Of Wish and Fury (Seven Kings of Jinn)

Caring less if the two of them beat one another to a pulp, the Red King nodded and fled into the peripatos calling to Jai for his location.

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

BLOOD ON A HERO'S HAND IS BLOOD ALL THE SAME

Already high on adrenaline from the magic used fighting the humans, street lamps pulsed out at Charlie like beacons of ember taunting his thirst. Charlie couldn’t quite comprehend what the Red King was saying. He stood before them in the alley, his bright red hair braided down his back, wearing black jeans, a black tee and biker boots. The Red King’s fierce eyes drove into Charlie, his words setting his heart to an even faster beat than it already was at.

It was all a trap.

Ari was taken.

The rat bastard had her.

It was all a trap.

“Charlie.” Fallon’s pretty face popped into his line of sight, her eyebrows puckered and eyes concerned. “Are you okay?”

“We have to get her,” he muttered, trying to push his hunger for more power down so he could concentrate. Jack had warned him this could happen.

“I didn’t feel anything in the trace,” Jai bit out, confusion and fear in his eyes.

Red shook his head. “I think the harmal must dull all of her connections… even the one to you.”

Jai growled, “You have the address?” His barely contained fury seemed to shake Charlie awake. He glanced up at the guardian whose pallor had paled. Jai bristled with angry magic, his bright eyes flashing with deadly intent. That’s how I should be, Charlie told himself. Get it together, Creagh!

“I’ll take those two.” The Red King gestured to them, and Charlie realized the jinn meant to take them into the peripatos. His conscience twisted when excitement shot through him at the thought.

Jai nodded, focused. “Address?”

Information was passed, but Charlie was too busy breathing in and out, shoving the addiction down, choking it. A hand clasped his and he gazed down into Fallon’s face. Her wide eyes softened with understanding. She knew! Her support, her kindness, became an anchor. Charlie fought down the need, his brain unfogging. Nodding gratefully at her, he looked up at the Red King with determination. “Let’s do this.”

The Red King grasped his shoulder and pulled him through the peripatos. It was like riding a really fast rollercoaster; the wind battering into his body, knocking the breath right out of him. Colors blurred into one and his ears almost bled with the roar of the wind.

The world righted itself and Charlie stumbled forward, dizzy and nauseous, the Red King’s firm hand on his shoulder the only thing keeping him standing up.

They stood outside a rectangular redbrick building and Charlie eyed a blurry street sign. They were in Lakeshore.

“How do you want to do this?” The Red King asked the three of them.

“You blast them all to hell while we look for Ari,” Jai replied, searching over the outer façade of the building as though he really had x-ray vision. Charlie wondered momentarily if he did before shaking the stupid thought out of his head.

The Red King narrowed his eyes, and Jai gave him an almost apologetic look. “Your Highness. Please?”

“Done.” The Red King nodded and without so much as a warning he raised his hands and the glass fronted doors shattered outward toward them, raining down on them and the ground in grains of soft sand. “Let’s do this.” Red strode forward just as a woman ran out of the door with a gun in hand. With a swipe of Red’s arm through the air in front of her, her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the ground. Charlie, Jai, and Fallon made their way inside without having to lift a finger as the king continued this line of defense. Three bodies already laid in their wake as they stood at an unmanned reception.

“I sense a few energies.” The Red King turned to Jai. “Do you sense her?”

When Jai nodded, Charlie felt his gut clench. Jai knew Ari so well he could sense her individual energy from a distance and the Red King couldn’t. He stamped down his jealousy. “Which way?”

“Basement.” Jai gestured to the elevator.

Just as they were about to move toward it, the numbers above it pinged, the elevator climbing upward.

“I think we’re about to have company,” Fallon said dryly, steadying herself.

They stood side by side, waiting.

With one last ping, the elevator doors flew open and six bodies poured out, firing guns. Bullets met an invisible shield that glowed ember every time one hit it, and Charlie glanced over at the Red King in wonder and awe.

Realizing the guns were useless, the attackers dropped their automatics, two of them pulling out knives, three of them bowing their heads in concentration. Sparks filled the air at their fingertips.

“Jinn?” Charlie asked, surprised.

“Lesser jinn,” the Red King sneered. “They do not know who they deal with today.” Red stepped back and smirked at Jai. “Take them out.”