Nuriya moved closer and gripped my arms. Her eyes blazed with determination. “I know, my child. We have to find a way out of this. Your future is with us, not those monsters.”
As miserable as it would be, the thought of a life stuck with these jinn was almost appealing compared to what Cruor had in store for me.
But even with this time Bahir has bought me, what the hell am I going to do now?
As if Nuriya had read my thoughts, she said, “Perhaps you should go to visit Arron.”
I stared at her. “Arron?”
“Yes,” she replied. “He has great expertise in matters relating to the Elders—with Elders and Hawks being natural enemies, he made it his life’s mission to know everything about those creatures in order to combat them. For the many, many years he’s been alive, all the knowledge he has gained… some of it could be of use to us.”
“So you’re suggesting that the Hawk would actually want to help me?”
“It is in his interest as much as, if not more than, yours that the Elders do not rise again. The Hawks are a weak shadow of their former selves. Just imagine what would happen if the Elders gained power and struck now—all of them would be obliterated. Arron would be horrified if he knew what the Elder had managed to do to you.”
“That makes sense,” I said, “but I still don’t see why he would help me. Once he found out what I was carrying, what I have the potential of being used for—I don’t see why he wouldn’t just murder me on the spot. Finish me off, so that there was no chance of this catastrophe…”
Even as I said the words, a chill settled in at the base of my spine. What if that was the only way to stop them rising to power? Take myself out of the picture entirely… I shook aside the dark thought, and tried to focus on positive action. There must be another way.
“I don’t doubt that murdering you would be the first thing that occurred to Arron,” Nuriya replied. “You’re the Elders’ only link, their only hope of resuscitation. But you would not see Arron alone. Although I have too many commitments here to come with you on such a journey, Aisha will come, and of course, Bahir will remain within you for as long as he possibly can.”
“So you’re suggesting that we actually go to Aviary?” I asked, raising a brow. I couldn’t imagine how strange that would feel. The first, last and only time I’d been there had been as a newborn.
“Oh, no, of course not,” Aisha butted in. “That would be an unnecessary risk with you as a vampire. We could pass through a gate and enter the supernatural world. Then I could leave you somewhere safe while I fetched Arron and brought him to see you.”
I paused, thinking over the jinn’s words. I wondered if Arron could hold answers that neither the jinn nor the oracle did—or rather, was willing to reveal. I knew that the jinn were on my side since I was one of them, but the oracle… Although she’d said that she’d seen my future set in stone, there was no way of knowing whether she might’ve been withholding some information from me. After her grim prediction, I could only hope it was true.
I looked toward Aisha, not thrilled that it was her I would have to be traveling with. But I was still too shaken to contemplate kicking up a fuss about it. I was just grateful that I had control of my mind again. I swallowed hard, then nodded.
I was dry of all ideas. I didn’t know whether this Hawk could give us the answers we needed, but we had to keep moving. I could not remain stagnant.
“Where would you take me first?”
“To the nearest gate,” Aisha said. “Once we’re in the supernatural world, I think the best place for me to drop you off would be The Tavern. You could wait there while I fetched Arron.”
“The Tavern,” I muttered. It rang a bell. My parents had told me that they had stopped by a place called The Tavern on their mission to finish off the black witches.
“Yes,” Aisha replied. “It’s a small island, and it’s kind of a haven for all species who have been rejected by their own kind—or for those who just choose to leave their homes and become wanderers. I’ll be as fast as possible in fetching Arron, so I doubt you would be waiting long anyway.”
Nuriya moved closer to me. Brushing her hands down my arms, she planted a kiss on top of my head. “And I will be here, waiting anxiously for your return, my child… Godspeed.”
CHAPTER 10: SOFIA
Derek’s hold around me tightened as Jeriad dipped beneath the clouds. We found ourselves staring down at what appeared to be an endless black desert. If this was really the country of jinn that we were hovering over, they clearly had a preference in habitat.
The dragons surrounding us came into view, carrying our companions, and soon we all touched down. Derek stood up on Jeriad’s back, and, catching me by the waist, picked me up and dropped down on the sand before letting me stand on my own two feet. We stepped back from the dragon, giving him space to transform. But to my surprise, he didn’t.
“We will stay in our dragon forms for the time being,” Jeriad explained.
“Now that we’re here,” Derek said, “I’d like you to shed some light on your plan.”
“We are here to see an ancient family of jinn known as the Drizan. They are the most influential and feared of all the jinn clans. It was with them that we dragons once had an… exchange of favors, shall we say. I am of the belief that they will know about the Nasiris.”