The Seven Kings of Jinn

You okay? Jai’s concerned voice filled her mind.

Not really. Trying to concentrate on the good stuff. She smiled sadly. I’d rather think about my dad being awake than what went on in that desert.

He squeezed her shoulder in silent understanding before dropping his hand back into his lap, flexing it like she’d burned him. Frowning, Ari pressed speed dial one on the cell, not surprised when Charlie picked up on the first ring.

“It’s me.”

“Oh thank God,” he sighed. “What happened? Are you okay?”

“I can’t really talk right now. I’m in the waiting room at ICU. The doctors say dad’s awake.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

She hung up, letting her head loll back against the wall. “Charlie’s on his way.”

Like the never-ending stretch of Azazil’s receiving room, it felt like forever since her dad had stood in their living room. He looked great, color in his cheeks, meat on his bones. He looked as if nothing had ever happened to him. Her dad could even walk. No dizziness, no muscle weakness. The doctors couldn’t work it out and since their tests were inconclusive and her dad was feeling absolutely fine, there was nothing they could do when he ignored their advice and told them he was discharging himself. Ari had stood by, giddily, watching him as he signed a form saying he was leaving against medical advice.

She had her dad back.

Although, hours before, it felt as if that would never happen.

Charlie had raced to the hospital, crushing her up into a giant bear hug right there in front of everyone. Ari had blushed at the way he stroked her hair off her face, his eyes narrowed and dark as they drank her in. He wore that look again. The intense, hot one. Before he could do anything to complicate her already complicated feelings, Ari had pulled him aside to tell him what happened. For a minute she expected Jai to follow her, before remembering he was no longer contracted to be glued to her hip.

After that, it was just an agonizing wait to see her father.

When the doctors allowed her into the room, she’d rushed in alone and thrown her arms around her dad. Ari had tensed at the tentative pat he gave her on the back, expecting him to squeeze her close. Surprised and a little hurt, she’d had to remind herself that he had just come out of something extremely weird and scary. She’d pulled back and watched as he went about organizing things, as he always did.

Now it was midnight and they were home. Jai had transformed back into the Great Dane instead of going into the cloak, since her dad was used to seeing him as a dog, anyway. Ari stood facing her dad unsurely, Charlie on one side and Jai in dog form on the other.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked.

“Yeah, sir, anything you need?” Charlie added.

Her dad snorted, a noise of disbelief that set alarm bells ringing in Ari’s head. He was acting weird. Even for someone just out of a coma. He hadn’t said a word in the car and every time she’d reached for him, he’d flinched away from her touch. She would have to leave him now. For the last few days, Ari had been unable to think of little less. But until he was safe, leaving her dad had seemed unreal, some distant, unthinkable act that might never happen. Now, watching him refuse to meet her eyes, avoiding her touch, it was like she was already gone. And the thought made her want to shrivel up and die.

“Dad?”

Finally, he lifted his head, his eyes boring into her, his expression completely unreadable. “I know, Ari.”

Her stomach flipped. She felt Charlie move closer to her. “What?”

He threw up his hands, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe whatever was going on.

What is going on?

Ari, I think he knows, knows.

She glanced down at Jai in horror. What?

“In the coma,” Derek’s voice brought her head back up, “I heard everything. What you were all talking about. I heard it all.” He took a few steps back, lowering himself to the arm of the couch. He narrowed his eyes on her, his mouth hanging open as if he were finding it difficult to grasp the right words. “When I woke up I just… I just sat there… thinking it couldn’t be true. But that thing…”

Heart palpitating, Ari whispered, “What thing?”

“The thing.” He flicked a hand at his face in disgust. “Face like some kind of hybrid lion.”

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah, oh my God.” He nodded at her. And then he shook his head, his eyes growing glassy with tears, his face red as the tendons in his jaw flexed. “I knew there was something off about Sala. I knew it. But it was like I couldn’t control myself around her.”