Page 104 of Bewitched By the Djinn
I grit my teeth. “No. It’s why we’re still standing.”
But even as the words leave my lips, I know the truth—we’re about to go down fighting.
Bennet reaches for me, our fingers entwining. “I love you.” His expression is fierce, his love pulsing through our bond.
Then the doors explode open behind us.
Wind roars through the chamber, blowing away the smoke. The fire falters.
My parents charge into the room, flanked by Darius and the others. Magic flares, and in the light, weapons glint and a group of faces glow grim and glorious. Light crashes into the circle like a divine hammer, slamming into Hugh’s shield and shattering its outer ring.
The tide turns in an instant.
The chamber erupts into chaos.
Magic explodes in brilliant arcs: gold, blue, violet, and vibrant red. Fire slams against shields. Light sears through shadow.
Mom shields the others with glowing runes. Darius blasts a fiery pulse across the room, clearing a path.
Helen and I press forward through the fray, dodging strikes, countering where we can. But half my focus is on Bennet.
He’s standing across from Hugh now. Just the two of them, fire curling in their palms, the floor cracked and blackened beneath their feet.
“You think you can beat me? You weren’t trained.” Hugh sneers, circling.
“You trained me to be a pawn.” Bennet’s voice is steady. “I trained myself to be a warrior.”
And then hemoves.
Their magic collides in a thunderclap, raw energy lashing out and sending shockwaves through the room.
Hugh is fast, but Bennet is faster.
He sidesteps a blast of lightning, then slams both palms into the ground. The stone beneath Hugh’s feet erupts, forcing him into the air. Bennet follows, rising in a pillar of fire, wings of flame stretching from his back.
“You think you can win?” Hugh’s eyes flick to me, to Helen. “You’ve bonded with a mortal. You’re diluted. Impure.”
“No,” Bennet says. “I’m complete.”
Hugh snarls and hurls a spear of molten power.
Bennet catches it midair and snaps it in half. “You were never the strongest. Only the cruelest.”
Hugh lunges, the Ring of Solomon burning bright.
Bennet meets him with open hands and closes them around the ring.
Their magic ignites.
It’s too much. The power arcs violently, surging up Bennet’s arms, through his chest—and thenout, into the chamber, cracking the air with light. Hugh screams, the sound tearing at the walls.
But it’s not enough.
I run, reaching for him. “Bennet!”
I grab his shoulder.
The moment we’re connected, the energy changes. I concentrate on the ring. Where’s the weakness? Where, where, where? I seek and seek deeper into the ring, the layers of metal, the goddamn atoms of it and there is nothing andoh, no we’re gonna die.
