The Secret of Ka (21 page)

Was it possible to turn Lova over to Mr. Demir? Give the man a crash course on the djinn? I wished there were a book on the subject:
How to Bargain with Your Local Djinn.

I had walked far, giving no thought to what time it was or where I was, when I realized that a black van was following me. I was near the airport on a service road that ran between the big hotels. It was little more than an alley. Although the sun was still bright, the road was deserted and I saw that there was no one around to call to for help.

A second black van turned onto the alley in front of me.

I was boxed in. Opening my cell, I dialed 911. No one answered. Of course, I was in Turkey. 911 was not a universal number for help. What was the Istanbul number? I had never thought to look it up. The vans were closing in; they slowed as they came near. Side doors were opening.

The carpet! The carpet could fly for over an hour during the day. As men wearing black ski masks leaped from the vans, I pulled it out and tried to feel for a ley line.

But my heart was pounding too hard to feel anything but fear. Except for their dark masks, the men were dressed in white. Two pulled out knives. But it was a man without a knife who took the lead. He stepped forward.

"We don't want to hurt you," he said. "We just want the carpet."

"Go to hell!" I swore, hugging it to my chest. The power built into the carpet flowed through me. My arms and legs felt energized. I felt strong.

The leader's partner waved his knife and spoke in a deadly tone. "What if we poke out your eyes? You can wear glass eyes the rest of your life. I'm sure your boyfriends will love the poor blind girl."

I thought of Lova. I could call for the djinn; she would hear my call. I could order her to slay the men and, because they were only human, she would charge me just one wish. But I hated to waste a wish on this slime.

Plus, I continued to feel a buildup of power in my limbs. It was odd but the feeling was familiar. Were Kalas stronger than normal people?

"You underestimate the power of what I hold," I said. "It's given me amazing strength. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't back off."

The man who had threatened me lunged forward with his knife. My right foot instinctively shot out. I kicked the knife out of his hand—it went flying. He raised an arm to strike. I kicked again, at his left kneecap. It did not merely bend; it cracked. The man screamed and fell to the ground.

The others glanced at each other. Even with their ski masks, I could see the fear in their eyes. This skinny white chick was behaving more like Spidergirl than a spoiled American babe.

The second man with a knife lunged. I kicked him in the groin, and he fell to the ground, moaning.

I spoke firmly. "Leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. Okay?"

The leader turned toward a van. He signaled.

A sparkling green light filled the interior of the van. Then it expanded outward, in my direction, and a wave of dizziness swept over me. My arms and legs were suddenly heavy, and I felt sick to my stomach.

The green light condensed into a narrow beam and struck my chest. It was like being hit by lightning. I lost the carpet. I lost the ability to stand. Hitting the asphalt, lying on my side, I was gripped by a brief seizure.

I must have blacked out for a moment.

When I came to, the leader was peering down at me with the carpet in his hands. "Where are Bora and Hasad?" he demanded. "Where did he take them?"

"Beats me," I whispered.

The man I had kneed in the groin kicked me in the side. I heard a rib crack. He had knocked the wind out of me. Gasping to fill my lungs, I saw the leader try to hold his partner back.

"We know you know Amesh," he said. "Tell us where he took them."

He was probably referring to two of the guys who had attacked Amesh. Chances were Darbar had them. It was a wicked thought to imagine anyone in the clutches of an angry djinn.

"The thing that took them isn't human," I mumbled.

The leader spoke with his partners in Turkish. Then the guy who had kicked my side wound up his black boot and smashed my head. Everything went dark.

When I came to I was in pain. My whole body ached, even places that had not been struck. It was curious how heavily armed the gang had been, when you considered it was just there to steal a carpet from a girl. They obviously knew the value and power of the carpet.

But who were they? And what was that green light?

One thing was for sure. Amesh and I had not discovered the carpet without at least one other person noticing. But was that an absolute fact? I had come under attack only after returning from the island. When we had first found the carpet, we had been given plenty of time to learn how to use it. Certainly, no one had followed us to the island.

Amesh had to be the cause of my new popularity. The guys in the masks had been anxious to find him. That meant either he or Darbar had kidnapped their partners. Yet the way Amesh was running all over Istanbul and selling gems, I was surprised they hadn't been able to find him on their own.

Maybe the gang's first priority had been to get the carpet. But how did they even know about it?

I forced myself to sit up and take stock of my damage. The kick to my right side had definitely broken a rib. It hurt to move, even to take a breath. My hair was sticky with dried blood, and I felt a lump the size of an egg forming at the base of my skull. The sun was still up but the sky was darkening. I estimated I had been unconscious an hour.

I sat cross-legged and closed my eyes, let my mind calm down the way the carpet had taught me on the island. I took ten slow breaths—gently, with my sore ribs. Then I imagined a pillar of white light pouring into my head from above. Don't ask me how this worked; I don't know. It was a form of meditation the carpet had taught me. Within minutes a healing sensation began to seep through my body.

It also cleared my mind, and when I was calm, I mentally reached for the carpet. But I felt something was off. The carpet heard me, I was sure, but it was blocked. Its captors had probably figured that I was capable of calling to it and had locked it in a vault or a chest. I could call for hours and get nowhere.

I saw no choice. I had to summon Lova and make a wish. Damn.

"Lova, come to me," I said aloud.

She appeared instantly, standing above like a shadow in the failing light. "You are hurt," she said.

"I was attacked. They took the carpet." I paused. "Do you know who they are?"

"I cannot retrieve the carpet for you unless you wish for its retrieval."

"That would be my first wish with you."

"Yes"

"I have already made a wish with your mate."

"I know."

"But wishes with different djinn do not overlap. If you retrieve the carpet for me, I still owe you nothing."

"That is correct." Lova paused. "But are you sure you don't desire something other than the carpet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your friend, who is with Darbar. It is a boy, is it not? You want his love back. You want him to love you like he did before he met Darbar."

I felt a flash of anger. "You're not to bring him up unless I mention him first. Do you understand?"

Lova smiled faintly. "Yes."

"Sit, Lova." She sat. "I also want to know who attacked me."

"I would have to question them to get their names. Since they cannot see or hear me, that would be difficult. I have told you, I'm not familiar with your realm. I would probably have to kidnap them and torture them to get them to talk. That would require a second wish."

I pulled out my cell and set it to take pictures.

"Can you hold physical objects?" I asked.

"If I focus on them."

"Well, focus hard and take this cell phone. Point it at each person in the house or the warehouse or wherever it is that the carpet's being kept. Then push this green button. It'll automatically make a record of their faces."

"That should cost you a second wish," Lova replied.

I hardened my tone. "Don't think that because I just got beat up, you can take advantage of me. Push me and I push back. If you don't agree to get the carpet now and take the pictures, then you won't get a single wish out of me. Understand?"

"Yes." Lova paused. "What's your name?"

"You don't need my name."

"To get a wish from me, you must order it using your name."

Amesh had not told Darbar his first name before making his first wish. Nor had Lova's mate needed my first name to stop my bleeding. I pointed those facts out to her. She nodded as if she had expected the argument.

"Darbar and my mate have experience fulfilling human wishes. I do not. I require your name to sharpen my focus, so that your wish, and only your wish, enters my mind and is fulfilled."

"Are you saying that you might pick up a stray wish from someone in the area and accidentally fulfill it?"

"Yes. There are many humans in this city. Every few seconds they desire something. As a djinn, I feel their desires. I am constantly having to block them."

It was weird, but I heard the truth in her words.

"I'll tell you my first name, that's all."

"I need your complete name."

"Then I guess you're out of luck."

Lova considered. "Your first name will be sufficient."

"Sara," I said.

"And the meaning of the name?"

"I don't know the meaning."

"I must know the meaning."

"Most human names have no meaning. They're just names." I added, "Besides, I think you're trying to manipulate me. I suggest you stop."

Lova hesitated. "You are the master."

"I suspect the carpet is being held in a vault or some kind of box. If it's made of steel, do you have the power to break through it?"

"Yes."

"What if you accidentally damage the carpet?"

"The Carpet of Ka cannot be physically damaged."

It had been a trick question to see how much the djinn knew.

She knew a lot about my carpet.

"All right. Let's begin. Get as many pictures as you can of I 24 2 I the people in the immediate area—before you bust into where the carpet is being held."

"Understood." Lova tucked the cell phone in her silver belt.

"Trakur Analova La," I said in a firm voice. "It's my wish, the wish of your master, Sara, that you retrieve my magic carpet, which is known as the Carpet of Ka. Locate it, free it, and bring it back to me. This is my wish, Trakur Analova La." I paused. "Agreed?"

"Yes"

"Go. Do not return without it," I said.

Her fiery eyes flared with red light. Lova stood and walked north, down the alley. She had only gone a few steps when she vanished.

Naturally, I had forgotten to tell her something. I did not feel like hanging out in an alley. Sure, she might be back in a few minutes, but she might be gone for hours. I needed to find a more comfortable place to recover.

The men had not stolen my pack. As a result, I still had cash, credit cards, and my passport. I did not want to return to my father's hotel beat-up. The blood in my hair had to go. But I did not want to check into a new hotel using a credit card or my real name. My father would be able to track me in minutes. And in Istanbul, hotels wanted to see passports before accepting foreign guests. It was a dilemma, but I wondered if maybe a little smooth talking wouldn't save the day.

Walking proved difficult. My right side was on fire. It was interesting how the jerk had kicked me in exactly the same spot where Lova's mate had stabbed me.

I was dizzy. Sitting in the alley, I had not noticed how bad my head was. But now that I was standing, I feared that final kick had given me a concussion. The lump was massive. The tear in my scalp, below the bump, wouldn't stop bleeding. What if I needed stitches?

A visit to a hospital would definitely cause my dad to be notified. I planned to call him at some point, but I wanted him to think I was staying with Rini again. I had warned her that she might hear from him and have to cover for me for two nights. Man, I was going to owe her when this was all over.

At the first ATM I came to, I managed to withdraw five hundred lira, about three hundred bucks. I flagged down a taxi and told the driver to take me to a nearby hotel. I let the guy choose. He had good taste—he chose a four-star Embassy Suites.

My dried blood and bruises helped me register at the hotel. I started to explain how I had been mugged and didn't have my passport or credit cards.

But I just happened to have cash. I smiled.

The clerk quickly raised his hand. Say no more. Except he wanted me to go to a hospital. I assured him that I had already spoken to a paramedic and I was fine.

Up in my suite, I quickly undressed and headed for the bathroom. I couldn't wait to take another warm shower!
Unfortunately, the running water opened my scalp wound wider, and I started bleeding more heavily. I had to struggle to get it to stop. In the end I used scissors and cut a towel into thin strips and tied them around my skull. That worked.

The Embassy Suites had room service, but less selection than the Hilton. I ordered a hamburger and fries. It was hard to go wrong with the basics. The waiter had just wheeled in the food when Lova materialized in front of him. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted on my bed.

"I thought no one could see you but me," I said.

"He didn't see me, but he sensed me, and it frightened him."

The excuse sounded pretty thin.

"Give me the carpet and my cell," I ordered.

Lova handed over both. She continued to eye the unconscious guy. It struck me then that she was looking at him the same way I was looking at my hamburger.

"You startled him, hoping he would faint," I said. "You want to drink his blood."

Lova took a step toward the man. "I don't need a lot. Two pints will suffice. It won't harm him. He won't even remember I was here."

"Are your kind responsible for our vampire legends?"

"We are responsible for virtually all your legends."

That I could well believe. "What do you do, bite him on the neck?"