finally, lilif strolled out onto the bamboo-constructed balcony, the air around her crackling. he slid her a glance but didn't say anything. there was nothing he could really say to soothe her. asmodeus, her twin brother, had just tried to kill her.

if azazil's story was true, lilif had allegedly tried to kill asmodeus centuries ago. as far as white was concerned, asmodeus's recent attempt on his twin's life was only fair, really.

not that he was going to say that.

he looked back out at the water.

his mother had called him to her, leaving the marids to deal with the search.

he didn't know what she wanted, other than to abuse the shaitans he had on staff at his villa and destroy designer furniture. for now, however, he was glad to be away from the pursuit that involved the wasteful destruction of their kind.

they stood in silence, white almost enjoying the moment, recalling the days not so long ago when the only being in this world he'd loved had been his mother, when red's voice blasted into his head. tell lilif ari has charlie and she's prepared to make a deal.

the white king stopped himself from tensing at the message and replied, that so obviously screams trap. you may be right. mother may in fact be insane, but she's not stupid.

just do it.

it's your funeral, white thought to himself before he turned casually to his mother. "i just received a message from your son, the red king."

she glanced sharply at him. "and?"

"he says ari has charlie and is prepared to make a deal."

lilif sneered. "trap." she flicked him a suspicious look. "does this mean you've been communicating privately with your brother behind my back? i'd hate to think you are the reason charlie was put into protective custody in the first place."

white stared her down. "red and i aren't exactly on speaking terms these centuries. this is the first i've heard from him."

giving him a haughty nod, she turned to stare out at the water again. "as i said, it's obviously a trap."

"oh, you think?" he muttered sarcastically.

"you were far less impertinent when you were younger."

"what can i say? i've developed an edge."

for some reason, that made her laugh. "indeed you have." she chuckled again and then fell quiet, her mood turning introspective. five minutes later, she shrugged. "what do i do? do i take the bait?"

before he could curb his tongue, he found himself being helpful. "if i were you, i'd use the cloak and discover for myself whether he's really there."

lilif mulled this over for a moment and then turned her body to face his. "if i do, i want you to be ready to jump into the fray with me."

when mexico freezes over. "of course, mother."

"okay." she nodded, decided. "ask red where ari and the boy are."

they had one last chance to take lilif by surprise.

after asmodeus let her go, ari counted on the fact that lilif believed her brother didn't have it in him to kill her. so, just in case lilif was hiding in the cloak watching all, ari reversed her and asmodeus's roles this time around. she, along with jai and trey, stood in rancocas state park, again in the clearing where pazuzu had almost killed trey. behind the three of them stood the bait, a nervous but willing charlie creagh.

lilif would never see jai and trey as a threat because she could command them to do what she wanted. however, they were there to take care of charlie when ari and asmodeus began the final battle. their presence was a risk. that's why the new plan had to go off without a hitch. it meant relying on asmodeus, and ari was more than a bit nervous she was going to end up shit creek without a paddle.

"this waiting thing is kind of making me need to pee," charlie commented quietly.

ari shot him a look over her shoulder. "i told you to pee before we left."

"yeah, i did. it's funny how fear can shrink your bladder to the size of a walnut."

jai glanced back at him now.

"you're doing fine."

"you won't be saying that when i pee myself."

trey grinned and attempted to be helpful. "actually, although fear can weaken the bladder, it can also tense it up.

let's hope you're that kind."

"you have much experience with fear and tense bladders?"

trey gestured to the clearing. "had my throat slit right in this clearing. that was kind of scary."

ari winced and jai shot trey a disbelieving look. charlie made an almost humorous squeak. "is he kidding?" he asked ari. "please tell me he's kidding. no one said anything about throat cutting. i'm rethinking this whole shark-chum thing. i'm not really a brave guy."

"yes, you are," ari told him sternly.

"now tighten up that bladder and be quiet. please."

he answered her with a minute of silence before murmuring, "a little gratitude would be nice."

she'd just flashed him a shaky grin when the oak off to the side of her began to shimmer. all of them sensed it and her magic immediately sought jai's and trey's, ember colliding, sparks flying.

lilif stepped out of the cloak.

she smirked and then narrowed cold eyes on ari. "my brother abandoned you, then? you think you can take me on alone?"

asmodeus! now!

the tall, dark jinn burst out of the peripatos with renewed determination and as he lunged at a shocked lilif, ari could see the raw pain in his face fueling his need to end this once and for all. she almost thanked the heavens for it and hoped his expression meant this was the end. lilif shot out a charm at the four of them before asmodeus knocked her to the ground, but the charm bounced off the strong protection enchantment they'd created around them. with one last look at jai, ari blurred across the clearing and latched onto asmodeus ... and then the world was whirling and spinning and rushing and tumbling and sucking and squeezing and crushing ...

she came to a crashing halt, her back on warm sand, a low sun casting heat across a darkening desert. it was a landscape she remembered from her visions when lilif and the seal were inside her.

asmodeus had taken them to an old battleground. he'd taken them to the place lilif had once sought to kill him.

lilif's roar of outrage split the rapidly changing sky. it was almost indigo now. ari jerked into a sitting position and saw asmodeus and his sister wrestling, ember-glowing fists crashing into concrete air as they magically defended themselves against one another.

a dagger suddenly appeared in lilif's hand and ari was on her feet, rushing toward them as lilif brought the blade down into asmodeus's back. he grunted and rolled off, twisting his arm behind his back, his magic drawing the dagger out. ari leapt at lilif before she could disappear into the peripatos.

lilif slashed long fingers as ari descended upon her, and ari felt the painful burn of stinging scratches across the left side of her face before she landed on the wicked sultana.

ari's hands immediately sought lilif's throat and she squeezed, trying to restrain her, weaken her before she brought down her final blow. but soon ari found it was her own hands that were weakening as the tingle of alien magic wrapped itself around her wrists and crawled up her arms. she started to tremble as the magic ate away at her nerves and her grip loosened.

roles instantly reversed. ari found herself on her back with lilif's hands around her throat. trying not to panic, ari threw the heel of her palm up and caught lilif in the nose, immediately following with a winding punch to the solar plexus. lilif's grip slackened slightly and ari held both hands up, ember shooting out of her body as she blasted lilif's body off hers.

ari cursed under her breath and shoved all the energy she had into flying after lilif. she couldn't let her get far enough away to disappear. she tangled with lilif again, and thus began a dance of magical blows, scratches and cuts, heads banging against the hard, sandy ground, limbs kicking and colliding with bruising impact. the fight was exhausting, sweat pouring down ari's body, but she persevered, waiting for that in when she could conjure the sword from michael roe's office and use it to end lilif's life.

if she didn't do something soon, she was going to have to break her promise to asmodeus. he would be the one who'd have to kill lilif. ari was weakening. she couldn't keep up the fight much longer.

with the upper hand, ari screamed with desperation as she yanked lilif by the hair and smacked her face down into the sand. seizing her moment, she conjured the acinaces sword and raised it to make the final blow when lilif, as if sensing her imminent death, whirled around and plunged a dagger into ari's stomach.

the pain was indescribable.

the sword tumbled from ari's grip and her body, as if trying to separate itself from the agonizing wound in her stomach, just let go. her knees gave way and she fell to them, her wide, astonished eyes lowering to the jewel-encrusted blade lodged in her gut.

she raised her eyes to lilif as trembling hands fingered the handle. she watched as the jinn queen stood gracefully to her feet, her dark eyes blazing down upon ari.

"you thought you could best me? you thought you could turn those who love me against me?" she shook her head pitifully. "you are but a child. how could you ever best me?"

ari gulped, trying to speak, trying to think, trying to win.

"i could have saved you. now i'm going to make sure that the people you love die painfully and slowly. you could have had my mercy, you silly-"

a fist burst through lilif's chest, agony halting her words.

asmodeus stood behind her, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears as he whispered in lilif's ear, "when have you ever been merciful, sister?" and with that, he jerked his fist out through her back. her body, a dead weight, collapsed into the desert and asmodeus stood over her, his bloody fist glowing with ember.

it was all that was left of lilif.

a tear slipped down his cheek as he whispered something under his breath and clenched his fist, watching the ember's light fade. as he released his hold on it, it transformed to black dust that glittered on its descent to the sand.

a harsh wind swept over lilif's body. her skin crackled and crumbled, until nothing remained but black dust blowing away into the indigo sky.

relief tore through ari seconds before the blazing hurt returned and she made a pained noise, falling onto her back.

asmodeus's blank, handsome face appeared above her. "you seem to be in quite a predicament." there was no emotion in his voice, nothing to assure her that he wouldn't let her die.

she was going to die.

it was over and she was going to die.

jai!

she'd promised him. she'd promised him she'd come back, that he wouldn't ever have to feel lost and alone without her.

at the thought of leaving him, tears filled her eyes and she gulped, choking on blood.

asmodeus seemed to read her and he leaned in close, his the last words in her head before the world turned black.

"as if i'd make it that easy for you."

19

nothing has changed, only everything

their voices and the waves of immense power that beat at ari's body brought her out of unconsciousness. she opened her eyes slowly and found her gaze on the red king.

she was on a couch somewhere and he stood behind it, near her, speaking to someone directly across from him.

what happened?

searching her groggy mind, ari couldn't help her gasp or the way her body jerked as her hands sought her stomach. there was a hole in her shirt and the skin underneath was raised.

lilif daggered me.

her movement brought red's eyes down to hers. she saw his concern and instantly felt better, allowing the relief of having taken down lilif to settle throughout her body. "it's done," she told him with a croaky voice.