I needed to get out of my room, but the guards were also under Enoch’s compulsion. No matter how hard I listened, they didn’t think a single thing—no doubt thanks to Enoch—and whenever I tried to leave my quarters without permission or step out onto the balcony, they stopped me. Even the secret passageway wasn’t an option, since the guard standing at the entrance to the balcony would see.
I paced my room. Pieces of memory floated back to me. My father’s funeral. There’d been hundreds of people gathered in the courtyards, but I’d never gone outside. The speaker had announced that I was now the rightful queen, his voice carrying. From the upper windows, I’d watched them weep as father’s body was lain to rest. Proof that they hadn’t been lying after all. Enoch had let me see it, let me grieve, before sending me back to my rooms to forget once more.
Tears slipped down my face at the memory.
I promised myself that I wouldn’t let them win. Taking a small inkwell and quill from my desk, I hid them in the lavatory behind the towels as well as extra parchment paper, adding to my notes every chance I had.
Father is dead.
The script was smudged by my tears.
Enoch keeps the guards unaware.
Kadin is coming. He’ll find a way.
The cryptic notes weren’t much, but I didn’t know what else to say. At least I had a record of the truth versus the lies Enoch was feeding me.
No doubt the guards wondered why I spent so much time in the lavatory, but they didn’t say a word.
On my foot, out of sight beneath my skirts and the safest place I could think of to write a message, I’d also written: lavatory, towels. Whenever I sat on the toilet, my skirts lifted just enough to reveal the hidden message to myself.
Hours blurred together, and each time I saw the note on my foot, I would panic and rip through the towels, drinking in the words I’d left behind like a potion to cure my insanity.
I didn’t know how my father had survived this mind control for so long. Though Enoch never touched me, it felt as if my mind was being reshaped each time he forced his will over mine, making me question my every thought and decision. I didn’t know which memories were even mine anymore.
I lay down, hoping to sleep and see Kadin again. But instead, my mind kept playing another scene over and over.
Walking through the castle gates, with men on each side. They surrounded me. Obeying Enoch’s orders. Or was it King Amir? Who was even behind all of this? I vaguely remembered mention of the Queen of Jinn, though what she would want with a human kingdom was beyond me.
Dragging me to the hanging post, they read the list of my crimes to our people. The rope around my neck was so heavy that its scratchy threads dug into my shoulders.
Each time my vision reached this point, I would shake my head to clear it, and try to forget. And then it would start all over again, the way nightmares always do.
I tried to think about Kadin’s face instead. His golden eyes, and the dark shadow of a beard forming on his jaw, which only made him more handsome and drew my eyes to his lips. He would figure this out. I tried not to listen to the dark thought that whispered, It’s already too late.
Chapter 18
Rena
WHEN THE SUN ROSE it woke me before everyone else. I had yet to get used to the changing light. Back home, we marked time with the feel of the tides; the light always remained the same. Blinking in irritation, I threw off the covers and scowled at the men who lay in the other bunk beds, both happily unconscious.
But my annoyance didn’t last long. Remembering how the Key had come back to me last night, I lifted it out from under my dress again to see it in the light and reassure myself. There was a good chance I could meet Gideon today, if the second attempt at unveiling the Key went better than the first. After all, he came back to this area often to visit Arie. He could be nearby even now.
Climbing out of bed, I paused. That moment we’d shared a year ago had kept me going, but now it felt impossibly long ago. With less than two weeks until my deal with Yuliya ended, the threat of failure loomed over me.
I shook my head to clear it. I could only hope Gideon would feel a strong connection to the one who’d dragged him from the bottom of the sea and saved him. If it was even half as strong as what I felt, it would be enough. There had to be a chance that he could love me. Because if he couldn’t, who could?
Bosh rolled over in his sleep, and the turn brought back the memory of dancing with him the night before. I would love to dance with Gideon. Or maybe he could show me the human world and what he’d been searching for this last year. The first step was finding him. After that, anything was possible.
Moving the small wooden chair over to the corner, I sat by the small window. Light streamed in with a soft touch, warming my skin. This I didn’t mind at all. I curled up in the chair and pulled the Key out from under my dress to stare at it. Slowly, I unwrapped the strand of seaweed and star-shells that kept it hidden, placing them in my pocket again for safe-keeping.
I imagined the Key calling to the Jinn, like a whistle only dogs could hear. Was Gideon close enough to sense it?
I almost expected him to show up right at that very moment. Or, if not him, another Jinni like last night. Instead, I sat in the quiet room, listening to the soft breathing of the two men, waiting. Nothing happened. Minutes passed. Last night it had taken a while. My stomach growled. Maybe I’d slip out and get some breakfast.
Down the dark stairwell on silent feet, I found the common room empty. A vast difference from last night. Just one woman in the back, preparing for the breakfast crowd. Everyone else must still be asleep.
The woman offered me porridge, murmuring that breakfast was a part of our stay, and asked if I wanted warm milk to go with it. I shook my head and waited until her back was turned to curl my lip at the meal. Warm everything. What I wouldn’t give for a little bit of cold fish. And a seaweed wrap. And a few other nibbles that apparently humans couldn’t or wouldn’t stomach.
With a sigh, I moved to a quiet spot in the common room and spooned a lump of porridge into my mouth, forcing down one bite at a time to quiet my poor belly.
“Who are you?” a soft voice spoke behind me.
Whirling on the bench, I nearly fell off. His black hair, his pale blue eyes, and that long nose and face staring back at me. All familiar. Yet completely different from what I remembered. His presence held an intensity this time that hadn’t been there before.
“Hello, Gideon,” I whispered in awe.
HIS THICK BROWS ROSE at my use of his name. “Have we met?”
My gills fluttered shyly in response as I opened my mouth to answer, to pour out the story of our beginning, but he held up a hand and cut me off.
“No. Not important. I can sense an extremely valuable Jinni artifact on your person, one I haven’t sensed in decades. I don’t know how you made it appear and then disappear before, but you must do so again immediately,” Gideon demanded. He gestured to me with a cane. I didn’t remember him having a cane before. Had he been injured? I worried over him, wanting to ask what had happened.
“Did you hear me?” His tone was sharp. Nothing like the husky quality of one barely aware, as it had been the last time we’d met. The only other time, actually. In my mind, we’d had many conversations since then. It stood out to me with stark clarity how little I knew him. I could predict what the Gideon of my imagination would do in this moment. But somehow, I doubted this real-life version of him would do anything I expected.
“Of course I hear you.” I lifted my chin, feeling defensive. Would he take the Key from me like the others? No, I assured myself. Not Gideon. That’s not the Jinni I’ve watched this last year.
Pulling out the cord around my neck for the second time that morning, I revealed the Key. Flustered, I focused on the task so I wouldn’t have to meet Gideon’s eyes, taking the strand of seaweed and star-shells from my pocket and gently tying them around the Key once more. I’d imagined our second meeting so
many times, so many different ways, yet I’d never seen it going quite like this.
He breathed a sharp sigh of relief as I finished veiling the Key. Surprised, I dared to look at him. “You felt that? The difference?”
If possible, he grew more stiff. When he nodded, it was just one short dip of his chin. “Along with anyone else in this kingdom or those surrounding. The call is strong. I’m surprised no one else found you first.”
“They did,” I told him, shrugging. “It’s just not that easy to steal.” That made his frown deepen, when I’d thought he’d be pleased.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, hopeful. Did he recognize me? In my dreams, he’d always known me immediately, but a slow awareness could create even deeper gratitude. An even stronger bond. I smiled up at him, but his features didn’t change. No response. My smile faded a bit in the awkward silence.
“Is this a joke to you?” he said, after studying me for a moment. “Who are you,” he repeated his earlier question, and my hopes rose again, until he added, “to be holding such an object?”
I swallowed. Should I reveal that I was the daughter of the Sea King and Queen? Certainly not in line for the throne, so it wasn’t terribly relevant, but I still wanted him to see me for me, instead of as a Mere princess.
“A Jinni Key,” he murmured to himself, staring at the little piece of metal in my hand, “and you don’t even know what you possess.”
Indignant, I closed my mouth. Who did he think I was? Did he think this Key had somehow just fallen into my possession? My irritation grew.
“Of course I know what it is,” I snapped, shoving it back under my collar and out of sight, daring him with my eyes to ask for it now. How rude. I stood to move past him. “I’ll go fetch Kadin,” I said as I crossed the room. “He needs to speak with you urgently.”
He sputtered. He actually sputtered. “I don’t know what in the name of Jinn is going on here,” he said, “But I’m not letting you out of my sight!”
Chapter 19
Kadin
THE DOOR TO OUR room burst open, waking me instantly. Panicked, I sat up and threw off the covers, imagining the worst.
Rena entered the room. Flounced in, really, arms crossed, frowning, not bothering to say hello or apologize for waking us. I hadn’t seen her angry before, but something had her riled up. “Gideon’s here,” she muttered as she fell into the chair by the window, and it took me a second for her words to sink in.
“My apologies,” a male voice said from the doorway.
Deep black hair down to his shoulders and neatly brushed back, stiff posture, thin but muscled, and the ornate cane: I recognized Gideon immediately. He’d found us after all, just like Rena had promised. So why didn’t she seem happy about it?
“Come in, Gideon. You don’t need to stand in the doorway.” Climbing out of bed, I moved to wake Bosh, but he’d already left the room.
Gideon took a few steps inside and stopped in the middle of the small room.
“How did you find us?” I asked, glancing between Gideon and Rena, who still stared out the window at the street below.
Gideon didn’t answer right away, moving to close the door before he spoke. “I followed the Key the Mere girl possesses,” he said slowly, after an almost imperceptible pause. I stood between them now, and his eyes seemed almost to look past me to Rena for a moment.
“But it was stolen...” I said, swiveling back and forth trying to see both their faces at once. “I’d thought it was like a light in a dark room, but it sounds more as if you’re tracking it like a hound on a trail?”
“The ‘girl’s’ name is Rena,” she interrupted, as if I wasn’t in the room. While Gideon’s blue eyes were passive, Rena’s green eyes danced and sparked. But when she stopped glaring at him long enough to look at me, her expression turned sheepish. “And I was going to tell you. The Key came back.”
“Came back,” I repeated stupidly. “When?”
“Last night,” she mumbled.
“The Jinni Key cannot be stolen,” Gideon spoke up from the other side of the room. “The last time I knew of its existence, it belonged to different members of the royal family of Jinn. And they made sure it was spelled to always return to the owner unless given freely.”
“Wait,” I rubbed my forehead, dropping onto the bed so I didn’t have to twist my head back and forth to look at them both. “Does that mean... Rena, did you know it would come back?”
Now she definitely looked ashamed, ducking her head and playing with the wavy ends of her red hair as if lining them up was of extreme importance.
That answered my question. “You should be ashamed,” I snapped. All my emotions building up from the night before spilled over. “I’ve been sick with worry over Arie and what might happen to her.” My voice rose, “This so-called Jinni Key was her only hope and you let me believe that it was gone forever. You’re so selfish!”
The silence following my words felt as heavy as if an actual storm had begun, soaking each of us, weighing us down. Rena’s red cheeks grew pale. “How dare you speak to me that way,” she hissed.
Though Gideon had all the strength of his Jinni heritage, he was still a man in the same room with an outraged woman. He swallowed, moving to the other side of the room on silent feet, keeping his gaze on the wall, as if to remove himself from the quarrel.
“I want you to leave,” I said without thinking. I was shaking. I clenched my hand into a fist so they wouldn’t see my fingers tremble. “Get your things and get out. I need to speak with Gideon alone.”
At this, Rena’s mouth fell open and she looked truly worried for the first time. “I didn’t mean to... you can’t do that!”
“You’re dismissed,” I said in a hard tone.
Though Rena looked to Gideon as if he might back her up, he was engrossed in the designs of his cane, making his stance in the whole conversation quite clear.
Rena released the breath she’d been holding, and in the quiet space, I heard the hitch of held-back tears.
She lifted her chin. “Good tides then,” she said in a tight voice as she opened the door and walked out, not bothering to shut it behind her.
Chapter 20
Rena
I FELT SMUG. I’D only said ‘good tides,’ instead of “tides be with you,” which was the traditional way to bless someone when leaving. A slap in the face as far as my people were concerned. Although, Kadin probably didn’t know that.
He slammed the door behind me, right on my heels, and I jumped. If I’d remembered how doors made such effective tools of communication, I would’ve done it myself. That would’ve been very satisfying. I contemplated opening it just so I could slam it again, but decided against it. Instead, I wandered down the dark hall past other rooms where guests of the inn still slept, making my way toward the stairs. I sat down at the top, unsure what to do.
This wasn’t right. Gideon was supposed to stop, mouth falling open, and stare at me. Then, when he finally spoke, he would say in a breathy voice, “You’re the girl I’ve been looking for.” In some versions, he even kissed me.
I clutched the Key. He was close enough that I should be able to sense his greatest desire. I whispered, Gideon.
The inky vision appeared on the dark wooden wall before me in the quiet stairwell. There he stood, handsome as ever. Proud forehead and long nose with those distinctive blue Jinni eyes, too vivid to be human. This time, he stood at a gate to what I assumed was Jinn, but he held out a crescent moon shaped Key—my Key—as an offering to get in. The gate slowly opened before him, allowing him inside. I sighed and dropped the Key, letting the vision fade as I put my head in my hands.
Nothing was going according to plan. I’d been certain that once I found Gideon the most difficult piece would be over. I’d never once dreamt it would go like this.
And how dare Kadin dismiss me. I crossed my arms, sulking. So I hadn’t told him immediately when the Key came back. I’d still gotten Gideon here, hadn’t I? Although Gideon had
been no help at all.
He and I would need to have a private conversation about backing each other up. Well, as soon as we had a private conversation where I reminded him that I was the girl who had saved him.
It baffled me that he could have forgotten, but I supposed that a brief glimpse of a girl in the middle of the ocean might be difficult to line up with another redhead on dry land. I couldn’t fault him too much.
Taking a deep breath in, I blew it out. This was just a small setback. Once he remembered who I was, everything would go back to how I’d planned. We still had almost two weeks to get to know each other. I hugged myself tighter. Back in the ocean, I would’ve thought that was more than enough time. Now, I wasn’t so sure.
Standing, I moved down the staircase to return to breakfast. I wasn’t going anywhere. Kadin couldn’t make me leave.
When I saw Bosh at the table toward the back, I wove around the other empty tables to meet him, grinning as my solution came to me.
“Good morning.” I settled on the bench beside him. “You’ll never believe our good fortune! The Key came back to me!”
He swiveled to face me, his arm brushing mine as he did. “No way! Did they bring it back? I knew the Jinni wouldn’t break their code.”
“Not exactly...” I hesitated. How could I get him on my side? “I wasn’t myself last night—I blame the drinks. I completely forgot the Key always comes back when stolen. It can only be given.”
“Wow,” Bosh said on a breath, shaking his head. “That’s lucky. Now we just need to hope that the next time we use it to call Gideon he’s close enough to find us before any other Jinni. Their law says they can’t use their Gifts to harm, but some of them don’t seem to care.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from saying anything. The Mere had always known the Jinn weren’t as righteous as they claimed to be. But it wouldn’t do to scare poor Bosh. Humans couldn’t do much about it; better they didn’t know too much.
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