The Seven Kings of Jinn

As she lay in bed in the dark, listening to Jai’s soft breathing as he slept, she wondered what his story was in all of this. She knew her own. She knew Charlie’s. She even knew Azazil’s and the White and Red King’s. She also knew her dad’s. But what about Jai, who liked science fiction and one-word sentences and black coffee? Who was this guy who was sharing her life? What life had he left behind? Surprised that he was taking up so much of her thoughts, Ari rolled onto her side to look out the window. It was only natural. It was only natural to wonder about the guardian assigned to her.

It was only natural, she promised herself, and let the sound of Jai’s breathing slowly lull her to sleep.

With his jinn vision, Jai could make out every detail of Ari’s room as if the lights were still on. He waited, watching her, relaxing, when she finally closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Waving his hand over the floor, he drew on his magic to conjure and began thinking about everything he thought was useful for Ari to know about the jinn. About her heritage, about the truth, without overwhelming her or going directly against the Red King’s orders. He’d tried now for several days to get her interested in the jinn, but she was in denial. She thought if she buried her head in the sand about it, it would all go away.

But Jai didn’t want her to get hurt.

Of course, he never wanted a client to get hurt. It was his job to make sure they didn’t. But a 24/7 gig with this girl should be killing him. He should be going out of his mind with boredom.

He wasn’t.

He enjoyed being around her.

Not good.

So instead of thinking about how unprofessional that was, he was going to protect his client. From them all. From the Red King. The White King. From himself. Even from that little dick Charlie who looked oh so disappointed when Ari said she wouldn’t learn about jinn. He was suspicious about this guy. And not because Ari couldn’t see past her memories of a childhood sweetheart to the exceptionally messed up teen who walked in his shoes, but because if Jai had found out someone murdered his kid brother, he wouldn’t let that go. So Jai’s question was: what did Charlie really want with Ari? And was it going to hurt her?

Jai felt his muscles tense at the thought, and his blood grew even hotter. Glancing up at her again, sleeping in the dark, he felt an ache in his chest, a feeling he’d never felt before. Irritated with himself, he concentrated on the job at hand, pouring his magic into his creation for Ari.

He was going to force Ari to discover her ancestry. He was going to force her to be prepared so that when the time came, she’d be able to handle herself.

The next morning, she was shaken awake. “What?” she groaned, prying her eyes open only to look up into the blurry face of Jai. “What is it?”

“Wake up. The men from the Aissawa Brotherhood have arrived.”

Jolting up at the news, Ari brushed her tangled hair from her face and gaped at him. “Here? Now? What about my dad?”

“Your dad left for the office early this morning. He never saw them.”

“Well, these Brotherhood guys can’t stay here.”

Jai smirked. “That’s why you need to get up so we can get on with the exorcism.”

“Right, right. I still have slumber brain. Give me a minute.”

“Slumber brain?” he mocked gently.

Too tired to be teased, Ari pushed him aside and stumbled out of bed. “I take it a shower would be out of the question?”

“Not if you hurry.”

“Great.”

“Not a morning person, huh?”

“Do you have to ask that every morning when you already know the answer?”

“Yes. It’s fun.”

She made a rude gesture at him as she pulled some clothes out of her wardrobe and he snorted in response. She was discovering it was really hard to offend him.

“Oh, here.” Jai reached out, halting her progress to the bathroom. Ari shivered under the heat of his touch and jerked away. His face darkened and he grabbed one of her hands, flattened her palm out and slapped a worn leather-bound book into it.

Ari gripped the book with no title, tilting it at him. “What’s this?”

When he crossed his arms over his chest and straightened to his full height, Ari felt a tingle of warning. Uh oh. Whatever it was, he meant business. “That is a copy of a compilation of facts about the jinn. Different races, different behaviors, different cultures, as well as some of our very important history, including information about the Seven Kings of Jinn and Azazil.”

She thrust the book at him. “I don’t want it.”