Djinn's Passion Read online

  “Another shard of glass. Sometimes I wonder what’s worse; the djinns who run around scaring everyone or that shattering force field that is literally crashing on our heads.”

  “We’re running out of places to house people. Some homes already have three to four families living in them. Some of the younger people have opted to simply live on the street, but with so many Magical Ones wandering about, it’s a dangerous choice.”

  “What can we do to help,” I said.

  “Until the war is over, there’s really little we can do. We can’t rebuild anything yet. All we can do is try to make people as comfortable as possible,” Sarah said.

  I looked at them, girls I’d known in high school, girls I’d grown up with. Seemed like yesterday we were sipping shakes at the diner, laughing and carefree as we talked about classes, boys and the beauty of Arcadia. Seemed like not long ago we were discussing shared secrets, brushing each other’s hair and helping each other with our make-up prom dresses.

  We all had to grow up so fast, to leave the comfort and security of our homes and go out into a world that was so vastly different from what we had grown up with.

  “The minute this war is over, I want to be right by your side as we rebuild.” I stood and clapped the dirt from my hands. “But if you’ve got everything under control for now, I’d like to keep going through Arcadia, looking for those who might need our help.”

  “Like Matthew and Jocelyn.”

  “Exactly. I know they’re at the Coliseum and only hope we’re not too late to help them.”

  “Last I heard they were still being kept captive. I was saddened to hear they had not escaped, but at least they’re still alive.”

  Sarah shivered and grimaced. “And I still can’t believe such a place exists. I feel so betrayed… by Pim, by the entire government… even my parents. I don’t know how involved they were in all this, and I hate to think about it. I’m not really sure I want to know for now.”

  “I’m sure they weren’t really involved,” I said reassuringly, but I was beginning to wonder just how many parents had voluntarily lied to their children about the truth of Arcadia. How many who worked on the Committee fabricated not only our Life's Plan but the fallacy that was Arcadia.”

  “We’d better get going if you want to continue with our search,” Torrid said.

  The girls looked at him with awe and envy, but limited their comments to a simple and appreciative nod.

  Chapter 14

  Combing through the Diamond District proved futile. We searched every corner of the Ruby, Topaz and Garnet Districts, and the Pearl and Onyx burrows.

  “Finding the girls was so easy. Why does Liam continue to elude us?”

  Torrid said nothing.

  “I know you don’t really want me to find him, but I can’t just forget the relationship I had with him.” I didn’t want to get into how Liam still loved me and still thought we belonged together. Blocking out my thoughts, I tried to think of something else.

  “I may not be able to read your thoughts. You’ve learned to block them rather effectively, but I can tell when you block them nonetheless, and I know you're thinking of your relationship with him. You’ve not yet perfected your ability to transfer your thoughts elsewhere.”

  I turned to him amidst the rumble of the Stone Roundabout. “If I’m blocking thoughts of Liam it’s just to protect you.”

  “You underestimate me, Kama. I highly doubt I need your protection.” Though his voice was strong and confident, the slight clench of his jaw spoke more of his true emotions.

  “I know, but I don’t want to so blatantly put it out there. I’ve known Liam since I was a little girl. You can’t expect me to just forget that, to forget the friendship I have with him.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then help me find him.”

  “I am.”

  “Then why do I feel like you're holding out on me. I feel like you know where he might be, but don’t want to tell me.”

  He snorted with indignation and looked away.

  Regretting my harsh words I reached for his hand and squeezed his fingers. “Please, Torrid. Put your emotions aside just for today and help me. I don’t want you to be jealous of what I had with Liam…”

  “You're reading far more into this than there is. I’m not jealous.”

  “No? Look at me.”

  He brought his gaze to me and blushed. With a deep breath hissing through his lips, he finally shrugged his shoulders. “Okay, so maybe I’m a bit jealous. You have a lifetime with him and just a few magic lessons with me. He knows you inside out while I just know the woman you are now and a little background information that was fed to me by General Adon. And you know everything about him. I bet you don’t even know what my favorite color is. You have no idea what I like doing when I’m not at war.”

  Smiling, I got up on my toes and kissed him. “I want you to know me inside out. I want to spend hours discovering more and more about each other. I want to know what your favorite color is and I want you to know what I was like as a little girl. And you will.”

  I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in for a more passionate kiss. I wanted him to know how important he was to me and how much I wanted to get closer. “Torrid.” The rest I didn’t say, but he could read straight from my mind…the love I have for him. The want and desire to be his.

  Chapter 15

  As optimistic as I had been to find Liam, I was now beginning to think I might never see him again. Added to my growing pessimism was Torrid’s increased agitation. We had walked through virtually every district in Arcadia and I sensed his relief, if not elation, with every failure in finding Liam. He also did little to hide his disappointment with my every desire to keep searching.

  When we reached the dark and mysterious community of Zinc Bay, I knew it was my last hope. There was nowhere else to go after, unless we forever turned around in circles in the hope of simply bumping into Liam by chance.

  Tall buildings, dark and seemingly without life, loomed high into the sky, stretching up higher than I thought possible. I couldn’t recall ever having seen a part of town that resembled anything like it.

  “Are we still in Arcadia?” I had to ask.

  “I think we’ve hit the business end of the city. Strange how it’s kept so out of the way.”

  “Like the Coliseum,” I said, remembering Sarah’s depiction of the ugly and hidden part of Arcadia.

  “Hopefully this isn’t as sinister.” Torrid wrapped a protective arm around my shoulder.

  I nodded and snuggled into his hold, immediately soothed by the warmth and comfort. As intimidating as our surroundings were, I felt safe with him at my side; almost invincible.

  But when a distant movement caught my eye, I froze. My fear of the unknown, of the strange goings on of this dark neighborhood, took over. A huge bulk of a man stepped out of one of the darkened buildings, his gaze scanning the area, his fists tight with tension and anger. He seemed ready to throttle someone.

  My heart stopped. Sensing my fear, Torrid tightened his hold of me, but it wasn’t his hold that calmed me, it was the sound of a familiar voice; a voice that brought me back to a time and space I knew so well.

  “I’ll just take a breath of air. Let me know when you’re ready,” he called out.

  Liam, I thought with breathlessness. A wave of relief swept over me and, forgetting Torrid and his misgivings, I ran to the man I had grown up with, the one I’d been so worried about these past days. All the guilt I’d bottled up since leaving him left me as I saw him, tall, strong and healthy.

  “Liam,” I called.

  His brow creased with strain and uncertainty. “Kama? What are you doing out here? You shouldn’t be out here.” He gazed around him as if impending danger surrounded him.

  Caught off guard by his less than warm welcome, I stopped short of throwing my arms around him. Starring up at him with wonder, I realized he was so much taller than he’d last been, and the breadth
of his shoulders… it was amazing. I doubted I could even put my arms around his torso, he was so large.

  “I came looking for you.” The words came out, static and unsure. While his face was familiar, everything else about him was so strange, so foreign. “I was worried. I had no idea what had happened to you.”

  “Don’t worry about me, Kama. I’m doing better than you could imagine.”

  My name sounded strange on his lips. It was cold and hard, somehow distant. I wanted to ignore the disdain that seemed to accompany his words. I wanted things to be back like before, when we’d been friends, when we’d been there for one another. This new Liam left me uncomfortable and fidgety.

  Though I knew circumstances had recently pulled us apart, put us on opposing sides, I still couldn’t understand why he was so cold, so stand-offish. I wanted to ask, but sensed he’d lie his way through it rather than tell me the truth.

  “I saw Sarah and Melanie,” I said, feeling a need to fill the uncomfortable void. “They hadn’t seen you, and… everything is so chaotic, so different in all of Arcadia. I hardly recognize the town we grew up in.” Don’t you feel the same, I wanted to add.

  “The Revolutionaries,” he grumbled. His eyes narrowed.

  “The who?”

  Shaking his head, he waved my question aside with authority and irritation. I’d never seen him this way and felt increasingly edgy. For the first time since knowing him, I searched for something to say, something to break this unbelievable tension.

  “I feared running into Dr. Sanz,” I said. “Have you seen him?”

  He eyed me with curiosity, or perhaps even suspicion.

  My heart raced, sensing eminent danger, but logic told me I knew this man. I’d grown up with him, had known him all my life. I shouldn’t fear being in his presence. He’d never hurt me; never do anything that could even remotely put me in harm’s way

  Yet, despite that lifelong knowledge, the sense of danger remained, even intensified.

  “Have you been looking for me?” I dared ask.

  “In a sense, yes.”

  I wanted to grab his massive shoulders, shake him and scream: What do you mean, in a sense? But I took a deep breath as I wondered what could have happened to him these past days. What was responsible for such a dramatic change in him?

  Then the answer appeared.

  A smaller dark shadow emerged from the same building Liam had come from. Though smaller in stature, there was an air of importance in the stance, in each stride the silhouetted man took. Purposeful and strong, he came closer until I was finally able to recognize the face.

  “Hello, Kama,” he said, his booming voice breaking the night silence with all the assurance of a man who knew he belonged and had every right to make as much noise as he saw fit.

  “Hello, Pim,” I said, keeping the fear and uncertainty from my voice.

  By the gleam of victory in his eyes, I realized I’d not really succeeded in camouflaging my fear.

  “This isn’t a neighborhood you usually stroll through, is it?” he asked. “You seem a little skittish, a little nervous. Have we spoiled you by having you over at the Diamond District a little too often?”

  “I was looking for Liam.”

  “And so, you’ve found him, I see.”

  My gaze darted to Liam, to Pim and back to Liam again. Liam barely seemed aware of his father’s presence. At closer glance, I realized he barely seemed aware of his surroundings at all.

  “What have you done to him?” The accusation spilled out before I could contain it.

  Pim’s robust chuckle was the only answer I received, and judging by the wicked gleam in his eye, the answer would not have been a pretty one had he bothered to give one.

  “Everything okay here?” Torrid stepped up beside me and the light in Pim’s eyes changed. With a scowl of disdain he turned to Liam and pointed to Torrid. “You know what you have to do, Liam. Deal with him and keep it clean.”

  A heavy sense of dread fell over me as I caught the glint of a lantern in Pim’s hand. He nudged Liam with his elbow and handed him the device meant to capture genies.

  “Nothing personal,” Pim said to me, a beaming grin pasted to his face. “But the more genies we manage to capture, the faster we’ll be able to restore the Force Field. All this chaos is causing me such a headache,” he whined. Though his grin remained, his voice took on a sinister tone. “Much like the headache your father has persistently given me for as many years as I can remember. Seems he’s been giving me trouble ever since I’ve known him. You have no idea how I long for the day when I don’t have to even hear the name General Adon. I guess that is what it will take in order to get Arcadia to work the way I really want it to.”

  Once again he nudged Liam. “Go on, son. Bottle that little…”

  Liam barely glanced at me, barely acknowledged me, but took the lantern, his hold on the device familiar and sure.

  I gasped as I stared at him. Had he done this before? Had he captured genies? The thought made me suddenly nauseous. I felt trapped between the two men I loved; a genie and a genie catcher.

  Looking at Liam, in a flash I saw all he’d ever been; the young fair-haired boy, so charming in every way; the straight-laced kid who always did the right thing; the teenage guy so many girls fell in love with. I saw the Liam I’d loved, the Liam I’d trusted. I knew him inside and out. Had it all been a game? An illusion?

  All those images were so far removed from the man who stood in front of me, his face somber, his eyes dead and the charm that had warmed so many completely gone.

  “Liam, that isn’t what you really want to do, is it?” I clung to the last hope that my words, my voice would reach him and make him see reason; make him see the absurdity of what his father asked of him. He wasn’t a Catcher. He wasn’t the type of man who could do such a thing.

  He brought his gaze to me, but it seemed like such an arduous chore.

  “What’s happened to you?” I asked. Despite the panic, I kept my voice soft and in control. “You captured a genie, didn’t you? It’s changed you. You’ve changed, Liam. Can’t you feel it?” Desperation slowly crept into my voice. I wanted to deny the truth, deny what was right there in front of me. I fought to keep my voice from shrieking. “Snap out of it, Liam. Snap out of this hold your father has on you. He’ll ruin you. He’ll use you as he does everyone around him and dispose of you when you're no longer helpful to him.”

  He ignored me. His gaze didn’t even flicker my way. Bold and brave, he faced Torrid. If Liam expected Torrid to back down or cower in the face of his genie-catching lantern, he was mistaken.

  “I’ve faced far worse than you… the privileged Governor’s son,” Torrid said. “I’ve had a lifetime of battles. While you played with toy soldiers and games of strategy, I trained. While you went about building a cozy little social life with your friends, I drilled to perfection, and while you squandered time and money on leisure, I went off to fight for my people. Do you really think a simple order from your father will give you the ability needed to capture the likes of me? Do you really think that catching a few minor, probably inexperienced genies gives you enough strength, power and know-how to deal with a trained djinn?”

  Defiance and doubt played in Liam’s eyes. His lips moved to answer, but nothing came. A commotion from behind him offered him the reprieve he seemed to search for; an easy way out of the situation.

  I’d never seen him at such a loss; so confused and unsure. Despite the attempted strong stance he held facing Torrid, he lacked true conviction.

  The commotion came towards us, a stomping of soldier boots against pavement as a small battalion of Catchers marched up to us. All young and so innocent looking, it was hard to believe they sought to hurt… anyone.

  “Governor Seer,” a young Catcher called out.

  “Lieutenant Graves, I thought you were all out in the Garnet and Sapphire Districts.”

  “Sir, the Djinn army has invaded and is taking control of several district
s.”

  Pim turned to me. “You see what your father has done… and all to what end? For decades we’ve lived in peace. For decades life in Arcadia has been…” He gazed expectantly at me.

  “Idyllic,” I dutifully said, the indoctrination I’d received all my life taking over. My voice even sounded like the twelve year old, dreamy-eyed girl I’d once been.

  “Why has your father taken it upon himself to topple such an idyllic arrangement?”

  “The ideal you’ve created, Pim, is just an illusion, and you know it. It may have taken me a long time to discover it, perhaps it even took my father’s intervention, but you’ve created an illusion based on lies, and the imprisonment of so many innocents. There’s nothing idyllic about that.”

  Pim’s lips reluctantly curled into a grimace. “As you get older, Kama, you’ll learn that a truly idyllic world doesn’t exist. It takes a little coercion… a little push… and, yes, sometimes it takes a little ugliness to create something so perfect, so beautiful.”

  “Like a little slavery?” I said, thrusting the words at him with all the venom I could muster.

  His grimace deepened and his lips pursed into a bitter pucker. Obviously the word didn’t sit well with him.

  “Like a little torture?” I added, pleased with the reaction my accusations had. If nothing else I wanted him to realize what he’d done. I wanted him to take a closer look at the pain and suffering he’d caused so many… all in the name of creating a seemingly perfect world.

  Cocking his head to the side, he gazed at Liam a moment, a blatant accusation in his eyes.

  “Your dirty little secret is out, Governor Seer.” The title stuck to my tongue with a bad taste and I wanted to spit. “Liam may not realize, or want to accept the truth about his doting father, but I don’t hold the same reverence for you. You’re just a man, a man who thought he could make his people happy at the cost of other people’s livelihoods, their liberty.”

  “Admit it, Kama, you’ve enjoyed your childhood. It was as close to perfect as your life could be. Isn’t that worth something?”