Page 29 of Into the Abyss
Erin stepped from his embrace and glanced atme. I suspected the others had already informed her what I was andwhere she’d been.
“I’m not sure. It was all so confusing inthere,” Erin said. “One minute, I was eating dinner with my family,laughing and joking as we always did, and the next I was atVolunteer Day, waiting to step forward to go to the wall.”
Her hands tightened on Magnus’s forearms.“My parents were so proud of me that day, and I loved it. Ivolunteered to make sure they would have enough food for them andmy siblings, but I was scared, and I didn’t want to leave. Standingthere, it was all so familiar, and I could feel my parents’ love,yet it all seemed sort of… off. You know?” Erin asked.
“I don’t,” Magnus admitted.
“I don’t either.” Erin released him andstepped back. “I justknewI shouldn’t be there.”
“There have always been those with a strongenough mind to escape the Abyss,” I said. “Is there anything youdesperately long for or would wish was different?” I askedErin.
They all gave me wary glances, but I didn’tneed to see their distrust of me, I could feel it.
“Don’t make a wish,” Corson said and restedhis hand on Erin’s shoulder.
My fingers dug into my palms as I gloweredat him. I almost screamed at him that I wasn’t like the jinn whodid this, I was trying tohelp, but I bit back the words; hebelieved he already had me figured out.
“She’s not like most of the jinn,” Magnussaid.
My eyes flew to him, and a wave of reliefwashed over me.Hebelievesme!
Whatdoesitmatterif he believes me? I knew who I was, no one could take thatfrom me, and that was what counted.
But then I realized it mattered because Idesired this demon more than anyone I’d ever encountered, and Ididn’t want him to see me as a monster.
Crap.
I wanted him, but this could all endhorribly with the jinn and everyone else involved.
“She has you believing that?” Corsoninquired as he cast me a doubtful glance.
“It’s true,” Magnus said. “Somewhere alongthe way, a jinni found their Chosen outside of the jinn population.Because of that, they have what they call…”
“Faulted,” I supplied when his voice trailedoff, and he glanced questioningly at me. “I’m a Faulted jinni.There are seven of us in total.”
“And this Fault makes you different than therest?” Corson asked.
I chose to ignore the sarcasm in his voicewhen I replied, “Yes.”
“And we’re supposed to believe you?”
“You can believe whatever you want, but it’sthe truth. Behind the seals, my Fault didn’t matter. Now, most ofthe Faulted live on their own, but I decided to stay with the otherjinn because of my parents. I’m not sure how long that willlast.”
“Why, because it hurts you to hurt others?”Corson oozed venom as he asked this.
“Enough!” Magnus snarled in a tone I’d neverheard from him before. “I believe her.”
My eyebrows rose as Corson’s gaze slid fromme to Magnus.
“You believe her?” Corson askedincredulously. “The jinn are nothing but manipulativemonsters.”
“We arenotmonsters!” I snapped.“Maybe the jinn don’t have to feed on others the way they do tosurvive, but in some of them, it is their nature to do so. And thatnature is as interwoven into them as your bond to your Chosen isinterwoven into you.
“Besides, I don’t care if you like what thejinn do or not. Maybe people and demons shouldn’t yearn for thingsthey can’t have, and then they’d never have to deal with the jinn.Maybe they should realize that nothing worth having comes by simplywishing for it. And if I were you, I’d watch what you’re feelingabout bringing your Chosen back, because the jinn might be drawn toyoutoo!”
Folding my arms over my chest, I scowled atCorson as I tried to control the tumult of emotions rattling me.Not only were my feelings out of control, but so were those ofeveryone around me.
“I believe her,” Magnus said after aprotracted silence followed my outburst. “Because I know whatcaused the Fault in the jinn line.”
