The Seven Kings of Jinn

Jai’s condo was airy, and devoid of any clutter. There was little furniture and what was there was black and chrome and very masculine. Women seemed to hate it but Jai wasn’t really a relationship type guy, so it didn’t matter. With nothing to wrap up before the assignment started, Jai flopped down onto his leather couch, staring out of the French doors to the view of LA sprawled out before him. The sun beat down strong in the morning light, causing eye-watering reflections to beam brightly off windows and buildings and cars. Jai sighed, throwing his head back. He could have waited in the Palisades until night fall but that would have meant being around his family.

No thanks.

He smiled slowly up at the ceiling as he thought of the Red King. The Red King. If this assignment went well, all the Ginnaye would have to treat him with respect. That would just kill Luca and his brothers. Sounded fantastic. Feeling the excitement build inside him, adrenaline already shooting through him with anticipation, Jai blew out a shaky breath and leaned forward to stare at the painting Trey had given him titled ‘Palmyra’. The rich colors and exotic landscape soothed him. He wondered who the important was they wanted him to guard. It had to be a woman of great significance. A woman with an important destiny if the Red King had taken notice. Jai felt a flutter of nervousness in his gut and grinned. He’d never been nervous about an assignment before.

This was so huge.

When his cell rang, Jai jerked in surprise, reaching deep into his jeans to yank it out. He laughed at the caller ID. News traveled fast.

“Hey, man.”

“So,” Trey’s laughing voice echoed down the line, “The Red King, huh? Were you going to tell me or just take off to wherever he sends you without so much as a goodbye hug?”

Jai relaxed into the couch. “Sorry, I just heard about myself.”

“So what’s the assignment?”

“Don’t know yet. Just know that it’s a she and she’s important.”

“All Hail the Lord of the Obvious. Come on, dude, give me more than that.”

Grinning, he shook his head. “Trey, that’s all I know. I swear.”

“Okay. I believe you. Well congrats, Jai. You deserve this. It’ll show your old man what’s what, huh?”

Lying, Jai replied, “Like I care.”

Trey sighed. “Yeah. Yeah.” No matter how much Jai denied it, Trey knew Jai secretly wanted his father’s approval. It pissed his only friend off.

They spoke for a little longer, Jai gazing up at the painting. Trey knew all about looking for a father’s approval. Trey hid a lot of things about himself from Rik. He was a great Ginnaye; strong, powerful. And Luca Bitar counted him among his best, but Trey was also secretly an artist. He painted under a pseudonym and did pretty well for himself. Not only that, he was bisexual, something Rik would never understand or support because he was stuck in the wrong century. The only person who knew any of Trey’s secrets was Jai. Growing up, Trey had watched Jai get kicked to pieces, figuratively and literally, by his tribe. He’d stood up for him, befriended him, and taken crap from his dad for doing so. But they shared a bond and neither of them let anything come between it. Sometimes Jai wondered if he would ever have made it out sane growing up with the Bitars if he hadn’t had Trey by his side.

When they hung up, Jai headed for the shower, his thoughts conjuring all different scenarios for this job. It ranged from the disappointing to the fantastical. He was just about to kick back with a sci-fi novel (his weakness) when the doorbell to his condo rang. Frowning, he slid a bookmark between the pages and walked to the door. Jai felt the energy on the other side.

It was jinn.

When he yanked open the door, his mouth quirked up into a cynical smirk.

Yasmin. She raised an eyebrow at him before throwing one last look over her shoulder to make sure they didn’t have an audience. She pushed past him into the apartment, breezing in with confidence. Jai shut the door and turned to watch her. Yasmin Lenz was the daughter of his father’s best friend, Hugo Lenz. Luca and Hugo were the elders and leaders of the California branch of their tribe, and Hugo was a nastier son-of-a-bitch than even Luca. Lenz despised what Jai was and never missed an opportunity to tell him or attempt to humiliate him in front of his peers.

His beautiful daughter Yasmin had been in the class below Jai and was warned repeatedly to stay away from him. Hugo liked to play matchmaker with her and David, and Jai knew for a fact that David would say yes to dating her in a heartbeat. He’d been after Yasmin Lenz since he’d seen her thrashing their younger brother Stephen on their family’s tennis court when Yasmin was sixteen. Pervy bastard. But Yasmin wasn’t interested in that particular Bitar. In public, Yasmin treated Jai like he didn’t exist. Correction, in front of the tribe she was downright derogatory and hostile. Then something changed when she was eighteen. She started coming onto him in private. Jai had walked away each time. He wanted nothing to do with someone who treated him like crap in public. Then a year ago, Jai had witnessed something that shocked him to his core. He was at Bitar Security offices in a meeting with his father and David and second eldest Brother, Tarik. They’d been discussing a potential client and when Luca had asked for the files, David had realized he’d left them at the pool house. Like a fetching dog, they had sent Jai to retrieve them using the peripatos. He’d arrived outside the pool house and was just about to enter when he heard a noise. Bemused by sound of lovemaking, Jai had peered through the windows and nearly died of heart failure. Hugo Lenz was with Nicki, his stepmother. It had shocked Jai because he’d thought Nicki was completely in love with Luca. He didn’t think she’d fallen out of love. Stuff happened. Shit got weird. But Jai knew if Luca ever found out he’d be devastated. Something inside him had felt broken for his father, despite the way he treated him. He couldn’t tell him. No one would believe him, anyway. So instead, he took his revenge out on Hugo.