Passion by Kailin Gow Page B

ruthless he can be.”
    “First
hand,” Hugley said.  “In the midst of a childish tantrum, he once banded me. 
It left me so weak; even he regretted pushing me so far.  He almost lost me. 
Not that I want to brag or anything, but I’m one of his most valuable djinns…
well, I was.” 
    He
seemed to wear that badge of honor like a rusty and dull pin stuck directly in
his chest; there was the pride in his strength and his ability, but the pain of
having had to misuse that ability.
    “What
does ‘banded’ mean?” I asked.
    He
raised his wrist to show me his leather band.  “You ever saw one of these.”
    “Yes,”
I said, my voice taking on a little defensive tone.  “Many times.  I’ve even
had one on my wrist.”
    “Then
you know the effect it has on you.  You know the control… the draining
control.  Sanz had slapped a band on each wrist, one on each ankle and he’d
even put a large leather band around my neck.  I tried to be strong and make like
it was no big deal, but within fifteen minutes I was dizzy and five minutes
later I could hardly stand.  Another ten minutes later and I was unconscious. 
Later I was told I was rushed out of the ward and brought to the infirmary. 
Sanz went white with fear of losing me and my powers.”
    “I
take it you know how Sanz works; how he thinks,” Liam said.
    “I’ve
often taken on tasks before he’d even asked.”
    “Good. 
You’ll be of great help.  Can I count on you?”  Liam gazed from Alex to Denia
to Hugley.  “All of you?”
    “How
big an army you hoping to build?” Hugley said.
    “We’ll
keep a minimal amount of djinns here to keep watch.  All the others, we’ll take
along with us.  I want us to separate into four major groups.  If need be,
those four groups will be subdivided into smaller bands.  Sanz is probably
gathering his Catchers as we speak.  My priority right now is not to fight Sanz
head on, but to ensure he and his Catchers don’t take any more djinns.  I want
to keep my army strong, make it stronger, while slowly but surely reducing
his.”
    “I’ll
gather up the strongest and most powerful.”
    “I
know all the other small but swift djinns like me,” Denia said.  “What we lack
in strength and bulk we definitely make up for with fast thinking and even
faster action.”
    Alex
stepped closer to Liam.  “We’ll need more good leaders.  While imprisoned, we
were often asked to police one another.  Dr. Sanz had appointed a dozen djinns
or so to watch over those who worked to keep Arcadia the pristine pearl that it
was.”
    “Get
them all,” Liam said.  “Whatever talent, whatever capacities, whatever size;
they’ll all be of help.”
    The
lights blinked… once.
    While
everyone looked up to the ceiling to see the cause, Liam and I looked at each
other, understanding what was coming.
    “We’ve
got to get moving if we want to have a successful surprise attack.”
    Liam looked at
his new captains.  “Gather your men… and women, and follow me.”
    Our
three new captains made quick work of getting their teams together and
explaining what was to come.  Within minutes we were all heading down the hall,
and down the stairs; three hundred strong.
    Before
entering the circular room, Liam held his hand out and stopped his newly formed
army.  “Wait here.  I’m going to go find out what we should expect.”
    Anxious
to know what Torrid had heard, I followed him into the room.  Torrid had closed
all the doors and stood listening at the door to the Capitol.  As we entered,
he came to us.  His gaze was soft and loving as he saw me, but he quickly took
on a military stance as he faced Liam.
    “What
d’you hear?” Liam said as he reached Torrid.  “And from where?”
    “A
strange array of sound from there… the tunnel that leads to the Diamond
District.  Nothing distinctive and nothing threatening, just a lot of movement,
a lot of confusion and some arguing.  What I flashed you guys for, however,