Of Wish and Fury (Seven Kings of Jinn)

“This isn’t right,” Fallon whispered, having come to the same conclusion.

“No, it’s not,” Jai agreed, throwing up a shield that would drain him but would cloak the coming fight from the outsiders on the main street. His fighting would be sluggish, but hopefully enough to take on humans. “But we can’t leave that girl with them. Let’s make it quick.” Before he’d even spoken the last words, Jai conjured a throwing knife from his collection back home, the cold metal filling a hand he kept behind his back.

“You’ll never beat Master Dalí,” the guy holding the girl blurted.

“What is he paying you?” Jai asked softly, dangerously. “And is it really enough?” With that, he let the throwing knife fly, the sharp implement making its intended target, slicing through the skin and muscle of the leader’s wrist. He screamed, dropping the knife, letting the girl go as he tried to cradle his wounded hand. The girl took off down the alley toward safety.

Right, time to get the hell out of here, Jai thought.

“What are you waiting for?” The leader yelled, falling to his knees in pain as he eyed the dagger that pierced straight through his hand. “Shoot them!”

At the same time they drew their guns, Fallon took a step forward before Jai could stop her. Rubbing a heavy blue obsidian talisman, Fallon waved her hand across the air, a shimmer of magic cascading across and out like a gentle wave crashing into the attackers. They stumbled back in confusion and looked at each other questioningly. The lone female among the attackers shrugged. Face pinched with concentration, she turned to pull the trigger on her Glock. Just as she did, Jai threw out a hand, swinging from the elbow like he was batting a baseball. Instead, he batted the barrier of his defensive magic so it hit out like a rubber band stretching and snapping into the woman before pinging back at him. He staggered back as the woman soared through the air, her gun clicking but not shooting. When she crashed to the ground with a sickening and quiet thud, Fallon told him, “I replaced their bullets with water.” She smirked, lifting the blue obsidian.

Jai grinned down at her. “Good thinking.”

Charlie smirked. “Can I punch them now?”

“They haven’t attacked yet.” Jai shook his head. “Your defensive magic will power up as soon as they attack.”

After stunned amazement gave way to understanding as Jai, Charlie, and Fallon strolled menacingly toward them, the two still standing tried to fire their guns.

When nothing happened, they dropped them and pulled out knives.

Charlie raised a glowing fist. “Now can I punch them?”

Jai gathered his magic between his fingers and let it rip, melting the two knives. The humans yelled as ash and molten metal burned their hands. Their fear was palpable. It was nothing less than they deserved. “Yeah.” Jai nodded, taking a step back and giving Charlie his lead. “Now you can punch them.”

Alone, with only Ms. Maggie to keep her company, Ari paced back and forth in her hotel room. The gremlins in her stomach were fighting worse than when she’d asked Charlie to their ninth-grade dance. She’d left asking him to go with her so late he’d already said yes to Macy McGuire, a pretty girl in their grade who had moved back to Columbus a few weeks after the dance. Ari had wanted to hate Macy, but really, she’d just been mad at herself for taking so long to get the courage up to ask him out. She’d stayed home that night instead of going to the dance, even though she’d been asked by three different guys. But Ari hadn’t wanted to go unless it had been with Charlie. Ari smiled through her worry, remembering how Charlie had turned up at her house the next day with a corsage, asking her if she’d go to Homecoming Dance with him next semester. They hadn’t gone because Charlie caught the flu. Then somehow they danced around one another that whole year until Ari’s 16th birthday. By then, it was too late. Life would have been so much easier these last two years if she had come to that realization much sooner.

And now Jai. Ari didn’t even want to believe that he wanted to talk about what she wanted to talk about. And if he did want to talk about what she wanted to talk about, Ari wanted to know what had changed his mind. Had he finally seen the light? Was he finally leaving the State of Denial? And of course there was Charlie to think about if Jai had indeed left the State of Denial. Ari was so worried she’d end up hurting Charlie.

But none of that mattered when both Jai and Charlie were out there somewhere without her, possibly being pulverized by that asshat Dalí.