One option was to tell him that we had been kidnapped, but that was no less alarming. I just tried to be as truthful as possible without completely blowing his fragile mind.

“We’re in Egypt, near Cairo,” I said. “I’m not sure why you woke up in this room. I’ve been away from everyone for a while…” I wasn’t sure if he’d been able to follow what was happening, or remembered. It seemed that he hadn’t, because he raised a brow as though it was news to him. “I got into some trouble recently… Look, Jamil. It’s complicated but I promise I’m going to give you a full explanation. For now, just know that I’m not entirely sure how or why you’re here. I just know that I need to help you get out.”

He nodded slowly, wetting his lower lip. “Okay, and how do we do that?”

“I’m going to try to find out. But while I do, I think it’s best that you stay in this room.”

To my surprise, he winced. Then he reached for his right upper arm. He pulled up the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal the tattoo of a black cross.

Oh, no.

“And do you know what this is?” he asked, grimacing. “It’s stinging like hell. I have no idea how it got there, or who put it on me. I just woke up with it.”

As much as my heart was still bursting with more joy than I knew how to handle over Jamil’s miraculous recovery, I couldn’t help but feel a building sense of dread. My eyes traveled nervously to the dove still flapping about in the small ornate cage.

In this strange, wondrous place called The Oasis, I doubted there was anything that came without a price.

Chapter 12: Ben

I hated to watch River leave me, but I gave in to her request. I understood. We were at these creatures’ mercy, and aggravating them would only work against us.

And so I remained waiting in that massive living room. Although I didn’t sit. I kept pacing up and down, waiting for River and Nuriya to return.

To my dismay, the jinni returned alone. Her golden eyes fixed on me as she floated across the room.

“Now, Benjamin,” she said softly. “I’m all yours.”

“Where’s River?” I asked, my stomach clenching.

“She’s just in the other room, with her brother.”

“Her brother?”

“Yes. We cured his illness.”

I stared at her, wondering if anything coming out of her mouth was truthful.

“In fact,” she said, “one of our gifts to River when she arrived was a cure to her brother’s illness. Along with wealth to solve her mother’s woes. She just took her time in giving them, so I decided to do what was in her interest and give them to her family myself.”

“How did you know about River’s family?”

A smile curled the corners of her lips. “We are jinn, Benjamin. We make it our business to learn about our serfs. It’s our responsibility.”

Serfs. That’s what they see us as.

“We provided gifts to you, too,” she continued, “but perhaps you didn’t realize it. As much human blood as you wanted, without having to make the kill yourself. Is that not what you desired so passionately when you arrived here?”

I couldn’t deny that it was. It had been the only thing on my mind at the time—to be able to have an unlimited supply of blood without needing to commit murders myself and lose myself further in the darkness.

“Then we watched over you even after you decided to leave us,” she said. “During your time away, we made sure you had ample blood and protected both of you from danger.”

That would explain a lot.

So these creatures are some kind of mystic mind readers. How extensive their mental powers were, I couldn’t be sure. But it was clear to me that these tattoos they etched into each of their “serfs” forged a close connection between them and us.

Jeramiah had a tattoo, along with all the other vampires and half-bloods I saw. They too must be servants to the jinn.

“Where is my family?” I demanded once again.

“I told you already, they are here. And they are safe. And they shall remain safe. Because they are under our care now, they, too, are my responsibility.”

“What do you mean exactly by responsibility?”

“I mean we take care of our own.”

“Neither I, River, her family nor any of my people are your own,” I snapped.

Amusement played across her face. “Anyone who seeks out The Oasis becomes our own. Desiring The Oasis means desiring our home, which in turn means desiring us… which means we desire you.”

This woman is insane.

Clearly, she was living in a different reality to me, a reality I needed to understand and learn the rules of if I was to get us all out of this mess.

“I see,” I said, although I saw nothing. I was trying to reel in my temper. “So you consider us your serfs?”

She chuckled. “Yes and no. You are serfs, and yet you are also much more than that to me, my child. You are part of our family.” Before I could stop her, she leaned down and pressed her petal-like lips against my forehead in a tender kiss before drawing away again. “We take pleasure in fulfilling the desires of our loved ones, as you will come to take pleasure in fulfilling ours… You may address me as Mother, if you like.”

This conversation was becoming more absurd by the sentence.

One mother is enough for me, thanks.

“So,” I said, trying to follow her line of logic, “if you see me as your family—indeed, as your son—and you want to make me happy, I’m telling you what would make me very happy. Free River, her family, my family and everyone else you swiped from the desert in the last hour.”