Djinn's Passion Page 8

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Prince Rodin looked over at Torrid and said, “Keep her safe.”

  “With my life,” Torrid said.

  Prince Rodin reached for my hand and said, “I know you have your destiny, but for now, your purpose is to live and stay alive. Be careful, Kama.”

  I bowed and Torrid led me outside.

  “I think for today, we should find your mother and bring her back to the Western Nethers. That should keep us busy for a while and will keep Pim and Dr. Sanz guessing about your next move.”

  “That makes sense, but before we return to the Nethers, I also want to check on Melanie and…”

  Silence hung in the air for a tense moment. I hated to bring up Liam, but Torrid had to know how important it was for me to make sure he was okay.

  He inhaled deeply and let his breath seep out. “Let’s start with finding your mother and making sure she’s safe. Then we’ll see what we can do about your… friends.”

  Chapter 12

  Walking through the Amethyst District was part dream part nightmare. So many childhood memories came flooding in. I remembered the hundreds of times I’d played hopscotch with Sarah, our colorful crayons marking out the play area. We passed the homes I knew so well.

  Mrs. Kesler’s little yellow house with the closed in porch. She’d often have hot fudge waiting for us when we got home from school.

  Mr. Thicket had the blue house on the corner. He’d open the front door and wave at us. His three little white poodles would always run out to greet us, yapping and yelping the entire time.

  I looked sadly at the house Miss Rochester had once occupied. A good friend of my mother’s, she was the one I went to whenever things went wrong and my mother wasn’t around. With no children of her own, she offered her home to us as the neighborhood safe house where kids could find refuge from the rain, the cold or simply if they’d gotten lost.

  “I can’t believe how much things have changed in so short of a time. How can it take so long to build such a beautiful city, such a perfect life only to have it shattered in a second?” I turned to Torrid before he could answer. “I know. The perfect life we led was an illusion. I realize that now, but it’s still so hard to believe, so hard to put all that behind me.”

  The peaceful and tranquil streets I’d known all my life now resonated with the sounds of pain and screams of terror coming from neighboring districts. We rounded the corner and my house came into view. At first glance it looked just like when I’d last seen it. It’s only as we approached that I realized the front door was wide open and two of the windows were smashed in.

  My heart jumped to my throat as gory images of my mother came to my mind. At the gate that led to the door, I stopped.

  “You want me to go in first and take a look?” Torrid offered.

  I nodded but walked up with him all the same. Half of me desperately wanted to know what had happened to my mother while the other half feared the scene that awaited me. Had she been hurt? Left to die on the kitchen floor?

  Torrid walked in first and I followed close behind, allowing him to partially shield me from whatever awaited us inside. Glass was strewn across the living room floor along with the cushions and stuffing of the sofa.

  “Mom,” I called.

  Nothing.

  Walking into the kitchen I found the refrigerator door wide open, the contents raided, most likely by a hungry warrior or stranded civilian. The cupboards had also been emptied.

  “Mom,” I called out again as I stepped over an overturned chair and headed down the hall.

  My bedroom had been ransacked. Clothes lay everywhere, but what caught my eye was the childhood drawing of my father. Torn into hundreds of tiny little pieces it was tossed about the room.

  I continued on towards my mother’s room and found the same disorder. “Why would someone turn everything upside down?”

  “Your mother was closely tied to Pim Seer for a number of years. Whoever came through here, djinn or Magical One, they were no doubt looking for clues of Pim’s passing. Perhaps private documents, things Pim didn’t want to leave at the Manor or Committee Building. Were you ever aware of him doing business here?”

  “No,” I said. “As I got older he came here less and less. It was usually my mother who went out to see him. As far as business is concerned, I never even heard him talk about politics or Arcadia.”

  “Well, whatever happened, it scared your mother away.”

  “What makes you think it’s not Magical Ones who captured her?”

  “I sense it. I sense the desire to find, but not the satisfaction of having found. I sense your mother’s fear, but not the horror of having been caught.”

  I turned to him, my lips pursed and my hands on my hips. “Then could you simply sense where she went?”

  “Don’t get upset, Kama. I’m only trying to help. I can sense a certain degree of emotions, but I have no indication as to where she went.”

  I focused on her, on my love for her, on my desire to find her. I needed to pick up on some clue, something that would lead me to her.

  But there was nothing and my heart sunk.

  “Don’t let it get you down. Just because you don’t pick up on her doesn’t mean something’s happened to her. We’ll find her. Come on.”

  After a last glance around we walked out. The screams of horror and shouts of command were closer.

  “They’re about to close in. We have to hurry.” Torrid grabbed my elbow and led me down the street.

  We walked about, aimlessly wandering the streets with no direction, no idea which way to turn.

  “This is impossible. We’ll never find her like this.” I stopped on a street corner and gazed down each direction.

  As we’d seen earlier in the Sapphire District, civilians now began leaving their homes, running through the streets to find safety. Before long, chaos settled on my home district.

  It pained me to see neighbors, elderly women, young children and confused teens running with nowhere to go. At one end of the street, I saw a dozen children captured by Magical Ones. Their shrill screams pierced through the rumbling din while their parents shouted of agony.

  And through it all I saw a familiar figure. I shook my head, certain I was only seeing what my mind so desperately wanted to see, but as she came closer I knew it was her. I knew her walk, her posture, her clothes.

  “There she is,” I said.

  I ran to her, but before my mother and I could even utter a greeting, Torrid scooped both of us up and lifted us out of the Amethyst District. Only when we settled back down on the ground did we speak to one another.

  “Kama,” she said, her eyes filled with tears. “I’ve been so worried. I had no idea where you were or what had happened to you. Pim refused to tell me anything.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Mom. I wanted to get word to you, to let you know I was okay, but everything happened so fast.”

  Passing her hands through my hair she inspected me, just as she had so many times before. She looked for injuries, for cuts and scrapes. Her fingers stopped briefly at a nick behind my ear.

  Shaking my head I took her hands in my. “It’s nothing, Mom. I’m fine, really. Considering everything that’s happening, I’ve really been lucky.”

  She gazed at Torrid and knowingly nodded her appreciation. Instinctively she knew he was partially responsible for my safety.

  “Miss Janice,” he said reverently. “I’m happy we’ve found you safe and sound. Kama has been just as worried for your safety as you have been for hers.”

  My mother patted Torrid’s hand and nodded.

  “Mom, have you seen Pim, or General Adon?”

  “I saw Pim, not long after you were taken in. He tried to explain what had happened, but he didn’t make sense. For the first time since I’ve known him, he seemed at a loss for words. He rambled on about you and Liam eloping, then he said you’d run off when Liam broke things off with you. After a l
ong line of questions on my part, he finally told me what he called the truth.”

  “Liam’s Life's Plan, the one that mentioned he’d marry a girl he’d known all his life…” She paused and seemed reluctant to go on.

  “It was supposed to be me, right?” I said, eager for her to go on.

  Torrid backed away, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation.

  “It was Sarah.”

  I felt the blood drain from my face. Of all the painful things I’d dealt with these past months, this was the hardest blow yet. “Sarah? But that doesn’t make sense.”

  “Think about it, Kama. Liam has known her all his life as well.”

  I turned away from her.

  “Anyway, Pim said, well, he basically said you reacted as you are now, pained, distraught, even angry. He said you walked out once you’d learned about this and he hadn’t seen you since.”

  “So then this was all part of his story, his lie. Look Mom, Pim Seer kept Liam and I prisoner. Liam and I never had a fight like that. The story Pim Seer told you was a lie. He imprisoned his own son. How could he tell you such a lie about us. Liam isn’t really meant to be with Sarah, is he?”

  “Does it matter?” Torrid said.

  His voice thundered above ours and I could hear the controlled anger in his words.

  It shouldn’t, I knew, but for some reason it did.

  “I’ve come to see Pim for what he really is,” my mother said, her unsure gaze alternating between Torrid and myself. “All these years, I’ve been blinded by love, or what I thought was love. Pim had done so much for me, for you. He was always there for us.”

  “He was always right where he wanted to be, Mom. Nothing more.” I hated the fatalistic tone of my voice, but couldn’t shake it. “He didn’t come around here to make sure you were okay, but to ensure I didn’t reconnect with my father. He didn’t welcome me to his home so that I could get closer to his son, so that we could fall in love and marry. He just wanted to have an easy way of keeping an eye on me. I guess to a certain degree, when Liam and I hit it off he was happy. It made his job all the easier, but I guess, ultimately, he didn’t want his son marrying someone from the shabby Amethyst District.”

  Mom shamefully cast her gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry, Kama. I’m sorry I didn’t see it earlier. I should have known. I should have protected you.”

  “I’m not blaming you, Mom. Governor Seer has a way of charming those who can give him what he wants. He even had his own son fooled.”

  “I’m a grown woman, Kama. I’m supposed to be wise to this kind of thing.”

  “He recreated your childhood, tried to give you back what you’d lost in that first war.”

  She turned away and stared off in the distance. “He was obsessed with me, obsessed with the thought of giving me everything he thought I needed. I realize now how destructive that obsession became. He did unspeakable things in order to make Arcadia what it became, what he thought I wanted it to be. He enslaved hundreds of djinns.” Shaking her head, she gazed at Torrid then turned to me. “I didn’t know. All this time I had no idea how Arcadia had come to be. I assumed it was through hard work, well thought out planning and simply his ingenious way with people. He’s always been smart and charming.”

  I watched the love fizzle from her eyes, the love she’d had for a man for so long. I could only imagine the sense of loss she now had to deal with.

  “And there’s more,” she went on. “I recently learned of the sick, vile and horrifying ways Pim has developed to ensure everyone does as he wishes. There’s a place called…” She glanced at the heavens as she sought the answer.

  “The Coliseum?” I ventured.

  “Yes,” she said, pointing a finger at me. “Yes, the Coliseum. I’d never heard of it before. For all my years here in Arcadia, all the time I’ve known Pim, I had never even imagined there could be such a place… not here, not in the perfect world we had.”

  “They brought Matthew and Jocelyn there.”

  Her eyes instantly widened and filled with tears of horror. “How? Why? My God, they’re just children. What wrong could they possibly have committed?”

  “They ignored their Life's Plan and was planning on running out of Arcadia.”

  Shocked, she looked at me. “Like you did?

  “Their biggest mistake was not running out earlier. They were caught. I was there. I saw them being hauled off.”

  “What happened to them?” she dared ask.

  I looked at Torrid. “I don’t know yet. We’re hoping to have a chance to go there soon. Perhaps later today.”

  “Actually,” Torrid said, “I had planned on returning to the Western Nethers. You were one of Kama’s biggest concerns. If we could have you in the Nethers where you’d be safe, we can then return and tend to the needs of her friends.”

  Mom frowned at him and returned her gaze to me. “But, I can’t leave now, Kama. I have too much to do here. The people here need my help. You’ve seen the chaos. People of Arcadia haven’t a clue how to deal with everything that’s happening. They have no experience fighting. All they’ve ever know is to be peaceful neighbors, to get along, to make concessions.”

  “But, Mom, you're not a warrior either. How can you possibly help them?”

  She chuckled and for the first time since finding her, I felt her relax. “Honey, you forget where I come from. I’ve known war before. It may have been long ago and I may have allowed myself to forget about it, but I think the instinct to survive is still there. It’s been buried for a long time, but with every passing day lately, it’s resurging.”

  I glanced at Torrid. Not that I wanted to doubt my mother’s capacity to deal with all this, but…

  “Don’t be disappointed, Kama. For the first time in my life I truly feel in control. Ironic, isn’t it. I want to counsel people. For years I’ve been counseling people who really have no problems at all. I mean, hearing a woman complain about the effects of her liquid foundation versus powder, or the woman who had just gotten a huge promotion and raise, but felt she didn’t quite deserve it. I even had a guy come in one day to gripe about what great adults his kids were becoming. Turned out he thought they’d grown up on their own and he had no part in their achievements. Now I can really put my talents to good use. Beyond the physical help people need, they also need someone to talk to.”

  Nodding, I reached for her hand. “I can’t really say I blame you. I came back because I felt such an intense need to help. I can see where I got that from. You’ve always taught me to be considerate of others, and to help wherever I can.”

  I turned to Torrid, knowing he’d argue, but knowing I had to convince him anyway. “We have to find my friends. I have to know what happened to them and help them anyway I can.”

  Chapter 13

  After we left my mother in a safe zone, we headed to the Opal District. Civilians, armed with brooms, mops, rakes and hoes battled with Magical Ones and djinns as best as they could. Some managed to evade capture, but most found themselves overpowered by the enemy.

  Torrid and I helped with the fighting, fending off dozens of Magical Ones and outsmarting djinns. After three hours of battle, the number of enemies became manageable and together we worked to capture and bottle three djinns.

  Holding the third bottled djinn up to the light, I smiled. “I kind of like being able to take a big, bad djinn and reduce him to a plume of smoke in a nice little bottle. It’s all so… gratifying.”

  Torrid held up his two bottles. “Then be prepared. When this is all over, you’ll probably have dozens and dozens of bottles.”

  With the fighting over, people stumbled along, lost. But a loud crash suddenly filled the silence and startled everyone. We all turned to the house that had just been demolished by a large shard of glass. A young family ran out of the house, the mother holding a small crying baby in her arms, while the father carried a young girl who held her bleeding head with her hands.

  I rushed to them. “Is she badly hurt?”<
br />
  “I don’t think so,” the father said as he set her down.

  The little girl’s lip quivered as she fought tears.

  “I think the roof coming down on us just scared her to bits.”

  Just as I knelt to help the little girl, two other women came to our aid. So intent on the cuts of the child, we didn’t look at each other until she was all patched up.

  I turned to thank the women. “Oh my God. Melanie! Sarah!” Overwhelmed with emotions, we hugged each other. “I can’t believe I found you guys amidst all this chaos.”

  I sat back on my heels and looked at them. “Melanie, the last time I saw you, you’d escaped the Committee Building. I thought for sure they’d catch you… or you’d simply collapsed from hunger.”

  “I ran into Sarah. She’s my lifesaver. Food has been a little scarce, but she’s managed to get me back to a more healthy weight.”

  “We’re all trying to do what we can,” Sarah jumped in. “Since all this began we’ve had to band together. Some in the Diamond District didn’t agree. They only wanted to help themselves, conserve the lifestyle they were accustomed to. But when their favored district began to be hit by this war, they finally saw that all of Arcadia was at stake.”

  “We saw that the Committee Building had been hit when we arrived. How is the rest of the Diamond District holding up?”

  They looked at me knowingly and I could feel Torrid’s gaze on me.

  “We haven’t heard from Liam in a while,” Sarah said.

  “The last time I saw him he was standing next to you,” Melanie admitted.

  Great… I hid my disappointment.

  In the distance we heard another big boom and crash.