Page 161 of Coerced

“Explain,” Jax said.

“Have you heard of the Ring of Solomon? Or some call it the Seal of Solomon? Reilly Argaud told Kerry that Hubler has it.” Ofcourse, none of them had heard of it. “Okay. Quick history lesson. In the ancient days, a Hebrew king named Solomon had a ring he used to call up and control a specific clan of djinn. They’re bound to a vessel when they operate on this plane. It’s usually a bottle or a lamp, but this clan was shackled to a ring.”

“Oh,genies.” Gigi bobbed her head, thinking she understood. “LikeAladdin.”

“No, not like that genie.” I shook my head slowly. “These are not tricksters and comedians. They are bound to whoever wears the ring, hard to banish, and able to use their own Divine power. They can shift, too, but are limited to animal forms.”

“How many?” Chance narrowed his eyes at me.

“Forty.”

“Forty?” Jax looked like he was starting to get how much more dangerous this battle had become.

“Forty. And Holy ground is fair game to this clan. In fact, they helped King Solomon build the First Temple.”

“Uh, I think it’s time to grab the others and skedaddle.” Gigi took Jax’s hand and backed up.

Kerry had jumped on a giant stump and was slinging fists full of power faster than my eye could track. The majority of the djinn were focused on him, and I figured he would entertain them long enough for me to get to the church and back again.

“Okay, here’s the plan.” I turned to the others. “I’ll go get Mira and Gemma. The rest of you, support Kerry if you can, but stay together and stay safe until I get back.”

“What about her?” Gigi nodded toward Spin’s barefoot tagalong.

“Monkey stays with me.” Spin wasn’t joking around for once, which surprised me. “I’ll be firing arrows. I don’t need to be in the thick of things to do that.”

“Monkey?” I asked.

“She doesn’t talk, so we don’t know her name.” Jax shrugged. “But she clings to Spin like one, so Monkey it is.”

“Whatever.” Shaking my head, I took off.

#

As I sped toward the church, motion to the right caught my eye. Mira had somehow strayed beyond the limits of Holy ground and was now locked in combat with a fetter wretch. Behind her, Gemma lay on the grass, silent and still, and I hauled heinie over there.

I needn’t have bothered. A demon shackled in metal against an artificer? That fight ended before it began. With a flash of gray, she tore it apart with its own chains.

I pounded my way over there and must have startled her because the woman turned as fast as a rattlesnake striking, a stiletto in each hand and ferocity in her eyes.

My Amazon doesn’t play.

“Just me.” I grinned. “We need to get out of here.”

“You think?” She motioned to Gemma. “You wanna carry her or should I?”

“Why isn’t she healing herself?”

“She’s unconscious. Judging by all the blood on her clothes, she musta healed some serious injuries. Plus, she was trapped under a huge brass bell. That had to be terrifying. Maybe her brain said enough.”

“Okay, on to Plan B. Most of the djinn are concentrated around Kerry. If you carry her south toward the highway, we can call the others, then head for the car. I’ll cover your six.”

“And who’s coveringyoursix?” said an accented voice from over my shoulder.

Mira’s eyes widened and she glanced at her stilettos, then at the djinni behind me. I frowned, not liking what she was suggesting, but it would cause enough of a distraction for me to maneuver.

Giving her a look that said she better not get hurt, I dropped straight down and swung in a half circle, one long leg smacking into something solid. Whirling to my feet, blades in hand, I found the djinni on the ground with Mira’s knives protruding from his chest. Suspicious, I prowled around the downed body and came to a stop on its far side.

“Huh. Whatever that thing is, it went down easier than I thought.” She walked over to stand next to me, then nudged the djinni’s shoulder with the toe of her boot.

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