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“Thanks,” Cairo whispered, but the word seemed to hold all his world—a world where love pitted him against a tyrant whose veins coursed with flames.
“Let’s regroup and figure this out. No more running blindly into djinni tricks.” My voice held a firmness I barely felt, but if we were going to save Poppy—and Cairo’s sanity—we had no choice but to be as cunning as the creatures we hunted. “Let’s boogie on out of this underground inferno before our luck turns toastier,” I said, the edges of my words singed with the smoke that still lingered in the air.
“Boogie?” Niko said, one brow raised in amusement despite the gravity of our situation. “Is this 1978?”
“Hey, that’s about when these tunnels were built. Anyway, any era that gave us disco balls can’t be all bad,” I shot back, offering him a grin while massaging the spot Cairo’s touch had seared. It seemed even without flames, Zayn’s reach left a lasting burn.
Elijah coughed, waving away imaginary smoke from his face. “I think our next dance needs to be more... ‘Stayin’ Alive’ than ‘Disco Inferno,’ just saying.”
“Agreed,” Helen chimed in, her bouffant somehow still defying the laws of humidity. “No more fiery surprises. I only like my hair hot when it’s intentional.”
“Back to the Crystal Court Pyramid then,” I declared. “We’ll regroup and come up with something brilliant. Or at least something that doesn’t involve getting barbecued by djinn magic.”
“Follow me,” Niko said, the blue in his eyes hardening into ice at the mention of the ifrit king.
“Should’ve worn my flame-retardant boots,” Elijah mumbled, trailing behind.
“Next time, darling.” Helen’s voice was soothing, her presence a cool balm against the heat of fear rising within me.
As we made our way out of the tunnels, each step took us further from the immediate danger but closer to a puzzle that had us chasing shadows. The heat from Cairo’s touch had faded into a dull ache, but the fire of determination was kindling inside me.
Zayn had thrown the gauntlet, and by all the disco gods, we were going to moonwalk right over it.
CHAPTER 10
The office was suffocating, a mix of desperation and the pizza no one but Elijah had touched. The scent mingled with the smoky aroma wafting off Cairo as he paced the room, a column of tension wrapped in a suave British accent as he used his magic to track his enemy. He was a caged desert storm—beautiful, dangerous, and utterly out of place among the filing cabinets and my half-dead ficus.
“Zayn is closer to his original hideout than we thought,” Cairo finally said, his voice carrying an edge sharp enough to slice through the uneasy silence.
I sat up straighter. “Close enough for a pizza delivery or close enough to borrow a cup of sugar?”
Cairo stopped pacing and locked eyes with me, his gaze heavy with unspoken warnings.
“Where?” I asked. The word was a bullet, shot straight to the heart of the matter.
“Zayn is ensconced in an abandoned store, still in the closed-down tunnels under downtown Dallas, to be exact.”
I nodded slowly. “We’ll go back, then.” After a pause, I added, “But not tonight. Now that he knows we’re coming, we’ll need better preparation.”
“Careful, Tessa. His flames do not merely singe; they consume.” Cairo’s warning sent a shiver through me.
“Then let’s see who gets burned.” My lips twisted into a grin, but behind my bravado, I knew the stakes were high. Zayn wouldn’t play fair.
Then again, neither did I.
“Hey, Helen,” I called out, hoping my voice didn’t betray the undercurrent of desperation I felt. “Got room for one more at your fabulous abode?”
Helen paused mid-strut and turned to face me. She cocked an eyebrow, platinum blonde hair immaculate even after our underground adventure. “For you, darling, always.” She flashed a smile that could light up the Vegas Strip. “But I’m guessing this isn’t about you needing a place to crash.”
“Got it in one,” I said, nodding toward Cairo. “Could Cairo bunk at your place tonight?”
She glanced over at Elijah, who had already started to look like a beanstalk that decided to grow horizontally across my second-hand couch. “Babe,” she called to him, “you don’t mind if we cuddle at your place tonight, do you? Seems our genie friend needs my bed more than I do.”
Elijah pushed himself upright, running a hand through his perpetually disheveled hair. “Long as you’re there, I’m good anywhere.”
“Settled then.” Helen tossed a key ring in Cairo’s direction and rattled off the address. “Just don’t touch my wigs, and we’ll all live happily ever after.”
“Thanks,” Cairo said, catching the keys with a small, grateful smile.
