Page 17 of Bewitched By the Djinn
“What is the Ring of Solomon?” Mimi asks.
“One of our own legends. A powerful ring given to King Solomon by the gods. With it, he was able to bind and command djinn. They were forced to obey his every command, build him temples, go to war for him, even die for him.”
“One ring to rule them all,” I intone.
Mimi rolls her eyes, then turns to Bennet. “Myths often come from twisted kernels of truth. So with the Ring of Solomon, djinnare bound and forced to do someone’s bidding, like genies in our stories are bound to lamps and forced to grant three wishes.”
I bite my lip. “So then how are we bound together?”
Mimi shrugs. “Maybe the lamp has some kind of Ring of Solomon-ish power, or Helen has possession of the real thing and when she cast her spell, it caused the binding?”
Bennet lifts his hand. “No. The ring is only a story told to scare djinn children into behaving. Even if it were true, Helen would never do that. She would never hurt or imprison someone intentionally.”
Maybe she would if it meant escaping an arranged marriage.“Okay.” I snap my fingers. “New plan. Maybe we should destroy the lamp?”
“No,” Mimi says immediately. “Not until we know more. Binding curses are tricky. If we destroy the vessel, you could be stuck like this forever.”
I turn back to Bennet. “Do you have any idea where Helen might be?”
“No.”
I slump over and suppress the urge to bang my head onto the table. “Fantastic.”
“Normally I could track her with my magic,” he says slowly. “But I’m unable to access it.” His fists tighten. “I haven’t been able to use any of my power since you expelled me from the lamp.”
I lift my head, studying him. Aha. Hewastrying to compel me before, when I first released him, but he couldn’t because his magic is gone.
“Do you think she’s still in New Orleans?” I ask.
His mouth firms into a thin line. “I don’t know.”
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “So you know absolutely nothing.”
His jaw tics. “I may not know much about your world, but I will find my sister. She’s the only one who can fix this. She created the curse, she can break it. Then you can move on with your life, and I shall move on with mine.”
Poor Helen. Trapped in an arranged marriage, she finds an escape route, only to be hunted down and dragged back by her brother, who apparently has little sympathy for unwilling brides.
“Have they heard of consent in Aetheria?”
Whoops.
Bennet’s mouth pops open.
I lift a hand. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.” What is my business is getting rid of this curse so I can get rid of this djinn and move on with my life, such as it is.
“Helen did consent to the marriage. She has known for years about it. It is how things are done in my world, to unite kingdoms and keep our people safe. She never told me she didn’t want to marry Lord Wallace, and if she had, I would have—” He scrubs his hand through his hair. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we need to find her to fix this.”
Okay, so maybe he’s not quite the long arm of Aetheria’s patriarchy. But does that change anything? I’m too exhausted to deal with any of this right now.
Mimi reaches over, squeezing my hand. “We should all get some rest. The problems will still be here in the morning.” She points at Bennet. “If you hurt anyone in this house, I will kill you.”
Bennet meets her gaze, serious. “I promise I will not harm you or your family.”
Mimi holds his stare a second longer before nodding. “He’s telling the truth, Cass.” She pushes up from the table, moving stiffly.
I move to help her, but she shoos me away. “I’ve got it. Tonight, we sleep. Tomorrow, we figure out our next move.” She glances at Bennet. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can sleep.”
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