“Try me!” Vijay Bhai hollered back. He turned to Ahmad. “I’m going to get you as close to that window as you can. Put all your energy into your feet and try to imagine you’re a spring. Jump and don’t look down.”

Ahmad swallowed hard and nodded.

The balloon swerved and slid closer to the window.

“You’re making me lose my temper, little Mirza,” the jinn rasped. Ahmad focused on his uncle’s eyes.

“You can do this,” Vijay Bhai said firmly. “You’re a Mirza.”

Ahmad jumped. He did look down, but all he caught sight of was his own blurry sneakers.

“Oof!” He landed hard, every bone in his body shrieking. But there was no time to worry about that.

“Ahmad!” Winnie gasped, rushing up to him. “Are you okay? You still have the soul?”

“Yeah,” Ahmad managed. He drew the monkey figurine out of his pocket.

“Don’t you dare!” the jinn roared. Ahmad could feel the palace jittering beneath them. “You . . . foolish . . . impudent . . . human!”

Winnie set her jaw, backing up toward the door. She held up a hand. Ahmad tossed forward the flame and her fingers clamped around it.

The jinn’s giant head appeared at level with the balcony, peering at them triumphantly. Ahmad backed away, eyes wide. The creature was ablaze from its head to its toes, fire dancing up and down its arms.

“You shall not . . . overtake me that easily,” the jinn panted, reaching out for him with a blazing arm. “I know about you, Ahmad Mirza. This won’t save you from who you are, and what you are. This is a battle you can’t win, and you’re waging it alone.”

“No,” Ahmad said. “No, I’m not alone. And this a battle we’re winning. Together.”

The jinn caught sight of Winnie behind Ahmad, though, and wailed.

“No!”

Winnie stamped on the flame with one foot. It extinguished against the cool marble tiles.

Everything happened very quickly after that, but Ahmad couldn’t say exactly what happened.

The jinn keened and Ahmad heard a sudden, vicious sound: a catching of flame and a collapsing in all at once that reminded him of a house on fire crumbling apart.

The palace itself fell too. Ahmad and Winnie clung to each other, screaming, as it plummeted and crashed against the ground around them.

They were tossed up and back down, groaning as elbows and stomachs collided.

“Winnie, you okay?” Ahmad gritted out.

“Ugh, I think every bone is broken. Oh, wait, maybe not my pinkie.”

“We did it,” Ahmad whispered. “We did it!”

Winnie scrambled up, her eyes wide. “Did we? We need to go outside and see!”

Ahmad stumbled up and the kids rushed out. Could that really have been the end of the jinn?

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

AHMAD AND WINNIE PICKED their way out of the rubble into the sunlight.