“Stripped down to fire? Well, I’ve never seen that happen, but I’d guess two weeks at the outside. They’d have to return to the ring while they healed.”
’Bout what I figured.
“Any idea where they might hole up when not in the ring?”
“No. You could ask those meddling peri, though.” He spat on the concrete floor. “They had some cockamamie scheme to free them, but those feather-brained nitwits can’t even rescue their own queen, let alone free enslaved djinn.”
“Rescue their queen?” My eyes widened in shock. I hadn’t been outta the gamethatlong. “Did something happen to Parvaneh?”
“Three weeks ago, she walked into a trap.”
Uh-oh. This is not good. Not good at all.
“Any idea who has her?” I demanded. “Or why?”
“So far, no one’s claimed responsibility or asked for ransom or anything like that.” His face screwed up in a grimace. “She had to go and get herself kidnapped. Now Allah’s pissed off at the divs and us by association, even though we declared neutrality long ago. We’ve made it clear that their war is not ours.”
“And if she dies? The sheba gonna stay neutral then?”
“Makes no difference to us.” He shrugged. “Yasmina will step up as their queen.”
“Mumtaz will consume Yasmina,” I shot back, “and if you don’t kneel to him, he’ll consume you, too.”
His dark eyes lit up, and I wanted him to attack me so bad, my hands shook. If he did, I’d finally have a target for all this rage.
“Let it alone, Harker.” Kandor crossed his arms over his chest. “You want me to keep your bike in storage for now?”
Too close to the edge to speak, I gave him a short nod.
David came back with the SUV, and Chance and Chessie stowed their bags in the trunk. We waved good-bye to them and thanked Kandor, and that was the last time I ever saw the sheikh of the shebas.
#
Mira
“Did you poke the bear?” I asked Kerry.
“What bear?”
His face! I could have peed myself laughing, but I didn’t because I knew it would upset him, and that really would be poking the bear.
A big ole Kodiak, too.
He’d gotten far too close to losing it back there, and I thought a distraction would be a good idea. I also wanted to learn more about this situation I was suddenly embroiled in.
I explained what I meant, and he shrugged.
“Oh. Well, that bear needed to be poked. The sheba are gonna have to choose a side sooner or later. I want them to do it sooner, and choose the peris instead of the divs.”
“If a queen rules the peris and a sheikh the shebas, who rules the divs?” Jax butted in.
“A king. His name is Mumtaz.”
“We should pay our respects to him, then,” Gigi said. “If we’re going to play diplomats, it would keep things balanced, right?”
I thought Kerry’s eyes were gonna pop outta his head.
“Uh, no. We do not want to visit him.”
