The Seven Kings of Jinn

Yasmin.

If Hugo ever found out his precious daughter was sleeping with the Bitar half-breed, he’d die of shame.

Jai kept his expression blank as Yasmin spun around, unbuttoning her blouse. She wore the same look in her eyes as she always did. Yasmin thought only she was using Jai. She thought somehow she had power here because he continued to be with her despite how she treated him in public. But they were using each other.

He was using her to get back at them all.

It wasn’t something he was proud of.

It was dishonorable, and the one thing Jai had always counted on was his honor.

But then Yasmin wasn’t a sweet, innocent girl who needed to be protected. She was a manipulative, powerful female Ginnaye who believed he was worthless. Strike that. She was attracted to him so he had worth as a ‘playmate’. But she’d rather die than let anyone else know that.

Jai sighed, reaching to grasp her hands and stop her from undressing. He’d been waiting for a moment to end it. Breaking things off first would give him great satisfaction. Heading off for his big assignment meant he’d be gone for who knew how long. It was perfect timing.

Remembering her snotty slights in front of his family, Jai realised he was going to enjoy this moment more than he should.

“Stop.” He pulled back, watching her beautiful face darken. “It’s not going to happen, sweetheart.”

“What are you talking about?” she hissed angrily, frantically trying to re-button her blouse.

“I got a big assignment.” He shrugged. “Don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

“So what has that got to do with anything?”

Jai narrowed his eyes and he watched the pulse jump in her throat. He couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that he had such an effect on her. “What was it you called me at that meeting with Hugo and my father two weeks ago? A useless piece of dog crap with poison for blood?”

She shrugged, her dark eyes flashing. “It was a joke.”

“Oh yeah, it felt like one.”

“What’s this about, Jai? What I say never pissed you off before.”

“I’m not pissed. I don’t do pissed.” He ran a hand down her neck, watching her shiver. “I don’t care enough about you to do pissed.” Exhaling heavily, he stood back, wearing a mocking, regretful expression. “It’s been nice, sweetheart, but I’m moving up and on. Time for you to find a boy toy among your full bloods.”

It was hilarious, watching her jaw drop. Yasmin was not the girl a guy broke up with. “Are you dumping me?”

“How can I dump someone I was never with?”

“You asshole!” she screeched, pushing him out of the way. “Wait until I—”

“Until you what, Yasmin?” he chuckled. Yasmin was still that spoiled little girl who ran to her daddy when things didn’t go her way. Hugo had threatened several boyfriends in the past. “Tell your daddy about me?” He shook his head, making a tutting noise. “You can’t tell Hugo, sweetheart, ‘cause then he’d know just how naughty you’ve been this year.”

Her face was almost purple. “I was right about you. You are nothing. You are worthless, Jai! No one wants you. Not for anything real.”

He shrugged, not letting her see her words affected him. “You really think I care?”

With a growl of rage, the air shimmered around her, telling Jai she was about to use the peripatos. Yasmin exploded into flames at the same time the vase on his side table screamed, shattering into a million flying shards all directed at him. Jai cursed, wiping a hand across the air in front of him. The shards sliced into his enchantment, turning into grains of sand.

He grunted, leaning down to scoop at the sand on his carpet. The rug was one of the few splashes of color and comfort in his condo and was a genuine Moroccan Berber. Handmade. Expensive. Irreplaceable. It would take him forever to get the sand out without damaging the wool. “Should have ended that toxic shit weeks ago.”

Chapter 3

Push and pull too much,

my heart will fall right out

The delicious, tingling impact of forceful sprays of hot water from her shower head woke Ari up in more ways than one. She frowned at herself, lathering coconut scented shampoo into her hair, her fingers digging into her scalp with frustration. Ari was not a pessimistic person. She was… well… not exactly an optimist, but she was not the depressed, ‘bemoaning her fate’ kind of girl she’d been coming off as lately. No. She was a ‘quit whining and do something about it’ kind of girl. So okay, sure, she didn’t know if she’d made the right choice about college, but since she hadn’t a clue what she really wanted to do with her life, getting a degree seemed like the practical thing to do. So what if she wasn’t looking forward to it? Ari would not lounge around all summer being pissy. No. She had a task to complete. Operation Save Charlie. A whole summer stretched ahead of them and Ari was dedicating this summer to pulling Charlie back from whatever hell he had dug himself into. He would be alright. Ari had to believe that someone as smart and kind and funny as Charlie still had a long, bright future ahead of him.