LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY New York • Boston
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Manny rested his forearms on the table. “I’d like you to tell me what you know of jinn.” I shrugged. “The basics, I guess. Allah made them from smokeless fire, like he made angels from light and humans from clay. That’s what the Quran says, at least.” “Exactly.” Manny set his glass down. “In Islamic theology, jinn live and die in a realm beyond human perception and are rarely, if ever, seen by us. But according to some accounts—call them myths or folklore—jinn were once able to travel between our worlds through portals, called Shubaak. Just like humans, jinn could be good, bad, or somewhere in between. The problem was, their ability to manipulate the laws of physics in this realm made them extremely powerful. Immortal, even. Thanks to his ring, Solomon managed to control that power and maintain a fragile peace for many years. Right up until Iblis declared war against humankind.” “The Children of Iblis,” I whispered. “That’s right,” Manny said. “As I’m sure you know, Iblis was the jinn who refused Allah’s command to bow down before Adam, peace be upon him. Iblis believed mankind was inferior to the jinn, having been created later, and from clay rather than fire. After he fell from 165
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grace with Allah, Iblis convinced other w eak-minded and wicked jinn to join with him in his war. Together, they were called the Children of Iblis, and they grew extremely influential during Solomon’s reign. In fact, were it not for Solomon’s ability to hold them in check, humans would have been enslaved by jinn thousands of years ago. And slaves we would still be today.” “Okay, so where does the Shubaak come in? ” I asked, thinking back to Dr. Sawalha’s paper. “We’ll get to that momentarily,” Manny said. “For as Solomon grew older, Iblis and his followers devised a plan to steal the ring. A small group of jinn loyal to Solomon learned of Iblis’s plan, and told their king. It was then that Solomon realized no human would ever be truly safe as long as jinn were allowed to remain in this realm, practicing what amounted to magic. So he issued a decree that all jinn were to return to their own world by sunrise the next day, or remain trapped here, stripped of their powers and immortality, forever.” I dropped my chin into my hands. “The ring let him turn them into humans?” “Effectively, yes. Now, at that time, there were four Shubaak, four portals to the jinn realm, in existence. When sunrise came, Solomon destroyed three of them, 166
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saving the last for fear of destroying completely a passage willed by Allah. Then he used the ring’s magic to strip all powers from those jinn who had ignored his warning, trapping them on this side forever. And where their eyes had once been the color of pure gold, Solomon took all but the trace of it you see around the irises of the jinn’s descendants today.” I looked at Nuala. “You have those eyes. So do Asim and Decker and the two women following me around town like bad credit.” “Of course they do,” Manny said. “They are descended from the Children of Iblis. Some, like Asim and Nuala, wear the reminder of their ancestor’s rebellion like a scar. Others consider it a call to arms, and believe that finding Solomon’s ring will restore their rightful powers. The Children of Iblis have convinced their followers that if they gain possession of the ring and the Shubaak King Solomon chose not to destroy, they will be able to reopen the passage between human and jinn realms, and bring forth jinn armies to enslave humanity. In short, to the Children of Iblis, the rebellion that began three thousand years ago is still very much alive.” “So,” I said, putting my doubts on hold, “there are 167
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certain genetically linked . . . individuals with gold- ringed eyes running around Las Almas, calling themselves the Children of Iblis, looking for a ring and a bottle they think will give them magical powers and let them take over the world.” Manny nodded. “And magical or not, any artifact from King Solomon’s reign definitely would be worth a fortune and a half,” I went on. “Add in the fact that these individuals believe they’re actually jinn, and that makes them dangerous for real.” “Precisely,” Manny said. “They are very, very dangerous.” All the things I’d learned from Sam and Emmet ouble-sided puzzle were starting to fit together like d pieces. There really was a cult out t here—a cult of batshit crazy, funky-eyed nut jobs convinced they were genies poised to take over the world. To make things worse, they were brainwashing high school kids, getting them to help hunt down Solomon’s ring and the Shubaak and do God knew what else. Gemma had been right: her brother was in trouble. Serious, messed‑up trouble. I pressed the inside corners of my eyes. Took a deep breath. 168
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