Chapter 35
"Mom!" Hayden laid Nora down as carefully as he could before jumping to his feet and yanking the jinn back from Maya.
Maya stumbled back, grabbing her throat as a fit of cough overtook her. Her face was beet red and her eyes watered. She looked up as Hayden and the jinn flew through the woods, knocking down the trees on their path and crashing through the mud. She took off running after them as more jinns from the sky descended.
Heyder! Maya yelled through her mind-link.
Maya! Heyder's voice boomed as if he was shocked to hear from her. Where are you? Where's Hayden?
We're on the island, Maya spotted Hayden and the jinn a few yards ahead. She conjured up a spell and willed the trees behind the jinn to fall on him. We need help!
We're trying, Heyder said. We couldn't open portals before. Now, I think we mi-
Afet is dead, Maya said.
What?
Afet is dead. You were right. They were plotting against us the whole time.
That fuckin bitch!
Heyder there are jinns here!
It's Maaz, Heyder said. I'm on my way.
Maya felt her mind-link shut as she summoned all her energy and blasted a jinn inching closer to Hayden. She felt the blast, an extension of her, rip through the jinn as she shifted her attention to the energy building behind her.
"Stand down!" Maya commanded. "Heyder will not be so understanding if you hurt his son."
Let him come, one of the jinn said, his voice ice cold and empty.
Maya was ready to blast the jinn when she felt a ball of heat knock her to the ground. Her body fell forward, her head collided with the boulder in the mud, and her palms sank into the wet ground. The metallic taste instantly filled Maya's mouth as her vision began to dance.
"No! Get away from her!" Hayden yelled, raising his hand to cast a shield over his mother.
"No-" Maya could barely get the word out as she watched a group of jinns surround Hayden and knock him to the ground.
Maya tried to get up, but she could feel the knee of a jinn on her back, pinning her to the mud as they restrained her arms behind her back. She struggled, trying to throw them off as she watched three other jinns hold Hayden down to the ground. One of them held his head tightly to the ground as the other two put their weight on his back to make sure he couldn't move.
"No! No!" Maya screamed as a jinn flew down from the sky with an iron spearhead attached to a long wooden pole.
The iron head was piping hot, glowing a dangerous and forbidden red. Maya felt her heart shrivel up as the jinn moved closer to Hayden. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her heart was ready to burst as her mind ran wild.
This was their worst nightmare....
Maya and Heyder always knew Maaz and his followers would come for Hayden. Every minute, every second of Hayden's life was a miracle....
Maya felt utterly defeated and helpless as she struggled against the jinns, her heart crying out for her son. She couldn't bear to witness as they moved closer and closer.
Hayden struggled, his flames and energy flaring up but he couldn't push away from the jinns pinning him down. They dug their nails into his neck, draining his energy to weaken him. Their strength pulled at his magic, trying to bring it to the surface where it was at its most vulnerable state. He could hear his mother crying out his name as she tried to fight off the jinns.
