Chapter 34
“If we were just two human teenagers dating, what would be the first thing you’d do?
” I asked Zain later that morning. We were in his car, headed to a gas station so Zain could fill up his tank before we grabbed some breakfast. Zain had washed my clothes so they smelled like whatever detergent he uses.
I breathed the scent in deeply. I’d slept soundly in his arms for a few hours, the souls of my past selves sighing at the peace of us being together, for now.
Castiel had new information to share with Zain—and while I wanted to go along, I had a shift at the bookstore.
And anyway, I hated being around Castiel.
I’d rather have whatever he said be relayed to me by Zain.
I wasn’t sure, though, if the outside threats being so quiet was a sign that something was brewing—or whether the potion was really working. It would wear off soon, and we needed a plan. But the Jinn King…his silence was a red flag.
“I’d take you out on a date,” he said in answer to my question.
“Where?”
He thought for a moment. “There’s this incredible Iranian American fusion place in Boulder. Then I’d take you mini-golfing. I think you’d pretend to hate it but enjoy it, like the hike we did.”
“Very true.”
“And then maybe a drive-in movie with lots of popcorn. I’d use the movie as an opportunity for us to make out, before dropping you home by ten p.m. so your dad wouldn’t freak out.”
“You’re so chivalrous,” I joked to mask the sadness I felt knowing we’d never have that. We’d always be looking over our shoulders, unless we solved the issue of everyone wanting to kill us. A small task, I know.
“What about you?” he asked.
“I’d take you to Hull so you could see where I grew up. You could meet my best friend, Nic, and she’d probably drag us to one of the very bad clubs there. Then, we’d debrief the next day at our favorite local café. Hull is very different from Denver; it’d be cool if you were able to see it.”
“One day I will,” Zain said. “I promise.”
I sighed. “You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I have every intention of keeping this one.”
Zain began to slow down and pulled into the gas station. I needed to pee like nobody’s business, so while he filled up, I used the bathroom. He warned me that it would be disgusting, but I hadn’t quite envisioned how much so until I entered it and immediately smelled urine.
Holding my nose, I went into the stall. Just as I finished peeing, footsteps entered the bathroom.
I was about to flush the toilet when I saw two figures in the gaps between the cubicle doors.
One of them was distinctly male. What was most eerie was that neither of them said anything, not for the ten beats that I held my breath.
If I could see them, they must have been able to see me.
And then, the stall door was kicked in, the door swinging toward me, knocking me back.
I was so stunned that I didn’t have time to prepare for the man who approached me.
He grabbed me by my top, raising me into the air.
My feet hung off the ground. I kicked out my legs, but he didn’t seem to be affected by the blows I was dealing him.
There was a woman behind him, though there wasn’t enough space in the stall for her to enter, too.
The man yanked me out of the stall and into the main bathroom, dropping me to the ground, where I fell directly onto my ass.
They dressed similarly, in all black trousers and black leather jackets, the woman East Asian and the man white. The woman was shorter, with slicked-back hair, while the guy was bald and tall, with a thick ginger beard. They both wore black sunglasses.
A voice called softly within me that while they looked different in this lifetime, I had seen their kind before.
And yet, I still found myself saying, “What do you want from me? I don’t have any money, but my friend is outside, and he can give you anything you want.”
They were blocking the exit, and the man who had held me up let out an incredibly short laugh. It was more of a bark, really. The sound made me shrink back.
“Roxana,” he said coolly. “We do not want your money; we want your life.”
“Why?” I asked, though I knew the answer. I was just buying myself time. Willing Rabiya to charge through my veins, to find a way out of this. She was unhelpfully dormant through my bond now, though.
“You have a bounty on your head.”
“But I haven’t done anything—”
“This is boring,” the woman said. “Let’s just do our job.”
“Who even are you?” I squeaked out.
“Hunters. We serve the elders.”
“Whatever magic you used to shield yourself is fading, by the way,” the woman called, with a cruel smile.
“You’re going to kill me?” I ground out. “How are you any better than jinn?”
“Enough,” the woman said, procuring a dagger from the belt hook of her trousers. It glistened, even in the dim lighting. The end was curved. It was one thing to see my demise in my dreams, but to be moments away from it was something else entirely.
She approached with the dagger, and I backed up on the floor until my shoulder met the wall. “Zain!” I yelled. “Help me!”
“We’ve locked the door,” the male hunter told me. “Warded the space so your little angel can’t hear you. And anyway, he’s next.”
Something in me switched on with those words.
He’s next.
“You’re not killing Zain,” I said, with the same kind of certainty he had that all of this would be okay. “You’re not.”
The dagger drew closer, and the female hunter grabbed me again by my shirt, lifting me so I was standing. She was just as strong as the man. “I’m afraid we will,” she said, before jabbing the dagger toward my chest, right for my heart. “And I’m looking forward to ending that jinn lover.”
I gripped the hand that held the dagger just in time to stop her. Rabiya woke within me then. You are much stronger than you believe. I saw her, in a flash, breaking the necks of men who had gotten in her way, or hurling fireball after fireball and slaying the angels who outnumbered her.
I was more powerful than this hunter, and she wouldn’t be killing me or Zain. Not today.
As I pressed harder into her wrist, she let out a scream. I glanced down and smoke had emerged from my hand. I released her in surprise, and she stumbled back, dropping her dagger. Her wrist was covered in welts, like she had been burned.
I was made of fire, and flames ran through me.
Our eyes dropped to the dagger that lay on the ground.
I lunged for it, but they were faster than me, using whatever powers they had to move with speed. The man collected it, while the woman clutched at her wrist, her eyes betraying a hint of fear. They must deal with jinn all the time—it confused me why she looked at me like she didn’t expect a fight.
“You knew she’d have powers,” the man hissed at his partner.
“Strength, not whatever that was,” she muttered back, straightening her back. “She’s higher level.”
“Of course she is,” the man shot back before looking at me.
“Normally, we like to break the necks of our jinn, tradition and all, but seeing as you’re playing unfairly…
” He took a handgun out of his pocket. He raised it high in the air, aiming for my head.
As he pulled the trigger, I ducked and ran toward them, narrowly dodging the gunshot.
It hit one of the stalls. I raised both my hands to their chests and pressed hard.
They yelled and attempted to push me off them, but I clung on.
Eventually, they fell to the ground, and I stumbled, almost joining them.
They were breathless, their shirts burnt through.
I let go, grabbing the gun from the floor quickly, and as I watched them try to gather themselves, I felt…
happy. Elated, even. In this lifetime, I was the victor, not the victim.
Rabiya pulsed through me. She laughed at the terror on their faces, at their bloodied bodies.
I could have left them there. We probably could have gotten away, but wouldn’t they just try again?
And what if other hunters thought we were weak because I didn’t kill them?
What if they thought this version of Rabiya was much easier prey?
They would keep coming after us. Rabiya practically screamed within me that it was either us or them.
I don’t remember what happened next—it was like she had taken over my body.
Distantly, I heard their screams, and afterward they were just a mess of blood on the floor that I could hardly look at.
Much like jinn, their bodies disappeared after a moment, disappearing into some unknown. Convenient, I supposed, for me.
I washed my hands thoroughly and stared at myself in the beaten-up mirror.
My hair was messy, and there was that brightness to my eyes that I saw last night, which had emerged again today.
I tried to smooth my hair and splashed water on my face, drying it with the front of my shirt, which, I realized, was covered in blood.
Maybe I could pretend the last ten minutes had never happened. As the thought came, someone tried to enter the bathroom, the handle moving before they pounded on the door.
“Rox!” Zain called. I stepped forward and opened the door, my eyes adjusting to the sunlight.
Zain’s eyebrows were knitted together as he took in my ashen face; then his gaze traveled to my bloodied top. He gripped me. “Rox, are you okay?”
I shook my head and quietly said, “It’s not my blood.”
He looked beyond my shoulder to the blood on the floor, though there were no bodies.
“Whose…” He stepped around me and locked the door, surveying the mess. “A jinn was here?”
I couldn’t say anything, couldn’t correct him, didn’t want him to know what I did. So I just nodded.
I did it for us. I had to remember that.
“Shit.” He was gripping the ends of his hair. “I’m so sorry. I was so close but I didn’t hear them…If they hurt you…” He grabbed me, squeezing me tight.
“I’m okay,” I murmured, though I swear I wasn’t speaking.
I swore it was Rabiya, smoothly taking over, urging me to act normal when I had just murdered two people.
No, angels—jinn hunters. They had families, they had beating hearts, once.
I should care more about what I had done, and yet what scared me the most was that I didn’t.
Round and round, a simple fact circled in my mind: They deserved it.
Maybe I was more jinn than I thought.