Skimming through, Ari finally stumbled upon the history pages. What was written was only what ‘Anonymous’ considered the most important of Jinn history. She read about stuff The White King had already told her: that for centuries he and his brothers meddled in the lives of Importants, shaping destinies, building empires, destroying cities. Soaking it up, Ari turned the page to a new chapter and felt her heart pick up for no good reason at all.
Chapter Four: The Seal of Solomon
Religious scripts called him a Prophet, the son of David, but here he is known simply as King Solomon, enslaver of Jinn and master of the Seal of Solomon. Stories differ as to who bestowed the Seal of Solomon upon this Important but what is known is that it was a god. Placing into Solomon’s hand a ring of brass and iron, this god offered the mortal king the greatest of power. With the brass part Solomon could stamp his written commands to the good Jinn and with the iron part, he stamped his commands to the evil Jinn. With this unlimited power, King Solomon enslaved many Jinn, using them to build his great temples and provide him with whatever he wished. Over the years, out of pride and greed, he began to abuse his power, and Azazil the Great Sultan grew uneasy for the first time. Enlisting Asmodeus to determine the true power of the Seal, Asmodeus was astonished to discover that with the Seal upon his finger, Solomon could feel his presence spying upon him even when hidden within the Cloak. Demanding he reveal himself, Asmodeus was bound before King Solomon and trapped within a bottle as punishment for his attempted treachery. Unknown to any of us, the being who had bestowed the ring upon Solomon grew furious with his subject for treating the Jinn so carelessly. He stripped Solomon of his crown and the Seal and sent him out into the desert to die. To prevent unrest among the people He freed Asmodeus from the bottle and in exchange for the Seal of Solomon, Asmodeus shifted to appear as the mortal king and reign in his stead until his death. When his time as Solomon was over it is said Asmodeus returned to the Jinn Realm of Mount Qaf where he offered his master the Seal. Azazil attempted to destroy the ring but discovered it was indestructible. Confident in his own mastery over his people – for Azazil needed no ring to be obeyed – he offered the ring to Asmodeus, commanding he protect it with his life and never use it against the Jinn. Asmodeus is said to be evil but he is also honorable to his word. For centuries he has guarded the ring, wearing it in confidence on a strip of leather tied around his neck, daring lesser Jinn to steal it from him.
None have.
But as the tension grows between the Seven Kings of Jinn and their father, the Seal has taken its place as the most important weapon in the War of the Flames.
Chapter Five: The War of the Flames
It is said that the Seven Kings suspect their father of causing the chaos between them, and for upsetting the balance of order in their world. None can prove it. But what is universally acknowledged is the Sultan Azazil’s reluctance to restore order. He has the power to do so. But he does not. One son, one king, has grown intractable in his need to punish his father for what he considers negligence to their people. The White King. It is known throughout the many realms that The White King wishes to take his father’s place as Sultan of the Jinn. It is known also that he plans to use the Seal of Solomon to do so. He has attempted many times to steal the ring from Asmodeus, each attempt ending in the bloody and violent death of the servant sent in The White King’s stead to do so. Until his victory or failure to steal the Seal, the War of the Flames rages on, the Seven Kings of Jinn and their loyalties split into three factions: Azazil’s, The White King’s, and a place of neutrality where The Gilder King and The Lucky King refuse to be embroiled in the war. It is a sly war — for the most part it is not a physical war and will never be until the Seal passes into The White King’s hands. For now… the War of the Flames remains an ‘understanding’, and a promise of usurpation should the time ever present itself to Azazil’s treacherous son of Thursday.
Ari slammed the book shut, the crack of pages slamming together echoing around the room. Her heart was racing hard in her chest and she had no idea why. The words kept running through her mind over and over. Azazil. The War of the Flames. The Seal of Solomon. The White King. Asmodeus. The War of the Flames. The Seal of Solomon. The White King. Azazil…
“Ari, you OK?”
She jerked her head up, her eyes refocusing on Jai who was leaning forward on the sleeping bag, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.
Somehow, Ari began to breathe properly again and she nodded. He frowned in consternation and sat back. “You sure?”
Feeling better Ari reached over and placed the book on the nightstand, and when she glanced back at Jai she raised a questioning eyebrow. “So… you’re a telepath, huh. What’s that about?”
~14~
There Are Some Things Even a Dog Shouldn’t Know
Jai was frustratingly closed-mouthed about the whole being telepathic thing. His literal reply had been, “Jinn can talk to each other with their minds.”
That was it.
Frustrated, Ari wanted more but he was annoyingly vague about the whole thing and would only answer one of her questions — could Jinn read minds? Her heart had spluttered in mortification at the thought of Jai being able to read her thoughts. Thankfully, he promised her the Jinn could not mind read and then promptly lay down on his sleeping bag, turning the lights off with his Jinn voodoo.
The next morning Ari tried not to think about the book and all she’d discovered. Derek was in his office, still slinking around the house without talking to her, and Rachel was on her way over to ‘make up’. When the doorbell rang, Ari was jerked out of her daze — she’d been staring stupidly at the book on her nightstand, the haunting pages of it rolling around in her mind like spooky little ghosts. Jai came out of the bathroom with questioning eyes. She nodded to let him know that Rachel was at the door and the air around him shimmered before he exploded into a fire that quickly burnt out, leaving behind Hamlet the Great Dane.
The knock on her bedroom door told Ari her dad had let Rachel in. Bracing herself for the multitude of moods Rachel could have picked from to face her after their ‘fight’, Ari sat down on her bed. “Come in,” she called and smirked with amusement as Jai jumped onto her bed beside her, curling up lazily on the comforter before staring determinedly at the door. Rachel came in tentatively, an apologetic smile on her face as she closed the bedroom door behind her.
“I come in peace,” she said softly.
It was weird. Rachel was this completely anal, bossy, know-it-all, bratty, self-important type-A pain in the ass a lot of the time. But as Ari smiled back at her, warmth gathered in her chest and the tension in her shoulders unknotted, and all she could see was the sweet, concerned, funny Rachel that had made Ari want to be her friend in the first place. “Come in, sit down.” She shimmied over, nudging Jai to make room for her.
Rachel’s eyes widened as she approached, her face lighting up. “Oh my God, who is this enormous bundle of gorgeousness?”
Ari smiled, swearing she could hear Jai make a snorting sound from the back of his throat. “This is Hamlet. He’s replaced Ms. Maggie.”
Rachel’s shoulders hunched as she glanced around the room. “Is the poltergeist gone?”
“Yup. All gone.”
“For good?”
“Looks like. So I got Hamlet here to keep me company.”
Rachel giggled and sat down next to him, running her hands over his head and back. “Oh I sooo prefer Hamlet. And how cute is that name btw?” She grinned up at her. “Very witty.”
Ari laughed. “At least one person thinks so.”
“Oh sooo cuuute,” Rachel squeed, pressing soft kisses to his head. Jai didn’t growl or snarl or anything, but he was trying desperately to get away from her mouth. When Ari laughed at his predicament he shot her a dirty doggy look in protest. Finally taking pity on him, she reached out and touched Rachel’s arm. “So… we OK?” she asked, drawing some of her attention away from Jai.
Rachel looked up, still patting his head. Ari could see the confusion in her eyes but she nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know what happened to you but… the reason I got so mad was because I knew it was a Charlie thing. I thought you were freaking out about him. You were so out of it at your own party, and I just felt frustrated, you know. I was so worried about you. I’m sorry for not handling it the right way, Ari. I really am.” She patted her hand, smiling apologetically. “But since then, Staci said you’re taking my advice and moving on from him, so whatever those two missing days were they were at least a very good thing.” She grinned now, reaching out to pull Ari into a hug. “I’m proud of you.”
For thinking I abandoned a friend?
When Rachel pulled back Ari had smoothed the scowl from her face and put a fake smile on in its place. “So have you heard any more news from Stace about Nick?”
“Oh, he’s going to be OK. The doctors can’t work it out. There’s no physical sign of injury, external or internal. It’s just this weird phenomenon. So weird. I feel bad for him, but you know he’s alive, he’s young and fit and he can get through this. We’ll all be there to help him. Although, not yet.” She frowned. “His parents are being wicked weird about visitors right now.”
“Is A.J. still mad at Charlie?”
“I don’t think so. I mean he’ll never like the guy but Staci convinced him that Charlie was just there at the wrong time, wrong place. Although I hear he was going to take Nick to the ER so that’s, like, a point in his favor right?”
“Right.”
“So anyway!” Rachel suddenly cried, her mouth stretched in a cat’s-got-the-cream grin. “You have to hear about my time with Paul Schwartz.”
“Uhh.” Ari looked down at Jai who was watching everything they did and listening to everything they said. She really didn’t want Rachel discussing her love life with the T.A. in front of him. “You hooked up, that’s great. Any plans to see him again?”
She nodded, her eyes glittering. “I’m going to have such a ball with him this summer before I head off to Dartmouth. So… OK... I invited him to your party; you were kind of out of it that night so you didn’t see him flirting with me all night long. Nothing happened but he texted me the next day to go to the movies. Well… we got to the parking lot of the movies.” Rachel wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “And that’s as far as we got. Next thing I know my shirt is off, my hand is down his pants—”
“Uh Rachel!” Ari stopped her, glaring at Jai for not leaving the room like a gentleman. “Are you sure you want to discuss this in front of the dog?”
Rachel burst out laughing, her eyes washing over Ari’s flushed face. “Jeez, Ari, come on. You know you wouldn’t get all embarrassed about sex if you just traded in your v-card already. I know, I know, you were waiting on Charlie to give up the old virginity but you are too pretty to be missing out on this stuff. Seriously at one point I thought my—”