Sorry I left some stuff out last chapter. I was going to verify my information . . .I then I forgot. I'll edit the chapter later. The name of the necklace is "Cari", and in the magic shop Kitty bought an Inferno Stick and a few Elemental Spheres.
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Disclaimer: I don't own the Bartimaeus Trilogy or the title of this fanfic
Rated T for violence, language, torture, and overall darkness
CH. 12
So I was still walking. If I had been human, I'd have dropped dead by now.
If Kitty and this Stephanie Hack were coming to get me, I figured I should keep heading in my northerly direction. Hopefully she took note of it. (Then again, I've mentioned how dense humans are.)
As I walked, who should fly up to annoy me but Jard. The burn marks on his fat amused me, though.
"Looking good, Jard," I commented as he came up.
"I hate you."
"That's certainly the downer of my life."
"Gaia sent me."
I stopped, crossed my arms, and faced the flying fat. "Why doesn't he summon me himself? Ran out of chalk?"
"No."
"Incense?"
"No, he wants to make amends."
I laughed. "Interesting sense of humor."
"He does like you, Bartimaeus. He just loses his temper."
"He is the quintessential magician; he's self-centered and power hungry."
Jard shrugged. "The incident with his banishment made it worse."
"Why was he banished?"
Jard glanced around, as if we were being watched (although no one could sneak up in this ocean of sand, imps are highly unintelligent).
He said quietly, "It's all because of a man named Hack."
"Hack?"
"Yeah. They moved up in ranks together; they were really competitive. But when the decision came for a huge promotion . . .the Prime Minister chose Hack."
"Uh-oh."
"Yeah. Gaia lost it. He tried to kill Hack."
I shrugged. "That's no big deal. Magicians try to kill each other all the time."
"But they keep it quiet; they don't talk about it. This was right in front of the PM, nearly killed him, too."
"Oh. So, they were both banished?"
"Yes, and now Gaia wants to prove he's fit for power."
That was interesting. Hack was helping Kitty to get revenge. Fine by me. I hoped he got to Gaia.
"You certainly like Gaia," I said.
"I enjoy spying for him. Just like you enjoy being with your Kitty Jones."
"That's disgusting!"
Jard glared at me. "I don't mean it like that."
I turned away. "Run on back to Mr. Black. And tell him he can kiss my ass."
He laughed. "Just in case you reacted this way, he secured another plan. He knows Kitty is coming here."
I whipped back around. "What do you mean?"
"I saw you talking to her. She had that necklace, Cari." A dark grin opened up his fat. "I was spying."
My reply was a Detonation. He landed as a smoking ball in the sand.
"What is he going to do?" I demanded.
"He's sent an afrit after her."
The urge to rip him to pieces was nearly irresistible. But I turned and ran. I had to reach her before the spirit did. Jard was cackling behind me.
So I sent another Detonation at him.
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After their plane landed in Egypt, Kitty, Algus, and Stephen Hack headed to the desert where Bartimaeus had been.
They knew about where the djinni was, Kitty had noted the pyramids in the distance.
As they stood, surveying the desert, Stephen asked again, "Are you sure you know where we're going, Kitty-cat?"
She sighed. "Yes, Bartimaeus and I spent lots of time in Egypt."
As they continued to look at the golden sand, Algus moved closer to her and whispered, "Stay close, this could be dangerous."
She nodded.
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Hallelujah, I could see Kitty! She was there with a man and a . . . spirit? I checked on the Seventh Plane and saw that it was Algus. (That made me rather happy, Algus was a good guy.)
Kitty saw me and her face lit up. She was practically a sun. That look would never cease to affect me.
I did a scan of my surroundings as I ran. Still no sign of this afrit. We were the only living things about, except for that hawk in the sky.
That hawk in the sky?
A quick check through the planes revealed that it, indeed, was the afrit in question. An ugly one, too. Nearly as bad as Faquarl.
"Afrit!" I shouted.
Kitty paused, glancing around.
With a wave of relief I realized I would get to her in time. Then I could kick the spirit's butt, direct Hack straight to Gaia, and get out. For the first time in awhile, I felt pure happiness.
And then it all came crashing down as I was resummoned to Gaia.
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