Wait, what?We get about one full second of complete silence, then all hell breaks loose as everyone starts talking at once.
“A djinn,alive? Impossible.”
“You met a djinn serving drinks in some reprehensible pub?”
“Oh, sweetheart. Are you alright?”
“Are you unbound?”
My chest throbs hard, but this panic isn’t mine. Ignoring the parents, I focus on Sheena. Her face has lost all color, and her pupils have shrunk to pinpricks. She looks between all the unfamiliar faces, her head swiveling back and forth like she isn’t sure where to start.
“Timeout,” I say. It’s a reasonable request, made at a reasonable volume, so of course no one listens. My hands clench into fists.
Callum shoots to his feet. “Shut up,” he bellows, drowning out the combined voices with sheer volume alone.
Since I’m usually the one to lose my temper, I’ve rarely heard him raise his voice. I must not be the only one surprised because everyone actually listens for once. We all stare up at Callum. His eyes are black and hard as granite, and in that moment, he looks every bit like a creature from the demon realm.
Ciprian interrupts the stunned silence by popping a cheese cube into his mouth with a pleased hum and casually reaching across the table to clink his empty wine glass against the full one in Sheena’s hand. “Congrats, friend. It seems like you’re going to get some answers.”
He grins drunkenly at her, unfazed by the tension in the room, but Sheena’s grip on her glass is so tight her fingers have gone bone white from the pressure.
I’m kind of surprised the glass hasn’t cracked.
The thought barely has time to bounce around in my head before the stem snaps off and tips over with a thud. Every eye at the table watches as the bowl lurches back and forth clumsily before finally reaching a resting place, tilted against the mahogany. A few drops of merlot trickle over the rim, dripping like blood onto the white tablecloth.
Sheena squares her shoulders and grips the remains of the cup in both hands. She takes a long look at it, then guzzles the contents in one go, setting it down with a thunk.
“What’s a djinn?” She demands, looking around the table and focusing specifically on Idris.
Dimitri scoffs at her. “You mean to act like you don’t know?”
Sheena meets his glare with one of her own, tilting her chin up. “I’m not acting,” she hisses. “Obviously, I know I’m different, but it’s not like I was raised in this world.”
Her green eyes flicker to violet, and from the subtle, collective inhale, I don’t think anyone at the table misses it.
“I discovered I wasn’t just another unwanted kid when masked men broke into my foster home and dragged me out of bed. They used my abilities to make the family forget me.”
Sheena glances at me then, and I hate that I’m not sitting next to her to support her.
“I escaped, and I’ve been running ever since. The only things I know aboutyourworld are the things I’ve learned since meeting Callum and Gideon,” Sheena says, sucking in a breath. “So, unless you want to call me a liar again, I’ll ask one more time: what is a djinn?”
Idris clears his throat.
“Djinn used to be an incredibly influential part of the supernatural community,” he says, before Dimitri can put his foot in his mouth again. “They were always rare, mind you, and until I saw you, I had believed them to be extinct.”
Callum falls back into his seat now that Sheena is finally getting answers. We all listen, horrified and spellbound as Idris explains how Sheena’s kind were hunted ruthlessly for decades. According to the fae, many djinn lives were lost just to keep their power out of the hands of warring factions.
“Much of the generational wealth within the supernatural community is because a djinn made it so.” Idris glances at the expensive furnishings around the room.
Dimitri and Mallory’s interest is immediately piqued, but before I can speak up, Cal beats me to it. “This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway.” Callum’s eyes lock onto his parents. “Sheena will not be the enclave’s retirement plan or its piggy bank.”
His words slice through the air like a knife. While Dimitri looks annoyed, Mallory is just appalled her son would bring up something as taboo as money in front of company.
“Of course not, kids,” dad says. “But given what we know of the djinn’s tragic past, I worry about Sheena’s safety.”
I know his concern is genuine at least, and I relax a little in my seat.
“There’s something else,” Sheena whispers, twisting her napkin between her fingers. “After my magic activates, I get sick. It drains me until I feel empty, and the last time it happened, it was worse than usual.”
