She blinked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
His body flickered in and out as his fingernails dug into the wooden post. “Arggh!” he groaned between clenched teeth.
Shadows pooled into the room, filled with the hiss of electricity. Ari’s breathing grew shallow and she took a tentative step toward the Sultan only to feel an immense, painful pressure push in on her temples.
The pain blinded her and Ari cried out, falling to her knees. Her arms folded over her head as she tucked it into her body, praying for the pain to stop. She let out another scream, trying to relieve the pressure … but it seemed to go on forever, until her body began to sway toward the black …
Yes … the black where there was no pain.
And then it stopped.
The whole room stilled beneath her and Ari let her arms fall, tears streaming down her cheeks as she lifted her heavy head and gazed up at Azazil. What she saw shocked the very breath out of her.
“Your Highness?” she whispered hoarsely, still feeling the throbbing waves of remembered pressure at her temples.
Azazil glanced over at her as he slumped toward the floor. “Done,” he whispered.
He was so pale. And not just pale. Hollows sunk beneath his eyes, shadows stretched across his torso, a torso once powerful and muscular, now lean and frail.
“What have I done?” Ari murmured, more tears falling.
The Sultan tried to wave a hand at her, but his wrist flopped with the effort.
It suddenly occurred to her there was a wave of magic pooling behind her and Ari twisted around to look at the double doors to Azazil’s chambers.
“Asmodeus …,” Azazil whispered.
“Been trying … to get …in. Too weak … to take … down enchantme …”
Afraid of Asmodeus’s reaction but even more afraid for the Sultan, Ari waved an exhausted hand at the door, feeling the energy that blocked the lieutenant out. It was a binding spell, not a very strong one if you were in the room with it, but outside … it might take Asmodeus too long to take it down. Ari felt the ember burst across her palm and she held it up and outward toward Azazil’s spell. With a little focus, she felt it fragment and two seconds later, the double doors blasted off their hinges.
Literally.
They collapsed to the ground, stirring up a layer of dust that had accumulated while Azazil granted Ari her favor. How long had it taken him?
“We’ve been trying to get in for hours,” Asmodeus unknowingly answered her question, his intent eyes on her.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” His eyes flew from her to Azazil and then widened. He cursed loudly and strode toward his master. “Your Highness?” He knelt down beside him, his hands hovering over him as he felt his aura for magic use. “Azazil,” he whispered, his voice filled with genuine concern. “My friend, what have you done?”
He jerked his head over his shoulder and glared at Ari. “What have you done?” he raged quietly.
“Leave her,” Azazil managed quietly.
He took Asmodeus’s hands for help onto the bed. “I will be returned to myself again soon enough. A few days at the most. My debt … my debt to her … is paid.”
Asmodeus’s eyes narrowed. “Whose destiny did you change for her?”
Azazil wheezed and coughed into his shoulder. “The intention … the intention I presume … was … was to protect the Ginnaye and the Hunters … but also … to change the boy’s … destiny. Charlie.”
The look Asmodeus gave Ari as she watched on in exhausted concern would have flayed a lesser being. “Get out,” he demanded, his voice filled with disgust. “Get out!”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered before turning on her heel.
Glass stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable.
At last he held out a hand. “Let’s get you home.”
10
That Old Tune I Love
The hours in Mount Qaf amounted to a few days in the mortal realm, so when the Glass King escorted Ari back to the house she shared with Jai and Trey, it was to a welcoming committee.
As soon as she appeared in the living room with the tall king, strong hands pulled her into Jai’s embrace. She clutched him in relief, inhaling his familiar spicy scent as she pressed her ear to his chest. His heart pounded against it in a vital show of life that soothed her harried nerves.
“Ari, what did you do?” he asked, worried. “It’s been crazy …” He pulled back, holding her tightly by the shoulders as he gazed down into her tired eyes. “Fallon is back.”
Tears of joy pricked Ari’s eyes and she exhaled in relief. “It worked.”
“Ari?”
At the sound of Michael’s voice, Ari turned in Jai’s arms and faced the Guild Hunter and his brother, Gerard, and Gerard’s wife, Megan, along with Trey who apparently couldn’t take the distance between them anymore. He strode toward Ari, his obvious concern clear in his startling gray eyes, and just like Jai, he hauled her into a tight hug.
“Thank God,” he murmured into her hair.
She hugged him back, smiling softly, and feeling very loved. When they stepped back, he nodded at Glass politely in front of the others, but his eyes shone with gratitude and tenderness that Glass surprisingly, openly, returned. “You brought her back in one piece. Thank you.”
Glass smirked at him. “Of course.
Was there ever any doubt?”
Trey’s lips twitched. “Well … yeah.
Dude, you took her to Azazil’s palace.”
“I told you not to call me that.”
“You tell me to do a lot of things.
It’s hard to keep track.”
Shaking his head and clearly trying not to encourage the young Ginnaye by laughing, Glass waved at the people behind Trey. “I think Ari may have some things to discuss …”
“Right.” Trey stepped away from
Ari, who found herself trapped in Michael’s gaze.
“Ari …” He took a step toward her, seeming unsure what to do. “The whole Guild felt the change and then she was there … Fallon was there.”
“How is she?” Ari asked hurriedly.
“I mean, Azazil said it might be difficult for her. Is she okay?”
Michael shook his head, still looking shell-shocked. “She’s exhausted. She had a difficult time sorting out the two realities. We all have. But the humans … the humans who knew she passed … they don’t seem to remember that.”