The Secret of Ka (29 page)

"What do you mean, the carpet has been attracted to my bloodline?"

"It's served many of your ancestors. For that matter, it served your mother."

"Mom?" I said.

"Your real mother, the one you call Aunt Tracy."

The revelations were coming too fast. I was going into shock. Still, I recognized this particular truth almost before he spoke it. I had never felt close to my parents because they had not been my parents. Tracy was my mother. That meant...

"Was Harry my real father?" I asked.

"I suppose he still is. There's no reason to think he's dead."

"Who are you? What are you?" I asked.

"An Anulakai overshadowing a human mind and body."

"You mean, you're possessed by an Anulakai?"

He shook his head. "Possession implies lack of freedom. All we have become, we did so out of free choice. Years ago our research led us to the secrets of the Anulakai. Think of these secrets as a rare form of knowledge that taught us how to contact them and attune our minds to their minds. In return we were given power and insight, and freedom from emotions and other limiting human qualities."

"This process started when you discovered this temple?" I asked.

"No. It began years ago when we found a smaller site that belonged to the Anulakai. From it we gleaned enough information to find other sites. From all of these sites combined we were able to put together enough knowledge to contact our masters."

"So if they're the masters, you must be the slaves."

He shook his head. "It is an honor to serve them."

"What about this Shar Temple? It looks djinn to me."

"You are perceptive. This temple was built by the djinn before the Anulakai conquered this part of the world. We know it is connected to what you call the Island of the Djinn. That is why it became necessary to control it." He pointed to the structures along the side of the walls. For the first time I noticed they were giving off a faint humming sound. "These ancient devices keep the djinn away from here, and trapped where we want them to be."

"Where do the Anulakai live?" I asked.

"In darkness. Yet they crave light. For that reason, they come again and again to this world."

"From where? Another world?"

"You would not understand. Space is not a constant. When the time is right, they come out of the darkness and into the light." He added, "That time is now."

"Charles," Mrs. Steward interrupted. "Enough."

"Now we must get rid of all loose ends," Mr. Toval said.

My father nodded in their direction before turning back to me. "We harbor you no ill will. But you have the potential to be an extraordinary Kala, and we must destroy you before you awaken to your true powers. We tried to do likewise with Tracy, but she caused us tremendous damage before she could be stopped."

"She was not hit by a drunk driver," I said.

"I was perfectly sober when I ran her over."

I slapped his face. "I should have let you die!"

"I told you not to heal me." He turned to Lova. "She's lost a lot of blood and is weak. We'll put her in the water and she'll lose her core heat. Her heart and lungs can be stopped for thirty minutes before you revive her, without any risk of damage to her brain. The best time to enslave her soul is when she's technically dead but still capable of revival."

Lova acted impatient. "It was the djinn who invented cold baths to facilitate the process of possession. Just put her in the water and leave. I'll take care of the rest."

My father shook his head. "We will stay to make sure the possession is complete. This bloodline has caused us too much grief in the past. We need to be a hundred percent certain it has been eliminated."

Something crucial struck me right then.

"You say you're not my father, but my third wish was for my father to be healed. By the Laws of the Djinn, I cannot be made a thrall."

"You wished for
Charles
to be healed. I healed him. You are not going to escape on a false technicality."

The discussion appeared to amuse my father.

"Who am I to argue about how many wishes you made."

I glared at him. "You disgust me."

He ignored me and turned to Lova. "Hand over the carpet."

"I earned this carpet by performing a specific djinn wish. It is mine."

Mrs. Steward raised a green crystal and pointed it at Lova.

"You don't have Sara's resistance to a pashupa," she said. "You would be wise to turn over the carpet."

Lova stared at the crystal and trembled. She did as she was told, giving the carpet to my father.

T
HE POOL OF WATER
they threw me into was not deep. At first it did not intimidate me. The water reached only to my waist. There was no way I was going to go into hypothermia and lose consciousness with my upper half out of the water.

But I was naive. I did not understand that I was facing a tried and proven method. They had thrown me into a pool where the sides were made of polished marble and were extremely slippery. Wet, this marble was almost impossible to get a grip on. It seemed incredible, but I was trapped in a mere three feet of water. My shoes could not get any traction on the floor of the pool. The others didn't care when I swam away from them, to the other side of the pool, and tried to climb out. I just kept slipping. The more I fell down, the more my upper body got soaked.

They knew it was only a question of time.

I shivered. I was not sure what to do. I decided to explore the pool. It was roughly horseshoe-shaped. I half walked, half swam to the hot spring at the rear of the temple and saw it was separated from the cold water by ten feet of rock. It kicked up plenty of steam but was useless when it came to warming me up. It was just too far away.

There was another problem. At the back of the pool, the water got a lot deeper and I could no longer feel the bottom. I ended up struggling to keep my head above water. Not only that, the steam had a thick sulfur odor. It stunk of rotten eggs and made me gag. In the end, I was forced to retreat to the shallow end at the front of the temple.

There was no way out.

By the time I returned from exploring the pool, the young men were already back in their holes, moaning in pain. I saw Lova sitting at the edge of my pool with her eyes closed. So far she had not attempted another attack on my mind but I knew one was coming. She was waiting until I got weaker. But her inexperience was showing. I knew her mate would have throttled me the instant I had healed my pseudo-dad.

My dad, Mr. Toval, and Mrs. Steward had lost interest in all of us. They'd taken the carpet and locked it inside an Anulakai vault. The structure must have been heavily shielded. No matter how much I called to the carpet, nothing happened. It was a pity I was not yet a true Kala.

"Sara. Are you there?" Amesh called from somewhere below. He was not far away, over the edge of the pool and down a few steps. But I could not see him, so he felt farther away.

"Yeah. Taking a nice cold bath. How about you?" I said.

"I'm in one of these holes. I can't climb out and I can't sit down."

"Just wait until you have to go to the bathroom."

"I was an idiot to make such a big deal about that."

"You were just being shy is all," I said.

"I've been such a jerk. If I had listened to you when you told me how dangerous the djinn were, none of this would have happened."

"I don't know. You heard the Anulakai gang talking. They've been plotting this for a long time. I think we were screwed before we even found the carpet."

"It's hard to believe that man's not your father."

I felt terrible sorrow but tried to keep my voice even. "Tell me about it. And my mother's not my mother. It probably explains why I grew up with an attitude."

"You don't have an attitude. You're smart and you know what you want. That's what makes you strong."

I shivered. I could not stop shivering. "I wish I could come up with a clever idea to get out of here."

Amesh was silent for a moment. But when he spoke next, there was pain in his voice. "I know the djinn is waiting for you to pass out so it can make you its thrall. That's not right. I was the one who made all the selfish wishes and you're the one who has to pay."

"Well, being tortured to death is nothing to look forward to."

"I know, but you don't deserve this. Everything you've done with your djinn has been to help others. I can't believe your compassion and kindness will lead to an eternity of suffering."

"I can't believe it either," I muttered, in no mood to debate the issue.

His voice cracked. "Sara, I swear to you, if I'm allowed into Paradise after I die and I get to speak with Allah, I'll plead for your release. I'll offer my own soul in place of yours."

Knowing Amesh and how frightened he was of a literal hell, I knew it took a lot of guts for him to make such a promise. "I have faith we're both going to be okay," I said.

"It's strange—up until I met you, I thought all non-Muslims were infidels. I didn't dislike Americans or Europeans, but I didn't think they could get into Paradise. But you've made me see that it's not the name of the God you worship that matters, it's who you are."

I smiled, although my jaw was freezing up. "Amesh, the only reason I've been helping you is because you're so darn cute."

"I'm serious, Sara. You're the best person I know. You're so good."

"Good?" I muttered. "I'd rather be hot."

"Sara. You're real..."

"Real?"

He stammered, "Really hot."

"Thanks. So are you."

Speaking of hot, it was scary how rapidly the heat was leaving my body. The cold had become the center of my universe. My feet were numb, which made it hard to stand. When I lost the feeling in my legs, I knew I would fall over. After that I would be unconscious in minutes and Lova would try to break into my brain.

I decided to taunt her. I had nothing better to do.

"Hey, Lova," I said. "It's pretty weird of you to accept help from the Anulakai, don't you think?"

She opened her eyes. "Did you say something, thrall?"

"I'm not your thrall yet. You couldn't get your claws around me, could you?"

"I have time. And you have very little."

"Well, you might want to listen up before you return to djinnville. Think about this. You're accepting help from your sworn enemies. How do you think the other djinn are going to feel about that?"

"They won't care if I return with you."

"What's so special about me?"

"You were born to be a Kala. Now you will be my thrall."

"All right. But they'll know you had the Carpet of Ka and gave it up without a fight. Mrs. Steward just had to wave a crystal in front of you and say the word
pashupa
and you couldn't hand it over fast enough. At least they had to beat me to a pulp before I gave it up."

"I am not a coward!"

"You sure acted like one. But hey, I think I know how to fix your rep."

"Rep?"

"The way other djinn see you. Listen, you have to fight to get the carpet back. It's worth a hundred of me. In fact, if you can get me out of here, I can help you get it back."

"Why should I trust you?"

"I handed it over after my second wish. I'll do the same again."

Lova glanced toward the vault where the Anulakai were probably examining the carpet. "They have a pashupa," she said.

"I know it scares you. But think how they'll be able to use the carpet against your people if there's another war. Who knows what kind of power it'll give them? I'm telling you, you've got to get it back."

Lova considered. "What's your plan?"

"Get me out of this place, back to the surface, where I can warm up, and I'll call for the carpet. It'll come to me. From there, we can fly to the island and I'll hand it over there. You'll return home a hero."

"You needed me to get the carpet back this afternoon."

"I didn't know then what I know now. Later, at night, the carpet taught me a secret technique where I can get it to break down any cage."

Lova was interested, but like always, she wanted more.

"You'd still have to be my thrall," she said.

"No way. You can have the carpet or me, but you can't have both. And you'd be a fool not to take the carpet."

"Teach me this secret and I'll help you escape."

"Do I look like I was born yesterday?"

Lova stood. "I was born thousands of years ago. You're just fifteen years old. To me, yes, you look like you were born yesterday."

I shrugged. "Fine. I'm glad I'm going to be there—even as a thrall—to watch you explain to your friends how you lost the Carpet of Ka without even putting up a fight."

Lova glanced at the others. They looked preoccupied.

"If I help you, you'll have to free the carpet immediately."

"Fine."

"How come you can't do it right now?"

"Because, my dear, I'm freezing to death. I can't concentrate in here. Now you make up your mind. Help me or not. But if you're going to help, then it's got to be now."

Lova considered a moment longer. Then she moved, fast. She strode to my side of the pool and stuck out her djinn arm. I tried to grab it with my right hand but my fingers were numb. I had to rely on her to pull me from the water. Then I discovered my feet were numb. I couldn't stand, never mind run out of the cavern.

"Go now or they'll see you!" Lova hissed.

I leaned on a pillar for support. "Help me to the cave entrance. The feeling's beginning to come back to my feet."

"Where did the feeling go?"

"Nowhere. The cold just stopped it."

"You humans are so frail." Lova shook as she helped me up. "They'll see me!"

"Stop whining and do what I said."

Lova supported me as far as the cave entrance. By then I could stand without help. We stumbled past the entrance and started to hike up the long tunnel that led back to the surface. I had feeling in my feet but was unable to run. One more minute, I swore, that's all I needed, and I would sprint to safety.

A green light suddenly crackled behind us and Lova pulled me in front of her, shielding herself. Such a brave djinn. I shoved her away just in time to dodge the oncoming pashupa.