An ancient necromantic text, a mythical buried city, and her half-djinn guardian, Jack Cowen, lead Amanda Harrington into a world of magic, danger, and the sultry heat of mystical desert nights.

Led by the voice of a long forgotten goddess and fighting a passion as ancient as the stars above, Jack and Amanda race across Ar Rub'al-Khali (thousands of miles of uncharted sand occupying the empty quarter of the Arabian Desert) searching for the legendary Gates of Jahannum.

Here they will battle a powerful mage who intends to force open the door to hell and release an army of the dead to prey upon the living.

If they can make it there in time.

And if Jack can come to terms with the immortal being who is forever bonded to his soul.

(The following excerpt has not been professionally edited.)

The Gates of Jahannum ~ Chapter One

He stood upon a dune the size of a mountain and watched the moon sparkle like silver off the shifting sands. Its beauty was breathtaking, yet his spirit refused to be at peace, a restlessness forcing him to wander the night, march across land few humans had ever seen, climb to where he could almost touch the sky and roar his aloneness to the icy stars above.

It had been over twenty years since Jack Cowen agreed to the transition that bonded a djinni soul with his, making him a strange and alien creature who was never at peace in the world of magic, and never at home in the world of men.

And tonight, not even the company of his brothers-the three other men who shared his fate-could do anything to lessen the burden threatening to crush his heart. The future stretched endlessly before him, hundreds upon hundreds of years of isolation.

He had riches. Power most men would die for. With a flick of his fingers he could call into being whatever he desired.

But he had long learned the curse of the magic. It was fleeting, insubstantial, leaving an even greater hunger in its wake.

Raising his hands, Jack summoned the wind. It wailed around him, a living thing, sending shards of sand to dig into his skin like glass. But the sting was not enough to clear the shadows from his thoughts. For long moments he stood and let the storm scour him clean, then he dropped his hands and the desert calmed to silence.

In the sudden quiet he heard her call. Her summons crawled into his being, biting deep into his senses, the blow to his psyche felling him to his knees. He clutched his stomach as his head swam and his vision blurred.

"Aman," he whispered. "I come."

Like one of the faithful at prayer, he spread his arms and welcomed her voice into his soul. Agony blossomed along his nerves as he partially shifted form, wings splitting the flesh of his back as they unfurled, enormous spans of flesh that caught the breeze and hurled him toward the heavens.

For an instant the djinni warred for control, but Jack forced the creature back, refusing to leave his humanity behind. He had to remain in control.

She summoned. He would obey.

But he would not appear before her like some monster from an ancient tale. He would maintain a vestige of his humanity, no matter that the physical pain would drive a mortal man insane. It was his duty. It was the price he paid for what he was.