The front door banged open so suddenly I shrieked in surprise. Expecting Marcus, I stared wide-eyed as Jonas Chase, my boss, charged through.
His eyes alight with fear and what looked like anger, he stared at me and Sin Garu together before closing the door behind him.
“Tessa, come to me.” He spoke calmly, not questioning the stranger behind me or my presence in Davis’ home.
“You see,” Sin Garu said as he stood at my back. “Some Djinn are simply good men who care.”
Chapter 35
Jonas—A Man with Secrets
I took in the guarded look Tessa sent me, her comfortable posture with the evil one at her back, and knew Sin Garu had done something to her mind.
I thought I’d been right to come here, but now I wondered if I hadn’t done wrong in not confiding in Marcus much sooner. If I had, maybe Tessa wouldn’t be here now. Maybe she and Marcus would have married and moved back to Tanselm, where they both belonged.
And maybe I would be one step closer to righting a terrible wrong instead of adding more misery.
“Jonas?” Tessa blinked. “A Djinn?”
“Yes, you see?” Sin Garu whispered in her ear. “Some do wrong for the right reasons, wanting only to help. Causing only hurt. The Djinn.”
Tessa shook her head. “No. Not you, Jonas. I don’t believe it.”
Sin Garu smiled, showing teeth that sharpened as I stared. “Yes, Jonas. Tell her the truth. Tell her all Djinn are not evil, that you aren’t here to harm her.”
“I’m not. Tessa.”
I watched her disbelief turn to outrage. Then hurt.
“I’m your friend, truly.” Enraged at the fucker of a Dark Lord, I had to work to contain my true feelings. Then said to hell with it. “But Sin Garu isn’t a friend. He’s going to try to kill you, devouring every bit of your power, body, and soul before he’s through with the Storm Lords.”
“Oh, Jonas.” Sin Garu shook his head and placed his hands on Tessa’s shoulders, holding her directly in front of him in a seemingly protective manner. “Not you too. Davis was fine in the beginning, but toward the end, a madness consumed him. And for a while, it affected me as well. But I overcame it. You can too. I just can’t allow Tessa to be hurt again. I won’t.”
Tessa leaned back in the sorcerer’s grasp, yet her eyes crinkled in confusion.
Yes, yes, I thought, focusing on her. Look through the lies. See what your heart knows.
Picking up the threads of Davis’ power still lingering in the room, I wove dark energy through her, knowing it would leave her temporarily blinded, hurt, and weak, but I couldn’t fight Sin Garu with her in the way.
And where were the Storm Lords? After looking for Tessa with Marcus at the office, I’d transported myself to Davis’ and deliberately projected Tessa’s whereabouts to their seer before blowing open the door.
At least one of the Storm Lords, Cadmus, I thought, had to know Tessa was here.
As if thinking about them had summoned them, Marcus and his brothers suddenly appeared. They seemed to sum up the situation, and the room lit with elemental power.
One Storm Lord had been tough to get used to. Three of them together were like an inferno of energy.
Sin Garu didn’t seem alarmed to find himself surrounded, but I sensed a shift in his energy. He knew he had the upper hand, and that without Tessa, he might very well die this day.
Marcus was like ice, a wall of cold rage as he stared at his affai in his enemy’s arms.
She hung limp and dazed, mired in dark energy.
Marcus stepped forward. His brothers flanked the sorcerer.
But Sin Garu obviously had no intention of releasing her alive.
He pressed an elongated fingernail against her neck that grew until it drew blood. “Unless you’re willing to hear me out, boys, the River Prince will get his precious affai back in pieces. Which would you like, Marcus? The head or the body?”
