Of Wish and Fury (Seven Kings of Jinn)

“YOU WILL NEVER HAVE HIM, MOTHER OF MINE,” his voice boomed and even the stars dimmed in awe at his might.

The female gazed up at him as she pulled herself into a sitting position. She was so beautiful that Ari was transfixed despite the viciousness in the pretty turn of her mouth and the madness in those velvety eyes. Ari had never known such wicked beauty.

“YOU WOULD PROTECT HIM FROM ME, MASTER?” Her painted words sang out in glittering ethereality and Ari sighed along with the earth.

“I WOULD PROTECT YOU FROM YOURSELF.”

“NO!” Her shriek sliced the ether, shattering the stars. Ari’s hands flew to her ears as it blew her back off her feet again. What had she missed? What had HE said? What did it mean? Why did she feel such despair?

Her body slammed into softness, and Ari’s eyes flew open.

“Holy…” she gasped as her eyes adjusted to the dark of her bedroom. Her heart still raced inside her chest and she shifted uncomfortably. She was soaked in sweat from the dream. A wonderful breeze whispered into the room from the crack of the open window and Ari turned onto her side to catch its cooling balm on her face.

What the hell had the dream been about? Was she finally losing it?

It was the stress of everything. Of her dad, Derek. Of Charlie. Of Jai. Not to mention the evil biological father that waited patiently in the darkness. Ari buried her head in her pillow, willing herself back to sleep so she didn’t have to deal with all that crap until morning. She only hoped she didn’t dream about the strange giant jinn again. Why couldn’t she dream like normal people and have stress-related dreams that involved losing teeth?

She groaned. “Because I’m not normal.”

Chapter

One

A RAIN CLOUD OF STOLEN WISHES

Sleep eluded Ari and she rolled out of bed early, stumbling around the house like a zombie as she showered and readied herself for another day in limbo. As had been typical since her dad returned from the hospital after the demon jinn, Pazuzu, had put him in a coma (not that Sandford Ridge was aware of that; as far as they knew Derek’s coma had been a medical mystery), the calls started pretty quickly and she told well-wishers and her dad’s work colleagues he was still resting and she’d get him to call back as soon as possible.

Finally, at around eleven in the morning, when it became apparent her dad had no intention of coming out of his room (again), Ari took up a tray of cold toast, eggs, and some coffee. She knocked on his bedroom door, awaiting the sound of movement. She hadn’t seen his face in a while. Not even when Jai and Charlie had a shouting match the other day. He’d slept through the entire thing. For the last few days, Ari had been leaving food trays at his door and collecting the empty ones. It was perhaps time to begin a stakeout. She’d wait for him to open the door and then launch herself at him.

“Dad?” she asked softly. “You awake?”

No answer. A shuffle from beyond the door told her he was there, though.

“I have some breakfast here.”

No answer.

Feeling impatience burn in her veins, Ari struggled to keep her voice even. “Mr. Zellman called from your office again.” As if she didn’t have enough problems to deal with.

“I’ll call him later,” her dad replied, sounding pretty close.

“That’s what you said yesterday.”

“I’ll call him, Ari. Just… I’m tired, sweetheart. We’ll talk later.”

Each bite of rejection hurt more and more, and frankly, Ari was tiring of standing there like an unmoving target. Letting the tray drop with a petulant clatter, she turned away, muttering under her breath, “You said that yesterday, too.”

Ari fled the unbearable loneliness of the house, slamming out of the kitchen door and into the backyard. The sun smirked down at her and she felt like flipping it off. Everything was a mess. She hadn’t spoken to Charlie since she’d asked Jai to throw him out that fateful morning they’d discovered he was a sorcerer. Ari was too enraged to be in the same room with him. She couldn’t look at Charlie, never mind talk to him, and she'd switched off her cell because he wouldn’t stop calling.

A sorcerer? According to Jai and his stupid book, sorcery was murky. It could send normal half-breeds off the deep end, never mind humans imbued with jinn power. Who knew what this would do to Charlie? And why had he done it? Her heart ached thinking about it. Ari just couldn’t understand why he would wish to become a part of this world when she'd told him how much she wanted to be free of it. The pressure on her chest increased, and she glowered up into the bright sky. No. She wasn’t stupid or clueless enough to think Charlie’s decision had anything to do with her. It was all about revenge. He was going to get himself killed. It didn't help matters between them when he refused to tell her who granted him the wish. Jai thought it had to be a marid or a shaitan. Ari couldn’t discount that perhaps her real father, the White King, and all-around swell piece of crap, was behind the wish. She hated to even think her uncle, the Red King, had something to do with it. In fact, right now, she had to believe otherwise. No matter what. She needed at least one powerful ally in all this craziness.