Harley Merlin 12 by Bella Forrest (story books to read TXT) 📗

“What’s that?” I asked, resisting the urge to step back. Bad energy reverberated from the swirling orb. Santana trembled slightly, which wasn’t like her at all. Her eyes widened, and she appeared unable to tear her gaze from the bizarre substance.

Safiya grinned. “This is us, in our basest form. The primordial soup from whence we were formed. The experiment that allowed us to exist. The Nexus of Erebus.”

The djinn gasped, their smoke billowing wildly.

“The who-said-what-now?” Santana whispered, sweat glistening on her forehead. She looked calmer, but I sensed lingering fear in her. It prompted me to put my arm around her waist and pull her closer. Here, she was a fish out of water, surrounded by djinn in Erebus’s otherworld. Not exactly a comforting position to be in. But she was taking it all in stride, making a decent show of being brave.

“It is the connective tissue binding us to him. He formed it, and us, from his own body. It is us, and him, combined.” Safiya moved toward the center of the ruins.

I frowned. “How do you know this?”

Zalaam cut in. “More to the point, how did you know it was here?”

“I have researched our origins for thousands of years,” Safiya replied. “But I was also one of Erebus’s first. When I was created, I erupted from this Nexus and stood on this very hilltop to hear the instruction of our creator. Once he had spoken of his desires for us—his creatures—he sucked us back into this orb and sent us into the world in a Purge Plague. On one occasion, when he summoned me to perform a task on his behalf, I watched him remove the Nexus from the altar and stood in this very spot as he created more of our kind.”

“What if he comes back?” A Ghul sniveled, dripping black goo onto the ground.

Safiya smiled. “He cannot.”

“Pardon?” I gaped at her.

“In his human form, his otherworld has no choice but to reject him. He may portal in, as we have, but he has no power over this realm any longer.” Safiya’s eyes flashed again. “However, we do. We are of his essence, and we are of his Darkness. We are more Child of Chaos than he is, at this moment—specifically, more linked to the energy that he has abandoned.”

Santana folded her arms across her chest. “Sorry, Safiya, but this isn’t making any sense.”

“Observe, and perhaps it will.” Safiya closed her eyes and sent energy surging into the ball. The pulsating red glow in the center brightened, and then… it stopped pulsing and became a constant, vibrant red light, less like a heartbeat and more like a beacon. A moment later, the swirling black edges of the orb spiraled into the red center. A brief pause lingered in the air while everyone held their collective breath. The red light faded to black before the entire thing exploded like a decayed star finally turning supernova. Powerful rings of searing scarlet energy burst outward, rushing past us all to fill the entirety of the otherworld before vanishing.

“I don’t get it. What happened?” a Si’lat asked in a frightened voice.

“We are free,” Safiya explained with a triumphant grin. “I have performed precisely what Erebus would have done to liberate us. You will feel your new weaknesses in the coming days, but you will also feel the effects of the sickness begin to ebb. And now, we control Tartarus.”

“What did you say?” A Qareen edged forward, face aghast.

Safiya bent down and brushed her hand over the barren earth. “Watch and you will see.” Her eyes closed, and a tiny spark of red leapt from her palm. Where it fell, a small plant with scarlet petals and a blood-red stem emerged. “Tartarus responds to us now. It recognizes our energy as that which it lost. We have taken Erebus’s place as this realm’s creator, free to shape it in our image and do whatever we care to with it. This is our world, brothers and sisters—this can be our home, built as we see fit. This is our land of hope and glory.”

Holy human on a stick… she did it. She freed us and seized Erebus’s otherworld from under his nose. Kadar sounded dumbfounded. I shared in his awe. Safiya had led the djinn here with a promise of freedom, and she had not let them down. A leader who had actually followed through with her intent. It struck me right in the heart, making it swell with something like pride. Even though I’d never thought of myself as being djinn, the djinn were an innate part of me. And I’d never felt closer to Kadar than I did in that moment—the moment the penny dropped for him. He may not have been free of me, but he got to see his people liberated. It filled us both up with joy, so weird and wonderful that I wanted to cry or yell or punch the air.

Another djinn shuffled closer, observing the plant. “But what if Erebus comes back to claim his otherworld?”

“He cannot, if we choose to deny him entry.” Safiya touched the red petals. “We are the rule-makers, and we are the sovereigns of this world now. If we seek sanctuary, we have only to send our energy into this realm and insist it deny Erebus access. He may only be able to reclaim it if, or when, he returns to his original form, as the otherworld will likely recognize his authority again and register his superiority over us. But I have a feeling that will take quite some time. His personal project will prevent it from happening imminently. Even on that occasion, he will not be able to undo what I have done this day—I have liberated us, and he cannot alter that. Those are the rules, formed when he made us. He cannot unravel djinn magic.”

You sly, delicious minx! Kadar cheered inside me. Safiya had put the pieces together so perfectly, taking