For the Power (For the Blood Book 2) Read online

  Deana stepped up to Elias and tilted her head to look up into his face. “Go after the human and get the key. I’ll cover for you. I’ll put you on my security rotation.” Her hand came up to cup the side of his face. “Elias, get that key, and we can rule side by side once more, as it was truly meant to be.”

  His cruel lips curled in a satisfied smile. “And Malcolm will finally taste true fear.”

  “Yes.” The word was a sibilant hiss.

  The male’s gaze flicked to me. “And what is this you’re playing with?”

  She shrugged. “Just a little project for Malcolm.”

  Elias’s eyes narrowed. “Now, now, Deana, do share.”

  “Bring back the key, and you’ll unlock all my secrets,” she said.

  He gripped her shoulders. “Deana …”

  She huffed. “It’s a weapon, all right. And that’s all I’m at liberty to say right now.” She leaned into him, her lips inches from his. “But bring me the key and it’s your weapon.”

  “Our weapon,” he said. “How long until it’s deployed?”

  She puffed out her cheeks. “A week, at the most.”

  “Better if you hold off. We don’t want Malcolm having control of it, do we?”

  She arched a brow. “It hardly matters when the result will be the same whoever wields it.”

  His smile was slow to burn. “Oh, it matters, Deana. Especially if you want us to be remembered as the ones holding the reins.”

  She ran a finger down his chest. “I missed this, Elias. I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Yes. So am I.”

  He stepped away from her touch, turned on his heel, and strode from the room. Her shoulders sagged briefly, but she pushed them back and clipped over to me.

  “So, where were we? Oh, yes. We were about to begin your transformation.” She reached up to press something to my left, something I couldn’t turn my head to see, and then a hiss filled the glass chamber I was trapped in. “I warn you, it will be slow, and it will be painful.”

  What was that? Gas? No. I felt fine, what was she doing? Something tickled my toes, cool and wet and … Oh, shit. There was no doubt what that was.

  I stared right into her eyes and clenched my jaw, defiant. “Fuck you, Deana. Fuck you.”

  The chamber filled with water.

  Chapter Five

  The djinn leader’s fiery gaze had dimmed to a smooth gold now, like Noah’s, but deeper, with flecks of silver that radiated outward from his pupils. This close, his huge frame dwarfed mine, and a steady heat radiated off his body to brush my skin. There was no way a human could be that big. This was djinn form given carbon substance by the bond he’d formed with a human.

  “I’m Eva.” I held out my hand, and he shook it.

  The rasp of his palm sent a tingling sensation up my arm, and I pulled back quickly.

  “My name is Sage,” he said.

  Not his true name, this would be a pseudonym, because djinn never gave out their birth names. To know a djinn’s name gave you power over them; it was where the whole genie in a bottle metaphor had come from. Knowing a djinn’s true name allowed you to summon them and force them to do your bidding, although I couldn’t imagine Sage bowing to anyone. The creature was pure power trapped in material form.

  Behind us, the other djinn were busy raiding the van. Ash stood to my right clutching two of our backpacks stocked with provisions for our journey. No tech inside, so they were ours per the deal I’d struck. Jace pressed a hand to his lips and then touched his bike in farewell before walking over to join us, while Logan hovered by the van, his eyes on the djinn who were combing through it.

  A djinn jumped out of the van holding our radio.

  “No.” Logan made a grab for it. “Not that. We need that.”

  Sage frowned. “We had a deal.”

  Shit. I should have added that we get to keep the radio. We needed to stay in contact with Noah. But djinn were notoriously stubborn, and renegotiation was not an option.

  Logan turned to look at Sage, his lip curl a warning he was about to unleash some choice curses. The Fang had a foul mouth, and the djinn had fiery hands. Not a great combination.

  “Logan, back off.” I stepped in front of Sage and then regretted the move. It looked like I was shielding him, which was ridiculous.

  Logan’s jaw tensed.

  I walked over to the van and smiled up at the djinn who was holding the radio. “May I please make one more call before you take it? Just to let our friend know what’s happened so he doesn’t worry?”

  The djinn looked over my head at Sage, who must have given the okay, because he handed me the radio.

  Beside me Logan was a mass of tension. He didn’t like this situation. He wasn’t happy with the deal we’d made, and no doubt I’d hear all about it at some point, but fuck him, it had been the only option.

  “Noah, you there? Over.” Static followed. “Noah, hello. Over.”

  “Eva? Is everything okay? Over.” Noah sounded out of breath, like he’d run to get to the radio.

  “Yeah, we’re okay, but we won’t be able to call in for a while. We had an encounter with some djinn, but we’re fine.” I filled him in briefly on the deal. “So we won’t be able to get in touch. Over.”

  There was a lengthy silence. “Is the djinn’s name Sage? Over.”

  “Yeah. Do you know him? Over.”

  “Hand him the radio. Over.”

  I walked over to Sage and held out the radio. He took it with a frown. “Hello. Over.”

  “Sage, you bastard. How in the hell are you? Over.”

  “Noah? Is that really you? Over.”

  “The one and only. Over.”

  Sage’s face had lit up. He ran a hand over his shaved head as his gaze went from Ash to Logan to Jace. “I see it now. I see these are your boys. They were so tiny when we met. Over.”

  “They were. It’s been too long. Listen, Sage, they’re headed somewhere very important. If I’d known where you were, I’d have asked them to swing your way, but I guess fate has done what I couldn’t. Take care of them for me. Over.”

  Sage pressed his lips together, his attention on me. “You can count on it. Over.”

  “Godspeed, my friend. Over and out.”

  Sage stared at the radio for several beats, and then he handed it to me. “Keep it.”

  “Sage? What are you doing?” one of the djinn by the van asked.

  “These are Noah’s boys, and I owe him a debt. Take the vehicles, but they can keep the radio.” He looked down at me. “Come with me. Our camp isn’t far from here, and I want to show you something.”

  I looked up at the sky. The sun was high. “We need to be at our next stop before dark.”

  “An hour is all it will take,” Sage said.

  “We need to get moving,” Logan insisted.

  “Jace? Ash?”

  I’d agreed on the deal without consulting them, acting on instinct, on the fact that I’d been calling the shots for a while now, so it was only fair to get a consensus on this.

  Ash signed.

  “We have time,” Jace translated.

  Logan threw up his hands. “Of course we do.”

  I smiled up at Sage. “In that case. Sure.”

  It was a fifteen-minute trek with Sage leading the way through the abandoned remains of a town square, past derelict stores and a dry, cracked fountain, over cobbles overgrown with weeds, and onto a dirt track leading into a brief woodland filled with twittering birds.

  The sound was sweet and unexpected. Even Logan stopped to listen for a moment. How long since I’d heard that sound? The compound had been the last place, our enclosed garden where we’d had birds and even the odd squirrel. Out here in the wide world, the sounds of nature were silent, interrupted only by the growl of Claws or the howl of Fangs, so this was an auditory treat.

  “How much farther?” Jace asked.

  “We’re here,” Sage said.

  We stepped out of the woodland in
to a meadow dappled with white blooms and heavy with the scent of honeysuckle. In the distance were several colorful tents, and to the left of the tents was a long, squat building with smoke pluming out of the chimney. The air around the whole scene was a shimmering blue haze.

  “What is it? What is that?” I pointed at the sky.

  “A ward,” Sage said. His long legs ate up the distance between us and the settlement. “This is our home. It’s our base of operations.”

  “Operations?” Sounded official.

  We were almost at the shimmer. It rose up to meet us, and then it was passing over my skin with a tingling sensation as I stepped through. Laughter and music greeted us, the sound of a baby crying, the aroma of roasting meat and the clang of metal on metal. So much sensory information in such a short space of time. It was overload, and it was glorious.

  Humans milled about, smiling, happy, and at the sight of Sage several children came running up to us.

  “Sage, Sage! What did you bring us today?”

  He laughed and swung two of the younger boys up into his arms. “A big van for you to play in.”

  “Can I drive it?” one of the boys asked.

  “I’ll tell you what? As soon as your legs are long enough, I’ll teach you.” He set them down, and they ran off toward a bright yellow tent.

  A golden-haired woman stepped out to greet them; she looked up and raised a hand in greeting to Sage. Her curious gaze fell to us, and she pressed her lips together and retreated into the tent.

  As we made our way toward the huge building that looked like it had once been a barn, several other humans greeted Sage, mainly young human females with eyelashes that seemed to flutter too much and hands that seemed to touch a little more than necessary. The djinn was certainly popular with the ladies, and for a moment, I saw him the way they did. A beast of a man, with a grin that made mouths ache to smile and eyes that teased the soul. Yes, he was an attractive, compelling creature. And he could burn me to a crisp with a touch of his hand.

  The doors to the barn were open wide, and the sound of machinery emanated from within.

  “You live with the humans.” Logan sounded stunned. “They … like you.”

  “We saved them,” Sage said. “We’re a family here, and we take care of each other.”

  “Your hosts are voluntary, aren’t they?” Jace said.

  Sage smiled. “There is no other way to take a host. Not if you want it to retain its sanity.”

  “Not all djinn care about their human hosts’ sanity,” Logan said.

  “No. Not all djinn do.”

  I hadn’t even known that djinn could take human hosts until today, so this was all news to me. We were almost at the barn doors when a woman intercepted us.

  “Sage, where are the others? Where’s Henry? Juno returned a few minutes ago. He returned without Henry.”

  Sage’s gaze flicked to Ash and then he sighed. “I’m sorry, Lia, there was an accident. Henry is dead.” His words were simple and direct, but his tone was loaded with compassion.

  Beside me, Ash stiffened. Henry must have been the host he’d killed. Killed on my say-so. I reached out and gave his hand a brief squeeze.

  The woman shook her head. “No. No, he can’t be. You said … You said once this was over, I’d get him back.”

  “And that was our intention,” Sage said. “Henry was a brave man. He offered himself to the cause, and he died in the pursuit of our freedom.”

  She rolled her lips into her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears.

  Sage’s hand swallowed her shoulder in a gesture of comfort. “The others are bringing his body back. He will be given a warrior’s burial.”

  Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she dashed them away with the back of her hand and lifted her chin. “I’ll tell the others.” She walked back toward the tents.

  Sage blew out a breath.

  This was our fault. “I’m sorry.”

  “No. You weren’t to know. These things happen. Mortal life is fleeting and, consequently, more precious, but all our hosts knew the risks. They accepted willingly because our goal is worth the sacrifice.”

  He led us into the barn, where the hum of voices and the buzz and whirr of machinery filled the air. Several vehicles were parked to the right—a patchwork of various machines with huge tractor wheels and customized armor. Several had wicked-looking pikes jutting out all over the body work, and one had a huge machine gun on top of it. On the wall to the left were weapons—guns, knives, and grenade launchers. You name it, they had it.

  “What is this?” Jace asked.

  “This,” Sage said, “is our arsenal.” He walked ahead and then turned to face us. “This is how we’re going to take down the Genesis Foundation.”

  Chapter Six

  An armory … The djinn had a fucking armory. How long had it taken for them to put this together?

  Sage’s gaze was hot on the side of my face. “You like?”

  Forcing my gaze away from the weapons, I glanced up at him. “It’s beautiful.”

  His broad face split into a huge grin. “I thought you might appreciate it.”

  “You did?”

  He frowned and stared searchingly into my face. “In our realm, magic is power, but here, in this dimension, knowledge is power—the knowledge that leads to science, the science that creates weapons. You have a thirst for power inside you. A thirst for knowledge.”

  “Yes, I do, but how in the world could you know that? Djinn mojo?”

  “No. I recognize a kindred spirit when I see one,” he said.

  Kindred spirit? “We’re nothing alike.”

  His smile was cryptic. Djinn and their need to be mysterious. I didn’t have time for guessing games and cryptic sentences. If he had something to say, he’d have to just come out and say it.

  Ash was examining the nearest tank, his large hands running over the armored plating as if testing its validity. He turned to Logan, his hands moving fast. I’d gotten used to reading him, and the slight twitch of his left brow told me he was asking something, not making a statement.

  “You’re planning to storm Genesis, aren’t you?” Logan asked on behalf of Ash. There was no mistaking the skepticism in his voice.

  Sage’s eyes narrowed. “You have a problem with that?” He addressed Ash, who simply shrugged.

  But Logan wasn’t so blasé. “We don’t have a problem, but you might. You have the weapons and the vehicles, but you don’t have the manpower. You have what? Ten, maybe eleven djinn?”

  Sage lifted his chin. “The humans allied with us will fight.”

  Logan arched a brow. “You’re serious?” He shook his head. “The Vladul will literally eat the humans alive.”

  “The humans are aware of the risk. They realize what is at stake,” Sage said.

  In other words, they were willing to act as cannon fodder. But why were the djinn making such an effort to attack the Genesis Foundation? What was it that they planned to achieve? It made no sense … They’d get in, but then what? The Vladul had the numbers. They’d fight back, and the djinn and their meager human posse would fall. Unless … Unless the djinn did have an army …

  Comprehension bloomed in my chest. “The Vladul have your people, don’t they?”

  Sage’s amber eyes flared to life like dying embers given a fresh breath of air. “Yes. Your deduction skills are impressive.”

  “Once you’re in, you’ll free them, and they’ll take human hosts, humans you’ll be taking in with you. You’ll have your army.” How was that for deduction?

  “That’s the plan.” Sage crossed his arms.

  It was a good plan. A really good plan. Once we had the cure, once we’d deployed it, I could go with them and get Tobias out. This was fate, it had to be.

  “When do you plan to act?” Jace asked.

  “We’re almost ready,” Sage said. “But a cure trumps our plan. The cure must come first.”

  Yes. It had to come first. It was the only reason I w
as here and not trying to break into the Genesis Foundation right now. “If we get the cure, the Vladul’s days will be numbered. Once the Feral and the Fangs are restored, there’ll be more of us than them. When that happens, I’m coming with you. I’m storming their stronghold.”

  Sage nodded, a smile hovering on his lips. “And you will be welcome.”

  “Unless the cure is more of a vaccine to protect the uninfected,” Jace pointed out. “We won’t know if it can actually cure the Feral until we have more information.”

  He wasn’t being negative, just pointing out the facts, but it grated anyway, and the cold look I gave him had him ducking his head and averting his gaze. Shit, I needed to rein in the animosity with him. What had happened had been a one-off. Jace had slipped up and almost allowed his brother to drain me. His apology had been sincere. I needed to cut him a break. Jace glanced my way again, and I shot him a smile, but it sat stiff and unnatural on my face.

  “We should get going,” Logan said. “We have only a few hours of sunlight left. We need to get to the bunker.”

  Sage’s brows shot up. “A bunker? As in government-issue?”

  “Yes, and before you ask, you can have any useful tech once we’re done with the place.” I headed for the exit. “Sun’s wasting, guys, let’s move out.”

  The bunker entrance was buried beneath weeds and thorns and located under a cement bridge on the bank of a rushing river. Hydraulic power. The other bunkers would be the same, no doubt, built beside rivers and lakes to harness the water’s power for their generators. Clever.

  The codes that Noah had given us were in no particular order, and it was the third one down that opened the thick metal hatch with an ominous hiss. Stale air rushed out to greet us.

  Yeah, this bunker hadn’t been used in a long while, if ever.

  Ash placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was his cue for me to step back and allow him to go first. I obliged, and he slipped past me and dropped down into the hatch. Boots clanged on metal as he descended the ladder, and then there was silence.

  “Let me.” Logan went next, dropping into darkness.