Chapter 19 #2
If I knew Kai, his refusal to speak on it meant what he planned was probably treason.
Or close to it. Fine by me, if it kept Rani safe.
Speaking of, I hung up on my cousin when the door to the office opened and the object of my desires, and obsession, walked out.
She wasn’t frowning, so I guessed the meeting went well.
Hopefully, we got our shit figured out before next semester and Rani could return with Eryn to pick up where they’d left off.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, I steered her toward the exit.
There would be no lingering. She got what we came for, and now it was time to get the fuck out of here.
The crystal was cool against my skin as we hurried across campus.
It wasn’t a far walk, thank the gods, but the visitor parking lot was a whole courtyard away from the admin building, and we were sitting ducks as we sped over the well-tended brick path.
My head was on a swivel, scanning every shadow and every window as we hightailed it to my truck. When the dark asphalt of the lot came into view, I allowed myself to breathe a small sigh of relief.
It wasn’t the wards of the beach house, but a fast moving vehicle was better than walking exposed.
We made it out of the lot and off campus in record time.
Rani fiddled with the radio, and I rolled the windows down to catch the afternoon breeze.
After another minute or two of easy silence, I decided that this was actually kind of nice.
I turned onto the dirt road and up the steep cliff toward the private street of beach houses.
Both hands on the wheel, I stole glances of Rani’s wild hair as it danced around her shoulders.
Her head rested against the seat while she stared out the window and sang along to some horrid pop song.
I caught myself smiling. This was how it should be; days and days like this.
Peaceful .
Nothing but the ocean on one side of us and the placid forest on the other. No arguments, no worries…just me, my girl, and—
“Watch out!”
A streak of brown darted across the road, and I swerved to avoid the clueless coyote. The ancient trees were safer to aim for than the cliff on my left, but hitting them at this speed meant death just as sure as if we’d fallen into the ocean.
I stomped down, brake pedal met floorboard with a shriek of torn rubber, and the truck lifted on two wheels. The oily taste of horror stained my mouth when Rani’s control slipped and the mental wall between us crumbled to dust.
Her emotions battered my side of the bond as the truck teetered and thankfully fell back on all fours. The radio blared as I stared wide-eyed at the stupid-ass canine who nearly cost us our lives. Its tail flicked in irritation, like this was my fault, before it pranced away back into the woods.
I turned the radio off, and the new silence exposed Rani’s heavy breathing. Hand on her chest, her gaze hadn’t yet left the street. Locked in. That’s what she looked like. All the fear and confusion and raging adrenaline I felt stemming from her was locked behind a wall of shock.
My gentle pluck on our bond didn’t snap her out of it.
Worried, I rested shaking fingers on her chin and slowly turned her head.
Her eyes followed in a delay, like they got caught on everything outside before her mind told her that the only thing worth looking at was right here.
I left a lingering kiss on her lips, using a bit of pressure and a slow glide of my tongue against her bottom lip to reach her.
The second she returned that pressure, I pulled back. Those eyes were once again clear and bright.
“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
No pain stemmed from her side of the bond, no sharp slice of an injury, but if she hit her head, she might be too dazed to notice.
My fingers felt along her cheeks and the side of her skull, then methodically worked their way around to the back where I found no bumps either. The lack of blood was also a good sign.
“I’m fine, Ez,” she said, swatting my hands away. “Just a little shocked. I expected a battle with the djinn today, not a coyote.”
“You and me both,” I snorted, putting the car back into gear. I eased onto the gas, just in case the stupid animal was still nearby and wanted to make a second attempt at crossing the road. “Let’s get back home before we test our luck further.”
The engine revved, and revved, and revved…
We went nowhere. Shoving my head out the window, I watched the rear wheel spin in mid-air.
A small, but sizably deep ditch ran along this side of the road; probably the drainage route to help divert standing water.
With the ass half of my truck hanging over it, there was no traction for my wheel.
The fact that we weren’t rocking back and forth as I jerked at the steering told me the one on the other side was hanging too.
Fuck. We were sitting ducks. And not just for the djinn, but for any car that came speeding around that turn.
“Hold this,” I told Rani, tossing the black tourmaline onto her lap.
I needed both hands for this and didn’t want to risk dropping the little crystal; a well-charged one was a bitch to replace.
“Hurry,” she urged, glancing nervously out the windows. “I feel like we’re too exposed.”
We were most definitely too exposed. Rounding the truck, I pulled on my magick and slid a thin layer of ice beneath the front wheels, then I gripped the bumper, dug my feet into the dirt, and pushed . Gods, why did I have to get the king-sized truck bed? This fucker wasn’t going anywhere.
“Give it a little gas!” I called out.
The vehicle rocked as Rani slid over the console and into the driver’s seat. The engine revved, and I put my whole back into it, but too much weight was pulling the truck toward the ditch. I had to get at least one of these wheels on the road or find some way to tow it forward.
Wait a minute…
I pulled myself out and ran across the road to peer over the edge of the cliff.
Not too far down; Rani can manage that.
This would be an excellent chance for a practical application of her training as well.
My idea required manipulating water two ways at once, and since our magicks were similar, I was confident it was something I could talk her through.
I beckoned her over, careful to make sure no other cars were coming before letting her dart across the road to me.
“I need your help to drag the truck out of the ditch,” I told her, pointing to where the problem was.
I explained my plan; how I wanted her to call up a steady stream of water from the ocean below and direct it around the anchor at the front of the truck.
I’d freeze it, and then she could pull. “We’re going to use my magick as an anchor and yours as the rope. Make sense?”
She eyed the distance to the truck and then peered over the cliff. The black crystal disappeared and reappeared between her fingers as she thought it through.
“I’ve never pulled water from that far before,” she admitted, body rigid. “Or held it for that long.”
I knew her confidence wavered, but she had no reason to worry. Rani was stronger than she knew. I sensed the untouched pool of magick within her; she’d yet to harness her full potential.
“I mean, if you think the task is too hard…”
“I didn’t say that.”
She glared, and I took a step back, my hands up. “I’m just saying, if you can’t do it, then you can’t do it. There’s no need to be embarrassed by admitting that in front of me.”
A flash of irritation from her side of the bond told me my plan was working. Truly, I should have been an actor. I was a motherfucking emotional chameleon, and my talents were wasted. Rani’s eyes were shut tight in concentration. I felt her pull magick, but she wasn’t grabbing nearly enough.
“You’re right,” I sighed. “It’s too far, and I shouldn’t have asked you to try.”
“Would you shut up!” she snapped, opening one angry eye to stare me down. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
I held back my smirk and did as she asked.
This time, the tug on her magick was far stronger—I really was a genius—and a thin rope of water slowly rose in the air to my left.
Once it crested the cliff, the water slithered like a creepy snake across the road.
When it reached the anchor point at the front of the truck, I readied my own power.
Rani cursed, and the water rope fell to the earth with a splash. The black tourmaline dropped to the ground in front of her, and she rubbed her palm while shooting me another glare.
“That thing burned me,” she accused. “Why the hell am I holding it again?”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. We had to move.
“Rani.” I fixed my face to hide my fear, but her spine straightened as if she sensed it. “You need to try again, right now.”
No argument. Thank fuck. She gathered her magick much quicker this time, all hesitation gone, and sent that rope flying to the truck. I froze it on contact, just the tip, and made sure to add a few layers of my own magick to secure it.
“Pull,” I instructed. The truck groaned, but didn’t move. “Concentrate, Rani.”
“I am,” she growled, brows scrunched.
Another groan from the truck, and the front bumper jerked.
“Good. Again.”
“It’s too heavy!”
We gained another inch, maybe two, but it wasn’t enough. The wheels were still hanging off the road. Any minute, the djinn would be on us. A faint hum of a motor keened over the roar of the sea, and I knew I’d have to make a decision soon. Run or fight.
“Make the ocean do the work,” I shouted, the groan of metal loud and continuous now. “The water wants to go back home, so let it, but control its fall.”
The truck lurched, hard. Both front wheels hopped over the asphalt until the grill pointed directly at us. Another bounce. Another jolt. The second all four tires were on solid ground, I released the ice and lunged for Rani’s hand. We ran for the truck, me scooping up the crystal on the way.
It felt like holding a small ember; it was so hot, and that level of negative intent didn’t bode well for us.
I told Rani to drive as I climbed into the bed of the truck.
She shut the door and put the car in gear just as four motorcycles appeared around the turn.
There wasn’t much distance left to go to get behind the wards, maybe a couple miles, but the djinn surrounding us didn’t seem inclined to let us reach them.
The thick visor of their helmets hid their identities, but also made it impossible for them to ensnare me.
They could still project an illusion, of course, but it would be warped if they tried to make it stick at this speed.
The four hunters closed in on us, getting so close that they brushed against the sides of the truck.
Rani screamed from inside the cab as one of the djinn reached through the open window to yank on the steering wheel.
A spinning disk of ice left my hand, sharper and faster than I’d ever made it.
It sliced through my enemy’s arm and sent them veering off to the side and over the cliff.
Their screams couldn’t be heard, and that was such a damned shame.
I felt myself sinking into that killing calm; that dark place hidden deep within me that enjoyed my job and the blood it required me to spill.
These hunters weren’t sent to capture us, not this time.
Not with the way they forced the truck off the road and closer to that deadly drop.
Killing them was going to bring me so much pleasure.
“Can you not !” Rani screeched, and I whipped my head around.
She held an old soda bottle in her hand and whacked at the djinn trying to climb in through the passenger window.
When the bottle did nothing against the thick helmet, she switched to the hammer I forgot on the floor near the console. “Stop. Trying. To make. Me crash!”
The truck swerved with her strikes, but it didn’t keep the other two hunters from jumping off their vehicles and onto ours.
Finally, it was my turn to play. The last leg of this road was a straight shot, and our speed increased as Rani made a mad dash for safety.
Her hunter hung half in and out of the window, either dead or knocked out.
I’d make sure it was dead after I dispatched his friends. My reflection stared back at me from their glossy helmets, and I couldn't help but grin as my hands began to glow. These fuckers probably thought I needed to touch them for my magick to work. Idiots.
Thick blocks of ice formed over their boots, cementing them in place.
It was all they could do to keep their balance.
My laughter carried away on the wind as I watched their arms wave and swing, imagining their wide, terrified eyes.
We neared the beach house—I could tell once I saw the peaked roof of our nearest neighbor.
Good thing there were too many trees and too much distance between us for them to see what was about to happen next.
The large gate blocking our driveway was already open; Rani remembered to press the button. Careful not to take my eyes off the djinn, I sat with my back against the window. My magick was fighting to get out; it wanted me to unleash its full power on these assholes who dared to threaten my bond.
But what I had in mind was way more… subtle.
Pulling only the strands I needed, a ball of ice formed in the air before my head.
I directed it higher, until it was about neck level if I were standing.
The ball slowly grew skinny little arms on each side.
They stretched and lengthened, moving sideways in a straight line all the way to either side of the truck.
Adding more magick, I hardened the thin bar. Sharpened it. Made sure it was so fine that it could slice a strand of hair. It was hardly bigger itself, only the sunlight reflecting off certain parts told me it was where I needed it to be.
The truck rumbled off the dirt road and onto the smooth concrete of our drive, and I urged my magick to form one more surprise.
Large, intimidating, very pointy spikes.
They hung above my head and pointed at my victims like accusing arrows.
The djinn couldn’t help but look up at them, at what they thought would be their final blow.
They never saw the brick pillars of the gate we passed between. Never saw the thin, razor-sharp bar of ice that got wedged between those pillars or the decapitating death that lunged for them as Rani drove us safely back behind the wards.
Their heads fell first, followed by their bodies as I released the last bit of magick, securing their boots.
Two dead heaps tumbled to the ground in bloody pools; a problem to clean up later.
First, I had to lock away the monstrous part of me that didn’t want to go back in its cage. Then I had to make sure Rani was okay.
She was all that mattered.