I heaved a sigh as I stared blankly at the opposite wall over her shoulder.
“I don’t know, Corrine,” I murmured. “All I know is, this is a journey I have to make alone.”
Chapter 27: Derek
To everyone’s angst—especially Ibrahim’s—Corrine still hadn’t returned. Ibrahim became convinced that she must have ventured out to The Oasis, and that she was now stuck there along with Ben. I returned with him to the desert to try to get Ben’s attention—although my son believed himself to be trapped there, at least he could have the jinn free Corrine. But nobody came. We could only assume that Ben couldn’t hear us and we had no choice but to return to The Shade.
Our belief about what had happened to Corrine only fueled my determination to crack The Oasis.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the bond my son had formed with the jinn. I just couldn’t accept that there was no way out for him. Perhaps it was all the obstacles and seemingly undefeatable supernaturals that we’d had to deal with in the past, or perhaps it was just my stubbornness, but I was incapable of accepting the situation.
I had no idea where to start, but our island was filled with supernatural creatures from all places and backgrounds. I found it hard to believe that not a single one of them would be able to shed any light on these jinn. So I called for anyone in The Shade who had even the slightest bit of knowledge to step forward and visit me in our penthouse.
It turned out that all of our witches, including Mona, were clueless—never having encountered a jinni in their lives—and so were our vampires, werewolves, and of course our humans, many of whom had spent their whole lives in The Shade and couldn’t be expected to know anything else outside of it.
I even tried asking the ogres, who—perhaps predictably—just shrugged and looked at me like I was talking French.
My answer came from an unexpected source—from one of the dragons, Jeriad himself. I was relieved when in the late hour of the evening, he came knocking at the door of my and Sofia’s penthouse. He caught me alone, since Sofia was at Vivienne’s place—Vivienne was due to give birth any day now.
I opened the door and laid eyes on the imposing dragon shifter standing on the doorstep.
“Jeriad.”
“You seek information about jinn.”
At first I was surprised that Jeriad had come to see me only now. Then I realized that none of the dragons had examined Ben or River before we left for The Oasis. If they had seen their marks before we took off, they might have been able to guess that it was jinn we were up against.
“Yes,” I said eagerly. “Come in.”
He stepped inside, his eyes traveling around the living room, before looking back at me. It occurred to me that this was the first time he had ever stepped inside our treehouse. I offered him a seat on the sofa, but he remained standing.
“Back in The Hearthlands, we had some experience with jinn. There was a time when we even made allies out of some.”
“What can you tell me about them?”
“For one thing, they are not easy to bargain with,” he said. “The jinn inhabiting The Oasis—we have no experience with that particular tribe. But we have had ties with others. We also know where their realm is and how to reach it.”
I felt a blow of disappointment. “But not knowing anything about this particular tribe… how could this help my son? He is bound to the jinn of The Oasis, and not to the species as a whole, as he explained it.”
The dragon paused, and wet his lower lip thoughtfully.
“That is true,” he replied. “But jinn as a species… they are usually quite interconnected. Many have ties with each other, whether they like it or not.”
“What do you mean by ties?”
“It’s rather complicated,” he said, “and there’s not much point me going into detail now when I don’t know for sure that what I have in mind would work… but what I’m suggesting is that we pay a visit to their realm with you. Due to the relations we dragons have had with them in the past—at least, our tribe of dragons—the jinn hold some respect for us. There’s a certain family of jinn who live there whom I would like to meet with.”
I didn’t understand exactly how meeting jinn who lived in a different realm could help my son who was trapped on earth in The Oasis. But I trusted Jeriad, and we had nothing else on the table, so I wasn’t going to start questioning him.
“So you would take us there?”
Jeriad nodded. “Of course,” he continued, “we cannot guarantee your safety. Jinn are subtle, tricky creatures, and even our might is not much good against them. It has been a long time since we’ve had contact with those creatures, and I’m not sure that they would still welcome us into their midst as they once did. So you must be aware that there is an element of danger involved in the excursion.”
I nodded, clenching my jaw.
“Also,” he added, after another moment’s pause, “I suggest that every single dragon here in The Shade go along.”
“Why’s that?” I said, feeling uneasy at the idea of such a huge chunk of the island’s security taking off at once.
“As I said, I don’t know exactly what the jinn’s reaction will be to our visit. The minds of jinn are fickle and ever-changing. They can quickly develop dislikes toward others, often for no good reason. It’s hard to predict what their temperament might be toward dragons when we arrive. Hence, I suggest we travel in force… and also that no witches travel with us.”