INVISIBLE DUTY (INVISIBLE RECRUITS) by Buckham Mary

Author:Buckham, Mary [Buckham, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cantwell Publishing, LLC
Published: 2013-06-30T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

“What can you tell us about djinn?” Kelly asked later that evening as we were sitting around a fly-specked bar in Kigali, not even pretending to sip our tepid beers as we waited to get some news on Stone.

Mandy was still digging in her heels about going after the Tuareg tribesman. I didn’t blame her. He was one scary dude. Letting him waltz away wasn’t sitting too well with me either.

I racked my memory for the bits and pieces of djinn lore I knew, which wasn’t a whole lot, in spite of Kelly checking the grimoire. But because they were a type of sorcerer my father made sure I had at least a passing acquaintance with their kind.

Rolling my hands along the half-full bottle before me like it was a fire stick, I started with the basics. “Far as anyone knows, there are three types of djinn.” At least I hoped there were only three. That was the problem with myths and fairy tales. They could be vague on the details. “There are djinn who are able to fly, those who are confined to an area.” Please let the Tuareg fall under that category. “And the djinn who can shape shift.”

I heard Mandy groan. Shifters and Weres were usually very bad news but that was her issue, not mine.

Kelly leaned forward. “What kind of a shifter? Or can they change into anything?”

“Good questions.” I took a slow sip of my beer that tasted like it’d started life as donkey piss. “Most djinn shift into snakes, scorpions, creeping devils or dogs, especially black dogs. The ones called devil dogs.”

“Sound like great non-humans to avoid,” Mandy mumbled.

I ignored her. “They can also become cats.”

“Any kind of a cat in particular?” Kelly asked, looking like I’d just pulled off a butterfly’s wing in front of her. Here I thought a cat image would at least be warm and fuzzy and easier to face than Were images.

“Haven’t you ever heard the old wives tale that a cat should not be chased away early in the morning or late at night lest it be a shape-shifted djinn who will take revenge?”

“I don’t know what kind of childhood you had, Alex, but if those are the kind of bedtime stories you were told then you’re going to need some serious therapy.” Jaylene tipped her bottle toward me to show me she was jesting. Or mostly jesting.

“I thought cats were just pets.” Kelly didn’t catch my eye. At this rate Mandy was going to sway everyone to not go after the Tuareg without opening her mouth.

“Some cats can be,” I tried to reassure Kelly, but it didn’t look like I was doing that great a job. How was Kelly going to survive as an agent if the thought of cats in danger was a downer?

I took a long drag of my beer and set my bottle down, a little louder than I intended to but we were getting off the subject. “From what I saw today,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.