Of Wish and Fury (Seven Kings of Jinn)

Dalí smiled at that, excitement rushing through his veins, the thirst for power tingling on his tongue. He touched a talisman around his neck and used the energy from the jet stone to conjure a glass of water. Drinking it thirstily, he wished it was Ari’s blood. Blood with all that power. He felt a stirring of lust and slammed his fist down on his desk. What was taking so long down in that lab? He had to have Ari. He had to have her now.

Son! The Gleaming King’s voice blasted into his head. I request your presence on Mount Qaf.

Many half-breed jinn were not born with the ability to use telepathy. But as the son of a jinn king, Dalí was more powerful than most. Perhaps that’s why he was so greedy for more. However, he’d always envied full-blooded jinn like that damn ginnaye who’d foiled his kidnapping attempt, but there was one thing that Dalí was glad of. Half-breeds were much harder to trace. That missing piece of energy within them meant they blended in with the human world so much more easily. It was hard enough finding a jinn who didn’t want to be found (unless they’d committed a crime against jinn law) but finding someone like Dalí?

Call it foresight, but Dalí hadn’t confided his latest base of operations to his father. And it seemed the Gleaming King had somehow found out what he’d been up to. He shrugged off the guilt of not responding to his father’s request. When he had Ari, nothing else would matter. Not love. Not loyalty. Not guilt.

Only power.

Chapter

Nine

THIS HEART’S ALREADY BROKEN. FIND ANOTHER

They ran into the house, a buzz of vibrant energy around them from the very temporary enchantment Jai had placed around all three of them until they were ‘safe’ inside. As soon as the door slammed shut behind them, they exhaled in relief, slumping against the nearest wall. Ari threw Jai a worried look as he leaned against the door, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling fast with exertion. He looked so pale and exhausted from using so much magic.

Before she could ask him if he was alright, the hair on her nape rose. She sensed another jinn presence. Ari spun around and was unsurprised and relieved to find the Red King standing in her sitting room. Eyeing the room, Ari fought off an inappropriate bubble of amusement. He’d cleaned her house again. Her uncle was such a neat freak.

“Hey.” Ari nodded, still a little out of breath.

Her uncle frowned, his brilliant blue gaze moving from Ari to Jai to Charlie and then back to Jai. “I came to see how Ari was coping, but clearly something happened. What’s up?”

As if his tone had shot an extra surge of strength into him, Jai straightened and brushed past Ari (her shoulder tingled where they touched and she glowered) to stand before the Red King. “Humans attacked us. Six of them. They wanted Ari.”

“What?” Her uncle’s eyes narrowed in confusion. He took a step back, his beautiful long red hair swaying with his movements. “Oh, man, this can’t be happening. We have enough problems.”

“We got a name,” Jai told him. “They referred to their master as Master Dalí.”

The Red King spun around so fast Ari was surprised he didn’t give himself whiplash. He marched to Jai, his steps aggressive, his face severe. “Are you sure?”

Jai glanced back at Ari. “That’s what he said, right?”

Annoyance at how Charlie and Jai had spoken to her back at the scene of the attack still choked her. She would have thought the jackasses could treat her with a little more respect. “Oh, am I allowed to speak now?”

Her guardian’s vivid green gaze darkened. “Ari,” he said in warning.

“What did I miss?” Her uncle asked.

“Oh, just me being treated like a child. On a day I could really do without it.”

“I told you to stay in the car and you got out of the car. You disobeyed me,” Jai snapped, frustration evident in every nuance of his body.

At his choice of words, Ari felt flames lick across her skin, her heart pounding hard against her ribcage. “Disobeyed you?”

“My job is to protect you. If you don’t listen to me, I can’t do my job.”

“And what about him?” Ari yelled, turning around to glare at Charlie. “Is that what you think too?”

Charlie held his hands up in defense. “I just wanted you in the car and out of danger.”

She felt mollycoddled, useless, impotent, and something unfurled from within her. Something that didn’t feel a part of her. It was dark and ugly and mad… and she couldn’t hold it back. “Do I need to remind you who has the power here? What I’m capable of?” Her voice didn't sound like her, her words were not words she'd speak, not her intentions, not her own. As if watching from a distance, she turned around slowly, eyeing them all, feeling the spark of her great power at her fingertips and glorying in it. Their eyes widened as she looked at them one by one, but it was the glimpse of horror in Jai’s eyes that made her grab a hold of herself and take back control. She shuddered, feeling the darkness plunge back down to where it had unearthed from within. Her body felt limp as she fell against the arm of her sofa.