Gives us something to focus on.”
“Yeah. Let’s get ready and go see what it’s about.”
“This is not good,” Jai grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest, his glower darkening Michael’s study.
“Look,” Michael sighed. “You know I prefer having the two of you on assignment together, but I have an Edimmu Utukku haunting a graveyard only fifteen miles from here and a Labartu another Guild has tracked into northern Philadelphia. These two have been causing serious havoc and I have two assassins who can take the bastards out. I already sent Trey on assignment last night with Fallon. She was begging to get out of the house and I wanted someone I could trust with her, so they’re in Maryland taking care of a newbie sorcerer. That leaves me with only two legal assassins.
You two. The Labartu is moving fast, so we need to deal with her while she’s under our jurisdiction. The Utukku killed someone last night, so I want him dealt with too. Jai, I need you on board with this.”
Ari made a huffing sound. “As much as I love him, Jai is not the boss of me.” She ignored his glare. “He’s no longer my guardian and he no longer calls the shots. Just tell me what I need to do and this Jinn is mine.”
“Ari—”
“Jai.” She shook her head at him, her eyes narrowed stubbornly. “You don’t want me to feel guilty. Fine. I’m not.
But don’t make me feel helpless, either.”
“Red asked me to protect you.”
“Yes. From Lilif, if she ever decides to come calling. She hasn’t. I’m pretty sure she’s being given the runaround by her sons and ex-hubby right about now and could give a crap about her long-lost granddaughter.” When his annoyed expression didn’t change, she sent him an appeasing look. “I know there’s danger. I’m not an idiot. But I’ll get in and out of there as quickly as possible. You do realize I need to be able to fight without you by my side?”
After a moment of contemplation, Jai finally gave in, “Fine. But you go in there all guns blazing, no messing around. Just kill it and get out.”
Ari smiled sweetly at him.
“Whatever you say, baby.”
“Perhaps we should rest, Your Highness,” a Marid from what was left of White’s army suggested. “Conserve our energy.”
Lilif gazed at her husband’s palace towering upon the mountains and sneered. White’s army, now her army, was growing as she commanded more Jinn to her side. However, with her other sons, her husband, and her brother locked within the palace walls combining their power to keep them out, there was little she could do until she got inside.
She narrowed her eyes on White.
“Are you sure you are channeling your power at full strength?” It had not escaped her that White was more than a little disappointed to discover she’d twisted the truth and manipulated him centuries ago. However, Lilif was relying on his obsessive love to win him over. She thought that it had, but she was certain she wasn’t feeling the full extent of his energy battering into the protection shield around Azazil’s home. Still, she’d give him time. She was not yet ready to use the Seal against him. White was the son who’d always been loyal, and Lilif appreciated that loyalty. She needed it. It would hurt to lose it and then have to forcefully take it from him.
“I am, Mother,” he assured her, his jaw tight with tension and anger. “But I fear we are just sitting ducks. Even with this army,” he sneered as he waved his hand over the masses behind them.
“Are you really arrogant enough to believe we can win against Azazil and my brothers? Not to mention your brother?”
“Having doubts, my love?” She smirked at him but inside felt a prickle of hurt at his lack of belief in her.
“No. But if what Red told me is true about you attempting to maim Glass, you couldn’t withstand a fight with the two of them. You couldn’t withstand a fight with Azazil.”
“I’m stronger now, thanks to your father. I have within me the power of the Seal. We just need in and then I can command Azazil and your brothers to their knees.” She sighed heavily and gazed back up at the darkening sky. “However, you are right. First we need to get in.
We need more power.”
“You have some of the most powerful Marids in existence in this army, including many lesser Royals you’ve commanded obeisance from, many of whom will be mortified to discover they were part of their Sultan’s downfall when this is over.”
“I don’t remember you being this taxing.” Lilif shot her son an irritated look. She then turned to stare at the Jinn who were guiding their natural magic to pulse against the barrier. Sparks of ember floated all around them. And yet, it wasn’t enough. They needed more …they needed …
Lilif shot a look at White. There was one lesser Royal who wasn’t there with them. One lesser Royal who, although brand new, Lilif knew from personal experience was exceptionally powerful in her own right. The thought quickly gained speed and Lilif decided she liked the idea greatly. The girl was strong and spirited and Lilif had a genuine liking for her. It would be a mark of great pride if she could talk the girl into joining her. She gestured to the army with a triumphant smile twitching her pretty lips. “Let them rest until I return.”
White frowned. “Off to find more recruits?”
She shook her head. “Just one.”
As White watched his mother leave, an unwelcome feeling settled over him as he deduced who she was going after. He wouldn’t call that feeling guilt … no, not quite. But whatever it was, he found himself using more of his energy to yell a warning Red’s way.
Ari was not going to lie. An assignment in a creepy graveyard wasn’t really doing it for her. She’d faced some of the most dangerous beings on the planet, and yet the graveyard freaked her out. The creaking trees, the low winter sun through their gnarled branches, the soft wind whistling unintelligible words that every now and then actually sounded like her name.
Where the hell was this Edimmu?
“A Guild Hunter on her lonesome?”
Ari spun around at the hoarse voice.
Her eyebrows rose at the sight of the Jinn lying atop a large tombstone.
Smaller than the average man, the Utukku was positioned rather casually, one knee bent, elbow cocked to support his head as he grinned at her with black, razor-sharp teeth held in place by pink and black gums. His limbs were long and thin and he had a scaly, muddy green, skin that contrasted sharply with his blinking, wide yellow eyes and the baby-fine blond hair on his head. “I am Mirza the Great.” He studied his long, sharp black fingernails as if bored.
Keeping in mind Jai’s advice not to play around with this little creep, Ari concentrated on the curse Trey and Jai had been helping her work on. It was deadly, meant to be used when a weapon or defensive magic was a nonissue. It was all about channeling her natural magic and using it to change small elements of the reality around her. This kind of magic was called a curse for a reason—it messed with the balance in the tiniest ways. Ari hadn’t liked the sound of that but, as Jai so logically pointed out, killing with a knife or gun messed with the balance too.
Mirza had only a second to sense the strong build-up of power before Ari let it loose and guided it to her target. She felt it make contact with Mirza. The Utukku froze as though someone had hit his pause button. Narrowing her eyes and feeling the magic tug a little unpleasantly, Ari forced it to finish the job, watching with a sick feeling as black cracks appeared all over the Utukku’s body, widening incrementally until, at last, they exploded into shimmering black dust.
Exhausted, Ari immediately drew the magic back inside of her, wiping a shaking hand across her sweaty forehead. She felt a dark hollowness inside, just as she’d felt when she’d killed the Qarin.
The Utukku was her second kill, and it hadn’t been any easier. Truthfully, she’d be worried if the day ever came when it was.
An awesome wave of power hit Ari in the back causing her to stumble, and she whirled around, her subconscious telling her it was Asmodeus. His energy was almost as crazy impactful as Azazil’s and the Jinn kings, but not quite.
But it wasn’t Asmodeus who made her knees buckle and her heart jump into her throat.
Lilif.
The ancient being stood before her looking no more than a few years older than Ari. Long, dark curls fell down her back, shining in the early winter sun. She’d forgone modern dress and had styled herself in the sexy, Greek goddess look she apparently favored.
Now that Ari had time to study her energy, it was so clear it wasn’t Asmodeus’s. Lilif’s energy was off. It pulsed in frantic, defragmented waves of emotions that suggested the Jinn was one cuckoo short of a nest. As if Ari didn’t know that already.
Lilif took a tentative step toward Ari, her hand held up in petition. “Before you say anything, let me speak.” Her voice was surprisingly soft, as was her gaze.
Ari stared at her silently, her head telling her to disappear into the Peripatos before her curiosity got the better of her.
“I’ve been inside you, Ari. I’ve lived in this world through you. I’ve seen it the way you see it. I’ve tried to understand why you’d want to save it. I have. I promise. And in the end, I realized that we are not so different.”
“We’re not?” Ari asked incredulously, surprised she’d finally found her voice.
Lilif shook her head, her curls bouncing around her shoulders. “We’re not really a part of the world. The world to us, our world, happens to be the people we love. They are our world. For you, it is Jai. For me, it is my Jinn, my equals.” Her eyes narrowed, darkened by her thoughts. “The Jinn should never have become mixed up in human business.
It was disastrous for us. It is disastrous for us. Look at you and that boy Charlie. What a mess he made of things for you. And yet still you saved him. Just like I saved thousands of humans in wars that killed my people.”
Bitterness sharpened her features. “Humans have raped and plundered their earth, their arrogance proclaiming superiority over all other creatures. It is time to show them the truth: we are the superior beings and we are going to undo their mar upon this world.”
Ari had no words. What could you say in the face of irrational insanity?
“Don’t look at me that way, Ari. I know you understand my pain. I know you’ve seen my memories and how much I’ve lost. I also know you’re kind and compassionate and loyal. I am not so cruel that I do not admire those characteristics. Especially in a friend. I could use a friend like you, Ari. And I promise that if you come to me, if you stand by my side and help me take down Azazil and my sons, I will protect you and your Jai. I will lead you into The After.”
Trembling, Ari took a step back, preparing to leave. “It’s never going to happen. Never.”
“Ari—”
“Go—” Before Ari could say another word, her stomach dropped as she was lifted with invisible hands and thrown through the air. She crashed against the nearest tree, the wind knocked out of her upon impact. Her arms were spread-eagled and pinned in place. She struggled against Lilif’s hold as the Jinn casually strolled toward her, her chin tilted so she could meet Ari’s gaze.
Frustration and fear of being under Lilif’s command tore through Ari in a scream, and she smashed through Lilif’s hold on her left arm before beginning work on her right.
“Impressive,” Lilif murmured.
“Exactly why I need you. I’m guessin—” She tut-tutted as Ari worked her right fingers loose. “Stop that, Ari.”
“Bite me, you evil succubus,” Ari growled and sent a bolt of ember out of her left hand against her right wrist.
She dropped to the ground, rolling as Jai had trained her to do. As she came back up, she sent a wave of defensive magic toward Lilif, only to have the viper blast it back and knock Ari off her feet before she could summon the Peripatos.