I barely took a moment to look over my surroundings. If there was anybody around, I didn’t notice them. It was as if I had tunnel vision. I just felt the urge to keep running upward, right up to the highest level, and reach the desert above. I wasn’t even sure what was calling me to do it, but I couldn’t fight it.
Forsaking the elevators, I launched myself upward and leapt from level to level until I reached the highest point of the atrium—the glass-covered level just beneath the exit. I smashed through the glass and raced up the stairs toward the trapdoor. I forced it open and broke out into the desert night.
As I gazed around the shadowy dunes, it was as if the cool wind blowing against my skin instilled within me another objective.
I need to exit the boundary… and I need to reach a gate.
A gate.
Where is the nearest portal to the supernatural realm?
I racked my brain, trying to recall the copy of Mona’s map that I’d taken with me from The Shade and lost to the hunters back in Chile. I had studied that map intensely, but perhaps not intensely enough…
Come on. Where is the nearest gate?
I began running as I continued to think. A strong wind swept up around me, scattering sand in my eyes, but I barely felt the stinging. My focus was fixed on the boundary and my destination beyond. Now I was a member of the jinn’s family, I could step outside of the invisible barrier, as other vampire residents like Jeramiah were able to.
I was only a few feet away from it when an invisible force punched me in the gut. Winded, I flew backward. I landed on the sand, but I didn’t skip a beat. I shot to my feet and began running again.
“Benjamin!”
Nuriya’s voice.
It’d never sounded so irritating to me as it did then.
The jinni appeared directly in front of me. My limbs froze. I was unable to take a single step forward or even budge an inch.
Aisha appeared by Nuriya’s side, as well as the queen’s lover, Bahir.
“I command you to let me free!” I growled. The anger that boiled up within me surprised even me.
Nuriya exchanged glances with Bahir and Aisha, then fixed her eyes on me.
“You’ve tipped the scales, Benjamin,” she said quietly. “Now I must do what is best for you, my child.”
I cursed the jinni. I was filled with an overwhelming desire to rip through her throat, if that was even possible. If I’d had control over my limbs, I would’ve tried.
She looked toward Bahir once again, and nodded. Bahir looked directly at me and as he did, his upper body became as translucent as the mist swirling beneath him. The next thing I knew, he was hurtling toward me. A strong force hit my chest as he made contact with me, and then the most bizarre thing happened… the jinni’s body melded right into me. I felt a strange, though not unwelcome, sense of warmth in my bones—something I’d never experienced as a vampire. The rage that had been welling up within me calmed and then vanished completely.
Nuriya returned control over my body. I staggered backward and, looking down, I realized just how coated I was with blood. My hands were caked with it, my clothes soaked as if I’d just fallen into a lake of the red substance.
The haze lifted, for the first time allowing the reality of what I’d just done to settle fully upon me. The aftertaste of human blood in my mouth, sweet as it was, now tasted like the most despicable thing on the planet. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I spat on the ground, trying to rid my tongue of it in desperation. As though this act would somehow lessen the stabbing guilt. The crushing waves of dread.
“What just happened?” I panted, lowering myself on all fours and balling my hands into fists in the sand.
“You’ve had too much blood,” Nuriya said. “The Elder is now strong enough to influence you in a way that he never was before… But I’m sure he wasn’t counting on us assisting you. As subtle beings, we too can inhabit people. Bahir has entered inside you, and he is now attempting to smother the Elder’s influence. That’s why your mind has returned to you.”
It took several moments for her words to sink in. That jinni is inside me. Two supernaturals within me, battling for control. Breathing heavily, I forced myself back to a standing position and stared at Nuriya.
“How long can Bahir remain with me?” I asked. I wasn’t interested in much else other than how long I had before my mind was reclaimed.
“I’m unsure,” Nuriya replied, gazing at me with deep concern in her golden eyes. “Certainly, Bahir will not be able to stifle the Elder forever. This is only a temporary measure. He’s just stalled the Elder calling you back to Cruor.”
Cruor. Of course. That’s where the Elder wants me. That’s why I was racking my brain as to where the nearest gate was. He’s calling me back.
Once I got there, that would be it for me. There’d be no coming back. And not just for me. I knew the consequences for the rest of the world, both human and supernatural, if the Elders were allowed to rise to power again.
If I allowed them to rise to power.
The Elder’s influence had become so strong over me even without being physically present inside me. Once I arrived in Cruor, I assumed he’d be strong enough to enter me and use me as a vessel. He’d use me to nourish himself back to complete strength, and then gather new blood for the others to begin their recovery.
“No matter what happens,” I said, trying to steady my breathing, “you can’t let me reach Cruor.”