Jinn
The temptation to wander grew each day. But Jinn knew it was dangerous. That was the one thing she had believed immediately when the wizard had spoken to her about it. It was going on the second week of their captivity, and Quick was still sleeping most of the time, only waking to eat, use the chamber pot – which thankfully magically emptied itself after each use – and then return to resting. Jinn felt sleep tugging at her eyes during the day as well and wondered whether it was a way of coping for them both or if there were something more sinister like a spell in place, lulling them to sleep. She remembered the village, Gullsford, where everyone had mysteriously dropped what they were doing and fallen asleep. She still meant to ask Hex how he had managed it, if it had in fact been him, but she had been avoiding leaving the room, and the wizard hadn’t sought her out. Perhaps he had lost interest in their presence here.
It had been several days since she had slipped her missive to the Summoner. She hoped that it had gone undiscovered by Hex and that it hadn’t caused the Summoner any trouble. As time passed, she began to wonder if he had even read it, and if he had, what he had made of it. Abrish was a dying language, but it was the only one Jinn knew how to write in fluently.
The day gave way to evening shadows, and Jinn was about to give in to sleep, when the door creaked open, as it had not done since the day she had found the wizard tormenting the Summoner’s traveling companion. Jinn hesitated for a moment. She hadn’t even tried the doorknob for days, uncertain if she would find it unlocked or not. Now, bored out of her senses, she threw back the covers, pulled on a blue cloak and a pair of boots, and left the relative safety of her prison.
All was still and calm, save for the sound of waves beating against the rock beneath them and the occasional cry of a gull. Then, startling her, the door shut behind her with an ominous click. Terrified, she spun around and tried the doorknob. It was locked. Jinn cursed, knowing the house was playing a trick on her for some reason of its own. But she couldn’t just stand here, waiting to be let back in or discovered by something unsavory. With a sigh, she tied the cloak’s belt around her waist and ventured toward where she fancied she heard whispering.
The faint sounds led her farther away from her cell than she had wandered before. She passed flowing tapestries, dozens of doors of varying sizes and colors, elaborate sitting rooms with fireplaces three times her height and twenty times her width, and staircases that led to seemingly nowhere. One such staircase drew her attention. The steps were steep and narrow, and the wood they were built out of was a dark cherry, though Jinn was uncertain of how she knew this with such certainty. Drawings in her books could only teach a person so much about the flora and fauna of the world.
Down here, said a somewhat familiar soft voice that Jinn assumed belonged to the wizard.
Feeling stubborn, Jinn turned her nose up at the staircase and was prepared to go another way, when the voice hissed into her ear, I know your secrets, Jinn, daughter of Meraude. You wish to deceive my master. I wonder if I should tell him. I wonder if I should leave you be. Is he foolish, or are you blinding him? I wonder….
After sucking in a shaky breath, Jinn said, “Where are you?”
Me? Where am I not? Laughter trickled from the walls. Be not afraid, Jinn. I am the House of Curses: nothing less and nothing more.
Jinn considered this for a moment. A talking, sentient house? She supposed there were stranger things under heaven. Looking around, hoping to find the source of the voice, she said, “You’ve been leaving keys and clothes in the wardrobe and unlocking my door, haven’t you?”
Again the house laughed. You understand the matter more readily than he would have predicted.
She stopped spinning in circles, having grown dizzy. “And whose side are you on?”
The house breathed in deeply, as if considering. I am on the side of no mortal, child. But you are no mere mortal, are you? Its voice echoed around Jinn.
Jinn swallowed. “Then whose side are you on?”
Patience, child. I am no friend to Meraude, if that is what you’re asking.
Well, that was something. “And whose side is the wizard on?”
The house hesitated, and when it spoke again, its tone was dismissive. If the Great One hasn’t told you, why would I?
She considered that for a moment and said, “For the same reason you’ve been going against his wishes and opening my door?”
That made the room shake, and Jinn wondered if she had gone too far. Such cheek, the house rumbled, though it sounded thoroughly amused. Such daring. I have not had this good a laugh in six hundred years, and that is saying something. As if to prove its point, the windows rattled.
Jinn suppressed a grin.
Why don’t you be seated? I assume you have many questions, and since my maker has not expressly forbidden me from entertaining curiosity, there are a few answers I may yet be able to divulge. A plump chair that Jinn hadn’t noticed before rocked in the corner on its stubby legs and settled, a clear invitation from the house for Jinn to make herself comfortable. The house sighed. Now, I believe you asked whose side Hex is on.
Jinn tipped herself into the chair and waited for the house to continue. When it was silent, she resisted the urge to press it for answers. The being was ancient and must be allowed to take its time. Though she did wish it would hurry; what would the wizard do if he found her sitting here, talking about him? The thought made her cringe.
The wizard is confused. The house creaked.
“These are confusing times,” Jinn found herself saying.
They are indeed. And you demigods are making it all the more so. But suffice it to say, that no matter how confusing you find Hex’s choices, they are not meant for your harm.
Well, that was all well and good for the wizard, to decide what he thought was best for everyone. Jinn wondered if the house meant what it said, or if it had been bidden to talk to her on Hex’s behalf. Jinn murmured as much.
The house cackled, a menacing sound that set Jinn’s teeth on edge. I do not lie. I cannot lie. It is part of my curse. The word ‘curse’ bounced around the house, ricocheting off furniture and ringing in Jinn’s ears, which she covered.
“Can you tell me how to escape, then?”
Of course. I know the way out. There is always a way. But I don’t think you’d like it.
She wanted to object, but the house cut her off.
And I don’t think it’s time to tell you. Not yet. You’ll need the she-wizard’s trust first. And her mate’s, though I believe he is desperate enough to put his faith in anyone who makes the right offer.
“You mean the Summoner and his traveling companion?” The house was silent. “She’s – a wizard?” If she had been told about the existence of a female wizard just a short month ago, she wouldn’t have believed it. But her dreams had been interrupted by some powerful being weeks previous, trying to steer her path away from the Summoner. The being had been most definitely female.
Tread carefully there, the house warned. Between the two of them, the wizards have more than enough power to help or destroy you.
Jinn’s brow wrinkled. The Summoner had seemed…different when they first met, stranger and more dangerous than she remembered from her visions. Was he more than what she had first thought? “Do you think they might eventually help me?”
Jinn, I am not the one with foresight.
That made her stomach churn. “I can’t see anything in this place.”
Nonsense, the house boomed. You may not like everything you’ve seen, but there is only so much future the curser can blot out.
“So Hex is the reason I can’t see my own future.”
The house settled on its foundations with a small groan. Ah, perhaps I have said too much. The being sounded far from penitent.
If Jinn was not mistaken, the house was perhaps at least leaning toward her side of things. Still, she knew she must tread cautiously and not foolishly place her trust in something so ancient. “I saw a future,” she said after a moment of reflection.
Ah. And what was that future, child?
For a moment she hesitated, reluctant to commit the words to the air, but realized she needed to gain some of the house’s trust in return. Jinn sighed and sank farther back into the cushions. “I saw Quick, my brother.”
The house inhaled…if houses were able to do such a thing.
“He was with the Summoner and…the she-wizard, as you called her. They— There— I wasn’t with them.” Jinn brushed a few wrinkles out of her cloak and cleared her throat. “I don’t know if that means I die here or not.”
What were they doing?
That question made Jinn hesitate. They had been on the road to Meraude in that wisp of a future. One stray word from her, and the future could warp and change into something else entirely, endangering whatever chance her brother at least might have of leaving here alive. “They were fleeing. I couldn’t say from what.” Her cheeks warmed at the lie, and the house grumbled.
So that is how it shall be. Very well. Very well. I am too old to take offense at half-truths, and can read between the proverbial lines. You are very young, child, and need to understand something: Hex will not purposely harm you. It is against his…ah, against his nature.
Jinn shifted her weight. “It sounds like someone else might be speaking in half-truths.”
If the house had a head, Jinn imagined it being shaken right then. Trust him. Seek him out, whether he likes it or not. Your paths overlap. Of that I am certain.
“I’ll – think about it.”
There was a stiff silence between them, and Jinn wondered if she should move on. There was plenty of house left to explore. If the being would not tell her how to escape, maybe she would be able to puzzle it out herself.
There are some dangers lurking inside me. I am not entirely tame, child, and though you seem comfortable with me, I would be careful in wandering without aim.
“What dangers?” The words had made her sit up a little straighter. “The wizard said something about the house— about you being dangerous.”
The house was silent for a moment. Beware the one who shifts his shape. He does not care for mortals, least of all the Blest. Also, there’s the dungeons you’ll want to stay clear of. They have a way of driving a person to…ah, driving them to distraction. And that is an understatement.
Jinn pursed her lips. “And you’re definitely not going to tell me now how to escape?”
No, I think not. You’re not ready for that information. Good day to you, Jinn, daughter of Meraude. With that said, the house grew still and the chair that Jinn was sitting in tipped her onto the floor and disappeared in a flash of red light.
“Thank you for your help,” Jinn murmured. “I guess.” She stood and dusted herself off. What should she do? The sensible thing would probably be returning to the room she shared with Quick, but she remembered that the door had locked behind her – no doubt the house’s doing. Jinn huffed. There was some hidden reason behind the house wanting her to befriend the wizard, if that is what it had meant. There must be some advantage it would give the house. “But what does a house need?” She shook her head. No, the advantage must be for Hex. He was, after all, the sentient building’s master.
A wave of fatigue washed over Jinn. She had slept a lot as of late with little movement. No wonder she felt lethargic. Though she was wary of wandering now, Jinn decided that she might be safe exploring at least some of the floor she was on. The shape-shifter had been ordered to leave her alone, after all.
But there were other things to worry about. Like how was the wizard preventing her from looking ahead? The house had mentioned something about their paths being entwined.
“I need to try, don’t I?” she said below her breath. There might be a glimpse of something she hadn’t seen before. “Or maybe I need to stop looking at my future. Maybe I don’t have one.” The thought was depressing, but she pushed past it and closed her eyes.
At first, there was nothing, just blackness and the distant pull of a possibility. Jinn focused on that, a single green thread. The closer she looked, the more she came to realize that the thread was actually two: green and blue, entwined. She reached for them both, and they flittered out of her reach. Not one to give up so easily, Jinn chased the threads down with her mind just as a dull silver one appeared. The silver thread felt most familiar, and it was moving at a snail’s pace, so she grabbed on to that and untangled it. As she had suspected, the thread belonged to Quick.
He was standing in a room that Jinn hadn’t seen before, but was fairly certain belonged to the House of Curses. “I don’t like,” he said to someone Jinn couldn’t see.
There was a pause, and her giant of a brother shook his head.
“Not leaving without you.”
“Jinn?”
A wave of pain tore through Jinn, and the vision faded. Everything grew dark.
Again she heard a voice call her name, and, pushing away unconsciousness, Jinn blinked rapidly. Time seemed to stop, and a vision attempted to break through the barrier that had been preventing her from seeing. She squeezed her eyes against it, but it was too powerful.
Mai Larkin, the Sightful Blest Jinn wasn’t supposed to know about, stood alone in Inohaim Tower, stooping over the Seeing Pool. As if sensing Jinn’s presence, she turned and nodded. “You know what must be done,” she said, her voice echoing strangely.
Jinn frowned. “What must be done?”
The Sightful stared right through her. “Bring the Goblets Immortal to the Seeing Pool. You will need Lord Ingledark and his mate for that.” There was a distant rumble of thunder, and she shivered. “And whatever you do, do not let Meraude take the—”
“Jinn, are you all right?” asked the same insistent voice from the present.
Furious that her vision had been interrupted, Jinn swung out with her hands, catching only air. She thrashed and she struggled as someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her as though she weighed nothing.
“Let go,” she said with a growl as the world spun and her stomach clenched.
The person carrying her sighed and set her down on something soft, and she immediately tried running away. “No, that’s not going to happen. Sit still for a moment. You were having a fit and need to rest now.”
Jinn blinked through the film covering her eyes, and pushed with all her strength against the force pinning her down. She needed to return to that vision. It was important. Whoever had interrupted it was completely blocking her foresight now, and she needed to get as far away from them as possible. Unfortunately, they were too strong for her. With an exasperated grunt, Jinn ceased struggling and shook the haze from her thoughts. Her vision cleared, and she found herself staring up at Hex, who was paler than she had remembered.
“Are you all right?” he asked again. When she didn’t answer, he put a hand on her brow, which she attempted to shake off. “You’re feverish. What happened?”
“Your house talks,” was all she could muster.
Hex froze and gave her a peculiar look. “It talked to you?”
With a grunt, Jinn attempted to sit up, but the wizard was having none of that. He put a firm yet gentle hand on her shoulder and pinned her in place.
A shadow passed over Hex’s face and he shook his head. “You tried looking at my future, didn’t you?”
Jinn glared at him. “And?”
Hex sighed. “Jinn, that’s not a good idea right now. You must have breached the boundaries and triggered the curse.”
Those words made Jinn’s insides turn cold. “What curse?”
For a moment he looked at her, torn, and said, “If you promise not to sit up too fast or run, I’ll explain.”
As if I could run anywhere right now. At length she nodded, though it made her vision blur and her head throb.
“I put a reverse curse on myself. Whoever tries to look at my future will either see nothing or experience a fit every time they try. I should have warned you. I’m sorry.” He truly sounded it. “I thought after our last talk that you would leave the future alone, and didn’t realize you had an interest in mine.”
“Not yours,” Jinn said, regaining some of her wits and earlier annoyance. “I was looking at mine…at first.” I wasn’t looking at mine at all. But I’m not going to tell him that. Somehow, Mai Larkin had managed to get a message to her. It must have taken great power and energy in order to do so, and Jinn had paid part of the price for that.
Hex hung his head. “Our futures are more tightly entwined than I first thought.” He removed his hand from Jinn’s shoulder and sat down on the settee next to her. “But you seemed to have seen something. What was it?”
Jinn waved his question away and posed one of her own. “If my presence here is so important and I am not to wander, why, in the name of all that is dear, do I have to keep to one room?”
Hex jumped slightly, as if she had hit him. “Oh?”
“Lights, Hex. I don’t know if wizards like confined spaces, but I am going out of my mind locked up like an animal in a cage.” Now she managed to sit up, slowly, and since the world only spun a little, she attempted standing, thought the better of it, and sat back down.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and he sounded sincere. “You’re right: I’m not accustomed to entertaining humans.” Hex sat forward and rested his head in his hands. “If I’m being completely honest, I would have to admit that I’ve been avoiding…that is to say, I’ve been….” His shoulders heaved, and he looked up at her. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to be a better host.”
Jinn nodded and looked away. Inside, she was seething, but she knew she had a part to play if she was ever to see the other side of these walls. Meraude remained undefeated, and if Hex was unwilling to stop her, Jinn would have to convince him to allow her group to attempt it. Arranging her expression carefully, she turned back to find the wizard watching her, wary. “What?” she asked, her tone sharper than she’d meant it to be.
His lips quirked into a half-smile. “You look like you could murder someone.”
That made her cringe. “Mother always said I was a bad actor,” she admitted, and at once regretted mentioning Meraude.
“It’s a shame we don’t get to choose our own parents,” Hex said lightly. “If it makes any difference, you don’t seem like a murderous dictator.”
Jinn scowled at him, but he grinned in response.
“Since the house has introduced itself, maybe it’s time for a tour.” He looked at her doubtfully. “That is, if you’re well enough?”
Well enough or not, Jinn wasn’t about to give up this opportunity to find out more about her surroundings so she could plan an escape. “No, I’m fine.” Slowly, she sat up and got to her feet. Jinn swayed on the spot for a moment, but Hex took her arm and tucked it into his.
“Here, let me help.”
Jinn could only nod. She still felt like she might fall over at any moment, so perhaps rejecting the wizard’s help would be unwise. “Where is the House of Curses exactly?” she asked as he led her out of the sitting room and into a hall she hadn’t seen before.
The wizard was silent for a moment, as if debating whether or not to share the information with her. “We’re on an island north and east of where you originate. Meraude cannot reach us here.”
Jinn frowned. “I don’t remember coming here on a boat.” The memory of spending time as a bird made her grimace. How humiliating that had been.
Hex steered her around a corner, and they wound up at a window overlooking the sea. “That’s because there was no boat. That’s not how I travel.” He released her for a moment, and they both stared out at the sun setting beneath the waves.
That’s not how he traveled? That meant there was probably no boat to commandeer and sail away on. She would have to find out what method the wizard used for getting around. Before he could suspect her interest in the subject, Jinn tried to steer the conversation back to something she knew she should be harping on more. “If you’re not on Meraude’s side, why are you trying to stop me from destroying her?”
Next to her, the wizard stiffened and looked down at her from the corner of his eye. “I need the Goblets, Jinn. There’s something I know I must do with them, and I can’t have them falling into Meraude’s hands.”
“What do you need them for?” she demanded. “The Goblets shouldn’t even exist. They need to be destroyed.”
But Hex was shaking his head. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Oh, I think I do,” she said, ignoring his stare as the day’s last light plunged below the horizon. Its lingering orange rays peeked out from behind deep blue clouds, and the birdsong faded into the oncoming night. “It’s the only way to stop her.” She chanced a glance at the wizard, and was surprised to find him distraught.
“Do you know how the Goblets came into being?”
He had her full attention now. If she knew how they were created, perhaps she would have a better idea as to how they might be destroyed. “I know they’re made of wizard’s blood.”
Hex nodded. “Yes, but how do you think the wizards were killed? Their blood was drained, yes, but killing one, let alone five, is supposed to be impossible.”
Jinn shrugged. “I guess fate had different plans for them than they would have liked.”
Taking her arm again, Hex led her away from the window. Jinn could still feel the sun’s warmth on her back, though she felt cold suddenly when she saw the sad, torn look on the wizard’s face. “The wizards, the six Greats, were cruel, greedy, and had very little respect for other magical life, never mind what they thought of non-magic folk.” They walked down another hallway, and Jinn tried to take note of her surroundings while paying attention to what Hex was saying. “There was an uprising.”
“The Great War.”
Hex bobbed his head in acknowledgment. “It was lost before it was won. Many magical and non-magical creatures died at the hands of the Greats. Sadly, I was young and did very little to help…at first. I didn’t think it was my place.”
“At first?” A distant memory flickered in the back of Jinn’s mind, something she had read in the history books. “You were the traitor I read about?”
The wizard nodded. “I wasn’t on the council even. But there is an unspoken expectation among wizards that we will turn a blind eye when another of our kind does evil.” He sighed and led her into a small room brilliant with candle- and torchlight. “Cedric the Elder was on the council, and he tried to sway the others to be more benevolent toward their so-called lesser magical kin.”
“But they didn’t listen,” Jinn said, remembering more history.
Hex conceded with a grunt. “When I came upon a few of the wizards slaughtering a whole village of fey, I knew I had to do something. I confronted Melnine, but he wouldn’t stay in the same room to hear me out. Nor would any of the others, save Cedric, and it was he who made me realize: the other wizards were afraid of me.”
Jinn felt her brows knit together. “Why?”
That made the wizard chuckle. “You don’t find me frightening?” He sounded hopeful, and that made the hairs on Jinn’s arms stand on end.
She cleared her throat and ignored his question. “Why were they afraid of you exactly? I thought all wizards were equals.”
“Well,” he said slowly, weighing his words as though he were afraid he might scare her, “I’m the only wizard who has ever been able to curse another living soul, wizard or not.” Torchlight flickered across his face, and his dark hair caught in a breeze that whistled through the cracks in the wall.
Jinn drew her arms about herself. “You cursed them?”
Hex’s ancient eyes closed as if against the memory. “If I had known what the elves and sprites would do to them, I would have set stipulations. But, yes, I made the wizards powerless against the magical creatures. They executed the five Greats that I had cursed and they drained their blood, which the elves molded into the Goblets. Cedric escaped his fate, it would seem. It’s my fault the Great Wizards died out, and it’s my fault the Goblets Immortal exist in the first place.” The words hung heavily between them as they stood there facing each other.
Jinn’s thoughts raced in a hundred different directions, but she could form no words at first, and the silence stretched uncomfortably between them. If what he said was true, and she had no reason to doubt him about this, not only could he help them, he could curse Meraude and make the process even easier. “You can curse anyone?”
“Not just anyone,” he corrected her. “I have to have them in my sights when I perform the curse.”
“But how did you curse me from seeing you?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. There’s a taboo on my future, that’s it. It’s a complicated magic, but it’s not quite a curse, though I use the two words interchangeably.” Before Jinn could ask him to explain, the wizard held up a hand. “I’m not proud of what I did, and I vowed to myself never to use that magic again. Meraude is awful, yes, but those wishing to kill her will have to do so without my aid.”
That made Jinn scowl. Mother was right: she was terrible at hiding her emotions. “If Meraude gets her way, forms her army, and marches against all magical kind that oppose her, you might not get the choice. You must see this. Someone powerful has to stop her.”
Hex seemed unmoved. “There’s always a choice, Jinn. And it’s not just about power. Power can come in unexpected shapes and forms: through understanding and kindness.”
Unbelievable. “So, you’re saying if I approached her right, showed her some kindness, she might stop her plans?”
“How much do you know about your mother?”
Jinn threw up her hands and groaned.
“No, I’m serious, Jinn. If you knew where she was coming from, why she is the way she is, maybe you could put a halt to her plans. She doesn’t need to die to be stopped or destroyed.”
“I’m the one who must stop her, Hex.”
The wizard studied her, his expression inscrutable. “No.”
“No? What do you mean by no?”
“No, you’re not going to stop her, and you’re most certainly not going to kill her.”
Jinn didn’t have much of a temper, but Hex was stoking the fire of what little there was within her. “And you get to decide that? The house was wrong; I shouldn’t have sought you out. You’re impossibly thickheaded and controlling.” She turned from him, and was surprised to feel him gently snatch her by the arm before she could flee.
“Don’t make the same mistake that I made, Jinn. Killing Meraude isn’t the answer. It will only eat you alive for the rest of your days as you wrestle with what you have done and what might have been. Trust me.”
She shrugged him off.
When he spoke again, his voice had hardened somewhat. “That’s why I can’t let you go. You’re not going to defeat the mage. You’re going to get yourself and anyone you take with you killed.”
Her eyes filled with angry tears, and she was about to leave, but couldn’t resist getting in one last word. “You asked what I knew about my mother’s history without asking anything about mine.”
“What about your history?” His tone had softened again.
Jinn did not turn to look at him as she continued, her tone brusque. “Our births were a secret, Quick’s and mine. Only her right-hand woman knew about us. Thyla, our caretaker, raised us in a small cottage in the middle of nowhere until we were ten. She taught us – or rather, taught me – to read and to write and do many other things. The woman loved us, I think. She treated us kindly, and we never wanted for anything. We knew she wasn’t our real mother, though we knew nothing of what ours was like.
“It was the day after my tenth birthday when I was Jolted into my abilities. I began to see visions of Meraude in my future, though I only knew her then as some terrible power that would swoop in and take us from our caregiver. There was nothing I could say to convince Thyla to flee with us, and the day came when Meraude showed up on our doorstep.” Jinn took in a deep breath.
“She killed Thyla outright, and took me in chains, forcing Quick to follow. Meraude tortured me for a day, hoping to break my spirit so I would obey only her. She knew that Quick would follow. But when she saw it would take more than that to get through to me, she abandoned us in the cave she had taken us to, and didn’t come back with food until a week later.” She shook her head, trying to clear it of emotions. Hex needed to see what Meraude was capable of, and she needed to communicate it clearly, unclouded by emotion. “She then began training us for her army, but abandoned hope of making anything out of me after six short months. Meraude left us with one blanket and some supplies for two weeks, returning every so often with food and other provisions, which she left at the mouth of the cave.
“Quick and I were too young and naïve to attempt running away at first. But when we turned thirteen, I talked Quick into leaving. I didn’t even bother looking ahead, believing that the mage had forgotten us at this point, as she hadn’t been to see us for a month. It was the longest she had left us yet. We didn’t know that she…. There were snares set up to catch us, should we attempt anything. Quick fell into a pit, and I ended up hanging from a tree limb by my ankle for an hour before he managed to jump out and pull me down.” She swallowed, shaking her head at the memories rising up before her eyes. “Meraude knew that her traps had been sprung, and when she returned next, she didn’t do anything to me. She – she went for Quick.”
When she paused, trying to collect herself, Hex interrupted her. “What did she do?”
Jinn turned to look at him, her left eye twitching. “Quick absorbed my part of the curse that belongs to each Blest, but he wasn’t always so…simple. Meraude burned and cut him, over and over again, and made me watch. This went on for five days, until it was obvious he could take no more. Only an Endurer can truly hurt another Endurer.” Now she knew she was babbling, so she turned her back and cleared her throat. “You see, Meraude isn’t just insane with power-lust, she’s evil. Nothing is going to change her. If someone can do what she did to her own children, there is no hope for them.”
They stood there for some time without speaking. The expression that the wizard wore was unreadable, and Jinn tried to keep hers neutral. She needed him to believe her, to sympathize with her cause. If she didn’t get him on her side of things, she would have to work around him, which would only make things more difficult. There was no time for sneaking around, trying to find a way out. Meraude’s plans were unknown to Jinn for the most part, though she knew it would involve the slaughter of much innocent life.
Finally, after what felt like an hour, Hex sighed and shook his head. “I believe what you say is true, Jinn. Meraude’s sins are great indeed.”
Jinn braced herself. “But?”
“I’ve seen things you haven’t. If I were to allow you to have the Goblets, and you were by some miracle able to destroy them and then Meraude, what then? I’ve seen death, Jinn – death that the Goblets could prevent. What a waste to destroy them.”
The air left Jinn’s lungs in one great whoosh. “Deaths, many preventable deaths, will happen if the Goblets are not destroyed. You have to see that.” She was nearing the end of her patience, and it took all her strength not to reach out and shake the wizard to make him see sense.
Hex’s shoulders heaved and then he squared them. “I’m sorry, but there’s no changing my mind about this.”
Jinn’s heart sank, and her careful mask turned into a scowl. “You’re on her side, then.”
That seemed to startle Hex. “No, I’m not, Jinn. Please don’t say that.” He reached out as if to take her arm again, but Jinn pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Please, I would help you if I could, but you don’t understand what you’re asking of me.”
She turned and walked away, annoyed to find him close at her heels. “Leave me alone, wizard.” Jinn felt the ghost of his hand reaching for her shoulder, and she quickened her pace.
“I know that you’re angry, but you don’t understand all the facts. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen.”
Jinn stopped walking and spun around to face him, and the two nearly collided. She swatted him away after he had righted her. “Then enlighten me.”
The wizard seemed unwilling or unable to speak, his eyes pained. “Please, don’t make me say it.”
Unyielding, Jinn stared up at him, her temper simmering. “If you’re not going to give me any solid answers, I see little point in continuing this conversation. Goodbye, Hex, and good—”
“You die, Jinn.” The words came out with such force that Jinn took a step back. “That’s what I’ve seen. If the Goblets are destroyed, there will be nothing to save you.” His eyes closed as if against great pain. “Every time I lift the taboo around my future and I follow the path that leads to the Goblets being destroyed, I watch you die, helpless to do anything.”
A great shudder rippled through Jinn’s body, one that she was unable to stop. Was the wizard telling her the truth? And if so, what was it to him if she lived or died? Hex was lying. He had to be. “I don’t think I believe you.”
“Jinn, please.”
But Jinn had had enough. She took off at a run, taking the path she was fairly certain would lead her back to Quick. This time, the wizard did not follow.