37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

Kalia laughed out loud, tossing her head back. "You can"t kill him. He"s an immortal cursed captain. And, trust me, I"ve tried." A few times, but that she didn"t add. "It"s an empty threat."

Nasir closed the space between them with a single step forward, though Kalia held her ground. He loomed over her, his condescending stare glaring down his nose at her. "There"s long been a rumor, little djinn, that the cursed captain can pass on their immortality if you cut out his heart. Is that something you"re willing to bet on? I would certainly love to find out if it"s true."

Kalia never took her eyes from the captain, though they narrowed considerably. "You"re lying."

Nasir"s chin flicked toward the Luminaria behind her. "You can find out, or you can get me that gemstone. The choice is yours." Kalia went silent as her fingers tightened into fists, and Nasir smirked at the sight of it. "Tick-tock, let"s go."

Kalia spun away from him, facing the Luminaria head-on. What was once seemingly beautiful and untouched only looked unsightly now. She hated that gemstone for what it did to Rahmi, to the king, for what it was doing to her. The first step forward was full of hesitation, but the moon"s cool light lit her path along the small bridge that connected the peninsulas.

She crept over it, peering down into the inky, black water surrounding her. It was like glass, and she saw the bright-eyed girl she knew so well in that reflection. Hair pulled loose from the braid, skin paler than it should have been, eyes filled with feminine rage. And that"s what she fixated on, that rage.

Kalia half-expected the Luminaria to grow teeth and bite her as she approached it, but the glinting red gemstone just sat there. Now that she was up close, she could spot tiny scratch marks on the surface. It wasn"t perfect. Somehow, the thought gave her comfort.

Do you believe yourself worthy?A phantom voice breathed against the shell of her ear. She recognized the cadence as the same voice they had all heard outside the chamber. Kalia swallowed as she lifted her hand to hover above the gemstone, her hand basking it in shadow. The chains of her shackles clanked against the pedestal.

No,Kalia whispered in return, though she didn"t say the words out loud. Somehow, she knew that she didn"t need to, but she had to—for the man I love.

Her fingers wrapped around the gem— warmer than she expected— and lifted it from the stone. For a moment, nothing happened. The air was unnaturally cold in her lungs.

A shriek filled the chamber just beyond the Luminaria"s small room, and Kalia felt her stomach drop to her feet. At the same time, the water surrounding the peninsulas bubbled and roared to life, quickly overtaking the bridge and the edges of the capes, washing over her boots. It rose and rose, like a being that had taken on a life of its own. It was at her calves as she sloshed toward where the bridge had been and was above her knees when she reached the other side.

"Come on!" Nasir shouted at her, his eyes wide with fear. "Hurry up, girl! Come on!"

The water was up to her hips, bubbling and roiling not even beginning to slow. She knew it would drown her, but she held on tightly to the Luminaria. She could have sworn a ghostly hand wrapped around her fist to keep the gemstone in place. Shockingly, Karim had been right. The water never left the chamber, only slapped against an invisible barrier like a wall had been erected there.

It was at her waist now, but Kalia kept pressing forward. She was feet away, inches even, and finally passed the chamber"s threshold. A powerful gust of wind roared in her ears and forced her to her knees. It was…pleased. How could a wind be pleased? It stopped as quickly as it started.

"I"ll take that now."

Nasir stood before her, water dripping down his tunic and frock coat, and his hand was extended toward her. Expectant and vigilant. When Kalia"s eyes darted past him to assess the crossing to the cave, Nasir unsheathed his blade with one smooth tug.

"Do not think about—"

In an instant, Kalia thrust her shackles forward, catching the tip of his blade in one of the links of her chains. She twisted her wrists, forcefully yanking the sword from his hands. She couldn"t catch it, and it fell to the sand at her knees. Nasir"s bewilderment might buy her a couple of extra seconds. Pushing forward, she shot to her feet and shouldered past the captain, breaking out in a run with the gemstone still tightly clutched in her hand. She pushed her legs faster and faster, willing them to save her.

Nasir recovered quickly, and Kalia could hear his thundering footsteps as he powered after her. Her skirt was sodden and heavy, bunching at her ankles. It slowed her down, and the sudden pressure of his hand on her shoulder made her yelp. Her knees hit the ground again, pain and nausea radiating through her, and she tried to scramble away from him. A heavy boot settled on her lower back, and Kalia cried out as he shoved her head into the sand, a mouthful of it coating her tongue. Her chains dug into her ribs, threatening to wedge into places she didn"t have any interest in them being.

"I could leave you in this gods-forsaken place," Nasir grunted out as he damn near laid on top of her to pin her into place. She felt his hot breath on the back of her neck. "I could leave you to these things, where they would eat you alive."

Out of desperation, Kalia glanced up. Basset was fighting a pair of ghouls with a single gold chalice, the crown askew on his head. The ghouls" long claws swiped at him, and he jumped out of the way just in time. Another one of the men hadn"t been so lucky, and three ghouls were bent over to feast on his belly. The other two oar men were nowhere to be found. Either they had gotten lucky enough to make it out of the chamber, or the cache of coins had buried their bodies during their struggle for survival.

Kalia thrashed again, wriggling her hips to try and throw Nasir off balance, but she only managed to sink into the sand. His hand closed over her nose and mouth, the palm of his hand still wet from a salty mixture of water and sweat. She tried to take in a breath, but he only tightened it against her. Her fingernails scratched at the back of his hand, hard enough that she knew she was making him bleed, but he only chuckled.

"You will give me that stone. One way or the other, little djinn. Even if I have to pry it from your dead hands."

Her vision blackened, but she willed herself to remain present. There was a roaring in her ears that had nothing to do with that phantom wind, and stars speckled at the sides of her vision. She was light-headed, her mind foggy, but she still fought. She still…she still…

Kalia felt her fingers unfurl and felt the warmth of the gemstone slide from her palm. Nasir removed his hand from her face immediately, and she took in a choking gasp that she couldn"t get down fast enough. She gulped at the air, not caring that she still had sand on her tongue or that a ghoul suddenly realized she was lying there.

Nasir removed his foot from her back and stood straight up. He let out a chuckle that turned into a celebratory laugh, the sound sliding unpleasantly down her gut. "Finally!" he cried out, and she saw him raise the gemstone into the air from the corner of her eye. "I can feel it: the power, the magic."

Kalia rose to her knees, fighting the urge to crumple back to the sand. She had failed. She hadn"t been strong enough to keep the Luminaria from him. And now… "What next, then?" she sneered at him. "Sail back to the king? Let him have complete control of this continent?"

Nasir sighed, moving to squat next to her. He held the gemstone up in the space between them, mockingly showing it off, daring her to make a move for it. "Fuck the king," he retorted, boring his stare into her own. The moon reflected off the gemstone, bathing his thick scar in a red glow that looked astonishingly like a smatter of blood. "If he wanted this, little djinn, he should have found it himself."

He stood again, tipping his head back toward the cracked ceiling. "I call the djinn to me," he roared, twisting the gemstone around in the palm of his hand. "I order them to heed my commands."

Kalia scrambled back, scooting on her backside to push away from the ghoul that had locked its sunken eyes onto her. With every shaky step toward her, the sickeningly sweet stench of decay only became stronger. Rotten and mottled, the gray skin seemed to be holding on by the slim strings of sinew connected to the bone. Gods, it was grotesque, down to the claws still sported red flesh from the oar man it had killed.

She felt metal against her palm and heard the clink of her shackle against it. Feeling desperately around, she found the hilt of Nasir"s sword and drew it into her hand. It was almost too heavy, but she swung it upward anyway. The edge of the blade collided with an exposed bone, the shock of it reverberating up her arm. The ghoul stumbled backward, giving her just enough space to stand—giving her just enough space to clutch the hilt with both hands and swing it one more time.

Flesh and bone ground against the sword, and with a sickening thud, the ghoul"s head fell into the sand at her feet. Kalia let out a sigh of relief as she dropped the sword. She immediately picked up her soaked skirt to find Nasir once again. It didn"t take long, as he was still in the middle of the chamber, but now he was surrounded by four humans…the djinn.

And Kalia recognized one.

"Reshef?" Her heart shuddered, threatening to stop entirely.

Reshef glanced over to her, a mask of devastation blanketing his face. "I"m sorry, my friend," he called back to her, his words brittle and wavering. "I should have told you sooner." Another djinn, a woman with flowing locks of salt-and-pepper hair, couldn"t keep her eyes from him. "Your captain is coming, but I fear he will be too late."

"Hush," Nasir barked, and Reshef"s lips immediately slammed shut. "You work for me now, and we have much to do." He didn"t look back at Kalia; he hadn"t realized yet that the Luminaria did not affect her. She used that to her advantage.

Creeping closer to Nasir"s back, Kalia stooped down to pick up a jewel-encrusted dagger from the sand. He was so busy gleefully listing off the things he wanted, prioritizing them before changing his mind a moment later, that he didn"t hear the clink of her chains. The blade looked sharp enough, and she hoped it would do the job. When she got within striking range, she lunged.

The dagger wasn"t large enough to cut through his wrist, but it still managed to slice two fingers clean off. He let out a yowl of pain, the Luminaria tumbling to the ground. It bounced once, twice, then settled near Reshef"s boots.

"No!" Nasir screamed, cradling his hand to his chest, but Kalia had already dropped the dagger.

If she could get out of the chamber, she could seal it shut. And if she sealed it shut, she just might be able to use the Luminaria long enough to get the djinn out…leaving the captain and what was left of his crew trapped inside. It was a long shot, but it could work.

Bounding forward, Kalia made to swipe the gemstone from the sand and bolt toward the exit. Something solid caught Kalia in the ankle, and she tumbled forward, missing the stone entirely. Sliding against a scatter of jewels, she rolled to a sudden stop against a pile of coins. She groaned as Nasir picked up the Luminaria and screamed, "Get the ghouls! Get the ghouls!" to the djinn standing in a circle. She tried to push herself up, but Basset was there, his forearm split down to the bone, and he reached for her throat to hold her in place.

"I got her, captain! I got—"

Kalia didn"t let him finish his sentence. She had grappled to her side, her fingers reaching for anything and finding a palm-sized gem. She smashed it against the side of his head, feeling his skull dent and crack in its wake. She didn"t stop to ponder it as he crumpled to the sand, blood pooling from his wound. He didn"t move.

Nasir beat her to the chamber entrance, the Luminaria clutched in his hand. Eyes wild and blood steadily streaming from where his fingers had once been, he held the jewel-encrusted dagger into the space between them.

"You will return to the djinn and take your place amongst my servants," Nasir ordered, but Kalia didn"t budge.

But Kalia only smiled, only flashed her teeth at him as she shook her head. "You can"t force me to do anything," she said with a biting laugh that ticked Nasir"s jaw. "Because I"m no djinn, I"m a Voyant."

Nasir lunged for her, swiping the blade through the air, but he was a hair too slow. There was a flash of metal against the cool, silver moonlight, and a cry of surprise bit out from the shadows.

Then Rahmi appeared, flanked by Alaric and Thomas, each with their cutlasses drawn.

For a moment, Kalia forgot that she knew how to breathe. He was here. She was suddenly bathed in his spicy scent, his unyielding presence managing to shrink the size of the chamber. She wanted to reach for and touch him to make sure that it wasn"t a piece of her imagination come to life before her very eyes.

But she had stayed rooted for too long. Nasir grasped onto her shackles, forcing her back against his front. She felt the tip of the jewel-encrusted dagger at the column of her throat, and Rahmi froze in place.

"I would advise you to take her hands off of her," Rahmi said, the low rumble of his voice skittering across her flesh. "It"s on you what happens next, but if you leave this chamber alive, it isn"t going to be me that you should be worried about. Especially if she gets those shackles off."

Kalia heard Nasir"s tongue glide out to lick his dry lips. "Very well, captain." His tone was oily sweet, taunting and cruel. "Djinn, leave the ghouls. Get Rahmi"s crew. Leave the captain and his thieving whore to me."