Chapter 34

"It's not working!" I snapped as I allowed my arms to flop down to my sides. It was a sweet relief. The muscles along my biceps and forearms had been crying for an hour, unused to the abuse Doogal was inflicting.

Doogal grabbed my wrist and lifted them back up into their previous position. "You just have to concentrate."

I let out a growl. "I've been concentrating for hours! It doesn't work. I'm not magical!"

"Try again."

Anger consumed me, and with a sound that couldn't be human, I looked to the little white circle he'd made in the grass and imagined it bursting into flames.

It sparked.

"Holy shit!" I let my arms fall. "Did you see that?" I'd done it. I'd made it do that. That spark of bright reddish orange had been because of me.

"Very impressive," Doogal said. "It only took you six hours to achieve, and it lasted less than a second."

I glared at him, but my smile wouldn't dull. "I don't care what you say. I'm proud of my little spark."

Doogal's lip twitched. "You should be." He moved closer and took my hand, holding it palm up. "You aren't meant to do magic. No human is." He pulled my hand up, his hold on my wrist, then softly high fived it as his eyes stayed glued to mine. "Good job."

My lips curved even more. "Thanks, Doogal."

He nodded once. "Now. Defensive magic. You need to be able to defend." Two of his fingers came up to rest upon his temple. "You just need to use your mind. It's all here. Humans have the capacity to do anything a Jinn can, they're just incapable of utilizing the majority of their brain power."

"And you can?" I lifted a brow at him.

Doogal's lips twitched again. "As a matter of fact, I can."

"Bullshit."

He shrugged. "Think what you want. I'm just explaining how it works."

He didn't even blink as he met my gaze head on. He seemed relaxed, as if it couldn't matter less to him whether I learned the magic or not.

"So how do you do defensive magic? There's runes right? Like Owen gave me."

The ghost of something crossed his face, but I couldn't read the expression. "Runes are like tupperware. I take some of my magic, and the rune holds it. The more magic I put, the more powerful the rune." He motioned behind him to the house. "The stones that make up this house are full of magic, and the property line is surrounded with them, buried just beneath the dirt. It's the only thing keeping your friend out of here."

"So he can't come in at all?" My eyes roamed the house, then the expansive amount of land surrounding it.

"Not yet." Doogal's mouth set into a grim line. "But the king of the Jinn is very powerful."

My heart stuttered. "What did you call him?"

His mouth set into a grim line. "That's what he's known as. Jinn don't have a king. They have elders, the most powerful among them. They bind themselves to the etheric plane and lead the people. You just happened to stumble upon one of the most powerful."

"How do you know all this?" I narrowed my eyes at him, then took a large step backwards.

Doogal smirked. "It's my business to know these things."

I studied him. "Okay. Then answer me something. Do Jinn have soulmates?" My tongue felt heavy as I uttered the question, and I mentally kicked myself the moment it escaped me. Why was I asking? It didn't matter. They'd already explained it to me. Regardless, I watched his face, waiting on bated breath for an answer I knew would only crush me all over again.

"They do," Doogal said slowly. "But never a human." He took a step forward, his eyes guarded, and each movement careful. "Humans are like entertainment to Jinn. Pets that they don't have to take care of. How humans view a zoo, only far less rules as to how they can interact."

Each word he spoke was like a knife to my already bleeding heart. I nodded my head, then held up a hand to stop him. "I understand." My voice sounded hollow. I forced myself to shake away the feelings. It didn't matter. I needed to accept it and stop acting like an idiot. "How do I defend myself?"

Doogal didn't speak for a long moment, and his intense look made me feel exposed. When he finally did open his mouth to speak, a new voice cut him off.

"There are spells for that," Owen said, walking up with a smile plastered across his face. His eyes met Doogal's, and the other man looked away, off into the trees as he waved a hand for Owen to continue. Owen's smile widened. He met my gaze. "All you need to do is speak them out-loud for their power to work."

He stepped forward as close as he could without touching me, then motioned to Doogal. "Concentrate on Doogal, and repeat after me."

I nodded my head, fixing my gaze on the still preoccupied man a few feet away.

"Ma olen väga usklik," he said, causing Doogal to shift uncomfortably in his spot.

I did my best to repeat it, and Owen patted my shoulder when I succeeded.

"Now, say, inimesed on naljakas, ma olen nii müane."

I struggled, but managed to at least mimic the sounds. The moment I did, Doogal was thrown. He flew backwards ten feet, then hit the ground with an audible thud.

Owen laughed despite the look he received from his friend.

My mouth hung open. "That worked? I did that?"

Owen's eyes danced as he motioned to Doogal. "She sure did, didn't she?" He turned to me. "I'll write that all down so you can memorize it."

"Thank you." I couldn't believe it. I looked at Doogal and smiled sheepishly. "Here, let me help you."

He waved me off when I started towards him, his expression flat and lacking all humor. "Our lessons are done for today."

I watched him storm off. "Is he angry?"

The smile never left Owen's face. "He's just upset that you were able to do that. Don't worry about him. He'll be okay." He met my gaze. "You're a lot stronger than you let on."

I couldn't stop the smile that filled my face. "I can't believe I did that?"

"Believe it. You're fully capable of protecting yourself. Just look at you now." He took my hands on his. "The Jinn that's attached itself to you is very powerful. The spell he had on you was deep. Most people would crumble under the weight of that kind of compulsion, but you haven't. You're still here, learning and readying yourself. That's an achievement on its own, Amelia."

I nodded my head, his words like a soothing balm to my wounded heart. "I guess so."

"I know so." Owen smiled again. "Are you hungry? C'mon, let's go get something to eat."

He lead the way, and when we stepped inside, Doogal was nowhere to be seen. "Will he be okay?"

Owen grunted. "He's fine. Probably off somewhere licking his wounds."

I nodded my head. "Alright."

Owen motioned towards the table, and I took a seat in one of the many chairs. He busied himself around the kitchen, and eventually walked over holding a plate in each hand. "I hope you're not a vegetarian."

I shook my head, then eyed the sandwich he'd placed in front of me. "Thank you."

Owen nodded, then our conversation died as we both focused on our food. My mind was on repeat. The words he'd had me say were on a constant loop as I tried to commit them to my memory.

"Tomorrow," Owen started as he finished swallowing his last bite. "I need to go out and try to make a few moves towards fixing your problem. I'll have Doogal stay here and practice that spell with you." He grinned. "He'll be fine once it's a practice target and not him."

"Okay." I slowly chewed another bite then swallowed it. "What moves are you trying to do?"

Owen lifted himself up and turned towards the kitchen. "Nothing important yet. Like I said, it will take some time."

My eyes found the clock on the wall, and I realized just how long I'd been training with Doogal. The day was already done. It was after eight, and I'd yet to hear from Red. I thought for sure she'd have come back after school, given my current situation.

"I'm going to call it an early night," I announced as I lifted myself up from the table, suddenly eager to find my phone and call her.

"Alright." Owen met me halfway and took my empty plate. "If you need anything at all, just help yourself. Treat this place like home while you're here."

I nodded, then tried to politely walk away from his still warm smile. It wasn't that I wasn't grateful, it was just that I hated the attention, especially in that moment.

I felt his eyes follow me, and hurried up the stairs in the hopes of granting myself some more familiar company.

My cell phone still sat on the nightstand, and I snatched it the moment I entered the room. Twenty missed calls, all from Red.

I hit the dial button, and it only rang once before she answered. "Amelia!"

"Yeah?" My breath caught at her panic. "What's–"

"Dammit! It's about time! Are you okay? Did you make it out? I've been trying to get back inside, but the gate is locked, and he can't do it either for whatever fucking reason. He can do everything but the one fucking thing I need from him." She paused, and my mind fought to process her words as a sinking feeling settled down into the pit of my stomach.

"What are you–"

"The non-sexy demon!"

White noise filled my ears. It'd been real. The dream had been real. "Where'd you go? Are you okay?" My words were on autopilot as my mind continued to race past the fear consuming me.

"They dumped me outside and tried to erase my memory. I let them think it worked. You have to get out!"

Her words cut off, and I heard a scuffle. "Red?"

"Sweetheart."

My heart clenched at the sound of his voice.

"Brady? They said that–"

"You need to find a way out of there. Now. Do you understand?"

A cold sweat began to bead along my forehead. It'd been real. Brady hadn't lied. If it wasn't a dream, then that meant, "It's here." My words were an echo of my former self, that little girl who'd spent so many years tormented. She was me, I was her, and we were both trapped.

"Amelia," Brady's voice was tight. "Can you get away?"

"I don't know." I looked to the window, then the bedroom door. "I can try."

"Try, Sweetheart. Just stay on the phone. I'm right outside the gates."

I stood up, nodding my head even though he couldn't see me. My steps were shaky as I wobbled my way towards the bedroom door, but when I opened it, Owen was stood right outside.

His smile hadn't dulled in the least. If anything, it was wider, more excited, more amused. "Did you need something?" he asked. His eyes darted to the phone still pressed against my ear, then my frightened expression.

The curve to his lips dwindled, and a knowing look entered his eyes. With a resigned sigh, he scratched his head. "Does this mean we have to stop playing?" Glowing red flickered across his irises.

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