Page 100 of Heavensent & Hellbent

I put my hand on Zain’s arm, wondering if I was being a fool as I said the words “I believe her.”

“We could just kill her,” Keyon offered with a smile. “Might make things a little easier.”

“In what world would that make any of this easier?” I retorted.

“Well, she could be leading us to our enemies,” he purred.“Is that what you’re doing?” he asked her, like she would reveal her plot to him. Except, when he asked her that question, she wore a dazed expression, almost as though she was resting with her eyes wide open.

My eyes darted from her to Keyon, whose focus never left her face. “What is he doing to her?” I muttered to Zain. He squeezed my hand.

“I think seeing into her mind,” he said.

“Jinn can do that?”

“Some can.”

And then Pouran snapped out of it. She appeared deeply affronted and took a step back from us all, reaching into the folds of her cloak to produce a dagger.

Keyon barked out a laugh. “I only wanted to see your intentions.”

“Getoutof my head,” she said.

“And?” Azar asked Keyon. “What did you see?”

“You’ll believe whatever he says he saw, because…?” Zain said.

Keyon ignored Zain. “She is telling the truth.”

“Right, well now that we have established that, we haven’t got long,” Pouran said. “Shall we go?”

It would be so easy for us to just flee, but the problem would never go away. I would always be haunted by Zahhak, and he had killed so many just to sustain his unnatural body. Only Azar and I had the power to break him. We had to do this.

“Let’s go,” I said, kicking off my heels.

Pouran led us through the palace with stealth, though themain floor we were on was deserted and eerily silent. Zain and I walked directly behind Pouran, while Azar and Keyon were behind us.

Pouran stood in front of a small wooden door, which I assumed was a closet until she opened it and exposed a rickety spiral staircase going down into the depths of the palace. It was completely black, with no light. Without hesitation, she began her descent, and we followed. The air grew thicker and heavier with each step, smoke and the enveloping darkness gaining power.

Zain gripped my hand tightly. I knew what he wanted to say, that it wasn’t too late to back out of this. Except it was, and he and I both knew it.

I struggled to get down the stairs in the dress. Zain made us pause on the steps and ripped the bottom of it so the fabric stopped at my calves instead.

“I have a feeling you’ve wanted to do that for a while,” I said.

His lips quirked. “It’s awful.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He leaned in close. “You look beautiful in anything, but seeing you in a wedding dress for someone other than me…”

I shivered. “I see.”

The staircase seemed to continue its spiral without end. I began to feel dizzy and had to skim my fingertips over the handrail to balance myself.

“While I’ve been gone, have you seen my dad and Ehsan?” I whispered.

I could barely make out his features, though I felt his presence behind me. “When I didn’t hear from you, I went back to your house. I heard your dad—he was frantic, looking through your things in your bedroom. I heard him from the outside saying you had run away. He and Ehsan were upset, but they’re okay. I made sure of it.”

Even though I had been the one to ask, the description of my dad and brother was too much for me to deal with, so instead I asked, “How can you make sure of that when you’re here?”