I heard River’s shallow breathing behind me. Her hand slid into mine and gripped it. Her bright eyes grew wide as she stared down at the secret staircase.
“What in the world…” she murmured.
She met my eyes for a few seconds before we hurried down after the leopard.
We turned corner after corner until I was beginning to feel dizzy from the turning. Then we reached the last step.
We had appeared in some kind of kitchen. Although kitchen seemed an insulting word. It was the largest, most opulent kitchen I’d ever seen. A crystal—or was it diamond?—chandelier hung from the high ceiling. The floors were made of a sleek black stone, and piled atop gold-plated tables were plates and cutlery made of what appeared to be solid silver. There was a fragrant scent of exotic spices, the remains of cooking that couldn’t have been done more than a few hours ago.
What is this place?
The leopard was already halfway across the room. River and I had been so dumbstruck, we’d remained standing, just looking around the room. But the animal was moving faster than ever now, so we hurried to catch up with him.
We exited the kitchen, and, stepping outside, I was shocked to find myself looking out over another atrium. An atrium that made the beautiful one up above seem characterless and basic. The sheer scale of it made my head reel, and there was barely an inch of it that wasn’t decorated with precious gems and metals. In the center, there were sprawling gardens that looked like they belonged in heaven. Dozens of pure white swans floated upon a sparkling lake. Pink flamingos stood on its bank, and there was an array of other tropical birds emitting a symphony of chirping as they fluttered from tree to tree, their feathers bright. A light mist hung over the place, and a heady aroma of flowers tinged the atmosphere. A pleasant, mild breeze touched my skin—from where it came I had no idea.
“Wow,” River breathed against my ear.
Again, River and I couldn’t stand admiring for long. The leopard had continued on his way along one of the verandas. To our left, it appeared that we were passing along residences of some sort—apartments, just as there had been in the atrium above. Only the closed doors gave me a glimpse of what magnificence must be on the inside. Made of dark wood, they were carved with floral patterns and studded with a myriad of gems.
As we made our way along the veranda, I took in as much of this place as I could. Leaving aside the grand scale and opulence of it, it appeared quite similar in structure to the one above. Although from what I could see, there didn’t appear to be any elevators.
The leopard led us to a flight of wide stairs covered with a maroon carpet.
We climbed up and reappeared on a level that was just as beautiful as the last. But the leopard did not venture out onto this one. He remained on the staircase, leading us higher and higher until we had reached the very top level of the atrium. As soon as we stepped out onto it, it was clear that this held an even grander scale of opulence—if that was possible. My eyes popped at the attention to detail. Even the doorknobs appeared to be encrusted with what looked like… diamonds. It was mind-blowing to even begin considering how much wealth was in this place. It would be an inconceivable sum.
Finally, the leopard stopped again outside what appeared to be the grandest door of the whole place. I expected it to click open just as all the other doors had. But this one didn’t. Instead, the leopard stood on his hind legs and reached up to knock a bell with his front right paw. A rich chime sounded out, and then there was silence.
River held her breath, her grip tightening around my hand. I was surprised when the doorknob turned and the door opened. I hadn’t heard any footsteps leading up to it.
As the door swung fully open, I almost choked.
Chapter 11: River
An unearthly vision appeared before our eyes. The top half of an impossibly beautiful woman floated upon a whirl of pale blue mist. She had stunning golden eyes and curling jet-black hair that trailed past her waistline. Her jawline was strong and she had wide, thick lips. A richly embroidered azure bandeau adorned her chest, revealing her muscled lower stomach. Her ivory skin shimmered in the soft lighting of the corridor, making her appear all the more ethereal.
When she opened her mouth to speak, it was in a familiar voice. A voice that was soft and silky, yet so distinct that it rang in my ears as though she was shouting. It was a voice that had appeared in my head before, and I was sure in Ben’s too.
“Welcome home.”
Ben and I were both lost for words. I was beyond thinking that I must be dreaming, but the sight of this—woman? Ghost? I didn’t even know what to call her—it was just too much for my mind to process.
As if I wasn’t already struggling enough, the leopard walked right up to the woman, and a second later, he’d transformed into a man… at least, the top half of a man. He had warm brown hair and orange eyes, and the bottom half of him consisted only of smoke, just like the woman. Also like the woman, he had a thick jaw, although it was far more pronounced than hers. He cast his orange gaze toward Ben and me briefly before turning to the woman. Placing one hand beneath her chin, he leaned in and caught her lips in his.
The woman smiled like a cat as he drew away. A contented expression on her face, she looked back at us. “Thank you for fetching them, Bahir.” As she looked Ben and me over, her eyes remained longer on me, her smile broadening—or perhaps it was just my imagination.
Bahir glanced our way once more, then vanished, leaving us alone with the woman.
“Come in,” she said, beckoning us inside.
Ben remained rooted to the spot, holding me there with him. He found his voice before me. “Who are you?”
A gust of wind appeared out of nowhere behind us. The unexpected force of it pushed us both forward, through the doorway and into the woman’s corridor.
The front door closed.
Ben’s arm found my waist as he held me protectively against him.
“An understandable question,” the woman said, still smiling broadly, revealing a set of thick white teeth. “But why don’t you make yourself comfortable first, my children?”
Children?
She levitated along the corridor. I looked nervously at Ben. He looked uncertain, but he led us forward, following the woman. When we reached the end of the corridor, we arrived in what appeared to be a living room. It was the size of a hall. Lush green plants in golden pots lined the walls, and embroidered love seats and huge cushions were scattered about. All the fabric I laid eyes on—from the drapes that hung from the walls to the seating material—appeared to be silk, and beaded with pearls or some kind of precious jewel. She led us to an enormous sofa in the center of the room, whose cushions were so big and bouncy they looked like I might get lost in them.
Why do they have so many seats when they don’t even have butts? I couldn’t help but wonder.
She gestured toward the couch, but Ben didn’t sit down. He remained standing, and although my knees felt weak, I remained standing too.
The woman crossed her arms over her chest, her smile fading slightly. “Very well,” she said, her face taking on a more serious expression. “You asked who I am. My name is Nuriya, Queen of the Nasiri Jinn and Mistress of The Oasis.”
Jinn.
I looked toward Ben. I wondered if he had even been aware that such creatures existed. From the look on his face, it didn’t appear that he had.
My mouth was so dry it hurt to swallow. “What have you done with our people?” I managed. “And my family?”
When her eyes returned to me again, I was surprised to see a flicker of what appeared to be kindness behind them.
“You need not fear for them, my beauty,” she said. “They are all quite safe.”
“Where are they?” Ben demanded, his fists clenched.
Nuriya looked unamused by Ben’s tone of voice. She turned her attention back on me, ignoring his question.
“You want to see your family, dear?” she asked, and for the first time, she to
uched me. Her fingers brushed against my cheek. They were so soft and smooth, they felt like petals gliding against my skin. I was surprised that I could feel her touch at all. Her body seemed so ethereal, I expected her to just go right through me.
“Where have you taken them?” I asked.
“Come with me.” She held out her hand. Eyeing Ben nervously, I reached out and took it. Ben motioned to follow, but she held up a hand to him. “No, Benjamin. You wait here. Your turn will come.”
Before he could object, she was pulling me across the hall, toward a door at the other end of it.
Ben sped up. “You’re not taking her away from me,” he said, grabbing my arm.
“Ben,” I said through gritted teeth. “Let me go. Please.”
We didn’t know anything about these creatures, and we ought not try their patience—especially when they held our families’ lives in their hands. Assuming Nuriya wasn’t lying when she said that they were still alive.
Ben must’ve sensed the desperation in my eyes. He exhaled sharply, then let go of me, his eyes still on me as Nuriya led me through the door. She closed it behind us. We had appeared in a warmly lit corridor.
My heart was pounding in my chest. Would she really be leading me to my family? Or could this be some kind of horrible trap?
Either was equally possible. But now I’d made the decision to face whatever was up ahead of me alone, without Ben, whom I’d come to depend on as my rock.
We arrived outside another door. She pushed it open and glided inside the room. This was clearly a bedroom. Although much smaller than the living room we’d just left, it was still excessively large. So large that as my eyes traveled from one end to the other, it took several moments before I realized that it was not empty. A tall man stood by the edge of a double bed.
A young man.
My older brother.
My voice caught in my throat.
“J-Jamil!”
I rushed forward and pulled him into an embrace. He hugged me back. I took a step back. Looking up at his face, I realized that something was very, very different.
First of all, he was standing the way… a normal person would. His posture was straight and upright, his arms at his sides. And his expression, it was abnormally lucid.
“River,” he said.
My jaw dropped at the way he said my name. Perfectly pronounced, with such an even tone of voice.
I narrowed my eyes, scrutinizing his face. I barely believed what I was seeing.
“Jamil?” I breathed. “What happened to you?”
A frown knotted his dark brows. “I… I’m not quite sure.”
A chill ran down my spine. It was impossible to describe what it felt like to speak with my nineteen-year-old brother for the first time in my life. Not speaking to him. Speaking with him. To hear him respond to my words. To know that he heard and understood me. To not be in doubt as to what he was trying to communicate.
I was living the dream that had recurred so many nights in my sleep during the past weeks, ever since I had been given that vial of amber liquid.
Tears welled in my eyes. Since the discovery that my family had gone missing I’d been fighting to control my emotions, but now I couldn’t hold them back. Tears flooded down my cheeks like streams, and I turned into a blubbering mess as I wrapped my arms around Jamil’s neck and hugged him tighter, as if I’d never let go.
I sobbed harder as he hugged me back again.
“You have no idea what this feels like,” I breathed. “I-It’s like I’m meeting you for the first time.”
“I do, River.” His hands moved up to my shoulders and he clutched them. Creating some distance between us, he looked down at me to reveal tears in his own eyes.
He looked in a daze, utterly overwhelmed. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was feeling. I’d learned lots about what it was like to suffer from autism from sitting in on doctors’ appointments and also from my mother’s own research in the field, but it was still impossible to comprehend what he’d been through all those years. Now, to suddenly be normal, it must have felt like… a new birth.
He was speechless for several minutes. He just remained gaping down at me, as though still trying to process his own mind.
The door to the bedroom shut behind us. Nuriya had given us some privacy. I was not sure if she had even entered the room in the first place. As soon as I’d seen my brother standing by the bed, I’d become completely oblivious to her presence.
Jamil ran his pale hands over his face, and I was once again struck by how much he looked like my father, especially now that his facial expressions were normal.
“It’s like I… don’t know myself,” he said slowly. “I don’t know who I am. What I am.”
I was amazed that he even had a vocabulary. His condition had been so severe, he had never been able to have a proper education. I wondered if all the times he’d heard our conversations at home, our language had slipped into his subconscious and now he was able to summon it. But I doubted that. For one thing, his speech was too perfect. This was like… magic.
I wiped my eyes with the back of my wrist, then smiled and squeezed his hand.
“Don’t worry, Jamil. You’ll find yourself. I’ll help you. We all will. We’ll figure out together a way for you to build up your life afresh…”
But first, we need to get out of here.
A chirping erupted near the bed. I cast my eyes toward the noise. A golden bird cage held a single white dove. The bird appeared to have just woken, and had begun to beat its wings against the cage.
“Where are Mom, our sisters and Grandpa?” I asked, turning back to my brother.
Jamil shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
He wrinkled his nose in memory. “I was at home, in my bed. Mom had just gotten me ready to sleep. That’s the last thing I remember.”
“You don’t remember anyone feeding you some kind of amber liquid from a vial? You just woke up in this room, like this?”
He nodded.
Wow. This must have been more bewildering for him than I’d thought.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “We’re going to have to try to find our family.”
“What is this place?” he asked.
I paused, biting my lip. I wasn’t sure if he had even come face to face with any jinn yet. He was overwhelmed as it was, beginning to explain to him about the world of supernaturals… It was just far too much at this point.
I didn’t want to lie to him, but I was not sure that he could handle the truth. I fumbled for words, wondering what to tell him, as he watched me closely.
One option was to tell him that we had been kidnapped, but that was no less alarming. I just tried to be as truthful as possible without completely blowing his fragile mind.
“We’re in Egypt, near Cairo,” I said. “I’m not sure why you woke up in this room. I’ve been away from everyone for a while…” I wasn’t sure if he’d been able to follow what was happening, or remembered. It seemed that he hadn’t, because he raised a brow as though it was news to him. “I got into some trouble recently… Look, Jamil. It’s complicated but I promise I’m going to give you a full explanation. For now, just know that I’m not entirely sure how or why you’re here. I just know that I need to help you get out.”
He nodded slowly, wetting his lower lip. “Okay, and how do we do that?”
“I’m going to try to find out. But while I do, I think it’s best that you stay in this room.”
To my surprise, he winced. Then he reached for his right upper arm. He pulled up the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal the tattoo of a black cross.
Oh, no.
“And do you know what this is?” he asked, grimacing. “It’s stinging like hell. I have no idea how it got there, or who put it on me. I just woke up with it.”
As much as my heart was still bursting with more joy than I knew how to handle over Jamil’s miraculous
recovery, I couldn’t help but feel a building sense of dread. My eyes traveled nervously to the dove still flapping about in the small ornate cage.
In this strange, wondrous place called The Oasis, I doubted there was anything that came without a price.
Chapter 12: Ben
I hated to watch River leave me, but I gave in to her request. I understood. We were at these creatures’ mercy, and aggravating them would only work against us.
And so I remained waiting in that massive living room. Although I didn’t sit. I kept pacing up and down, waiting for River and Nuriya to return.
To my dismay, the jinni returned alone. Her golden eyes fixed on me as she floated across the room.
“Now, Benjamin,” she said softly. “I’m all yours.”
“Where’s River?” I asked, my stomach clenching.
“She’s just in the other room, with her brother.”
“Her brother?”
“Yes. We cured his illness.”
I stared at her, wondering if anything coming out of her mouth was truthful.
“In fact,” she said, “one of our gifts to River when she arrived was a cure to her brother’s illness. Along with wealth to solve her mother’s woes. She just took her time in giving them, so I decided to do what was in her interest and give them to her family myself.”
“How did you know about River’s family?”
A smile curled the corners of her lips. “We are jinn, Benjamin. We make it our business to learn about our serfs. It’s our responsibility.”
Serfs. That’s what they see us as.
“We provided gifts to you, too,” she continued, “but perhaps you didn’t realize it. As much human blood as you wanted, without having to make the kill yourself. Is that not what you desired so passionately when you arrived here?”
I couldn’t deny that it was. It had been the only thing on my mind at the time—to be able to have an unlimited supply of blood without needing to commit murders myself and lose myself further in the darkness.