Gideon tucked his cane under his arm, leaning forward to speak, “The lamp is for traveling.” We were conspirators, he and I, and I could tell he wanted someone to confide in. “For a Jinni who can already travel, such as myself, it increases our distance considerably. On my own, I’m not powerful enough to get home, but with the lamp, I could reach the gate to Jinn.”
My mouth fell open. “That’s incredible,” I whispered. I could see why he would want it so badly. “What would it do for a human?”
His eyes narrowed and he straightened, shrugging. “I don’t honestly know.”
We were no longer accomplices; I’d made him suspicious.
“It’s never been tested, to my knowledge.”
Before I could find the words to appease him, Kadin’s thoughts intruded and he spoke up from the staircase behind me, “Ready to go?”
I faced him, clenching my teeth at the interruption. His men followed behind him, joining us at the base of the stairs.
Was it my imagination or had Kadin’s face lit up at the sight of me. When he grinned, I couldn’t help but smile back.
Gideon and I greeted him at the same time, and as a group, we left the inn.
At least one of us might get what they desired today.
It was finally time for Gideon to bear witness.
CHAPTER 29
Kadin
I’D THOUGHT THROUGHEVERYangle of my plans.
Except this day.
I’d avoided this day like a fool. Because I couldn’t allow myself to think about what might happen if we failed.
Though I loved to visualize Prince Dev suffering, the path from this morning until the hour he faced justice was unclear. I’d let myself hope that any misstep on Prince Dev’s part, related to his Gift or otherwise, would be enough. But it seemed I’d been wrong.
We strode down the narrow streets in pairs, winding along the side of the mountain, climbing toward the castle ahead of us. Built into the rock, it wasn’t designed for beauty but to be impenetrable, blending seamlessly into the sandstone around it.
The windows were long, narrow slits that rose high above our heads, too high to scale and too thin for anyone but a child to enter. The enormous arch of the entrance stretched wide and dark, ready to swallow us.
