Page 162 of Coerced

“It’s a djinni, and don’t do th—”

A burning blast erupted from the djinni and caught us both in a concussive wave that threw us some thirty feet back.

The djinni was on me before I got to my feet and survival mode kicked in. I could fight on my back, but it wasn’t smart and I wouldn’t be able to do it for long. My swords were short, but not that short, so I let them go and used my fists. It wouldn’t do more than hurt the djinni, but if I gained the time and space to stand, I could call up my blades again.

As we wrestled, the stilettos glowed gray and were sucked into his chest. He roared in pain and arched his spine, and the knives exploded out of his back.

I wouldn’t get a better opportunity. Manifesting my blades, I scissored off his head and that was the end of him.

Climbing to my feet, I coughed on the dissipating fume, which reminded me of campfire smoke, then met Mira’s eyes.

“Thanks for the assist.”

“Any time.” Her lips quirked up. “Let’s get our little healer and get out of here.”

“Agreed.”

Turning, we headed back to where we’d left Gemma and got a shock to find she was gone.

“Where did she go?” Mira put her hands on her hips. “Did she wake up and wander off? She really wanted to find Kerry. Do you think she went looking for him?”

Squinting against the rising sun, I scanned the area and saw a different djinni racing through the graveyard on the east side of the church.

He had Gemma tossed over his shoulder.

Not good. Not good. Not good!

I took off after him, ignoring Mira’s surprised shout. I could move fast when I had to, especially when I fueled my legs with power, and made it to within a few yards of the djinni before he glanced over his shoulder and made eye contact with me.

Between one heartbeat and the next, he ’ported away with Gemma, and I slid to a stop on the dewy grass with a curse.

“Did … Kerry … see … that?” Mira panted as she caught up to me.

I swung my head around and—

“GEMMA!”

Oh, yeah. The kid had seen it.

“Plan C.” I folded my hand around hers. “Run!”

“No, we can’t. Look at him. Look at his face. We can’t leave—”

“I promised, Mira! Now move!”

Yanking her along, I overpowered her attempts to pull away. After a few seconds, she gave in and ran with me. My instincts screamed to go faster, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up if I did.

Then a keening howl assaulted my ears and I looked over my shoulder. Mira did, too, and what we saw brought us to a stunned halt.

46. Weapon of Mass Destruction

Rome

A massive pillar of cobalt power reached for the clouds like an F5 tornado, Kerry barely visible in the dead center of it. Heavy white clouds roiled around the base, ripping and tearing everything nearby. As we watched, silver lightning arced out in branches and ensnared djinn, plucked them right out of the air or off the ground, and dragged them into the swirling vortex.

Mira said something, but I couldn’t hear her over the deafening cacophony of trees breaking and buildings disintegrating.

“We won’t outrun that,” I shouted.

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