6. Jonas

Chapter 6

Jonas

A Charming Djinn

I stared with consternation at Sava, who appeared to be unconcerned about being caught uninvited in Tanselm's northern territory as he paced back and forth in my room.

Sava raged while he recounted his meeting with Lexa. I watched in amusement as he swelled with fury.

I coughed to cover a chuckle. "You want to keep it down? Need I remind you I'm barely tolerated in this place, much like you scheming Aellei?"

Sava's eyes glittered with anger.

I shrugged, unconcerned with his power. Though impressed, like all Djinn, I had little tolerance for royalty. I didn't even treat my own leader with reverence. I liked and respected Ethim, but I'd never bowed to my king and never would.

"I told you she's a handful."

"Stop acting so superior." Sava sniffed. "I know she's a handful. I've been around the woman since she was a child. Don't tell me you think you know her better." Sava glared.

His energy fed the Dark within me, and I warmed with delight. "Ah. That rage feels fantastic. Not that I'm encouraging your attitude." I grew tipsy on Sava's energy. "I tried to tell you she'd reject your help. You've known her for years, but you've spent little time with her recently. Why do you think I didn't grab her when I sensed her at the mall?"

"Because she might have killed you if you had?"

I chuckled. "There is that. I knew she didn't want to deal with Arim yet. Not until she's fully healed."

Sava's mood grew bleaker, enriching his energy. I forced myself not to absorb any more from the Aellein king and concentrated on the wrongness I could see in his flickering aura.

"Sava? What aren't you telling me?"

He blew out a breath. "We have a major problem, Jonas. My people and yours have felt Tanselm's rumblings for weeks now."

I nodded. That's how he and I had first met. Tanselm clearly had a thing for the Aellein king and for me, though I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Flattered, of course, but also a little worried. The sentient land had a way of loosening her magic.

Suddenly, Storm Lords were marrying Darklings. And lately, Sava spent more time in Tanselm than in Aelle. Again, Dark mixing with Light. Night help us all if I would be forced to wed a Light Bringer.

Sava continued, "For all that our presence here is soothing the gaping wounds left by these idiot Light Bringers, Tanselm needs more. I'm just a visitor, but I can feel the land clawing at me to stay each time I leave." He rotated his shoulders with discomfort. "The perfect answer to our problems is hiding out in a distant plane, pretending she's going to heal all by herself."

I recalled how stubborn my Dark Mistress could be. "I agree. I sensed it the minute I stepped foot on the land. Lexa belongs here, the same as I do. Tanselm wants her. But Lexa's strong, Sava. She'll be fine. The things I've seen her do…"

"What you don't know is that Lexa won't heal, not unless we involve Arim. She's missing a part of her soul, one ripped out and kept caged by the Malinta demons deep in the heart of Malern."

I paled. "You're shitting me."

Sava raised a brow. "Nice turn of phrase. I see you've been spending a lot of time among those of the Earthen plane. Slumming, Jonas?"

"Cut the crap, Sava. Just tell me how serious it is."

"Very. Lexa, like you, is a true creature of Dark. The demons that took a vital part of her essence are draining her life with each breath she takes. I can't help her with this, and neither can you. She needs a strong presence of Light to combat the growing threat within her. And not just from any Light Bringer, but from the strongest in the land."

"Arim? You think he'll agree? I don't know. He wants her back, badly, but I don't think it's to help her."

"So he wants you to think. There's a lot of history between those two." Sava's smug grin put me on edge. "Things you're not aware of."

"So tell me."

Sava studied me.

I felt fingers of magic trying to peer through my mind. "Cut it out." I sent a blast of Dark energy Sava's way.

He easily deflected the mass, dispersing it into the air, where I easily reabsorbed it. But the distraction broke the tentative hold Sava had placed on my mind, as I'd intended.

"My loyalty is to Lexa. She brought the Djinn back into Tanselm. For that, I'd be her slave forever." If she'd let me.

"This information is sensitive. I trust it will stay here?"

I nodded, feeling the small bubble of Shadow Sava projected around us to stave off eavesdroppers.

"Several hundred years ago, Arim and Lexa, as well as myself and a few others you've never met, attended University together in Tanselm's Great Hall, where sorcerers, Dark and Light, used to study jointly. It was thought that a combination of the Light's spectrum could only help our ability to harness particular magics."

No wonder Sava knew so much. He'd been here when it had all gone to hell.

"Lexa grew up in Tanselm, a fact many don't know. She was found abandoned as a baby in the Between by a Light Bringer named Muri. Muri was an enchanting woman with a giving heart. Her family took Lexa in and raised her as one of their own. It naturally followed that as Lexa matured, she would take her place at University. She showed remarkable potential to harvest Dark energy from an early age."

"And the Light Bringers welcomed a Dark Lord in their midst?" I didn't believe it.

"They did. Such was the strength of Muri and Esel's love for their adopted daughter. Both Light Bringers were extremely powerful sorcerers and more open-minded than most. Tanselm treasured the pair, gifting them with an enchanting child named Sercha. Lexa was most fond of him." A ripple of pain crossed his features. "There's been much speculation about Lexa's part in their murders."

Even I'd heard rumors that Lexa had murdered a powerful family of Light Bringers. The details were scarce with no mention of them being her family.

"No one's really sure what happened, not even Lexa," he said. "One day Arim missed her in classes and went to check on her, concerned, since Lexa never missed her studies. She lived for academia, and back then, for Arim as well. The two were inseparable, glowing with love. It was always expected they'd marry. There was such a feeling about the pair, as if they'd been blessed with Tanselm's grace even then.

"Well, Arim went to check on her and found Muri and Esel dead, Sercha butchered, and Lexa covered in blood, her eyes wild with horror. She was so incredibly angry, her energy bleeding everywhere, mixing with the Dark taint staining the home, that Arim only saw the surface.

"He'd loved Muri and Esel as well, and their loss devastated him. But I don't think he'd ever known such pain before. He mistook Lexa's hurt and rage for aggression. He never told me exactly what happened once he found her, only that they'd fought. And then she vanished."

"But she'd never harm those she cared about." I couldn't believe Arim wouldn't have known that, not if he'd loved Lexa as much as Sava said he did.

"No, she wouldn't. But you've never seen her in a full-out fury, Jonas. I have. It's a chilling sight, and I can understand why Arim would have thought what he did. He was new to love then suddenly thrust into pain and fear. To my knowledge, he and Lexa had never even so much as argued prior to that. Quite a shock to find his young love covered in her parents' blood as she tore through the house in anger. Don't forget, a Dark Lord's anger is extremely powerful, not to mention Dark. An instinctive threat to anyone with as much Light as Arim."

I stared at Sava, understanding so much more now. "That just sucks."

Sava sat in a chair by the bed next to me. "It does indeed. I've never seen two people happier than Arim and Lexa in love. Watching them stab at each other for years has been unsettling. I've never quite gotten used to it. And I suspect, neither have they."

I recalled instances of Lexa's behavior where Arim was involved. "You know, anytime Arim came up in conversation, a subtle stillness would come over her. The few times I observed her near him, Lexa could barely take her eyes off him. At the time, I thought it was from mistrust and anger."

"Probably those, as well as lust. Those two were made for each other. Even a Djinn can see that." Sava crossed his arms over his chest and shot me a droll smile.

"Yeah, well, this Djinn owes Lexa for what she's done for my people. I'll do whatever it takes to heal her. As far as what she and Arim have going, that's up to them." Did I want Lexa with a man who didn't appreciate her?

Sava's gaze narrowed. "No, what's between them is at the heart of Tanselm's well-being. Those two are going to deal with each other if it's the last thing they ever do. And while they're doing that, you and I are going to track down Sin Garu."

I opened my mouth to retort and paused. I could still feel Sin Garu's minions all around me, the insidious whisper of death at the hands of a dreaded Nocumat as fresh as if I'd been tortured just yesterday. "No offense, Sava. But I don't see us defeating Sin Garu, not by ourselves."

"Of course not. Honestly, it's a wonder you Djinn emerged from the Dark at all. No. We're going to track down Sin Garu and let Arim know where he is. This is one battle that's between a Light Bringer and a Dark Lord. The rest of us will just be in the way."

"But what about the Netharat? With that army, Sin Garu, even weakened, is untouchable."

"That's where we'll come in. Between the Aellei, you Djinn, and the Light Bringer sorcerers under Storm Lord leadership, we'll bring the Netharat to us and defeat them once and for all. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of my Nocumat being seduced into joining the Dark Lords. They're giving us a bad name."

I snorted.

He ignored me. "Creatures of Shadow were never meant to invade worlds and envision world domination. We were created to enjoy life's pleasures, to play and dance and laugh."

"Seems to me you're always playing around," I muttered. "Maybe if the lot of you had any sense of discipline, you wouldn't feel so threatened around us Djinn — the only race to give the Aellei a run for their money in the looks and magic department."

Score one for my team. Sava glared through me. So of course, I continued. "So what now, Sava? You seem to have thought of everything else. Why don't you tell me how we're going to get Lexa and Arim together without them killing each other?"

"Obviously, we'll have to use deception. Not so difficult for me, since Arim trusts me, to an extent, at least. We Aellei are the tricksters of the universe," Sava said with typical arrogance. "I've an idea that's been brewing since my last talk with Alandra. I'll work on Arim while you go to Lexa and hold her there. Use this." Sava mumbled a spell under his breath, and a small bag appeared in my hands. "Put this in her drink and make sure she takes all of it. It's enough to knock her out just long enough to put this plan in motion."

I took the small pouch, conscious of the coldness seeping through the bag's pores. "What is this?"

"Demon breath." Sava smiled, a sinister look that had me taking a second look. "I've been saving it for a while. Trust me, it won't hurt her. But it's got enough of a kick to bypass her Dark protection. In her present weakened state, you won't need more than the small vial within the pouch."

I nodded. "I take it we're going now?"

"Right now. We don't have a lot of time to wait for Lexa to realize how badly she's hurting. I don't trust the little fool not to take off since I know where she is. You keep her under guard while I deal with Arim. I think it's best if they settle matters between them away from Tanselm. At Lexa's place, perhaps. Tanselm is way too interfering for my peace of mind."

"You got that right." I winced when the land pulsed Light at me in protest. I noted Sava's unease as well.

"Handling Arim's going to be tricky, which is to say nothing of the danger he'll present once I've captured him. He doesn't take kindly to deception, not like my kind. So if I'm not spot on, this won't work again. I have to catch him right away and bind him before he can do any return damage."

"Bind him?" I stared, suitably impressed. I'd seen Arim turn opponents into stone and ash for less. "Takes balls I didn't think you had." I grinned when Sava frowned at me. "For a prissy king, you have a will of steel, don't you?"

"I'll give you prissy," Sava muttered, but his eyes flashed with excitement as he waved farewell and vanished.

I wondered if I'd caught whatever contagious idiocy Sava had. Turning on Lexa? Pushing her at Arim when I knew she felt uneasy and vulnerable around the powerful mage? Irritate a woman who had the power to bring me to my knees and take me from this world in the blink of an eye?

Yet, if Sava was right, only Arim could heal her.

For all that Lexa had sacrificed and done for the Djinn, and hell, for myself, I would do what I could to see the shadows lifted from her beautiful eyes.

To see that she finally belonged somewhere, accepted for the caring woman she could be and not despised for the cruel sorceress she'd been forced to become in order to survive.