Chapter 20
“They almost killed you,” Zain continued, pulling into a parking spot halfway home, his eyes dark.
“And you,” I said. “They almost killed you, too.”
He shook his head, like that was irrelevant. “I need to go to the Underworld. Tomorrow. Once I’ve fully healed. We need answers, and a way to stop them from tracking us.”
“I think you’re going to need a bit more time to heal than that.”
“Angels recover pretty quickly. My leg is nearly fine now.”
I stared at his face, and you would’ve thought his lip had been busted a week ago. But I didn’t dwell on that fact too long and said, “Okay, well, can I come?”
Zain’s jaw was set. “No,” he said without further thought, like the idea wasn’t worth considering.
“I want to come,” I said, leaning toward him. “I need to come.” I paused, though, before asking, “What is the Underworld, exactly?”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel before he stretched his fingers out, then gripped the wheel again.
His knuckles were coated in dried blood.
“The fact that you’ve asked me that question is why you can’t go.
The Underworld is in another plane, where most jinn live and hide out. I want to speak to a seer there.”
“Another plane? What does that mean?”
“Another plane of existence,” he answered, like he had just told me that Burger King was a fast-food restaurant.
Matter-of-fact and unbothered. “The Underworld is best described as a kingdom, and the Jinn King, Zahhak, rules it. He’s…
That’s a story for another time. But jinn mainly live in the Underworld. ”
“And the seer is a jinn, as well?”
He nodded. “I have a contact there, Jamshid, who I do exchanges with. You can never trust a jinn, but some…” He paused, tasting the words in his mind before saying them aloud. “Some aren’t quite as deplorable as others. And this one is high level—they can see things ones on Earth often can’t.”
“What does an exchange involve?” I asked.
“They give us information about the past in exchange for money.”
“Money? Jinn—demons, basically—need money?” I don’t know why that was the first thing I was incredulous about.
“Everyone needs money, Roxana,” Zain said.
“Please don’t tell me that’s what makes the world go round.”
Zain rolled his eyes, but a trace of a smile played on his lips, too.
I had heard that shock can make you react strangely, but the fact that we were joking, smiling, after what had just happened was bizarre.
And yet, it was the only way to not freak out.
I put my shaking hands between my legs to continue pretending I was fine.
“You are very frustrating,” I said. Sensing his resolve slip, I resorted to begging.
“Please let me come with you. I’m in this now.
I need to find out how to stop them, too, rather than sitting by while they terrorize us.
They’ve attacked me twice in two days. I can’t just do nothing anymore.
Let me help.” And I meant it. Being in a position in which they could ambush us again was worse than tonight’s attack.
I needed to stop this, or at least help in some way.
“They could hurt you, Roxana. You saw what they are like—you want to experience that again? You’re human, you’re not strong e—”
“I hurt the jinn, distracted it with my touch, remember? I can help! Plus, I’ll be with you. Please.” In my bid to appeal to him, I hadn’t even realized how close we were sitting. I had edged my body over the passenger seat, closing the space between us.
“No.” His voice was a whisper. If I wasn’t careful, I’d get stuck on the way he stared at me rather than on the task at hand.
“Zain, please,” I said once more, even softer this time, my words featherlight. Something in him softened at hearing his name on my lips.
He exhaled, turning away from me and starting the engine. “Do you always get your way?” I slouched in my seat, tension easing only marginally at the win.
Did I always get my way? No, but I had the feeling that past me, and incidentally current me, often did win against Zain.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said before cranking the radio up to silence the anxiety building within me.
We might have almost died, but tomorrow we were going to the Underworld.