“What? Why?” Ari asked, slowly standing.
“It is not for us to question.” The two jinn rounded the table and Ari backed into Jai. His hands gripped her shoulders.
“Just do as they say,” he told her quietly, the concern evident in his voice. Then he turned to Trey. “Tell Glass. I want to make sure he and Red know what’s happening.”
Trey nodded, his jaw clenched in anger as he watched the jinn take a hold of Jai and Ari. Ari felt cold at the jinn’s touch and closed her eyes, letting him steal her into the whirlwind ride to Mount Qaf.
Azazil sat casually in his throne upon the dais in his large ballroom, eyeing Ari in a way that suggested he was bored. This was where she’d first seen him, in this mirrored room, a space as vast as an airplane hangar. Unlike last time, Azazil was not only accompanied by his shaitans but also by Asmodeus, who studied Ari with gloating triumph.
Ari did not like that expression. She did not like that expression at all.
She cursed herself for thinking Asmodeus had moved beyond his idea of retribution.
“Your Highness,” she finally spoke, sensing Jai’s tension increasing beside her, “why did you request our presence?”
Before Azazil could answer, the huge double doors at the front of the hall swung open and to Ari’s great relief, Red and Glass entered. They strode determinedly to the other end of the hall, ignoring the awed looks of the shaitans as they passed. As they drew closer, Ari could see the solemnity in her uncles’ faces.
“I don’t remember inviting you,” Azazil murmured, definitely amused as Red and Glass came to a halt beside Ari and Jai. They bowed deferentially to their father.
Once straightened, Red eyed his father, completely unamused. “We’re here to make sure nothing untoward happens to Ari and Jai.”
“Oh, how very noble,” Azazil snorted and shot Asmodeus a grin. “I shall hand things over to you, my friend.”
Asmodeus nodded militantly and then turned his cruel gaze on Ari. “I have petitioned the sultan for his granddaughter’s hand in marriage, and he has granted my request.”
In the wake of his announcement, an utter, crisp, cold, disbelieving silence fell upon the room.
Ari quickly ran his words through her head again, bile rising in her throat as her brain processed their meaning. Slowly, she and Jai turned their heads to look at one another. She saw the horror she felt reflected in his eyes and knew she hadn’t misunderstood.
“WHAT?” she yelled, whipping back to Asmodeus, wishing she could set him on fire with her eyes. “Over my dead body,” she growled.
She felt Red and Glass shift closer to her, tension mounting.
Azazil chuckled quietly to himself, enjoying it all immensely.
Asmodeus again wore the smug expression of victory. “Oh no,” he took a few steps down the dais toward her, “that would be over his dead body.” He nodded his head to Jai as he came to a stop, towering over them both. “If you do not comply, if you do not marry me and join my harem, I will see to it that your young ginnaye here dies. So,” Asmodeus reached up and stroked a finger along her jaw, down her throat, trailing his touch across her upper chest, “I think you best agree, and agree quickly.”
Jai growled and lunged toward the lieutenant. Red, however, saved him from the consequences of his impulsive attack. As if having already sensed Jai’s oncoming loss of control, Red was a blur of movement, binding his arms around Jai, holding him back.
Asmodeus curled a lip at him and then swiftly transferred his sneer to Ari. “Jai Bitar is a prince among the ginnaye. Do you know this, Ari? Not yet twenty-four years old and he has garnered the respect of the Ginnaye Tribes for his unwavering determination, power, and self-control. However, it seems when it comes to you, he loses everything that makes him remarkable. He loses control because of you, Ari, and I find I can relate. I have lost control of my existence around you. A girl. Not yet even nineteen.” He took a threatening step toward her. “You have brought two princes to their knees, and I find I am in the mood to give you a taste of how that feels.”
“You can’t do this.” Ari gazed up at him in hatred, her fists clenched by her sides.
“I’m afraid if Father has granted his petition, then he can,” Glass murmured as he eyed Asmodeus in disappointment.
“Father, I beg you to rethink this.” The Red King, still holding Jai, looked up at Azazil with far more calm than Ari hoped he was feeling. “Ari and Jai have done much for us. Is this how you would repay them?”
Azazil scoffed. “I am giving her to Prince Asmodeus as a bride. Do you know how many young jinn girls would be kissing my feet in gratitude at such a gift?”