Free The Haunted Sultan (Skeleton Key) by Gillian Zane, Skeleton Key Page B

sound. The shadows were deeper back there. The light from the one gas lamp in the center of the courtyard did nothing to penetrate the darkness.
    “Welcome,” a snakelike voice hissed from the shadows.
    Sierra made a tiny squeal of surprise, but gripped the scimitar with a death grip and brandished it in front of her.
    “We’re here to help. We’re here to save the Sultan, you can’t hurt us,” she said with more bravado than she felt.
    “What can you do, female? You cannot save anyone, not even yourself,” the voice hissed and Sierra looked down, noticing the swirl of fog at her ankles. It was thick and moved around the courtyard as if it had a mind of its own.
    “I’m here to help,” she said boldly.
    “We’re here to help,” Owen added and Sierra smiled gratefully at him.
    “There is nothing you can do. Take your female and leave. If you stay, you shall join us for eternity. I shall feed off your pain and your lust until your souls evaporate. I rule this place, this is my domain. Leave or I shall own you!” The fog coalesced around them. It started to become thicker in front of them, forming into the shape of a man.
    “We won’t leave until we’ve helped the souls trapped here,” Sierra called out.
    “You will help no one!” the voice yelled. “You have come to feed me!” The fog moved in a parody of a living man. Slowly features were forming. The fog solidified into dark, black skin, bright green eyes, shining from the shape that was the head.
    “What are you?” Owen asked, not stepping back even though the thing was only a foot away, dark and demonic.
    “I am the Peri, the Jinn, the demon of your nightmares. This is my domain. You have come to feed me, everything that comes here feeds me. I was given this domain to rule. I feast and I have become stronger than ever before because of my feast. And now you have come to make me even stronger!” The black shaped thing made a move like it was going to attack and both Sierra and Owen held up their blades in protection.
    The demon began to laugh.
    “Your paltry human weapons are nothing against my might.”
    The demon was getting solid. Sierra knew she couldn’t let it form into a solid thing, something bad would happen if it got that far. She didn’t know how she knew that, but it felt right. She had to destroy this thing, but had no idea of how to do it. She was mesmerized by the swirling of the fog as it slowly began to become more defined, more real. She noticed jewels sparkling at its throat and wrists. She began to see the pattern of its clothes. The color of its hair.
    “We will defeat you, demon,” Owen said.
    “You cannot defeat me. I have been given this place. It is mine! I am the ruler.”
    “Who gave you permission to rule here?” Owen asked.
    “The Sultan, Abduliziz, sent me as a gift to his brother. His brother, the coward who fled like a dog to the New World. The Sultan sent me to decimate and rule and I did what he ordered. Who are you, boy, to question me?” He was now almost fully formed. Sierra was surprised that he took the shape of a handsome Middle Eastern man, with skin the color of bronze and long dark hair that flowed down his back. He almost looked like the Sultan. The only testament to his otherworldliness was the glowing green eyes that shone from his sockets.
    “We told you why we were here,” Owen said and with one quick motion he shoved the scimitar through the Peri’s midsection. The blade, wickedly sharp, slid through the demon’s body like butter. The thing looked confused and then he began to laugh, the scimitar still stuck within his stomach, blood pouring from the wound.
    Sierra struck, shoving her blade through the chest of the thing, adding her blade to Owen's. Both blades stuck within the demon. But still it laughed.
    “You can weaken me, but you cannot kill me!” he yelled as he collapsed to the floor, his body turning to sand before their eyes.
    “I hope that was the help that was needed,”