matter to you that I was in love with him?”
“If you love him, you’ll let him
go.”
“Maybe some of us can’t be as noble
as you.”
“It’s not about being noble. It’s
about doing what’s right for the person you love.”
“So if it was Jai you had to let go
of … would you?”
The question halted Ari, the mere
thought causing a pain deep in her chest. Finally, she replied, “If I had to let Jai go to save him … then yes.”
The tears slipped down Fallon’s
cheeks, and she wiped them hurriedly away. “I’m not trying to be ungrateful,”
she told her hoarsely. “I think what you did was amazing. It’s just … I was in that motel room with him only a few days ago, and now you’re telling me I’ll never see him again.”
Choking up, Ari nodded briskly. “I
get it,” she whispered back.
Their eyes met and for the first
time since Ari had known her, Fallon strode toward her and wrapped her arms around her tight. “You’re the only one who does.”
Ari rubbed her friend’s back
soothingly, letting her friend cry for the boy she’d loved and lost.
The sound of the double doors
crashing open broke them apart. As Fallon quickly cast an enchantment to hide her red eyes, Ari spun around to find Jai and Trey in the doorway, their expressions grim. “Oh, God.” Her heart beat hard in her chest. “What? What now?”
Jai gestured to her to follow him.
“You need to see this.”
Exchanging a quick, concerned
glance with Fallon, Ari hurried after her roommates as they guided her and Fallon into one of the family rooms. Upon entering, Ari found Caroline and Michael watching TV, Red and Glass by their sides.
“What …?” Her gaze moved from them
to the news channel and the devastating images flashing across the screen.
“The 7.9-magnitude quake hit
central Ethiopia in its capital city of Addis Ababa at six thirty eastern time this morning, causing devastating destruction in the densely populated city. Currently, the estimated death toll sits at over 100,000 people and growing—”
“What’s going on?” Ari drew
everyone’s attention from the news report, the blood whooshing in her ears as her fears began to whisper the answer.
Her uncle Red took a step toward her,
his expression severe but thankfully not accusatory. “The White King used Azazil’s current physical weakness to storm the palace, steal the Seal of Solomon from Asmodeus, and command Father to tell him where Lilif’s body is.”
The news hit Ari in the gut. She shook her head frantically but Red continued, “Azazil had hidden her in a secret underground chamber built under the Menelik Mausoleum in Addis Ababa.”
Ari’s eyes turned to the television
screen where tear-streaked children clung to sobbing parents. “The earthquake?”
“The result of Azazil’s will
breaking under White’s command. Remember I told you Azazil was like a bridge between my brothers, my brothers and I the roads that connect the pathways in the mortal realm and all the others? This bend in his will broke a thread. It caused a crack in your world.”
“Oh, God.” She felt sick as she
gripped the back of the couch. “What the hell have I done?”
***
She stood before him, waves of great power pulsing from her as it did from her twin, Asmodeus. It was a power almost as great as Azazil’s.
This moment should’ve been the most
glorious of White’s life, gazing upon his beautiful mother as she promised to right all the wrongs of the Jinn world. Instead, he felt only complete and utter despair. This was not the Lilif he remembered. The Lilif he remembered had been a soft-spoken, quietly commanding, ethereal beauty with a wealth of wisdom and experience in her eyes.
This … this Lilif was just as the
paintings had depicted her. Paintings White had declared slanderous in their wrongful portrayal of her as a selfish seductress.
This Lilif … this Lilif was exactly
as his brothers, even Ari, had described. Silken fabric wrapped around her youthful body showing far more skin than White could ever remember. Her dark curls fell down her back in a riot of black magic; rubies glittered from her ears and throat. From her deep red lips fell words of insanity, of destruction, and of The After. Red had attempted to tell him this was Lilif’s plan. To bring forth the legendary After—it was what would happen if balance was destroyed completely. The realms would collide and cause desolation to all. In its place would exist The After, and only those powerful enough would survive. They would find themselves alone in a brave new world.
Despair kept White on his knees;
self-derision kept his head bowed. He’d been so blinded by his love for his mother, so blinded by the falsities she’d shown him, the need to resurrect her had become irrational and illogical. It had taken her less than an hour to gather her strength after he’d punched the ring into her chest to awaken her.
And here she was …
“For centuries, White,” she spat in
outrage, “I have waited for my time. Trapped by Azazil’s making and forced to live in darkness until Ari.” She shot him a look. “You created something remarkable in that one, son. Very clever of you. My time inside her was most edifying. I have seen what has become of you all, what has become of this world. Of Asmodeus, even.” Lilif shook her head in disgust. “My poor brother has lost all the meaning in his life. You all have. But I can return it, just as you wished me to.”
She bent down on one knee to gently
lift White’s chin, tilting his head so he had to meet her unbalanced gaze. “I will keep you alive, son, in compensation for your service to me. You were always my most faithful.” She stroked his cheek tenderly before pinching his skin with her harsh grip. “But your brothers must die. It is the only way to continue to break the threads. It is the only way to welcome our souls into The After. And now that I have the powers of the Seal at my command, nothing will stop me.”
Despite the disbelief coursing through his veins, White managed to keep his expression blank as he nodded in acquiescence to his mother. While she offered him a smug smile, he did the only thing he could. He began telepathing as loudly as possible to the one brother who might be smart enough to save them all.
***
Red gritted his teeth, the blast from White’s telepathy taking him to his knees as he clutched his head, trying to breathe through the pain and listen to the message.