This one was female, with blonde locks that grew more tangled and matted as she fought against my power. Pointless. My shadows were a physical entity when I wanted them to be, but they weren’t connected to me any more than Peter Pan’s.
“You can’t stop us, Alantes!” The djinn spat like a feral cat in a cage. “We will destroy your bond before you and your faction can gain any more undeserved power.”
“So, you do know who I am,” I purred. “That will make things go a lot smoother for you.”
There was never any doubt that the djinn knew who I was on sight. Kaiden Einar Winmore Alantes, heir to the witch faction and bond to the last of the nightmares. Two things myenemies couldn’t stand: I was powerful, and that power was only going to increase.
“We will find her,” the djinn continued as if my threat meant nothing to her. “Hiding her here was a mistake.”
Hmm. They knew enough about her to lay targeted traps across campus, but not enough to realize they weren’t the only ones hunting her. Interesting. What else could she tell me?
“How many of you are there?” I asked. We only knew about three, including her.
There had to be more than that. Underestimating an Alantes was not something I would accuse them of. They knew better. The djinn cackled, a hoarse, deranged sound that echoed off the ancient brick architecture. I squeezed my shadows tighter, trying to cut through the sound, but that only made her laughter more high-pitched. Like a disturbing whistle.
I slapped another shadow over her mouth, but it wasn’t enough. If she didn’t shut up soon, someone was going to stick their head out of one of the windows to see what was going on.
“Problem, cuz?” Ezra walked up, hands in his pockets and humming like this was an innocent stroll in the park.
My lips twitched at the picture it painted; writhing shadows surrounded an insane djinn across from a laid-back surfer who looked less out of place in an American Eagle ad.
“This one won’t talk,” I told him. “And we’re running out of time.”
“Well then, let’s see if I can speed things up.”
Ez cracked his knuckles, then threw his hands out to the sides. All the windows on the back of the library froze over. The thick layer of ice would conceal our interrogation, even muffling the sound a bit, but it came at a cost. That was a large chunk of magick.
“Ezra,” I groaned. “She definitely felt that.”
He rolled his eyes, not the least bit bothered at the extrawork he just created for me. “Do you want to know how many of these fuckers are after your girl or not?”
I felt a headache coming on. “Of course I do.”
“Then let me do my thing and stop worrying about it. One little blast of power won’t send your bond on the run again. You can still stick to wooing her.”
“Great Ez. Tell the djinn even more about our plans, I don’t think she heard you.”
He laughed, and a familiar grin spread across his face, telling me the djinn wouldn’t be leaving this alley alive.
“You don’t have to worry about the little djinny here spilling your secrets, does he, sweetheart?” The blood drained from her face as he moved closer.
“No, he doesn’t. But you…” Ez lifted a brow, and both the djinn’s hands were encased in ice. She screamed, “...you should worry.”
I thickened the shadows over her mouth as my cousin did what he did best. Ten questions, his favorite game. Our prisoner had ten chances to answer our questions truthfully. Each refusal or lie led to a shattered finger. When Ez ran out of fingers, he moved on to toes, then arms, legs, and so on. It was successful, if not time-consuming. I frowned and glanced at my phone. My last one-on-one for the week was in an hour—with Eryn.
“We need to move this along,” I warned my cousin, and then checked the iced windows for good measure. This wasn’t a secure location.
When the screaming stopped, I removed the shadow gag. The djinn caught my eyes and held them. Her mouth moved too rapidly for me to track what she said, but when her pupils dilated, I knew she was trying to put me under a compulsion. Stupid. My cousin and I were warded against such psychic attacks. Did she think we were amateurs? I slapped the gag back on her face a second before Ez shattered another finger.
I sighed for what felt like the millionth time. “This is going to take forever.”
It didn’t take forever, but it did take thirty minutes for the djinn to break and another fifteen for Ez to get all the information he needed. Our unlucky prisoner, with only one frozen digit remaining, had no idea how many of her kind were currently on campus. Honestly, she wasn’t a wealth of information. All we learned was that they would keep coming now that they knew Eryn was here.
A fact we were already aware of. I left Ez to clean up and paused at the back door of the library to gain a little composure. My shadows sank beneath my skin with an ease I hadn’t felt in days. Knowing I was about to see my bond did a lot to tame them. I felt her. The flutter in my chest told me she was nearby, possibly already at my office. I forced myself to take my time, stopping to grab a coffee from the Starbucks inside before taking the stairs down to the basement.
The TA offices were crammed into the subterranean level as an afterthought. Nowhere near as polished as the floors above, the halls down here didn’t have the bells and whistles I was accustomed to seeing on this campus, but they got the job done. Fresh paint, clean carpet, and solid doors; I didn’t need much else.
Coffee in hand, I rounded the corner from the rickety elevator I always avoided and came to a complete stop at the sight before me. My bond was gorgeous and especially delectable in a pair of tight leggings and a soft sweater that draped off one shoulder, baring her slender neck and smooth skin.
