The Seven Kings of Jinn

When the Red King nodded, an outraged growl ripped from Jai, stunning Ari. It was so animalistic, so frightening. He glowered at her uncle. “Tell her the truth.”

“What truth?” Ari demanded.

After shooting Jai a venomous look, the Red King slumped wearily against the wall and gazed at her through shuttered lids. “Have you heard of King Solomon and the Seal of Solomon?”

Ari nodded tightly. “The seal belonged to Solomon; a ring that enslaved the jinn. It was made of brass and iron and with each side—can’t remember which side was which—he could stamp commands to the good jinn and the evil jinn. They dethroned him and Azazil’s right-hand man, Asmodeus, took over his reign and took the seal. Asmodeus tried to give it to Azazil, who tried to destroy it, but it can’t be destroyed. Azazil commanded Asmodeus to protect it and, according to legend, Asmodeus wears the ring around his neck.”

The Red King looked astonished by her knowledge. His jaw locked and he pushed away from the wall, his height somehow magnified. She wondered if he was doing something magical to make him even more intimidating than usual. “How did you know that?”

She shrugged. “Jai gave me a book about the jinn.”

Her uncle turned on Jai with an incredulous look. “You gave her a book?”

Jai crossed his arms over his chest, chin tilted upward in defiance. “She deserved to know the truth.”

“You’re not contracted to tell her the truth. I contracted you because your tribe owes me.”

“Wait, wait.” Ari tried to defuse a confusing but clearly dangerous situation. “What’s going on?”

Jai barely looked at her. “I conjured that book so that when this day came, you would have a better understanding. So maybe it wouldn’t feel so confusing. So overwhelming.”

“What the hell is going on?” Charlie huffed, coming up behind her. He rested his hands protectively on her shoulders.

Jai glared at him but refused to respond. Instead, he turned his gaze to the Red King, who studied Ari with those calculating eyes.

“What did my brother tell you?” Her uncle asked. “What reason did he give for your birth, Ari?”

Leaning into Charlie, Ari gulped, sensing something huge on the horizon. “He said he was looking for meaning.”

The Red King guffawed unhappily at that. “My brother was looking for power.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Your mother, Sala… he told you she was a powerful ifrit, yes?”

Ari nodded, mute with growing fear and anticipation. She clutched at Charlie’s fingers, needing an anchor to the real world.

“Sala is the most seductive jinn we’ve ever come across. Even more seductive than the lilif. My brother believed he could use her to steal the Seal of Solomon from around Asmodeus’ neck.”

“By seducing Asmodeus,” Jai explained before she could ask.

Ari nodded, looking back and forth between them. “So did she?”

The Red King pinned her in place with his electric gaze. “To our utter surprise, yes. She returned to the White King with the seal. He promptly made her swallow it and that night he mated with her, using enchantment to conceive a child within her womb, a child whose life force—the greatest power on this earth—broke the seal down into its basic properties, and appropriated its magic into its own DNA.”

Ari sucked in a deep breath, a hysterical laugh desperate to erupt from her. She controlled herself though and met the Red King’s gaze with incredulity. “Are you telling me… I am the Seal of Solomon?”

Chapter 17

My name is not mine

but I wish it was yours

There was nothing that could prepare a person for this. To discover you were a pawn in a war between mythical beings.

“Wait, what?” Charlie asked. He peered down at her in alarm and confusion. Not even the warm familiarity of his face was a comfort.

Ari was frozen with fear as the full reality of the truth hit her. When it became apparent she was struck mute, Jai said impatiently to Charlie, “Look, I’ll give you the book I gave Ari to get you up to speed, but right now—”

“At least tell me what this means and why Ari looks like she’s about to pass out?”

Gripping Charlie’s bicep, Ari squeezed it tightly, her fingernails pinching into his skin. She gulped for breath; her lungs couldn’t get enough oxygen, her brain grew fuzzy and the room tilted at angle. She swayed against Charlie.

I’m dying. Oh God, I’m dying. Air.

Air.

“She’s having a panic attack,” Jai cursed and the next thing Ari knew, she was sitting on a chair, breathing in and out of a brown paper bag. “Slowly, Ari, slowly,” she heard Jai coach her. Sure enough, after a few minutes, she was breathing normally again, the tension in her muscles easing. She felt utterly drained.

“Perhaps giving her the book was a bad idea,” the Red King mused, a whisper of anger in his tone. “If she hadn’t known what the seal was, she might not have taken the news so badly.”