Page 83 of Heavensent & Hellbent

“You are home now, and your maidens will ensure you’re comfortable in your room,” Zahhak said, voice strained, still no doubt disgusted by the stench of vomit in the narrow corridor.

“Take me back to Denver. This isn’t my home.”

“That simply is not going to happen. You’ve proven yourself to be untrustworthy.” He turned away, crossing paths with two cloaked figures who parted to let him past.

I remembered Ehsan downstairs, watching his TV show. He would notice I was gone. And…“My dad—” I began.

“Has been left a heartfelt note about how much youhateDenver—and him,” he said over his shoulder. “Don’t worry—it was very convincing.”

The cloaked figures began to move toward me.

Please don’t leave me with these things.The words almost left my lips, but what was I thinking? Was I really any safer with the Jinn King than whatever these things were? They were only a little taller than me, their cloaks akin to Zahhak’s. With him gone from view, turning out of the corridor, they cornered me.

I gulped, preparing to say something, anything, but I wasn’t given the chance before one of them grabbed my hands and pulled them to my back in a firm grip.

“Ow!” I yelled.

Another wrapped a cloak around my shoulders, protectingmy modesty after the useless towel fell in a heap at my feet. The fabric was harsh against my bare skin. The two on the right of me started walking, and that’s when I was turned around and pushed along. I had two maidens behind me, holding me, and two in front, leading me. Neither said anything, nor did they respond to my yelling, asking where exactly they were taking me. The end of the corridor led to a spiral staircase in what appeared to be a tower, and then I knew where I was: Rabiya’s Underworld home. While in my flashbacks I had seen her castle in Persia, this was the palace she grew up in.

The maidens left me pretty much as soon as they dropped me off in the bedroom upstairs. The door was quickly locked. In the center of the chamber, against the wall, was a large four-poster bed with a burgundy-embroidered blanket atop it. Across the room, opposite the bed, was a large window. Facing the obscured view were a dressing table and stool.

I ran over to the window, pushing the heavy curtains back, disappointment encircling me when I saw the bars on it. A new addition. I slipped my small hands through them to try to open the window, but it was bolted shut.

I flopped onto the bed, not expecting it to be quite as hard as it was. Artwork decorated the ceiling, a depiction of the sun at its center, surrounded by wispy clouds. The brushwork was soft and if I hadn’t been in captivity, I might have found it beautiful, even calming. But reality hit too heavily for such musings.

I couldn’t stop hoping that Zain would somehow save me. But Zahhak picked the perfect time to do all this—after I had murdered two jinn hunters. If Zain knew what I had done,what I was capable of, would he even come to help me? A stirring within me reminded me that I didn’t need saving. That I was no damsel in distress. That I’d proven I could fight and kill if it came down to it.

My mental spiral was interrupted by a clattering to my right—opposite the door I had come in from. It sounded like it was coming from the wardrobe, and I sprang from the bed, tightening the cloak around my waist as I crept toward it.

There was shouting, though I couldn’t hear what was being said, or understand how it was coming from my wardrobe. But as I neared it, I realized that next to my wardrobe was another door. From my position on the bed, the wardrobe had obstructed my view of the door. My heart was beating too loudly for me to hear properly, and I took deep breaths to try to tell it to shut up.

“Let me out of here!” a girl yelled, louder this time.

Not just any girl.

“Azar!” I shouted, grabbing the brass door handle and yanking it. It was locked, of course. “Azar! Is that you?”

“Roxana!” my sister exclaimed, and I was met with the same motion on the other side of the door, of her trying to open it, and then the impact of her pounding her fist against the wood. “You’re going to need to boot the door open!” She said it like that was the easiest thing in the world. Like I, Roxana Esfandari, had ever in my life kicked a door down.

“Can’tyoudo it?” I asked.

“It opens from my side—that won’t work. Come on, just boot it as hard as you can.”

“Okay,” I began, gassing myself up. “Move back.” I also stepped back before raising my bare foot in the air and kicking the center of the door with as much strength as I could muster. The effect was nothing more than a mediocrebang.“I told you.”

Even though I couldn’t see Azar, I knew exactly what expression she had on her face. That of exasperation, eyebrows furrowed together, lip twitching. She hated nothing more than incompetence, especially when it came from me.

“You’re a jinn!” she yelled. “You’re strong, you can do this, you just need to believe you can—that’s the trick.”

“Wait, what? Youknew?”

Faintly, I heard a noise of frustration. “Obviously, but now isn’t the time. One of our powers is literally that we have extreme strength. Believe you can kick it down, Rox.”

“Can’t I just set it on fire?” Somehow throwing fireballs from my hand felt much easier.

“And burn the place down? With us in it?” Azar sighed.

“Right, good point,” I muttered.