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 younot!” 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 toomuch 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.
CHAPTER 20
Rani
I felt the tingle of the wards as we passed through them, but kept my foot on the gas until the house came into view. The body of the djinn in the window rocked when I slammed on the brakes, and I fought off a shudder for what exactly that meant. Was he dead?
I didn’t mean to kill him; I only wanted him to stop grabbing me and reaching for the steering wheel. A hammer to the head was a little much, maybe, but with that thick helmet on, I thought for sure I only knocked him out. There wasn’t blood leaking all over the seat or anything, so he probably wasn’t dead… right?
My hands shook as I shifted the gear to park.
Fuck, I think I’m going to be sick.
The driver’s door swung open, and all thoughts of the potentially deceased djinn were swept away by the raging fire in my chest. There was Ezra; every furious, powerful, worried inch of him. He inspected me in almost a blind panic, his handstrembling as they roamed in search of injury. I tried to return the favor, but he was moving too much for me to get a good look.
Nothing screamed down the bond at me; no pain or sharp echoes. Literally,nothing. At all. It was dead silent.
“Did they touch you?” he demanded. “They had weapons, and I’d bet everything on our bond that they were coated in poison. If they—if it—Did they touch you?”
His words were right, but his tone… I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong with it. Perhaps the adrenaline was fucking with my ability to read him. His fingers squeezed painfully into my shoulders the longer I went without answering.
“I think I killed him,” was all I could mumble in response.
There was a swirling vortex of fucked uppery making a mess of my emotions. Guilt and relief fought front and center, and I really needed the calming touch of Ezra’s side of the bond to get it under control. I didn’t realize how much I relied on our connection until it wasn’t there. Why wasn’t it there?
The djinn splayed halfway across the passenger seat groaned, his smashed helmet twitching out the corner of my eye. One of his hands clutched at the leather as he tried and failed to push himself up. Definitely not dead then. What did we do now? It wasn’t like we could walk him to the edge of the wards and set him out with the trash cans. Did we get Band-Aids?
