by S. Young
“You’re lucky you’re already in pain,” the Red King said to Jai as he swept out of the door before him. “Or I’d seriously considering lighting a flame under your ass.”
“Apologies, Your Highness.” Jai smirked wearily as he shut the door behind him.
Left in the quiet of the hospital room with just her dad, Ari pulled one of the plastic chairs over to his bedside and reached through the bars for his hand.
He felt alien beneath her touch. Not just because his body laid there on that bed like a shell of the true man, but because the way she felt about him was somehow different now, too.
Not that she didn’t love him. She did. That would never change. When she was younger, she used to worship the ground her dad walked on. Back then, of course, he had more time for her. They would spend entire weekends together, sometimes just hanging out in the backyard, or taking off to Cincinnati. When Jude Scott tripped her on the playground deliberately, she’d swung at him and hurt her hand. Instead of getting mad, her dad had taken her aside one Saturday afternoon and taught her how to punch, showing her where to place her thumb so she wouldn’t get hurt again. He’d driven her to Little League with Charlie and had gone to all their games. He’d read her bedtime stories when he could and listened and talked to her as if she were his friend and not just his kid. Then, when she started growing breasts and wearing skirts, he’d grown a little distant, clearly not sure how to deal with a teenage girl in his house. He’d shown her in his own way that he loved her. That he cared. That she was his daughter. But he hadn’t been a good dad to her these last few years. It was only now when she was so close to losing him she could really accept that. If this had never happened, Ari would have waited for him to come home from Boston, would have bit back her complaints as he talked her into going to Penn and she would have argued away his reasons, making excuses for him as she had done for years. Now, if she saved him, she may never get the chance to stand her ground, to ask him to be the dad he should have been, to prove to him she was still the little girl that he loved, but…
She wasn’t.
“I’m not your daughter,” she told him hoarsely, her wet gaze sliding across Derek’s deathly pale face. She brushed her thumb back and forth over his papery cold skin. “I’m…” she laughed hollowly and tears spilled down her cheeks for the first time in a long time. “I’m not anyone’s daughter. He made me to use me. You raised me and yet our blood is like water. You know what, though? I always thought we had the same smile. Kind of goofy, a little crooked… I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not your daughter, Dad, but I am still your kid.” A sob burst abruptly from her. “I am still your kid and I’m going to protect you, even if that means becoming his kid. I am so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” She’d never felt more alone.
After a while, a knock sounded at the door and the nurse popped her head around the doorframe. Her gaze softened with sympathy as Ari lifted her red-rimmed eyes to her. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over for today.”
Nodding numbly, terrified of what awaited her outside the hospital room door, Ari slowly drew to her feet. She gazed down at the man in the bed she would die to protect, wondering if she saved him could she ever call him ‘Dad’ again.
“I love you.”
For a moment, she could hear his deep, rich voice in her ears. I love you too, kid.
Sucking back more tears, Ari turned sharply from his bedside and followed the nurse out of the room. Charlie, Jai, and the Red King stepped toward her from their positions around the nurse’s station. They strode determinedly, Charlie’s features tightening as he noted her red eyes. Ari sighed, dragging a hand through her hair. She knew she must look a mess. When her gaze flicked to Jai, his lack of expression stupidly hurt. The Red King just stared at her expectantly. It was to him she nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter 18
Do you read me?
He could pretend to not be worried about her. Didn’t mean he wasn’t.
Jai had to stop himself from rubbing a hand across his short hair in frustration. He eyed Charlie, who bristled with impatience outside of Ari’s bedroom door. Jai didn’t want the human kid to see Ari had any effect on him. They had enough problems already.
But hell, last night, when she’d come out of her father’s hospital room, pale and frightened, those gorgeous eyes of hers red-rimmed from crying, it had taken everything he had not to push the other two out of his way and embrace her. Jai cursed inwardly. At that moment, he’d hated himself and Luca more than he ever had before. The hurt in her eyes when he’d snapped at her, when he’d looked through her, when she was so clearly upset, when she so clearly needed to be comforted.
He’d done crappy things before, but until that moment he’d never experienced this much remorse.
That’s why he was her guardian. Not her friend. Not her—
“That’s it, Ari, open up!” Charlie yelled into the door.
Jai glared at him. “Back off,” he growled, pushing off the wall to face the kid. Charlie was built for a human, only an inch or two shorter than Jai, but Jai was jinn and trained in four martial arts. He could easily take the idiot if it came to a fight.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed, and Jai felt a frisson of excitement at the challenge in them. He’d been looking for an excuse to punch this guy. “I’m worried about her, and standing out here trying to hear if she’s breathing isn’t doing jack!”
Rolling his neck, feeling the satisfying crack, Jai had to draw on all his patience and professionalism. Punching Charlie would upset Ari more, and that was the last thing he wanted.
After she’d informed them she would allow them to unlock her magic, they all returned to the house. Without a word, Ari had confined herself to her bedroom, and the Red King had assured Jai that for tonight he could leave her alone in her room. Charlie and Jai slept downstairs. The Red King departed after promising Jai he’d contact him as soon as Azazil provided him with information on the shaitan. For now, he left Ari in Jai’s ‘capable’ hands. He was to show her how to tap into her abilities—a prospect he did not look forward to as he still suffered a splitting headache from using telepathy across realms.
It was ten in the morning. Still nothing from Ari.
Not that Jai could blame her. He would have hoped after giving Charlie a copy of the book he’d conjured for Ari to read that he, too, would now understand the gravity of Ari’s situation. He’d cursed enough about it last night as he read the book, keeping Jai from a good night’s sleep every time he came across something that affected Ari directly. If Jai had to listen to him mutter, “Ari’s father is such a dick’ one more time, he seriously considered finding an enchanted bottle and trapping the kid in it for good.
Understanding Ari’s state of shock, the crazy, unbelievable reality of whom and what she was didn’t seem to affect Charlie like it should. Jai didn’t like the look in his eye, his impatience, his excitement.
“Give her time,” Jai ordered. “She said she’d do this and she will, but back off and give her time to process.”
Charlie shook his head. “Giving her time will just make her overthink it. She might decide not to go ahead and then what’ll Derek do?”
Jai was intuitive enough to suspect Charlie's motives. “Derek? Is that really what you’re worried about, Charlie?”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means I don’t think you give a damn about Derek. I don’t know what your game is here but I will find out.”
The kid’s jaw clenched, his eyes blazing at the accusation. “Who the hell do you think you are? I’m here for Ari. Ari!” Charlie sneered in disdain. “I’m not fooled by you, dude.” He leaned in to Jai and whispered, “But just so you know… she’s been mine for a long time.”
You little piece of fu—
Smug little—
Jai took a deep breath, trying to control the desire to deck the jackass. Instead, he cocked his head. Tone mocking and incredulous, asked, �
�Yours? You think?”
Something about Jai's tone made Charlie flinch. He retreated as his dark eyes filled with self-directed derision. “I meant she’s my friend. She’s been my friend for a long time. Long before you came into her life.”
I can’t get caught up in this crap.
Before Jai could respond with anything that would assure Charlie (and himself) that his only part in Ari’s story was that of the guardian, Ari’s bedroom door swung open. She looked more together, her hair freshly washed, her eyes bright with determination. Jai dropped his gaze reflexively, as if blinded by the sun.
“I’ve been in there trying to psyche myself up for this,” she explained. “That would have been easier if I hadn’t had to listen to you two bicker outside my door for the last half hour, like two grumpy old men.” She brushed past him, her bare arm sliding against his. Goosebumps prickled his skin in the wake of her touch. She smelled of the heady, expensive perfume she wore all the time, a scent Jai could never smell again without thinking of her. As he and Charlie followed her downstairs, he noted the change in her gait. Ari was one of those rare girls who seemed to float from place to place when she walked, naturally graceful. Today her steps were heavier, as if the emotional burden of discovering her true identity was a physical weight.
Jai ignored the knife of some unknown but ugly feeling that ripped through him when Charlie caught up to Ari at the bottom of the stairs and pulled her into a hug.
Her small hands slid around his back, and for a moment she held tight to him. Jai felt the ugliness grow darker and deeper, like a stone caught at the back of his throat. He eyed the floor determinedly, waiting for the rustle of clothing to tell him they’d stopped embracing.
“I’m fine, really,” Ari told them quietly and Jai raised his head. Ari watched him with a wary countenance. “I’m ready to learn.”
Glad for his innate stoic professionalism, Jai jerked his head toward the living room. “Let’s go in there, sit down, and relax into this.”
She heaved a sigh and turned to Charlie. “You should go.”
Charlie’s jaw dropped, his comical expression providing Jai with more satisfaction than it should. “What? No way.”
“Charlie.” Ari’s face crumpled as she reached for him, her palm pressed to his chest above his heart. She was so comfortable and affectionate with him it made Jai grit his teeth. “I can’t have anything happen to you. And being around me… not good. Starting now, I have to walk away from all of this. From Ohio. From Dad and Rachel and Staci… and you.”
Panic lit Charlie’s eyes and for a moment Jai almost felt bad for the guy, even if he thought Ari’s sacrifice of her friends and family was the logical thing to do.
“No!” Charlie shrugged away from her. “You can’t—” he threw a dark look at Jai, cutting off whatever he was about to say. To appease him somewhat, Jai took a stroll into the kitchen where he could still hear them arguing in the hall, but at least it gave Charlie the pretense of privacy. “You can’t do this, Ari. You’ve spent the last two years being there for me, even when I didn’t deserve it, even when I didn’t want you to. I get it, okay, I do. After Mike, I knew how messed up I was and I wanted you far away from me, from that. I wanted the best, purest thing in my life to remain that, and I couldn’t guarantee that would happen if you stuck around. But I couldn’t get rid of you. You wouldn’t let me. You have been there for me, Ari. And I didn’t realize how much I need that until the night you disappeared. I took you for granted and I’m sorry. But please… please don’t give up now. Please don’t push me out of this.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“By leaving me?” he asked hoarsely. “You’re all I have.”
“Charlie—”
“I’m all you’ve got. It’s always been us. I’m not scared of anything. And I take full responsibility for whatever happens to me, for whatever goes down. Just please… Ari… you’re my best friend.”
Jai groaned inwardly when he heard her whisper, “okay.”
Charlie's motives were still unclear and a human with unclear motives was a complication he didn't need right now. But he'd seen the bond between the kid and Ari. Trying to push Charlie away would only create mistrust between him and his client.
So be it.
“Okay then.” Jai clapped his hands and strode back into the hall. “If the after school special has ended… can we get on with this?”
Although her heart still raced too fast at the thought of Charlie caught up in the enormity of her situation—her very dangerous situation—the selfish part of her was glad he wanted to stick around. He followed her into the living room as she took a seat opposite Jai. Her guardian stared at her, emotionless, waiting for her signal to begin. It was so nice of Jai to turn into a cold asshat just when she needed him to be her friend. Ignoring the hurt that spiked through her every time she thought of his dispassionate attitude toward her now, Ari drew in a shuddering breath.
Jai’s face softened infinitesimally. The sun beamed in through the window and turned his eyes a startling golden green. “You ready?”
She nodded and then glanced over at Charlie one more time. “Last chance to get the hell out of here.”
He grinned at her, that adorable smile of his that never failed to make her feel good. “I’m not going anywhere. I called my mom last night and explained about Derek; said I’d be staying with you for a while.”
Ari quirked an eyebrow. “So you’re still getting wasted at Rickman’s, but communication with your mom has improved. That’s good, right?”
“Are you seriously going to lecture me about that right now?”
“No, she’s not,” Jai snapped. “Come on people, let’s focus.”
He was really pissing her off. Ari shot him a dirty look. “What crawled up your ass? Did you find out you were the Seal of Solomon and the most sought after weapon in the history of the jinn?” she mocked. “Oh no, wait, that was me.”
Jai sighed in exasperation, which made her feel about six years old. “You’re breaking rule number one. No insults.”
Another stab of hurt.
Nice.
“What, we’re back to rules again?” she huffed, ignoring Charlie's avid study. “And technically I wasn’t insulting you, I was mocking you.”
“Technically, will you shut up so we can do this?”
“Hey don’t talk to her like that,” Charlie warned.
Ari shrugged. “Jai means nothing by it, Charlie. He was raised like a wolf among people.”
The hurt that flickered for a second across Jai's eyes filled her with instant regret and remorse. Knowing what she did about his family history, that was a low blow. Despite his earlier baffling coldness, she wanted to reach out and touch him, to apologize. “Jai...”
His voice lacked any emotion. “Forget it. Let’s just get started.”
Still feeling awful, Ari bit down on the nerves and exhaled. “What should I do?”
“Speak to me,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Huh?”
“Using your mind.”
“Okay, what?” Charlie interjected.
“You.” Jai pointed a finger at him without looking away from Ari. “Can’t do that. You read that book last night, right?”
“Yeah… I just… I guess I keep forgetting Ari is jinn. It’s too weird.”
“Gee, thanks, Charlie.”
“You know what I mean.”
Ignoring him, Ari leaned forward, her elbows braced on her knees as she stared deep into Jai’s eyes. Trapped in his intense gaze, she tried not to flush at the tension she felt coiling within herself. “So… I, what?” she whispered hoarsely. “Just direct thoughts at you?”
“Exactly.”
“It can’t be that easy.”
“Try it.”
Okay, what do I say to him? Um… you look nice in a towel? She flushed. Jesus Christ, don’t say that!
Clasping her hands together and bracing her chin on the tips of her fingers, A
ri imagined the words floating out of her brain across the living room and in through Jai’s forehead. What’s up with the grumpy?
His mouth quirked up at the corner ever so slightly. Didn’t get much sleep last night.
“Holy—” Ari jerked back in fright as his voice echoed around inside her head as clearly as if he’d spoken out loud.
“What? What did it work?” Charlie asked excitedly, but Ari couldn’t even look at him. She was amazed. In awe. A bubble of laughter floated out of her and tinkled into the air, and there was no mistaking the little spark of reaction in Jai’s eyes.
Curious, and eager to continue, Ari leaned toward him. Seriously. What did I do? Why are you being weird now?
The spark promptly sputtered out of his green depths. Nothing. I’m just doing my job, Ari.
You’re being kind of a dick.
What did I say about the name-calling?
Jai.
Ari.
“Okay, guys, this is freaking me out,” Charlie said, drawing Ari’s gaze. “Can you do it? Are you a telepath now?”
A slow smile slid across her face, and she nodded. Yeah, she was a telepath. And it felt weird and unbelievable.
But it also felt right.
Like something that had been right in front of her this whole time, just waiting for her to notice it.
Chapter 19
This lifeboat isn’t big enough for three
To Jai, the act of telepathy was an exercise. He believed it the most straightforward way to unlock Ari’s abilities, and she couldn’t disagree with him. It came naturally to her, and although she was more than thankful jinn couldn't read minds, she had to admit there was something very cool about being able to communicate with Jai telepathically. To keep exercising her "jinn muscles", Jai asked her to speak to him telepathically as often as possible. It pissed Charlie off, she could tell. She'd be pissed too if she was out of the loop, but the excitement of using a unique gift kind of over-rode everything else. Tapping into her abilities wasn’t at all like she imagined. Jai said there was no one muscle that needed to be worked, no inner power to be tapped into or explored. It was all about believing. It was as simple as that. Ari had to believe that if she wanted a glass of water, she could conjure it. Or a bag of chips. Or using telekinesis to pick up the TV remote. She even turned a cushion to ash when Charlie threw it playfully at her. She thought about what Jai did and raised a hand, believing it was ash. Suddenly it was.