by S. Young
Head whirling at this new information, Ari narrowed her eyes at his last comment. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head, seeming to marvel at the fact that she hadn’t put two and two together. “The ifrit living in your home for a start.”
She frowned. “The ifrit? There’s no—” she gasped. “Ms. Maggie? My poltergeist?”
“Not a poltergeist,” Jai replied from the doorway. “Ifrit. A solid, living being. She’s just invisible. She’s been using the Cloak to stay hidden.”
Crushed, Ari tried to hide her upset. “I thought she was my friend. I mean, she’s been nice to me. She’s been my friend.”
Jai grunted. “Ifrits are rarely friendly.”
Hugging her arms around her body, Ari tried to remind herself that she wasn’t alone just because Ms. Maggie turned out to be jinn. She had her dad. And Charlie. Charlie who was probably going crazy wondering where the hell she was. Oh God, Charlie. She needed Charlie. “I should call Charlie.”
“About that…” The Red King grimaced. “The brother. The kid that died… your ifrit tells me that was a labartu.”
“You’ve spoken to Ms. Maggie? Wait… what… Mike? What’s a labartu?”
“Yes. I questioned the ifrit for answers and I also sent her on from here while you were searching the house like a hellion with a baseball bat. Moreover, I tidied away the mess from your party btw. You’re welcome.”
Ari blinked, only now realizing in all the craziness that the house was clean. She nodded wearily. “I appreciate it.”
He shrugged. “Anyway, according to the ifrit, your friend Nick is possessed by a young jinn attracted to you, and a labartu killed your friend Charlie’s little brother; a labartu is a jinn that specifically gets off on the destruction of young children. The cyclist that came out of nowhere wasn’t human. It was a she. A labartu. And she killed Mike.”
Like someone had snapped their fingers and pulled her into a trance, everything that she’d been told, her father, her mother, her uncle… it all fell away. She stood up. Ari had something she could fix. Something she could focus on. That she could make sense of. Something good out of all of this. She had to tell Charlie the truth. She had to tell him he wasn’t responsible for his brother’s death. Of course, there was the small matter of convincing him she wasn’t crazy. Ari glanced sharply at Jai. He might prove useful after all.
“And this guy.” She nodded in his direction. “He’s my bodyguard?”
Jai seemed to take offence at her tone, but the Red King stood before he could respond. “My brother wants to use you, force you to learn magic. Azazil would rather keep you hidden and protected.”
There was something missing here. “Why does some all powerful being like Azazil care what happens to me?”
Her uncle cocked his head in a way that reminded Ari of the White King. She shivered and tried to cover her reaction. However, the Red King wasn’t looking at her as if she were a specimen to be examined. He actually seemed impressed. Her uncle nodded, a small smile curving his lips. “He doesn’t.” He shrugged. “My father doesn’t care about you. He cares that the White King cares. And Azazil will do anything to thwart my brother for his betrayal and attempt at usurpation.”
Now that Ari could believe. “Fine.” She nodded, grateful for his honesty. She crossed her arms over her chest and ran her eyes over Jai. Ari wondered how the hell she was going to explain his presence to everyone. “So this guy is to protect me?”
“Yeah. Jai will provide twenty-four-hour protection from jinn that may become a nuisance and will keep an eye out for signs of my brother. He will contact me if you are ever in need of my help.”
Ari blinked. “Wait. A twenty-four-hour guard?” She shook her head. There was definitely no way she could explain his presence if he was hanging around all the time. Plus, she didn’t want him hanging around all the time. She couldn’t go from being a relatively solitary person to having some monosyllabic jinn guy attached to her hip. “I don’t think so.”
“Yeah, uh I do think so,” the Red King argued back in a comically immature fashion.
“No,” Ari replied adamantly. “It’s not like the dude can keep a twenty-four-hour watch on me, anyway. I have a car you know and I can leave his ass in the dust.”
The Red King raised an eyebrow at her remark and sighed, turning to Jai. “That reminds me. Put the mark on her. That’s why you were chosen.”
Jai glowered before giving the Red King a hesitant but deferential nod. He then stood up from slouching against the doorframe and strode toward her. Ari’s heart thumped at his approach, only now fully measuring the broad width of his shoulders. He was bigger than she’d first thought. Ari tried to back away from him. His hands shot out and he took hold of her upper arms with a firm grip.
“Hey!” she cried out, ignoring the heat of his body and the scent of his spicy cologne as she tried to escape. His grip intensified. “Stop it!” Ari snapped. Up close, his eyes were a vivid green. Not a blue-green or a hazel-green, but green-green. They were darkly lashed and unbelievably hypnotic. She shivered again. “What are you doing?”
“Jai has a rare gift courtesy of his mixed-blood. While his father is a high-ranking Ginnaye, his mother is a lilif — succubus jinn. The latter means his kiss can be used to place a mark upon those he seeks to guard. A connection forms that means he can track you down wherever you go.”
Ari’s eyes widened as she looked from the Red King to Jai. “No!” She tried to get loose. “You are not kissing me, you big l—”
Abruptly, her insult was swallowed in his kiss. His hot, deep kiss that shut down her brain and made her legs like Jell-O. She felt a furious heat rush into her cheeks and swim downward into the pit of her belly. Ari unconsciously gripped Jai’s T-shirt, feeling his heart beat steadily beneath her palm. As if he were waiting for her to soften, Jai took advantage of her momentary daze to flick his tongue against her own, deepening the kiss. Shocked and excited, Ari had to find the strength to retreat. A lot of freaking will power. But find it, she did.
“Hey! Whoa, you are done!” she staggered back from him.
To her utter annoyance, his expression remained the same. Arrogant and serious. Totally unaffected. He turned to her uncle and nodded. “It’s done.”
“You mean you were telling the truth? You can sense me now wherever I go?”
“Yes.”
“Yes. Just yes. Just like that.”
“Well.” The Red King smiled. “I see you two will get along just fine. Remember, kid, call me if you need me.” And in an eruption of flames, the Red King disappeared.
Ari gaped at his sudden departure. Slowly, in a daze, she turned to lock eyes with Jai. She could still feel his mouth on hers. He stared back calmly, his arms crossed over his chest.
“He left.”
Jai continued to stare at her blankly.
“Great. He left me here in the middle of a life crisis with Mute Boy. What the hell am I supposed to do with you? You can’t be here 24/7.”
Jai shrugged, not moving. “My job is to protect you.”
She snorted. “So was kissing me protecting me?”
He sighed, letting his arms fall away so he could lean on the back of the couch. “Look, it was just part of the job. My orders. I apologize and promise it won’t happen again.”
Ari raised an eyebrow. “It’s just part of the job? Doesn’t that make you some kind of whor—”
“Finish that sentence and I won’t be responsible for my actions,” he interrupted, his rough voice laden with ice.
Washing her eyes over his bristling physique, Ari didn’t doubt he could follow through on the threat. She tried to ignore the goosebumps on her arms and shook her head at herself. She wasn’t afraid of this guy. He was there to protect her. Ari narrowed her eyes. “Wouldn’t hurting me go against your orders?”
Jai returned the expression. “Look. We’re stuck together for who knows how long. So let’s lay down some ground rules.”
; “Rules?”
“Rules. One: no calling each other names. It’s petty and irritating and I don’t have time for it.”
“I feel like I’m in kindergarten.”
“That’s because you’re acting like you’re in kindergarten.”
“Hey, I’ve had a really tough day.”
Jai exhaled heavily and gave her a brittle nod. “That’s why I’m going to forgive you for the nasty attitude.”
“What are you, forty?”
She had to ignore the strange little puff of warmth that flared up in her chest as he looked adorably embarrassed at her teasing. “No. I’m twenty-three.”
“You don’t act like you’re twenty-three.”
“That’s because my job is a little more important than most jobs twenty three-year-olds do.”
Guessing that was true, Ari made a gesture for him to continue.
“Rule number two: no complaining about me being here. I’m here until my assignment is over, so get used to it. And rule number three: no going anywhere without me. If I have to track you down using the mark, it will piss me off. I’ll be even more pissed if I track you down, only to find you dead. You dead equals me dead. Got it?”
She studied his serious expression, trying to figure out how she could hide him from her dad and Charlie and everyone. Well… not Charlie. She actually needed him for the Charlie situation, and she had every intention of dealing with the Charlie situation in the next ten minutes. Jai’s vivid (and beautiful, she grudgingly admitted) eyes didn’t with waver from her face. He was so intense and grave as he waited for her to agree. When her gaze dipped to his mouth, Ari flushed and dropped it to the floor. Her first kiss in months and it had been with Mr. No Personality.
It was a hot kiss.
“Was not,” she muttered.
Jai frowned. “What?”
“Uh nothing. I mean… Okay, I agree to the rules. But you have to do something for me.”
Before he could ask for more information, the phone rang. They both stared at it and Ari’s pulse leaped. It was weird… the phone ringing. It was the first normal thing that had happened to her since last night. No. Correction. Two nights ago.
The answering machine clicked on and Ari’s heart promptly stopped when her dad’s voice echoed around the room. “Ari, where are you? Pick up if you’re there, goddammit.”
Hearing the fear and concern in his voice, Ari jumped over the coffee table, caught her foot on it and fell onto the couch. She reached for the phone, knocking over a lamp as she grabbed it. “Dad?” she asked, trying not to sound out of breath.
“Ari!” He cried, relief evident in her name. “Oh Christ, where have you been?”
What was she supposed to say? She glanced over at Jai, who gazed at her looking as bored as ever. “I uh… didn’t want to speak to anyone so I’ve just been holed up in the house.”
“And you didn’t think to check the answering machine?! I’ve left you a ton of messages. Charlie called me yesterday to tell me he couldn’t find you, that you weren’t in the house. I called the police and they sent someone over. Why didn’t you answer the door?”
Ari looking frantically around for inspiration for a lie. “Uh… I wasn’t feeling well. I had my period.” She winced, disbelieving that was the best she could come up with under pressure. She slanted a gaze at Jai and blushed when she realized he was struggling not to laugh. Scowling, Ari pressed the phone tighter to her ear. “Why did you call the police?”
Her dad made a choking sound on the other end of the phone and Ari braced herself for an explosion. She had to hold the phone away from her ear as he started yelling at her that he had been worried sick, that he was at the CVG Airport and would be home in about an hour to kill her. Ari could not get a word in and then he hung up on her. She didn’t think she’d ever heard her dad so mad.
“He’s pissed.” Jai relaxed casually into the armchair.
Ari rolled her eyes at the inconvenience of him being here. “Oh, you think.”
“Sarcasm is such an unattractive quality in anyone but me.”
She scoffed, ignoring the somewhat sexy quirk of his upper lip. He had the kind of mouth movie stars would kill for, full pouty lower lip that made a girl want to nibble on it.
Ari squirmed, thinking of Charlie and how worried he must be. “You know what would be an attractive quality in you? Muteness.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “I can see this is going to be a pleasurable assignment.”
“Yup. Sarcasm definitely not an attractive quality in you.” Before he could reply, Ari stood up, hands trembling a little as she thought of facing her furious father. “Look, my dad is going to be here any second, so you have to not be here.”
Jai shrugged. “I’ll just step into the cloak.”
“The cloak?”
“The enchantment we use to be invisible.”
The thought of him in the living room listening to her argument with her dad and knowing he was there, but her dad not knowing, was too creepy. “No way. I’ve already had one jinn floating around my home invisible. I’m not putting up with another one.”
“Well, what do you suggest?”
“Uh… you leaving.”
“Uh… not going to happen.”
Exhausted and so not up for a fight, Ari threw up her hands. “Fine. You can stay. But you’ll hide in my room.”
Chapter 9
I’m right here
where are you?
Jai grudgingly made his way upstairs to Ari’s room and she watched from the bottom of the stairs, her heart thumping in her chest. Her whole body felt jittery and wired and it suddenly occurred to her she had to be functioning on pure adrenaline at this point. Sure that Jai was safely upstairs, Ari made her way into the living room to wait for Derek. Her knee bounced up and down of its own accord and her teeth chattered together as she waited, her palms slick with cold sweat. Now that she had a moment alone, all she could do was think about was the events of the last few days. Funny, it wasn’t the supernatural part that bothered her. Maybe it was her genetic makeup, but she’d always dealt with stuff like that with ease. She thought of how easily she had taken to Ms. Maggie, how it never freaked her out to believe there was a friendly poltergeist living with her, even though it freaked everyone else out, including her dad. No, what she struggled with was the whole parent thing. It was bad enough that Derek wasn’t really her father, but to know that her real father was such a monster was horrifying.
And now she had to face a good man who was duped into thinking he had a familial obligation to her. Ari loved her dad. But it suddenly terrified her he would no longer love her if he knew the truth. It wasn’t a stupid fear. He hadn’t exactly been there for her these last few years. He’d let her make her own way through her teen years, and where had it gotten her? She was going to a college she didn’t want to attend. She had friends she couldn’t really talk to. And she was in love with a boy who didn’t want to be loved.
But I’m going to fix that, she thought. That’s the one thing I can fix.
To Ari, it wasn’t so irrational to believe that if her dad ever found out the truth, he would walk away. Surely, all that had been keeping him from walking away entirely was his love for his ‘daughter’. If Ari took that away from him, would there be anything left? Trying to hold down the anger she felt at that thought, Ari sucked in a deep breath when she heard a car pulling into the driveway. She twisted around in her seat, waiting for the sound of the key turning in the lock. The scrape of metal against metal seemed overly loud and Ari flinched as the door gave away from the latch.
Derek Johnson stepped into his home, dropped his suitcase with a thud, and slammed the door shut. Their eyes met across the room and Ari saw a war in her dad’s gaze: relief fighting with fury and disappointment. When he marched into the room and grabbed her up into his arms, Ari felt the burn of tears in the back of her throat. She gripped her dad tight, inhaling his cologne and the smell of detergent on the lapel of his suit jack
et. His lips brushed her forehead before he pulled back to look at her. “I’m going to kill you,” he whispered hoarsely.
She blinked, trying to remember the last time he’d hugged her. “I’m sorry, Dad.”
He shook his head, his eyes darkening as he retreated. Ari’s heart sank. She wasn’t off the hook yet. “Sit.” He jerked his head at the couch and Ari promptly dropped onto it. She watched anxiously as he shrugged out of his jacket and loosened the tie around his neck. Finally, he collapsed onto the armchair Jai had only minutes before vacated. And then it came. He fired questions at her, not waiting for her to answer, lamenting her poor judgment, vocalizing his disappointment, creating criminal scenarios as reasons for her stupidity, his voice rising and rising until he was shouting, his face mottled red with anger. He wasn’t ready to hear her answers. Ari wasn’t even sure he wanted answers, he just wanted her to know what an inconvenience the worry he had felt for her was. As she sat there, gripping her hands tightly together on her lap, aware of Jai upstairs listening to every word, Ari grew angry too. Her dad’s worry wasn’t supposed to be an inconvenience. It was supposed to be a natural part of fatherhood. And true, he might not be her real father, but he didn’t know that.
Where had he been? Was he really surprised that something like this had happened? He had been leaving her alone for years. He was lucky something bad hadn’t happened before now. He was lucky she could take care of herself.
As her dad ranted on and on about the humiliation of having to call the police and tell them she was fine, that she’d had a bad period and didn’t want to answer the door or the phone, Ari’s fears gnawed at her insides. Would he walk away from her if he knew the truth? Would the dad she loved, who had loved her when she was a kid, would he love her enough to still want her if he ever discovered the truth?
“I just can’t believe that you would act so carelessly, so inconsiderately over nothing. I didn’t raise my daughter to act like that and she never has before. So tell me, Ari, what are you hiding from me?”