I took a step back, creating a distance between us. We needed space to fight, both of us already in our favorite stances. I had my arms in a loose, slightly raised position. Something was definitely stalking us, and I was pretty sure they were ready to attack.
Magic seeped into the air around us, ruffling through my hair, standing my wolf and dragon at attention. Some of the elemental magic was from Jacob. He had called on fire. A flaming ball rested in one of his hands. But the rest was from something else. Something fey, but not like my Compass. This was cold and metallic.
I recognized the magic a second before the figure stepped into view.
“Shit!” I said, low but audible. Jacob reacted immediately, shoving me further behind him before he stepped into the middle of the path.
A jinn. Seriously? These fuckers kept popping up everywhere I turned. They must have missed the memo where they were supposed to be nothing more than a myth.
I took two steps to the side, standing with Jacob. I threw him a glare to let him know I didn’t appreciate being shoved aside like a damsel in distress. He flashed me a grin and some dimples, which was the quads’ standard fare to get them off the hook. He was lucky I had missed him a lot.
Both of us returned our attention to the figure blocking our path. It took me a few seconds to recognize it as Kirik, the jinn from Larky’s castle. Shit! Was he here for the dragon king? Had he been following me the entire time? Seeing him for the first time outside of my wolf vision, he was red and black, like the one from the sanctuary. Though upon closer inspection Kirik’s features were different, more elongated and defined, with larger eyes and teeth. His markings were not very prominent, just your regular run-of-the-mill jinn. If you could call any of them run-of-the-mill.
“What the hell do you want?” I snarled, unable to hold my tongue a moment longer. “Why are you dickwads always stalking my ass? I thought you stayed out of the business of others. I’d appreciate it if you’d fuck right off and well, stay out of my business.”
Damn, I had this politeness thing down.
The jinn just continued to stare at me with those dark, depthless eyes. I glided a little closer, shaking off the warning hand from Jacob. I wasn’t sure where my lack of concern for my safety or wellbeing sprung from. The reality was I was far more breakable now than ever before, but I was running on no sleep or decent food – no cake – and I had had enough of this shit.
I got right into his personal space. “Answer me,” I said, my mouth inches from his face.
I realized then that we were practically the same height. Jacob towered over us. These demi-fey creatures held so much power, I often forgot they were quite frail in appearance. “Why do you all stalk me?”
A rush of winds was my answer, the previous iciness growing. Then, when I was about to lose my shit completely and throw down with a supernatural that could probably squish me with no more than a thought, it spoke.
“You’re not natural, Jessa Lebron. You hold something which is not yours to hold. Larkspur stole the essence and you were forcibly dragon mated, and that cannot be allowed to continue. The jinn read the future, and for now you have none. We debate whether to end you, or to simply bide out time and let you work it out … the right way.”
Whoa! Okay, that was a little full on. No future? Surely they must see something for me. And what the hell was dragon mated? We had mates in the supernatural world, but how did that specifically refer to dragons?
“Give her a chance,” said Jacob. “She always does the right thing. Even if it takes her a little while to reach that conclusion.”
Jacob was standing against my right shoulder. He was apparently going for the diplomatic approach today. Although I wasn’t sure if that was an insult or a backward compliment. Either way, he deserved an elbow in the ribs, which I delivered.
“If you make the right choice, then you’ll have no more issue with our kind,” the jinn said.
In a flash, the air around us filled with fire and ice, a strange combination of the two elements. Jacob and I jumped back and I still felt the burn of flames and the sting of frost. By the time I blinked a few times and looked again, the jinn was gone. That elemental fire and ice show must have been its grand finale. I took a few shuddering breaths before locking eyes with the fey.
“He was in the castle with Larky, I thought they were in cahoots, but it seems that the jinn are keeping tabs on him and me.” I all but whispered. “Do you think he’ll return?”
My dragon roared then and urgency overtook my mind. Jacob hauled me closer.
“The jinn’s gone,” he said, “but seems like everything else is coming out now.”
Noises crashed in around us and I was getting the distinct impression that the jinn had been keeping the creatures of the labyrinth away so that it could deal with us directly. Now it had left again, taking with it whatever barrier it had erected. Shit was getting real now.
Jacob and I ran, hauling ass as fast as our supernatural legs could carry us, neither of us pausing or looking back. “You need to stop drawing the attention of the jinn,” Jacob said as we powered along the dark lane. The noises grew around us, reminding me of the ape-bears that had chased me last time I was in Faerie. “They have the power of the fates behind them. They can rewrite the fabric of the worlds. They can create and they can destroy.” His pause was dramatic. Typical fey. “Don’t give them a reason to rewrite you, Jessa babe, not even a small one.”
I managed to sigh, roll my eyes, and keep running like my butt was on fire. “Jacob Compass, what the freak do you think I did to draw their attention? I didn’t even know they were still in existence until the last couple of months. Whatever is up with me, it’s because of the dragon king. That asshole did something to me, something before I was even born. All of the marked have been manipulated by him, but for me it’s something more.”