Page 103 of Into the Abyss
“Magnus!” she breathed.
• • •
Amalia
“Amalia.”
I still couldn’t see him, but his whispercaused his breath to caress my face, and then his hand cupped mycheek. I turned my head into his palm as a wave of his love sweptover me.
And then, he was gone.
Opening my eyes, I discovered three jinntackling an invisible mass onto the rocks. As they rolled, Magnus’sfeet came into view, then his extended horns and head. Thedisconcerting, patchwork way he shed the cloaking illusion made mybreath catch. His legs and torso remained invisible until a punchto his gut knocked the breath from him, and his upper bodyreappeared, followed by his legs.
Resting my hand against the monolith, I roseto my feet and turned to face the two jinn coming at me. A thrillof power raced into my palm and up my arm as the warm glow lit thesymbol beneath my hand again.
I wanted to turn to look at Absenthees, butI didn’t dare tear my eyes away from the approaching jinn whoseloyalty only went as far as anyone who didn’t stand against thehorsemen, I realized with a heavy heart. Behind the seal, we wereall so close; there hadn’t been this hatred toward each other andthe world. There was resentment, of course, but not to thisdegree.
The falling of the seals did more than setus free; it also released all the hatred and bitterness the jinnsuppressed over eighteen thousand years of captivity.
They’d kill me to get what they sought, andI’d fight them to the death, theirs or mine before I let themreturn me to the horsemen. My life, and Magnus’s, might as well beover if those abominations had control over one of us again.
Kill or be killed.
Bracing myself for a battle, I removed myhand from Absenthees and fisted them before me. When this was over,I was going to learn how to punch as I’d broken my thumb when I hitthe jinni earlier. It was healing, but not fast enough.
I was about to launch my first blow whenMagnus plowed into the side of one of the jinn and shoved her intothe other. The strike took them both out. With no jinn before me, Icould see what was happening below. Though at least twenty jinnswarmed the monolith and were climbing toward us, almost a dozenremained below, uncertain about jumping into the fray.
Nalki and another jinni restrained my fatherwhile he struggled against their hold. Olgon stood between Prideand Lust; their attention was focused on us, and their fury was ahot ray I felt from nearly two hundred feet away. Sitting besideLust, Sloth yawned as he surveyed the fight with a bored air.
I didn’t know why they hadn’t set theirpowers free to put an end to this, but then I realized that if thehorsemen unleashed their abilities, they would trap all the jinntoo. Doing such a thing might render the jinn useless to them andmight make it so the horsemen couldn’t escape the Abyss.
And Pride had told Lust she should havesuspected the Chosen bond would make Magnus capable of withstandingher power. They loved to create death and destruction, but theypreferred to do it without getting their hands dirty. Magnus hadalmost killed Lust once already; they wouldn’t take the chance sucha thing could happen to one of them again.
Still, I didn’t want to see what wouldhappen if the horsemen decided they had no choice but to free theirabilities.
We have to get out of here, now!
Stepping back, I pressed against themonolith and flattened my palms on it as Magnus brawled with thetwo jinn he’d tackled. When another jinni came toward me, Iremained where I was and hoped my face reflected my fear. I kept myeyes lowered so they wouldn’t see the rage simmering in them whileI waited for her to get closer. Then, I’d surprise her by shovingher backward.
I had crossed a line when I brought Magnusinto the Abyss, but what they planned to do to us wentfarbeyond that line. I was looking to save lives, they were looking toendours, and any loyalty I might have felt toward anyonestanding with the horsemen died with my mother.
Now, I would play the role they expected ofme, helpless and frightened. I may not be the best fighter, but Iwouldnotgo easy, and I would not let them destroy my lovefor Magnus.
Love?
I would always believe peace was better thanwar; it would always be my preferred course of action, but whereasbefore I would have walked away from this and let the jinn do whatthey wanted, I wouldnotback down.
Magnus, the Abyss, the humans, the world,andIwere all worth fighting and dying for.
The jinni was only a foot away from me when,keeping my head down, I leaned against the monolith, lifted a foot,and smashed it into her chest. Her mouth formed a startled O, andher astonishment hit me like a hammer as she clawed at the air.However, there was nothing she could grasp to stop herself fromfalling over, and I watched as she toppled head over heels down therocks.
I took no pleasure in having beaten her, butI did take satisfaction in it.
Magnus succeeded in throwing one of the jinnaway from him before bashing the head of the other off the stonesand tossing their limp body aside. Overhead, Caim swooped down topluck another jinni from the rocks.
The man screamed as Caim flew across thecavern and released him over Pride’s head. The sound the ravenreleased sounded like laughter as the falling jinni flailed hisarms. Pride jerked his horse out of the way in time to avoid beinghit by the jinni. The man hit the ground with a resonatingcrunch.
Pride fixed hate-filled eyes on Caim as,against my back, Absenthees heated further.
