Page 54 of Heavensent & Hellbent

“I asked you to take me.”

“Yeah, well.Ishould have known better.” His eyes tightened. “I’m sorry, Roxana.”

“What for?”

“For everything. For bringing you into this, for what happened to your mom, for all of it.”

Now that my body had calmed, I really saw the boy in front of me. Pain was etched into his features, from the tightness of his jaw to the dark look in his eyes to his lowered brows. He gently gnawed at his bottom lip, gaze fixed on the dashboard, the air between us thick. When he turned to me, his teeth released his lip. I redirected my attention to his eyes, now doughy.

Neither of us spoke. I couldn’t form the right words. Jamshid had uncovered so much, but in doing so he had unlocked a whole new set of questions. What business did my mum have with jinn? And when he said our union was forbidden…?

I had a feeling Zain was thinking the same thing.

“We should probably leave here,” I said faintly.

“Yeah.” He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his knuckles white, like he was forcing himself not to break the wheel off altogether. “But first…” He pulled the two vials out of his pocket. The liquid inside was clear. “If we don’t want the jinn intercepting us again…”

I reached for the parchment, and written in script was:

This potion will only last seven days. It will render you undetectable to those who wish to track you. You must mix each vial with both of your blood before drinking one each. With your blood in each other’s system, it will muddy your scent.

“We have to drink each other’s blood?” I said.

Zain nodded. “It’s a bit gross, but…”

“Necessary,” I finished for him.

What happened next was quick, possibly because we were in public and getting it over with was the best course of action. Zain retrieved the now clean dagger from his glove compartment and pricked the end of his finger, plopping two drops of blood into each vial. I did the same; it stung way more than Zain let on. We swirled each vial, the liquid now a gross pink.

“Ready?” Zain asked, lifting his vial in the air. I tapped mine to his. “I have to be,” I muttered, and we both downed the potion. It was metallic and bitter.

“This is only a temporary solution.” Zain sighed. “But better than nothing.”

“Will it work on the figure in my dreams, do you think?”

“I’m not sure, as that jinn seems to have some kind of link to you to be able to enter your dreams in the first place.”

A link.

I gulped, not saying anything else as he pulled out of the spot. I took my phone out of my bag. I had messages from my dad informing me that he had returned from the conference and was going to Penny’s for dinner with Ehsan. He said he’d left money on the countertop for me to get myself some takeout. The mundanity of the messages, the fact that they had been sent when I was in another dimension, was jarring. I replied to say that I was having dinner with Cleo, and he merely sent a thumbs-up in response. It was odd how little he cared when he was distracted by Penny. I never knew what mood he would be in.

A thought, one I’d first had back in Jamshid’s home, came to me. I was unable to push it away, couldn’t keep what came out next inside me. “Just because Jamshid said we were twin flames doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s not like I expect you to fall in love with me or something.”

We were down my street in record time.

“Rox…” Zain began with a sigh.

“Park on the next block over,” I said, turning my head away from the house as he drove past it. “My dad,” I explained.

“Right, yeah.” Zain stopped the car around the corner and killed the ignition.

I couldn’t face him; I shouldn’t have said anything, and from his tone, I definitely didn’t want to hear what he was going to say, so instead I unbuckled my seat belt.

“I better go,” I said, picking up my bag from the floor. Zain put his hand over mine, his grip firm, but then a second later gentle.

“Will you look at me?” he asked.

Reluctantly, I did. Zain’s eyes were pleading.