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Ari tried not to wince at the word "Why? I’ the human world of evil Jinn"

He raised an eyebrow

"Is that worth the loss of your purity?"

"I’m not pure, Asmodeus"

"Your soul was clean, Ari You’reit with this need to hunt Jinn"

"It’s not a need," she lied "It’s a want Even before all this …," she gestured to her surroundings, "I was a high school graduate with a serious identity crisis I didn’t knohat I wanted out of life I didn’t knohere I fit in Despite all the bad stuff that’s co out who I am, at least I’ve also found my place in this world"

"With the Ginnaye, assassinating Jinn?"

"With Jai, hunting bad guys"

He grunted "You are so naïve, it physically painsme into your dreams"

"No"

"No?"

"No"

Ari tried desperately to rein in her irritation "What do you want, Asard was dark and fatho face Black eyes fra lashes, tanned, unbleht blade of a nose, and a perfect htly thinner upper lip If a human were totwenty-so, not a twisted, ancient Marid who’d been around for God kne ht I wanted to see how you were faring after your first kill" Surprise shot through her, forcing her head back He caught her reaction, eyes glittering "I’ the curiosity writhing inside, Ari gave him a cynical smirk "Whatever this is, can we at least be honest with one another?"

"Okay," he nodded, "I like playing gaht"

Ari found herself confessing "I was sick at first It was horrible I didn’t expect to feel so ashamed"

"And now?"

"Jai res the Qarin did I feel proud I was strong enough to do souilt?"

She looked away "There will always be guilt, Aser picture"

He shot her a narrow look and drew up to his feet "That’s how it begins Setting aside things for the bigger picture"

Confused as she alas after one of their encounters, Ari stood too "Why do you care?"

When he reached out a hand, Ari braced herself fro frohtly His fingers brushed against her cheek "I can’t decide whether I want you to change"

She scowled at him "I don’t think that’s really any of your business"

At the sudden dark heat and annoyance in his bearing, Ari tensed, her breath catching as he leaned into her, hisit led to draw breath, panting with fear and so She turned onto her side, pulling the covers tightly around her She didn’t knohat to do about As her drea attention was a worry and the only person she wanted to tell was Uncle Red He’d knohat to do But it depended on whether Red wanted to talk to her … and if he would help her if he did

2

The I That I Aed to drift back to sleep, but her conscience couldn’t seem to rest She woke at 6 am, an hour earlier than usual Mouth dry, Ari shuffled sleepily out of her roolass of water froh to conjure one, but Trey and Jai had been raised to use their Jinn abilities when it mattered, or when it was the only convenient solution Otherwise, they lived their lives like hu Jinnas a human so they wouldn’t slip up in front of one

Tired gaze to the floor, Ari was about to hit the stairs when Trey’s bedrooht of a huge, gorgeous, blue-haired guy wearing jeans and a slim-cut T-shirt "Glass?" she said loudly, more than a little shocked to see hi--aka one of her uncles, aka an all-powerful, scary Jinn king--was seeing Trey romantically, it was that she’d never seen him in the vicinity of Trey’s room before

It caused her a note of panic on behalf of her friend She didn’t want Trey to get too deeply involved in the dangerous world of Jinn royalty, but he seemed smitten with his new boyfriend

And franklywas the face that Glass seeer to his lips, hushing her, and she winced apologetically He gestured to the stairs and Ari hustled down the his movements at all She entered the kitchen in the back of the house, a huge space with an island in thetable on the far left

Sliding doors opened out onto a decent-sized backyard

"Would you like so a chilled bottle of water out of the fridge

Glass shook his head "I will get myself a coffee"

This was so weird

Ari merely nodded

It wasn’t that she didn’t like

Glass, it was just that she’d never become as comfortable with him as she ith Red Red smiled and joked with her, whereas Ari had never seen Glass smile unless it was backed by sinister intent Trey was his opposite in every way

Thinking about Red caused Ari to ask Glass for the fifteenth ti lifted theshortcuts in life), his expression grew more focused He took a sip and pulled back to study her "I have"

She refrained fro … they never answer unspoken but obvious questions "How is he?"