and passed it over. Basil entered his number, dialed his own so he’d have mine as well, then passed me back the phone and said, “Thanks for going to lunch with me.” He got out of the car before I could respond. What the hell had that been about? It wasn’t like I took him out on a date or somethin’. We didn’t even pay for the damn food.
I sighed and got out, too, then silently led the way to the jinn. Hopefully it hadn’t killed anyone else in the hours I’d been gone. I’d feel terrible if it had.
When we reached a good recon spot and had eyes on our target, I asked, “Can you trap him in a shield?”
“I can try, but I won’t know until we try it. As soon as my magic hits his, he’ll know we’re here, so we have to be ready for it.”
I pulled out my dagger and my chakram—a circular blade that could be thrown or used in close combat. Basil eyed my weapons, but didn’t comment, so I said, “I’m ready when you are.”
He hesitated before making eye contact. “I know you don’t trust me, but I want you to know I have your back. No matter what happens in there, I’ll be sure to get you out so you can go home to your daughter.”
The thing was… I believed him. I didn’t want to, I didn’t want to trust a witch, but… after everything I’d seen of the man, I didn’t think he was evil. He’d always tried to help me and others, so why wouldn’t he now? I hated that I believed him, but I did. So I said, “I’ll try to get you home, too.” And I would. Yeah, witches had screwed me over in the past, but Basil hadn’t, so I would do everything in my power to protect him if need be.
He nodded, then closed his eyes and called on his magic. The wind picked up, smelling like a summer storm, and when Basil opened his eyes again, lightning was flashing in them. He shot me a cocky smirk, then pushed his arms forward and a howl of wind rushed by, almost knocking me over.
A second later, a glistening shield, with only a few spots of cloudy black shadow magic, surrounded the jinn.
The evil being let out a loud screech, so Basil and I nodded at each other before we stood and charged.
Chapter Nine
Basil
I didn’t know what happened in the past hour and a half with Grim, but something seemed to have changed. He was being… kind. And he kept staring at me like he’d never seen me before. It was unnerving, but since he wasn’t being a dick, I’d take it.
Giving myself a mental shake to get back in the game, I nodded at Grim, and we took off toward the target. The jinn was pushing its magic against mine, and my magic was bending. What the hell? It wasn’t breaking, but the fact that it could even push my magic like that made me nervous as hell. If the jinn kept it up, it might puncture a hole in the shield that was holding it inside.
Blaze hopped off my shoulder and grew into his full dragon form. He stepped in front of me to help block me, just in case, but I moved to the side so I could keep my eye on the jinn. That didn’t make Blaze very happy. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grim eyeing the huge-ass dragon, but he didn’t comment.
“Is there any chance of transportin’ the jinn?” Grim yelled over the sound of my wind magic as he shifted his weapons in his gloved hands.
I shook my head. “Not as long as it’s fighting me.”
Grim nodded and stepped forward, then yelled at the jinn, “You have one chance here, Saral. You can come with us peacefully, or you can fight us ‘til one of us kills ya. What’ll it be?”
The jinn cocked its head to the side, regarding Grim in a way I wasn’t comfortable with, then it cackled and hissed, “Hunter and witch together cannot beat me, silly child. I’ll give you a choice. Run and live, or stay and die.”
Grim sighed before facing me. “Guess it chose option two. Ready?”
Unfortunately. “Yeah. Jinn, last chance. You’re fighting the Power of Three.”
The jinn roared at us, slammed its hand against my shield, and broke free. Before I could erect another shield, the jinn tackled Grim