Because Jarron is right; there are more types of power than just magic and brute strength.
There are intelligence and influence. There are strategy and tenacity. There are friendships and alliances.
There is love.
There is hope.
The cyclops’s massive body wobbles on his feet and then crashes into the ground right beside me.
Vincent roars, “Jinn, kill her now!”
62
The Final Member of the Cosmic Council
Liz’s mouth opens wide in a pained but silent scream as the magic takes over her body. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t stop it.
But I can.
“No.”
One word. One command.
The jinn, golden eyed and face blank, pauses. She doesn’t move. Doesn’t follow Vincent’s command. And in that beat of shock while my final enemy doesn’t understand what’s happening, I grab a black vial from my tin and pry open the cyclops’s mouth.
He’s asleep, but not dead. Not yet.
“Kill her!” Vincent commands again.
“No,” I say once more. “Sit down.”
The jinn obeys, dropping her butt into the chair she vacated minutes ago. Then, her eyes flicker to blue. “I don’t understand,” she whispers.
I pour that small drop of black liquid into the cyclops’s mouth. His breathing stops immediately.
My heart is still pounding. Still throbbing. But the power is on my side now.
“What have you done?” Vincent asks.
I stand, arm still shattered and sending sharp jolts of pain all the way through my back, but I barely feel it.
“Thishuman,” I tell him, “with only an ounce of magic in her veins, just beat you. That’s what I’ve done.”
He blinks and stutters.
“You felt it moments ago. Your magic is gone. Your allies are gone. You do still have the jinn, except you’re not the last of the council controlling the jinn.” I wink.
He pales. “Beatrice is not here—” he stutters. “You cannot assume her command—”
“No, you misunderstand. Bea is not the last council member. She hasn’t been part of the council at all, actually, for about twenty-four hours.”
His eyes flare. Liz’s mouth drops open.
“Kill her,” he commands again, but there’s less passion in his tone. He feels it now too.
The jinn doesn’t move.
He growls, fury and confusion clear on his face. “Impossible!”
