Chapter 17 #2
It was like she had heard our earlier conversation. As always with Penny, she was helpful. Was she hoping I’d put in a good word with my dad?
“Are you sure?”
“It’s not a problem,” she said in her singsong voice. “You can pick up Ehsan from our house when you’re done.”
Ehsan was elated, as were his new friends. I gave Ehsan the only cash I had, which was twenty dollars, for his food, and privately told him to at least offer to pay. Tarofing—the Iranian act of politeness and offering something even if you didn’t want to—had been imprinted on us by our parents.
The boys returned to the other members of the team to go to the diner. Zain went back to the field to pack up his things, leaving Penny and me alone.
“Thanks again,” I said.
“I remember being young,” she said, her eyes on Zain. He was stacking the cones he used to mark the sideline. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell your dad.”
“What…” I began, alarmed, but she just winked, turning on her heel and leaving. As I watched her slender silhouette running after the kids to catch up with them, I couldn’t help but mutter to myself, “So weird.”
I made my way to Zain. He had a large duffel bag over his shoulder and the stacked cones in his other hand. We walked through the field with a small gap between us, though I could feel the heat of him.
“My car’s parked over there,” he said, leading the way to the other side of the field. “I’ve managed to talk to some lower-level jinns—ones who usually are willing to talk for money. They knew who you were, though they wouldn’t say how. Even after some persuading.”
I raised an eyebrow at his tone. “Persuading?”
“After the third one played ignorant, I got impatient. He still didn’t speak, even with some broken bones.” He shrugged.
Broken bones. I gulped.
“And you killed the one that tried to attack me yesterday?”
He nodded. “He wasn’t too far from where he cornered you. His death was quicker than he deserved.” I’d forgotten what Zain was capable of—about the world I was spun into, full of torture and death, of ghastly beings and angels that slayed them effortlessly.
“And that’s all the information you got?” I asked.
He sighed, like my comment was more of a critique than I had intended it to be. “Normally, the person I’d ask about all of this would be my mentor, but I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
Zain had mentioned that he had a mentor who’d taught him how to be an angel and how to be a guardian for his charge.
“As a human, you aren’t meant to know about us, remember?”
“Well, I mean, I do now, so…”
Zain eyed me like I was being dense. “Roxana, he’d organize for you to get your memory erased. And I’d get into trouble. Serious trouble. You knowing isn’t a small thing to him—to them, the elders.”
“Elders?”
“Upper-level angels. They’re immortal and pretty much call all the shots. You don’t want to mess with them.” The grim line of his lips stopped me from asking any more questions.
Now I understood. “Right.”
We got to his car, and while he put his stuff in the trunk, I got in the passenger seat, but not before searching my surroundings. I was being paranoid again; it was hard to shake, though.
Zain returned to the driver’s seat, though he didn’t immediately start the car.
“I’ve been worried about you,” he finally said, not facing me. He dug into his pocket and retrieved a small silver lighter, which he held out to me. “Take this.”
I collected it, the lighter weighty in my hands, the metal smooth, unscratched, reflecting my image back at me. “I don’t smoke, but…thanks?”
He scoffed. “It emits a light that can temporarily stun jinn. While jinn come from fire, angels come from light. It won’t kill a jinn, but it will stop them long enough for you to get away, if need be.
You need a way to protect yourself if I’m not there.
But use it carefully. Once you use it, it needs a little time to recharge before working again. ”
Zain’s gift reminded me that I’d likely come face to face with another jinn. That this didn’t end with one of them being killed.
“You won’t need it,” he quickly said, like he was reading my thoughts. “I just want to know that in the unlikely event something did happen, you’d be able to defend yourself.”
“Noted.” I put it in the inside compartment of my Prada backpack. “What would happen if a human was exposed to it?”
“Nothing. It only affects jinn.”
That relieved me marginally. At least I wouldn’t accidentally hurt myself or others.
“I had one of those dreams last night,” Zain said more quietly.
“You did? What happened?”
“I was alone in a dark room, my wrists tied behind my back with something tough enough that I couldn’t break free from it.
I kept asking about Rabiya. I felt my past selves worry deeply, and knew something had happened to her, even when I was being dragged out of the room with a sack over my head.
I couldn’t see anything, and knew I was being led to my death, but all I could think was that I hoped she was okay.
I felt closer to my past self’s thoughts this time. ”
“I saw Rabiya being set up by cloaked jinn—and…” I started, and almost told him about Rabiya throwing fireballs at them, but instead I said, “They took her away.”
He turned on the engine but didn’t pull out of the spot.
“What now?” I asked.
“Do you remember Sebastian, one of my friends from the arcade? He invited a few people to chill out at the lake, if you’re down?”
“Chill? Don’t we have other things to do right now?”
“Why not have a little fun in between?” he said. “Plus, it’s his birthday, and I have a reputation for being a flake, so I kind of have to show my face. What do you say?” Zain grinned, and it softened something inside of me, calming my nerves.
And that’s why I said, “Okay. Why not?”