Queen of Shadow and Ash, page 4
White didn’t answer him. He looked right through him and then turned to the crowds. “This trial is irrelevant. Had Charlie Creagh not killed Dalí, son of Gleaming, Dalí himself would be here facing inevitable death for kidnapping and torturing, with the intent to kill, my daughter Ari Johnson.” He eyed her in the crowd and she felt the murmurs rise and the gazes fall on her. “My daughter is a full-blooded jinn.”
“Can it be? Is it Sala, the ifrit’s daughter?”
“Full-blood? She must be Sala’s long-lost child.”
Her mother’s name ricocheted around the arena, and Ari’s fearful gaze found Red’s. His expression was grim. Now everyone knew who she was.
This was only the beginning.
“What say you, Wise Adeel?” White continued, and Ari chanced a glance at Azazil. He watched the White King in amusement. A burning in Ari’s cheeks drew her gaze to Asmodeus and to her fright, she found his gaze was still upon her, not the proceedings. Shifting anxiously under his attention, Ari quickly looked away and to Adeel.
“You say that Dalí was killed because he was trying to murder your full-blooded daughter, your majesty?”
“The Red King and I had to forcefully obtain Dalí’s whereabouts from the Gleaming King after learning he had taken my daughter.”
Astonishment rippled through the jinn audience and Adeel frowned. “The Gleaming King willingly allowed the torture of a full-blood by a half-blood?”
“Yes,” Red and White replied in unison.
Gleaming let out a loud, animalistic snarl of rage. A rage of defeat.
Ari's stomach flipped with relief, and her shoulders sagged. Adeel stood to his feet and addressed the sultan. “From the testimonies of two jinn kings, I have no choice but to allow Charlie Creagh to return in freedom to the mortal realm, Master. One: he killed a half-blood. There is no law against half-bloods killing one another. That the half-blood was royal may certainly have swayed the ruling otherwise, but since that royal half-blood would have been executed for his crimes against a full-blood, I am unswayed. No law was broken. I see no reason to continue the trial, Master.”
Azazil nodded, and with a yell of outrage, Gleaming fled into the peripatos.
Stunned that it was over so abruptly and that the White King had done what he’d said he’d only do if Ari bent to his will, Ari could only look on as the crowds of jinn followed, some more reluctantly than others as they watched Ari, waiting for her to make a move. Yes, there would be gossip now.
Trying to shrug it off, to focus on what mattered, she lifted her eyes to find Charlie. He stood next to the Red King, grinning over at her in exhaustion and relief.
Chapter
Three
Kind Wickedness
Hiss and crackles filled the amphitheater and bright bursts of fire exploded here, there and everywhere, like fireworks on New Year’s Eve as the jinn emptied from the amphitheater with utter dissatisfaction at the trial’s end. Ari could still feel the tingle of the jinn stares on the back of her neck as they left, their curious speculation causing her heart to race. The last thing she needed right now was to be hunted by someone else. Trying to shrug off her uneasiness, Ari threw Charlie a relieved smile and brushed a hand across Jai’s, telling him silently to follow her as she strode across the strange glass floor that reminded her of the great hall in Azazil’s palace. As soon as she reached Charlie, he pulled her into a tight hug, tucking his head in the crook of her neck and inhaling her. He shuddered with relief and Ari awkwardly fought the urge to comfort him, as well as the urge to untangle herself from his embrace so Jai wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
“You’re okay?” she asked instead, patting him firmly on the back before pulling out of his embrace. She studied Charlie’s face as she took a step back beside Jai. Charlie looked exhausted.
“I am now.” He grinned shakily and then nodded at Jai.
Jai nodded back warily. “Good result.”
“Yeah.”
A tense silence sprung between them and Ari shot a look at the Red King, who smirked at her in amusement. Ignoring his teasing, Ari telepathed to him. I would seriously hug you right now, but I have a feeling Azazil wouldn’t like that.
Her uncle grinned. Good call.
Another prickle of awareness tingled on the back of Ari’s neck and she turned around to follow the feeling, only to meet the White King’s gaze. He studied her as if she was a perplexing puzzle. One he was determined to solve.
He nodded at her and then stepped back into the peripatos.
Frowning, Ari turned to her uncle, aware of all three men’s gazes upon her. “Why did he do that?” she asked Red quietly. “Why did the White King help after I refused to be blackmailed?”
Red shrugged. “It was a matter of honor. He was always going to help free Charlie because it would piss off Gleaming. Gleaming betrayed White when he allowed Dalí to go after you. White couldn’t let that pass without seeking justice.”
“You mean revenge.”
“Despite what you may think, sometimes the two are the same.”
Charlie smiled at Red. “I tried to tell her that once.”
“Then you’re both wrong,” Ari snapped and sidled closer to Jai. Charlie narrowed his eyes and Ari sighed, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “What you’re saying is, we shouldn’t be grateful to the White King?”
Her uncle snorted. “Not to his face.”
“Well, I don’t care why, I’m just glad I’m free,” Charlie replied, rubbing wrists that looked a little tender. Ari frowned. Those shackles must have been heavy. She shuddered at the thought of Charlie in those shackles again. God, there had to be a way to convince him to not take his revenge against the labartu. Surely, this trip to Mount Qaf must have scared him a little. Enough to make him think twice?
Worried for him, Ari shivered. “Can we go? Can we go back to our world?”
“Technically, this is your world,” a deep, rumbling, ancient voice replied, and they turned to see Azazil standing inches before them, his colossal figure casting Ari in shadow. The sultan stood so close she could smell the aromatic scent of citrus and pomegranate that wafted from his body. She could feel a powerful wave of energy hit emanating from him, one that seemed determined to sway her off her feet. Pride forced her not to swallow hard as her gaze drifted from the massive shoulders of the white-haired sultan to his dark-haired lieutenant, Asmodeus. As soon as her eyes locked with the marid, a strange need tightened in her chest, a familiarity, a longing. She tried to suppress it, blowing it off as some kind of consequence of the dreams she’d been having about him. That he wouldn’t take those sinfully dark eyes off of her wasn’t helping.
“Master.” Red bowed his head, and when Jai followed suit, so did Ari and Charlie. “Did you enjoy the trial?”
“Quite entertaining. But what is this talk of you leaving so soon?” Azazil grinned, a scary flash of teeth that made Charlie flinch beside her. “Let the boy have a night of fun on Mount Qaf. He’ll have some fine food and sleep in a fine bed. You’ll dine with us tonight, get some rest, and then return to the mortal realm in the morning.”
Even as Ari’s shoulders hunched toward her ears at the unwelcome invitation, she heard Red’s voice pounding into her head. Don’t even think about saying no.
Defeated but pretending otherwise, she grumbled back, I’m not stupid.
Trying to keep her expression as blank as possible, Ari looked up at Sultan Azazil and fought the urge to gag at the way he looked at her—as if he could see and understand her very insides. “Thank you for the invitation, your majesty. We’d be glad to accept your hospitality for the evening.”
Pleased, Azazil smiled and bowed his head before turning on his heel and heading across the amphitheater, with his robes billowing behind him.
Asmodeus hadn’t moved. He gazed at Ari unflinchingly and she felt as if he were trying to probe his way inside her. Jai shifted his feet, his eyes flicking back and forth between Ari and Asmodeus. Finally, just as Jai’s eyes narrowed and his body tensed, Red stepped in front of them all and came face to face with Asmodeus.
“Is there something you need, lieutenant?” he asked quietly, an unbreakable steel in his words that Ari so admired.
Asmodeus ripped his gaze from Ari long enough to shoot Red a disdainful look. “No. Not need…” and with that enigmatic comment, he shot Ari another look before slowly departing.
Red turned to her, his eyes narrowed in question.
Ari held her hands up in defense. “I don’t know what the hell that was about. I swear.”
Displeased, her uncle swung fully around to glare at Jai. “Remember what I said. You call on me if he comes anywhere near her.”
“What does he want with her?” Jai’s voice had gotten scary low and suddenly Ari felt the unusual clamminess of sweat on her palms. She was afraid. God, she wanted to get the hell out of here.
“I don’t know.”
“Wait, what did I miss?” Charlie asked sharply. “What the hell does that scary ass dude want with Ari? The way he was looking at her, I wanted to pun—
“Don’t even think about it,” Red snapped. “None of you. None of you are a match for Asmodeus.”
Feeling a little rattled as they all returned to their rooms—Charlie now in a room two doors down from Jai’s—Ari hated to separate from them, but Red had said they needed to prepare themselves for dinner. It wasn’t until she stepped into her room that she realized what he meant. Awaiting her inside were three of Azazil’s female shaitans. She scowled as they told her they’d been sent to ready her for the occasion.
Her scowling did nothing to stop them.
Working quietly and in sync, the three beautiful, dark-haired jinn fluttered around her, pulling at her clothes, twisting her hair, and shimmying her into the softest red fabric she’d ever felt against her body. They stopped to work in a semi-circle around her, their own bodies wrapped in the softest wine leather—tight-fitting trousers laced up the sides, and a daring leather tank top squeezed their ample assets up and out. Ari almost flinched when she made eye contact with the one brushing kohl around the edges of her eyes. The female shaitans’ eyes were bright purple. Were they triplets?
The cold look on the face of the shaitan stopped Ari from resisting further.
Ari refused to think about the dinner. Instead, she put it to one side and concentrated on what would happen once they left Mount Qaf. For Ari, her future was uncertain. Okay, so she knew her father wasn’t about to give up on her, and he’d threatened to up his game if she didn’t give in to him, but other than the White King, she didn’t know who her other enemies were. And there was a ninety percent possibility that after today she was going to have more enemies. But what was she to do? Sit in a room somewhere and wait for them to come get her? No.
No freaking way.
Hunting Dalí, training with Trey and Jai, and then with Fallon, had made her feel like she had a chance. Maybe she didn’t, but if she was going down, she had already decided she wasn’t going down without a fight. So what was her next move?
Ari thought about Fallon and the Roe Guild. They were so dedicated to their job and it was such a worthy, honorable career. Such a meaningful purpose. And Charlie… Charlie was better with the Roes. Okay, so yeah, they were teaching him to use magic, but it was controlled and at least with them, he wasn’t drinking and doing drugs. Maybe the Roes' influence would rub off on him and he’d give up his own hunt and join the Guild.
Ari stiffened. Maybe that’s what they could all do? She, Jai, and Charlie. Would the Roes welcome them into their team? Why not?
Feeling a sense of peace float down around her shoulders, Ari smiled softly. Yeah. That decision felt right. She would train to be a guild hunter. She would be the hunter instead of the hunted. And if they eventually came for her… well, she’d be ready for them.
What about Jai?
Her heart gave a little yelp of distress. Jai was ginnaye, not a member of the Guild. Would he leave his tribe behind for her? Was that asking too much, too soon?
“You are done.” The shaitan in front of her ripped her from her deep thoughts and Ari stumbled a little as she was forcibly turned so she could see her reflection in the full-length cheval mirror.
Her mouth fell open and she wanted to sink into the floor.
The dress reminded her of a vision she’d had of Lilif once.
“I can’t wear this,” Ari whispered, her cheeks hot.
The shaitans frowned and replied in unison, “You must. Master wishes it.”
Master is a perv. Ari groaned inwardly, remembering that technically, the very young-looking Azazil was, in fact, her grandfather.
Casting an unsure glance down her body, Ari wondered if they had made the guys dress up. I bet not like this. She eyed the red dress that clung to her every curve, the cowl neckline showing far more cleavage than Ari was comfortable with, and the slits up either side that showed off her tan legs to mid-thigh when she walked. They had placed gold cuffs shaped like snakes with ruby eyes around each bicep. Her hair was tousled and wild, falling down around her shoulders in tumbling curls, and her make-up was smoky and seductive. She looked older.
She looked nothing like herself.
And she hated it.
“Seriously, do I have—”
She cut off as fire exploded behind her and she spun around as Asmodeus stepped out of the peripatos.
Ari froze as he gestured with an impatient snap of his hand for the shaitans to leave—which they did in a hurry. Red’s warning that Ari wasn’t to be left alone with the lieutenant grabbed Ari’s heart and squeezed, the breath whooshing out of her body.
“Will you really allow them to leave?” Red asked softly, not wishing to anger his father or make him think he was questioning him. He’d already pushed Azazil far enough these last few weeks. He waited patiently, watching as Azazil took a sip of wine a female shaitan handed to him from her position on her knees beside the massive chair the sultan lounged in. She was one of five shaitans Azazil had either blinded or deafened before training to serve him using their other senses. That way, they could be privy to all his private business without ever knowing it. They alone were allowed into his private chambers, his private chambers that changed from one day to the next. Today they had decorated it in opulent golds and rich burgundies, every piece of furniture designed with French Rococo in mind.
When his father said nothing and merely closed his eyes, enjoying the finest wine that magic could buy, Red took another step forward. “I thought this is what you wanted, Master? Ari. Here. That is why you had me change Charlie’s destiny—to turn him sorcerer so he would find his revenge and be brought to trial and sentenced to death. To bring Ari here and then give her nothing to hold on to in the mortal realm?”
Azazil sighed wearily and handed the glass of wine back to the shaitan at his feet. Finally, he looked up at Red, his gaze lidded. “You sound accusatory, son.”
Red shifted uncomfortably. That had been exactly the opposite of what he was trying to be. “Of course not, Father.”
Shrugging, Azazil played indolently with a ruby ring on the middle finger of his right hand, either pretending boredom or portraying real boredom. “I admit to being intrigued by Ari. She’s pure in a way I haven’t seen among many of our kind and definitely not what I’d expect from a child spawned by a jinn king and an ifrit.”
“Perhaps because she was raised as human.”
The sultan laughed. “I know you have a soft spot for the race, but believe me, son, when I tell you that humans are just like us—good, bad, and everything in between. They just don’t have our power. Thank the stars, for they also do not have our self-restraint.” He stopped and looked up at Red, his gaze direct and piercing. “No, Ari is different. She reminds me of the ginnaye. She’s a natural protector. It is not at all what I would have expected of her… and yet… it’s exactly what I wanted of her.”
Despite Azazil’s legendary status as the world’s greatest enigma, Red liked to think he knew some things about his own father. The look on his face at that moment was one of them. He was becoming obsessed with an idea. Red didn’t know what that idea was, or what Azazil’s real purpose behind safeguarding Ari was, but he knew that her apparent ‘purity’ had something to do with it.
Best to disabuse him of the notion then.
“Ari herself may be pure, but twice now I’ve witnessed the seal trying to infect her with its power, the darker half of its power.”
The sultan stilled, and Red had to hold back a smug smile. Bingo. The thought of Ari being ‘pure’ meant something to his father. Something important. And the seal’s infection was a problem. “Really? Well… isn’t that… interesting.”
“Master?”
Shaking himself, Azazil smiled nonchalantly and took the glass of wine back from the shaitan. “All the more reason to observe her this evening. Asmodeus is convinced there is something between Ari and her guardian. If this is true, I need to see for myself. It could be useful.”
Trying to ignore a strange feeling he didn’t want to label ‘anxiety’, Red decided ignoring Asmodeus’s suspicions was the best way to deal with it. Instead, he thought about Charlie and discovered that also incited his anger. He unclenched his jaw so his father wouldn’t see. “And the purpose of Charlie?” he asked, furious that Charlie had been used and seemingly for nothing. The games Red played always had a purpose. That was what allowed him to compartmentalize some of the more distasteful things he’d had to do as a jinn king.
“White unexpectedly saved him.” Azazil grinned, completely entertained by how things had panned out. “It doesn’t matter. The point was for him to kill the labartu—a full-blood. There’s no saving him from that. He either dies trying or he succeeds and we kill him for his crime. Either way, I still want him out of the picture. We didn’t use him needlessly.” His smiled turned sharp and caustic. Knowing. Red once again wondered for the eight millionth time if his father was a mind reader. “Charlie must die of his own stupidity. Remember, Ari must not have reason to blame us.”
