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Prologue

Let the Realms Have Mercy on Us All

As Ari waited for his answer, she once again tried to ignore the blood splatter at the edge of her vision and the groans froe of the small room Packed dirt was hard beneath her feet, the bare rock walls devoid of eht froothic, sinister atmosphere Daled Ari’s nose

Her own blood rushed in her ears as she stared up at Azazil, awaiting his answer

His black eyes narrowed on her, his thoughts ih, he looked away, his conte before Ari arrived

The Sultan wore no jewelry and his usual ostentatious style was muted--he wore only dark leather trousers and leather bands around his wrists His muscled, naked torso was covered in blood and little bits of torn flesh Ari dropped her gaze, feeling her stomach turn

"I’ve laid out the consequences, Ari" Azazil looked back at her now and that fist of anxiety twisted in her chest "Are you sure you understand what I’?"

She nodded "I understand Are you saying you’ll grant me the favor you owe littering "I should either kill you or applaud you for using the oath of a favor against me This is no ordinary favor It will affect us all … and I aes that I cannot make sense of" His features hardened "All I can feel is that if I grant you this favor, so that will affect my realm and the mortal one, not just me and you"

His prophecy est the possible consequences and another to prophesize an actual gigantic change "In ay?"

"I told you I cannot know for sure"

"So it could be good or bad?"

"Is anything ever just good or bad?"

The ain, and Ari winced "I don’t suppose you’d let this guy go too as part of the favor?"

Azazil scowled "I grant you this favor and Ifor a while"

That in itself was reason enough to do it Ari nodded "Do it"

The Sultan crossed his arms over his chest "I don’t knohether to risk the consequences of breakingwith this insanity"

"I thought you liked insanity It’s entertaining, right?"

That produced a sloicked grin frorandfather "This is true" He dropped his ar to blow her off her feet "You win, Ari I’ll grant you your favor" He smirked "Let the realms have mercy on us all"

PART ONE

1

The Sky Is Grave in

This New World

Ari, duck!

Jai yelled telepathically, and Ari’s reflexes kicked in She hit the floor, chin down, eyes raised as she watched the knife hiss through the air and embed itself in the wall inches from Jai’s head Ari rolled onto her back and jarred her hands forward, palic toward the Qarin The nondescript Jinn whipped to the side to avoid Ari’s attack and stepped right into Jai’s ic The handful of ember he’d sent, seconds after Ari’s, hit with the force of a freight train The Qarin’s body lifted off the ground and slah the paper-thin wall of the house in small-town Milwaukee

Ari scrambled to her feet

"You okay?" Jai asked sharply He strode past her, protectively placing his body in front of hers despite the countless ti that

"I’ debris off her T-shirt

Jai didn’t bother to spare her a look and Ari wasn’t surprised Noasn’t the ti pissy with hi the doppelg&auer Jinn of Sam Shepherd, the art teacher, had tracked hi Ari and Jai had come after him and she’d used the time in close proximity to make it clear she was annoyed with her boyfriend However, Jai hadn’t broached the subject of her one-word answers and heavy silence, and that only pissed her off er bitch was in for a world of pain if this didn’t end fast

Ari and Jai had used the Peripatos to arrive at the coordinates the Guild Hunters had given theo With the human Sam Shepherd knocked out upstairs (Jai’s handiwork), they’d been playing hide, seek, and find, then hide, seek, and find again with the Qarin for too long, as far as Ari was concerned She had two healing cuts--one on her forehead and a deeper cut along her ribs that hurt like hell Jai, of course, was unscathed The Qarin was playing with the he was deter doith more than a si

She stopped alongside Jai to see the spot on the debris-littered floor where the Qarin should be

It now lay e "I’ Jai’s raised eyebrows The excuuuse me? look on his face would’ve been comical if she weren’t so annoyed Give me a minute, she tried to explain less tersely

Ari closed her eyes Back when she and Uncle Red had been on soround, he’d told her that even without her abilities as the Seal, she was a powerful Jinn Her mother, Sala, had been an old and potent Ifrit, and her father was the White King, one of the most powerful Jinn in existence If Jinn were socialites, she’d be the Blair Waldorf of Mount Qaf, the Jinn Realm Red had insinuated that it meant she hadn’t even tapped into the full scope of her abilities yet Jai was trying to get her there with training They’d been on a few hunts together where she’d discovered more and h

She’d seen her uncle sense Jinn located in another state, for Christ’s sake

Surely, she could find this jackass of a doppelg&auer so she and Jai could do the unsavory task they’d coet the hell out