“Your business did not go well, then?”

Lilif looked up at him, face blank. “I went to recruit your daughter and she was unmoved by my promise to keep her and her ginnaye safe once The After claims us.”

White had not expected anything less. “Is she still alive?” he asked with affected boredom.

She nodded tightly. “For now. You created a strong daughter.” She quietly told him what had occurred in the graveyard and White felt a strange feeling wash over him.

Was it pride? For Ari?

No, he scoffed inwardly at the thought and turned back to his mother. “What now, then? It is obvious we are not going to get into the palace.”

“I know.” Lilif lifted her dark eyes to his. “We must force Azazil to us.”

“And how can we accomplish that? We cannot use the seal against him until he is within your grasp.”

She rose casually, her fingers trailing along the edges of the items in his room. She did that a lot. As though she needed a reminder that she now had a tangible connection to the world again. “When Ari asked her favor of Azazil, his power would’ve left a signature on those affected by the change. Of course, there will have been many affected by the change, but there will be one or two in particular whose destinies were the focus of the change. The signature left on them will be particularly hefty.”

White froze, instantly understanding where his mother was going with this.

It was true that when Azazil changed a destiny, the person whose destiny he changed was left with a trail of Azazil’s power in their blood for a number of months after. Blood was a powerful element in enchantments, especially for tracking or drawing a being to you. If Lilif got her hand on someone who had enough of Azazil’s power in their blood, she could use it to pull Azazil through the peripatos to her.

As soon as he realized this was her intent, White began telepathing their conversation to his brother.

“Do you know whose blood might be particularly affected?”

White gazed at her dispassionately, as though he cared not a whit. In truth he didn’t care for the boy he was about to turn into a target, but he cared about their world, which made protecting the boy important.

Get to Charlie now, he told Red, his gaze still blank. Lilif is after his blood.

“Well?” she asked somewhat impatiently.

His blood? Red asked impatiently. Why?

He shrugged. “It could be a number of people,” he said, attempting to stall her.

“Names, Son, I want names.”

To pull Father to her, of course, he snapped at Red. Just do it!

“This could be a complete waste of time.”

I’ll contact Ari at once, Red assured him.

She took a step toward him, a small smile playing on her lips as she reached up to brush her fingers down his cheek. “Give me a name, White … or you will force me to do something I will truly regret.”

He flashed her a look to tell her he wasn’t afraid of her. She smirked, patting his cheek affectionately, urging him to speak. “Charlie Creagh,” he told her stonily. “A human called Charlie Creagh.”

“Ah, yes. The boy. That destructive little ingrate. I find it rather poetic after all the trouble he’s caused that his blood, his death, will have a hand in aiding us. Is he back in Ohio?”

White shrugged. “How would I know?”

“You’re a jinn king. You are all-knowing.”

And with a grunt, White nodded. “I’ll have Rabir look into it.”

When Jai returned from taking down the labartu, he’d been outraged to discover Ari had come up against Lilif without anyone there to protect her, and that when Red did turn up, Ari had put his life before hers.

Jai understood Ari had done the right thing, but hell … he’d told her not to go off alone. And did she listen? No. Stubborn didn’t even cover it. He’d barely had a chance to check her for injuries, to get the full story out of her, before the Red King showed up and warned them that Lilif was going after Charlie. His warning was quick as he had to return to his father and brothers, but from what Jai could make out, apparently Charlie had traces of Azazil’s power in his blood—like a signature. And Lilif was going to use that signature to draw Azazil to her.

Michael had just been asking how the hell Red knew this when the jinn king disappeared, throwing one last look of concern in Ari’s direction.

Blowing Jai’s mind with her utter strength and determination, Ari rose from her seat as though she wasn’t completely exhausted. “We have to take him and his family somewhere to protect them.”

Staring into her concerned and weary eyes, Jai wished they could be allowed a moment, just a moment, to take a breath before having to jump into the next disaster. Ari had just battled Lilif—not exactly a stroll in the park. “Ari, we’ll take care of it. You need to rest.”

Tags: Samantha Young Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net