Amalia

The ball finally rolled by me, and I braced myself before turning to face the presence I sensed behind me. The ball continued unerringly toward the man standing thirty feet away before it disappeared.

“Amalia,” the man greeted in his calm, sultry voice, but his electric blue eyes were crueler than I’d ever seen them before.

This man had tossed me in the air, bounced me on his knee, and patiently let me braid his waist-length, pitch-black hair for hours on end. Many times, I’d experienced his love for me, but now he looked as happy to see me as he would have been to see a hellhound.

“Unshi Olgon,” I murmured while trying to control the rapid beat of my heart.

My empath ability wasn’t as sharp around the jinn; I still picked up some of their emotions, but far less than I did from other species. However, I didn’t require my empath ability to know he was pissed in a way jinn seldom were. Mostly reserved, jinn rarely let their emotions get the best of them, but Olgon couldn’t hide the fury radiating from him.

Bending, I carefully placed my bouquet on the ground, and the butterfly took flight. I suspected I would need both hands free for whatever was to come.

“This man is your uncle?” Magnus inquired as he came to stand beside me.

“I am,” Olgon purred. “I’ve watched little Amalia here grow from a babe to a traitor.”

“Unshi!” I gasped. “That’s not true! I’d never—”

“Silence,” he hissed, and my lips clamped together.

Magnus’s shoulders went back, and his eyes narrowed as Olgon’s gaze pinned me to the spot. At nineteen thousand, Olgon was the oldest jinn alive, a leader, and my family. I wanted to argue further with him and convince him I wasn’t a traitor, but no one argued with Olgon.

“You brought a paliton into the Abyss.” Olgon spat the word paliton at us.

With slow, subtle movements, Magnus positioned himself between Olgon and me. Olgon’s eyes slid to Magnus, and his frown pulled his pale skin tighter over the sharp blades of his cheekbones.

“I am nineteen thousand years old, demon, you do not want to mess with me,” Olgon stated.

“Unless the seal made it so the jinn developed new powers, I don’t think there’s much you can do to me,” Magnus replied.

“We don’t need powers to tear you apart. You’re in our world now. We’ve been itching to destroy the bastards who imprisoned us, and you are far outnumbered here.”

“No!” I grabbed Magnus’s arm to halt him when he stepped forward. “Magnus wasn’t even alive when you were imprisoned!”

Olgon’s lips flattened into a thin line. “That matters not.”

“But it does!” I insisted. “You’re infuriated at a varcolac and demons who don’t exist anymore! You’re fighting the same battles that got you placed behind the seal in the first place!”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to steady myself. If I were out of control, I would never get Olgon to listen to me. And if I failed in that, then Magnus could die here.

• • •

Magnus

I had to get Amalia away from this man, her unshi. It had been years since I’d heard the demon word for uncle, but then most of the demons I knew didn’t have any living family.

“Now, Amalia,” Olgon said. “Because of your Fault, we understand why you feel you have to help these creatures, but you must understand you’re going against your kind by doing so.”

“No, Unshi!” she cried.

When she stepped toward him, I seized her arm. If she got too close to him, he would take her from here, and I would be trapped here without her, at the mercy of these creatures. No matter how many illusions I weaved, or how much I fought, they would eventually destroy me if I didn’t somehow, miraculously, find a way out.

But even knowing that, I was more worried about Amalia than me.

If she went to him, they would succeed in destroying her. I didn’t think they would kill her, not outright. I believed her when she said they cared for each other. But being with them and watching them rain down the destruction they so easily unleashed would eventually tear her apart.

I would not let that happen. Clasping her elbow, I drew her protectively against my side. I cared for my friends, I would die for my king, but I’d never wanted to shelter someone the way I did Amalia. Nothing would hurt her while I lived, and that included her fucked-up family member.

“Come with me, Amalia,” Olgon said, extending his hand toward her.

The power emanating from the ancient creature slid over my skin, but Olgon wasn’t stronger than Kobal or Raphael. In a fight, I could take this jinni.

As soon as I thought it, movement caused the shadows to shift, and more jinn emerged from behind Olgon. Most of the taciturn faces were set in nearly identical expressions of disapproval. Many of the jinn were dark-haired, but a few were fair, and one had hair the color of blood. They all wore floor-length black robes.

Locking them behind the seals preserved their numbers I realized. If they’d been allowed to remain free, they would have caused a lot of destruction in Hell, but they also would have been steadily annihilated as so many other types of demons were over the years.

“Amalia,” another male jinni said harshly. “Come with us now.”

“Paupi.” Amalia said the demon word for father in a broken voice.

I stared at the jinni who had spoken, her father. He looked so much like Olgon it was clear they were brothers. The only difference between them was her father’s eyes were the sun yellow I’d seen Amalia’s become and his black hair, unhindered by a braid, flowed to his waist.

At his side stood a petite woman with orange streaks flowing through her pale blonde hair. Slender and beautiful, her eyes were the pretty coral shade Amalia’s could turn. With their similar, delicate features, there was no denying Amalia was her child.

“Amalia.” The woman’s tone was far kinder, but her eyes were like ice when they met mine. “Come away from him.”

Amalia stared at her parents before her ochre eyes met mine. I didn’t want her to choose the jinn and have them crush her spirit, but I couldn’t keep her from her family.

Reluctantly, I released her arm. This was her choice to make, but I found myself willing her to choose me.

“Mohara, please listen to me,” she begged her mother.

“Amalia,” her mother said more brusquely. “Come to us, now.”

“Mohara, Paupi, Unshi,” she spread her hands before her as she spoke, “the people and demons you have trapped here did nothing to us. You know what it is like to be caged. Set them free!” she pleaded. “I only brought Magnus here to try to save his friends.”

“Magnus, is it?” her father murmured. “You’re one of the king’s men. One of those who helped keep us imprisoned.”

“He wasn’t alive when you were locked away, and neither was the king!” Amalia cried.

“Silence!” Olgon barked, and Amalia’s mouth shut.

The low rumble reverberating through my chest caused some of the jinn to exchange glances. Family or not, no one would talk to her like that. When I got the chance to go after Olgon without risking Amalia, I’d tear his tongue out and shove it down his throat before unburdening him of his heart.

“Get over here, Amalia, now,” Olgon commanded.

“She is not yours to order around,” I snarled.

“She is my niece, and I am the eldest jinn. She will do as I say, or I’ll kill her with you!” Olgon spat.

The jinn gasped, and Amalia’s mother paled. “Olgon!” she cried.

“Silence, Vya!” Olgon spat.

Vya didn’t speak again, but her Chosen didn’t look at all pleased as he shot his brother a fierce look.

“Amalia has put us all in jeopardy by bringing one of the king’s men into the Abyss,” Olgon said in a calmer tone. “The palitons would like nothing more than to see us all dead or locked away again. That’s not going to happen.”

“If you don’t stand against the king, then no one will bother you,” I told him.

“Lies,” one of the other jinn hissed.

“Not lies,” I retorted. “Things are vastly different now. Kobal’s queen is guarded by the drakón who were once locked behind a seal too. If you don’t stand against Kobal, he will not come for you.”

“And he’s going to allow us to roam free, doing what we do best by delivering dreams to the downtrodden in the Abyss?” Olgon murmured, and a handful of jinn chuckled while some of the others stared curiously at us.

“There is no reason for you to continue trapping people and demons here.”

“There is the reason that matters most. We enjoy it.”

“Then yes, Kobal will come for you because your paths will inevitably cross, and he won’t tolerate unnecessary cruelty. Neither will I. You have demons and humans here who must be set free.”

“Oh, must they?” Olgon inquired.

“Yes.”

“We never let those we rightfully claim go,” Olgon stated.

“Making an exception now would go a long way with Kobal,” I said.

Olgon laughed as he folded his hands inside the sleeves of his black robe. “You think I care what the newest varcolac thinks of us. We were locked behind that seal for eighteen thousand years. There is nothing worse than that. We will have our revenge against those who kept us there, whether they were alive when we were sealed away or not. Your king could have set us free; he chose not to. Now, we have chosen to keep those we’ve caught, and we will align with those who aim to destroy him.”

“That poor choice will get you killed.”

Olgon’s mouth curved into a smile, but behind his eyes, rage slithered like smoke twisting in the wind. Eighteen thousand years had honed this man’s thirst for vengeance into a sword that would slice through any who stood in his way, including his niece.

“Amalia, this is your last chance to come away from him, before we kill him,” Olgon stated.

“No!” she cried. “Unshi, please! What if we let these palitons go, and then we can find somewhere else to live? What if we leave it all behind? We can forget the king and the angels and find a life somewhere else! Magnus means no harm; he’s only trying to free his friends, and there have been enough deaths today!”

Olgon’s eyes fell briefly on her before he lifted his chin and stared at the rocks over her head. “Kill him, and if she gets in the way, kill her too.”

“No!” Vya cried, and some of the other jinn hesitated at this command.

“Olgon—” her father started.

“I have given my command, Eron.”

“She is my daughter!” Eron shouted.

“She is a traitor.”

“Her Fault—”

“Is no excuse for turning against us!” Olgon bellowed. “Kill him!”

While some of the jinn continued to balk at this command, most of them looked more than happy to follow through on it as they came toward us.

“You or them?” I inquired of Amalia.

“What?” she asked as she edged closer to me.

“You or them, Amalia? Will you stay with them and fight with them, or will you choose yourself and come away with me? You must decide now. There is no time to think about it.”

Tears filled her eyes as she looked from her parents, to me, to Olgon. A shiver ran through her slender body when her eyes met Olgon’s.

“Me,” she whispered.

Turning, I wrapped my arms around her.