. You stopped Tony like I stopped the Shadow Breakers, and like Tony stopped me when we first met. Power is relative to circumstances and is about intention. I don’t trust what you intend.”
Kabir chuckled. “You are as sharp as I imagined you would be. Your mother is considered wise as well. Higher beings speak of her with reverence in their tone.”
“And you, demon djinn, are quite the flatterer. I would prefer you speak plainly. Why did you come here?”
“I came to make you an offer no human has had since Jedidiah lived. I want you to give up your ring and wear the original on your hand. Yes, you would give up your life here, but it would be for another that would be far more glorious.”
I grunted again and crossed my arms. “I see. So what happens to Tony?”
“He will wait with the ring you now wear until he finds another to serve as its protector.”
“And what happens to my family?” I asked, lifting one eyebrow.
“Your mother is a powerful being with no time for you. Your father is mostly evil. Your grandmother is old. There is no man in your life. Your life as a protector of the original ring would be more fulfilling.”
I blinked at Kabir. Glorious and fulfilling? What I did in freeing the Shadow Breakers was both those things.
“Thanks for the offer, Kabir, but I’m going to pass. Your ring isn’t the one who chose me, and I like my current life as it is. I’ll be fine keeping Tony as my trainer.”
“You no longer need him for anything other than what a hired bodyguard could easily do. You haven’t needed that creature since your ring spoke to you. The creature you call an angel has out-served his usefulness. Send him away, girl. He has to go if you insist he leave you.”
“What do you get if I say yes to your offer? Be honest with me, Kabir.”
“I get what I desire most,” he said.
I blinked at him, unsure I’d heard right. “The legions in my ring consider you all-powerful. Also, your fancy clothes declare you to be a successful overseer in every way possible.”
Kabir laughed. “You flatter me.”
“It was my ring that said all that. Tony described you quite differently.”
“So... the being you call an angel turned you against me before I ever showed up.”
I shook my head at him. “No. It was my grandmother. She didn’t remember ever meeting Tony before, but she said she would never, ever forget your negative energy. She said there was no magick strong enough to make her forget. Connlander of the Fir Bolg. High Demon of all Demonkind, is just as arrogant as you, but he hid himself from my father for my mother’s sake. He can love and feel genuine compassion for humans. Do you have that capacity, Kabir?”
“What do my feelings about humans matter? I too serve the ring.”
“Because I could never work with you if I couldn’t trust you. I believe in friendship. For the record, I do not resent my mother’s power or covet it. I simply pray she uses it wisely and doesn’t kill innocents.”
“Her Ancient One is now involved to make sure she doesn’t. I doubt she realizes his true purpose in being with her.”
I chuckled. “Are you saying you’re not one of them?”
“They are eternal. I’m a bound immortal born of this planet’s fiery energy. I was bound to Jedidiah of Judah, the being you refer to as King Solomon. Now I have no purpose. I have searched for years for a worthy person to replace Jedidiah. The ring refuses to choose someone new on its own.”
My head was shaking. “Well, I’m not the magickal person you seek.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I would want to build a temple just to see if I could, which I’m pretty sure King Solomon, renowned for his wisdom, would not do for such a dumb reason. I’m not from the right belief system anyway. Why doesn’t your deity choose?”
“I don’t know. It is a truth that remains a mystery.”
I uncrossed my arms and sighed. “Or maybe your deity has a good reason for not choosing.”
“The rings do not care about religious beliefs. They care only to be used by those with a pure heart. For centuries now, all those chosen were no more than basic protectors.”
My grunt was not soft. “I’m not special, either. People keep telling me that I’m pure, but I’m far from being that. I’ve done things I’m not proud of in my life.”
Kabir snorted. “I do not speak of sexuality when I call you pure. Magick requires the mixing of bodily energies for the greater good of all. A pure heart cannot exist without a being also possessing a pure mind. A pure mind never seeks to glorify itself. Its intentions are pure. This is a tenet of all spiritual training on this planet.”
I held out both hands and used my fingers to count my sins. “I’m human just like my grandfather was. I swear, get mad, resent things, and I get belligerent, like I’m being now. All I want out of life is to work a straightforward job that allows me to spend time getting to know my mother again. I’m not in the superhero business. That was never one of my dreams.”
Kabir nodded and folded the ring up into his palm. “You say that but I have read your stories of superhumans. They have superior strength or some greater physical talent, but they also possess a single fatal flaw. You, girl, go to great lengths to save people from their bad behaviors, even when they have taken actions worthy of their deaths. You are the mercy crier for the repentant.”
I blew out a breath. “Okay, well, maybe that’s true. I think human life is too precious to take it lightly. My mother feels the same way but her temper sometimes gets the best of her.”
“Which is why you always beg your mother not to kill her enemies when she goes into fights.”
I shrugged.
“And why you begged your grandmother a short time ago not to curse the Shadow Breakers who fell under the wicked fairy’s spell.”
“How do you know all these things about my life? Were you eavesdropping when I was talking to Gigi?”
“Something like that,” Kabir said, sounding too much like Tony for my peace of mind. I watched as he rubbed his trim chin beard. “I think I will return to ask you this again. It's unusual for someone so young to be chosen to protect a ring. The rings tend to choose mature middle-aged humans. You may change your mind in a few years.”
I smiled. “If you need to believe that, go ahead. I’m not going to argue about my future. My answer is still no. Tony can train me to protect the ring my grandfather guarded.”
When Kabir rolled his eyes, I nearly laughed.
“Are you the kind of djinn that grants wishes?” I asked.
“No. That was an ancient form of punishment. Less than five djinns were imprisoned in that manner. And do not believe the nonsense in movies. It can take a lifetime to grant even one selfish human wish. If you trained with me, we could have many conversations that would enlighten you about the beings currently confined together on this planet.”
“The answer is still no, Kabir.”
“Among thousands born with apotropaic magick, only you have managed to do what you do. Despite his bloodline, your grandfather never developed your power. His mind and heart held him back. The legions powering the rings used him as no more than a brutish guard. They would not have obeyed him.”
“I’m not trying to be King Solomon. There are no temples in my life that need building. And I think slavery is morally wrong in any form, even the slavery of demons. I have an understanding with the ring I wear. When we both agree something is important, it helps me.”
“Would you settle for so little from yourself? From your life? The mentor of your ring was demoted to a sergeant long ago. I am and have always been a general. Do you not want to train with the best?”
“What do you need to hear to accept that my mind is made up about this?”
“Foolish, child.”
I glared at the demonic djinn dressed in CEO clothes. “I’m young, but not stupid. You want to command me while I command the ring you are bound to oversee. That suit you’re wearing says it all for you. Conn dresses like you. He commands all demons in the world. Does he command you as well, Kabir?”
“I tire of this conversation,” he said.
Which I noted was not a no. I was going to ask Conn the first chance I got.
Kabir was a hybrid creature and I wanted to know his story. The demons Solomon called to help him were written about in very unflattering terms. Abrahamic scripture said nothing about the price Solomon paid to command his demon legions.
Conn commanded his fellow demons with his will alone. He did it to teach them how to live among humans. He commanded them in order to save their lives. Mom did the same thing with her demon-stopping skills with a sword. Demonkind feared her and knew she would seek justice if necessary.
I doubted Kabir could do anything to other demons. Otherwise, why would he try to convince me to do it for him? Kabir wanted to command the ring and the legions powering it, but the ring refused to work for him. It answered to a higher calling.
I briefly covered my mouth and pretended to yawn. “I agree talking is getting us nowhere. Also, I don’t have any time to waste. I’m going home to hug my mother today. I need to schedule my flight so I can leave.”
Kabir’s eyes widened with disbelief. “You travel by commercial plane still?”
“Yes. Why do you say it like that? I’m flying business class—not economy. I like to stretch out my long legs.” I grinned when he rolled his eyes again. People I worked with tended to pick up that habit quickly. It was fun knowing my smug snark was contagious.
“If you insist on being this foolish, so be it. I will track you down in two years to revisit this unwise decision. Try to stay alive until then. It would be a waste of humanity to lose one like you. A total lack of vision holds back your entire species. Perhaps experience will broaden your thinking. The ring I offer is far superior to the one you wear.”
I sighed. “So you keep saying...”
With one final eye roll, his body dissolved into a swirl of smoke that shot up into the sky and disappeared. I considered it a neat trick. It would have been nice to travel from place to place so quickly.
I turned and headed back into the house.
Tony nearly ran me over busting through the door to look for me. “Was he here? I saw and heard you but could not free myself.”
I chuckled. “Well, good. Now you know how that feels.”
“It wasn’t a time stop, Fiona. A time stop is what that vile creature did to your grandmother. He energetically paralyzed me with his dark magick.”
Shrugging, I walked past him and into the house. Gigi stood at the sink, just as she had been before Kabir showed up. I turned back on the water I’d shut off earlier and stepped away from her to close my eyes for a moment.
“Please free her once I’m sitting at the table,” I said to the ring.
As you wish , a voice replied. Why did you choose to stay with us? The master offered you everything a being could ever want.
“What he offered was servitude to him and the original ring. Let’s talk about this subject in private sometime. I don’t want to discuss it in front of my grandmother.”
As you wish ,” the voice said again.
I made sure I had my phone before I went back to sit at the table. I needed it to make flight arrangements.
When a huffing Tony stormed back inside, I pointed at the bedroom. “Please resume where you were before Kabir interfered.”
“If I hadn’t used so much energy helping you, he would never have been able to paralyze me.”
“Stop being a baby.” I could tell he didn’t like me telling him what to do, but a frowning Tony left the kitchen. His annoyance level made me dread the six-hour discussion we would have on the way home.
Now?
“Yes. Now,” I said aloud.
Gigi moved the teakettle under the water stream and turned it on fuller to fill it.
I turned my full attention to her. “There’s a red-eye flight to New York at ten-thirty tonight, Gigi. That gives me a few hours to pack before you’d have to take us to the airport. Will that work for you?”
“Yes... and there’s still time for tea before you have leave. I have some of those cookies ya like me to bake when ya visit. Evidently, I did a spot of spell-baking these last few days. The cupboard is full of sweets, and all my flour and sugar are gone.”
I giggled at her rant. “I’m sorry, Gigi. We can stop and restock you on our way to the airport. Replacing your pantry items is the least I can do.”
Shaking her head, Gigi put a tea bag in each cup as she waited for the water to boil. “I’m going to send my next grocery bill to the Shadow Breakers. I think I’ll deliver it personally with a bunch of those sweet biscuits I baked. They’ll be afraid to eat them, which serves them right.”
Tony walked out of the bedroom and sat at the kitchen table with me. “Did I hear you got our tickets to Salem?” He pulled a wad of cash out of his long-sleeve shirt and tossed it at me. “That’s two thousand dollars. It should cover the cost of my ticket.”
I smirked at the money. “You could have used a bank app to send it to me. Carrying all that cash around is dangerous.”
“I keep my money hidden from normal sight like I do my watch. No one is going to take money from you while I’m around,” Tony said.
My angry angel refused to admit how easily Kabir had kept him away from me. I wondered why but this wasn’t the time to ask.