Page 13 (1/2)

Prologue

A Dance of Giants

Rusted earth tre eainst her cheeks as though she were stuck within a circle of invisible fire — her lungs oxygen deprived, her tongue thick and teeth dry She blinked, disorientated, wondering where she was and how she had gotten there Her arid and pained eyes found nothing to snag upon as they swept the vast e, deep darkness of the starry night above her folded over on her in its infinite black

“Hello!” she choked out, her voice hoarse and sness

Where am I?

The thought had barely launched into the alien night, when a foreboding rurew louder andthat shook the very ground beneath Ari’s feet

“AAAAAARRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!” A war cry split the world into two as a round, their i Ari off her feet She took a minute to suck back in the breath that had been knocked out of her She winced at the stinging pain as skin scraped off of her elbow, and as rocks bruised the back of her bare thighs The shrieking, pounding, and uproarious explosions of violence that was e that she heard beyond,sounds et to question where she was or why she was still in her pajama shorts and t-shirt

“Holy fu-htened awe under her breath as she scra a piece of flying earth that had been pounded out by the largest fist she’d ever seen Before her, two Jinn fought Two over-sized, forty feet tall Jinn Even from the distance she’d been thrown, her neck craned back to watch the Jinn’s fight Ari forgot to run, to find safety, to listen to her adrenaline The sight wasin and out of fla to be physical evidence of both Jinn’s attehtdark hair abused and bloodied near the forehead, her beautiful face, for the most part, unmarred The male Jinn orse off Blood streamed from cuts on his face as the fean to heal His own long dark hair was falling froht braid as the female attempted to rip it from its hold It occurred to Ari that the beautifulto hurt the fe to hold her off

The feround, knocking Ari off her feet once more Blood trickled down Ari’s arm but she barely noticed as she shakily hurried to stand Her heart raced at the sight of the female Jinn’s sharp-nailed hand she’d wrapped around the rip Ari’s breathing grew shalloith fear at the sight of the stunning gold circlet around his bicep It was smeared with blood so fresh it matched the ruby inset in the aze drift back to his face, and she watched as his dark eyes looked into the female’s eyes in htly around his neck

Without thinking Ari took a step towards theht of thein his eyes She wanted to ease his pain, to wrap her tiny self around him She felt as if she knew him somehow At the same time she was drawn to the female Jinn To her desperate need Her want But for what? What?

“I’ from her luxurious eyes - eyes that matched his “I must”

Before she could execute whatever she ‘must’ the female was thrown by invisible hands and landed with an earth-cracking thus and only stumbled on impact Her eyes widened at the e she could have cliulped, old ankle bracelet that could have chained the boat to dock and the pretty gold toe ring that Ari would have been able to put her head through

The shift of air and the unbearable heat that kissed at Ari’s cheeks like burning pieces of paper, alerted her to his advancing presence The thunderous roar of giant footsteps vibrated through the ground as Ari turned and watched hiantic legs in the bluest of watery silk, to the tightly roped abdoold armlets…

… Ari squinted, the features of his face shadowed by the night as his head reached into the stars

Sing hard Ari took a few steps back, her feet staggering on theuntil he stood braced over the male Jinn’s prone body

“YOU WILL NEVER HAVE HIM, MOTHER OF MINE,” His voice boomed into the world and even the stars dimmed in awe at his words

The fe position She was so beautiful that Ari was transfixed, not wanting to acknowledge the viciousness in the pretty turn of her mouth, and the madness in those velvety eyes Ari had never known such wicked beauty

“YOU WOULD PROTECT HIM FROM ME, MASTER?” Her painted words sang out in glittering ethereality and Ari found herself sighing along with the earth

“I WOULD PROTECT YOU FROM YOURSELF”

“NO!” Her shriek sliced the ether, shattering the stars into pieces Ari’s hands flew to her ears as she was blown back off her feet for what felt like the fifteenth ti to play catch up What had she missed? What had HE said? What did it mean? Why did she feel such despair?

Her body slammed into softness and Ari’s eyes flew open