He was telling her he hadn’t forgotten.
22
The Fragile Ordinary
The sun was out, flooding Sandford with a little bit of warmth against the spring chill. Only thirty minutes ago, it’d been raining and Ari had been standing under a tree, hiding in the Cloak, attempting to catch a glimpse of Derek Johnson through the windows of his home.
Five minutes after the sun came out and only minutes before Ari was about to give up, the back door opened. Two little boys, about seven and nine, ran into the backyard with a soccer ball.
They were wearing worn jeans and T-shirts and immediately set themselves up, one in goal, one with the ball.
“Make sure the grass isn’t too wet.
They’ll ruin it,” a female voice called from inside.
“They ruin it, they ruin it. What else is it for?” the familiar voice of Derek Johnson answered back seconds before he appeared in the doorway. He’d been frowning but as soon as his eyes took in his two kids, he grinned. “You letting Teddy be goalie this time, Jake?
What’s the world coming to?”
“I’m feeling nice,” the older boy answered with a shrug. Derek chuckled.
Ari hadn’t expected to feel so much at his appearance. Theirs had been an exceptionally complicated relationship, disjointed, broken, loving but careless. Derek’s less-than-brilliant parenting strategy had messed with Ari’s head. She’d been a lonely teenager, somewhat unloved, though in desperate need of it. She’d made some crappy decisions based on that desperate need.
For the longest time, Ari had tried to work out how she felt about Derek. Sometimes she thought she resented him; other times she was grateful.
Now, despite the ache in her chest, Ari guessed she was just happy he wasn’t alone. He had a family, he had kids, and she hoped to God he loved them more than he’d ever loved her.
With a sigh, she tread carefully away from the backyard until she had some privacy at the side of the house.
Letting the flames of the Peripatos surround her, she took off, next stepping into the Cloak in the Creaghs’ front yard.
Ari blinked in surprise at the sight of Charlie making out with a brunette on his porch swing. She felt a flicker of residual jealousy that came from days and feelings much older than they really were. However, that flicker quickly disappeared, and Ari stepped toward the house in curiosity. The couple stopped kissing and the girl pulled back to smile somewhat shyly at Charlie. Ari didn’t recognize her but she was pretty in a fresh-faced innocent way. Ari approved.
“I’m really glad your mom likes me, Charlie, but I think she might have an issue with us making out on her porch.”
The girl bit her lip in a small smile. “Maybe we should stop.”
Charlie grinned and brushed her hair off her face. “Babe, I’m pretty sure my mom knows we make out.”
The girl laughed and snuggled closer to him. “Do you have to work tomorrow? Couldn’t we sneak off for a picnic or something?”
“Unfortunately, I put my name down for overtime. But I’ll make it up to you. Promise.”
Ari smiled softly, moving slowly away. It had been four months since she’d said goodbye to Charlie and she’d promised herself that she would stay away. However, the feeling of protectiveness wasn’t going away any time soon. She needed to know he was okay.
Apparently, he was more than okay.
She recognized that look in Charlie Creagh’s eyes. He was falling in love with his shy brunette.
Even though he couldn’t see her, Ari blew Charlie a kiss. She turned and strolled down his familiar street. It was Saturday and the sun was now shining. Folks were out in their yards, pulling up to their houses with the weekly shopping. Ordinary sounds, sounds of life—laughter, conversation, and the sounds of dogs communicating filled the street. A beautiful, untouched ordinary. And it was now Ari’s job to make sure it stayed that way. She hunted, she killed, and she captured, just as she’d done in helping the Aissawa Brotherhood exorcise and trap Beau/Nick/Stalker in the Secretum some weeks back. Getting Beau back to his life after he’d missed months of it was harder because … well, they didn’t have time to help him assimilate. They pretty much dropped him off, back to his real life, to let his family deal with the memory loss. It sucked. But it would have sucked more if he’d been possessed for the rest of his life.
With a quick glance around, Ari turned down a path to a shadowed walkway between houses and used the Peripatos to take her home.
She appeared in the kitchen, not even causing a flinch of surprise from Trey or Glass. This was a Jinn world, after all. Flames and people appearing here and there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Hey, guys,” she said as she grabbed a soda from the fridge.
“Hey, Ari,” Trey replied. Glass gave her a chin lift in answer.
The two of them were sitting at the breakfast table, obviously deep in conversation about something.
“I think they’re ripping you off,” Glass said.
Trey sighed. “It’s a standard rate.”
It occurred to her they were probably discussing the gallery commission for Trey’s paintings. He had an upcoming show, and he and Glass seemed to be having this conversation a lot lately.
“We can do better.”
“Glass …”
Ari left them to it and wandered up the stairs where she sensed Jai. She found him in his room. He was sitting on a lounger reading. Leaning against the doorframe, she drank him in for a moment, feeling very lucky that she got to return home to him. Sensing her gaze, he laid his book aside and glanced up at her.
“Did you check in on them?”
Ari nodded. “They’re both doing fine.”
She smirked. “Charlie has a girlfriend. It looks serious.”
Jai frowned. “How do you feel about that?”
She shrugged and sauntered casually toward him, placing her soda on top of his bookshelf to free her hands. Jai watched her with hooded eyes as she moved his book, careful to not lose his spot. With a smile, she placed a knee on either side of his hips and settled on his lap. Her hands drifted over his chest until they rested near his heart.
Jai’s hands moved up her thighs to rest on her hips.
“I feel happy. Relaxed. It’s been four months since Lilif, and three since we had to deal with anything major.
It’s been nice. And it’s wonderful to know Charlie is happy too.”
Jai’s right hand drifted across her lower belly, making her shiver. “I hate to spoil how relaxed you’re feeling, baby, but Michael called while you were out.” Ari tensed and Jai felt it, his eyes lifting from his hands to her face. “It’s nothing bad. We have a new assignment.”
She sighed and leaned her forehead against his. “Assassins are us.”
He squeezed her waist. “We don’t have to keep doing this if you’re unhappy with it.”
Ari leaned back in surprise. “You know that’s not it. I like keeping people safe. It has a price, but it’s worth it. I’m just sighing because vacation is over.”
He nodded and leaned forward to kiss her gently. “Vacation is over.”
23
A Star’s Light Dims When It’s Split in Two
“So we’re getting a break, right?” Ari teased Michael as they settled around the Roes’ dining table. “I mean, Jai, Trey, and I have dealt with two Ghulahs and a Qarin, one after the other. That means a break, right?”
Michael shrugged. “I could start alternating you so you don’t go out as a team of three and two, but individually.
That way you’d each get a break.”
Ari wrinkled her nose. “But not together.”
“There’s no rest for the wicked, I’m afraid.”
Fallon sighed. “Quick, Mom, give Dad some food, he’s starting to speak in cliché.”
Caroline chuckled and brought out a large tray of roast potatoes. She placed them next to the chicken and everyone settled in, plenty of food on their plates. Jai spoke to Micha
el about the possibility of setting up language classes for the rest of the Guild since his lessons with Ari had gone fairly well; Caroline and Trey discussed the latest sale of one of Trey’s paintings.
That left Ari and Fallon with Ari’s nosy curiosity over a rumor she’d heard. “So spill,” she murmured, tilting her head toward Fallon.
Fallon frowned. “About what?” she asked quietly.
“About a visitor Michael had and his interest in you.”
Fallon rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what Ari was talking about. Two weeks ago the young leader of a neighboring Guild—the McEttricks—paid Michael a courtesy visit. He’d just taken over the Guild after the passing of his uncle. And young Eli McEttrick was easy on the eyes.
Ari met him briefly when Michael introduced her, Jai, and Trey to him. The neighboring Guilds now knew Michael had assassins on retainer in case they ever needed them, and Eli had been curious to meet them. A big guy, tall and well built, Eli came across to Ari as the kind of guy who didn’t like BS. Well, Fallon Roe was the queen of zero-tolerance for BS.
Two days prior, upon returning from assignment with Jai, Ari bumped into Megan at the training center. She gleefully told Ari that Eli had paid another visit to Burlington, and he and Fallon had been seen getting rather cozy by his car.
Ari wanted to know what the deal was.
“It’s nothing,” Fallon replied in a hushed voice. “We met, we argued, we sparked, we argued some more, and then he kissed me out of the blue. It was nothing.”
Ari grinned. “Was it hot?”
Fallon kept her eyes on her plate and grumbled, “So freaking hot.”
“This might just—” Ari’s words were cut off into frozen silence as cutlery clattered to the table. Flames hissed to life in the Roe’s dining room and two tall, unfamiliar Jinn wearing stony expressions appeared out of the Peripatos.
Michael shot to his feet, his skin darkening with anger at the rude intrusion. “What is the meaning of this?”
Neither of the Jinn answered him; instead their gazes were fixed on Ari and Jai. Ari’s chest grew tight, a tingle of warning shivering down her spine. “Ari, daughter of the White King, and Jai Bitar of the Ginnaye Tribe, you have been summoned to appear before His Majesty, Azazil, Sultan of All.”
“What? Why?” Ari asked, slowly standing.
“It is not for us to question.” The two Jinn rounded the table and Ari backed into Jai. His hands gripped her shoulders.
“Just do as they say,” he told her quietly, the concern evident in his voice. Then he turned to Trey. “Tell Glass.
I want to make sure he and Red know what’s happening.”
Trey nodded, his jaw clenched in anger as he watched the Jinn take a hold of Jai and Ari. Ari felt cold at the Jinn’s touch and closed her eyes, letting him steal her into the whirlwind ride to Mount Qaf.
***
Azazil sat casually in his throne upon the dais in his large ballroom, eyeing Ari in a way that suggested he was bored. This was where she’d first seen him, in this mirrored room, a space as vast as an airplane hangar. Unlike last time, Azazil was not only accompanied by his Shaitans but also by Asmodeus, who studied Ari with gloating triumph.
Ari did not like that expression.
She did not like that expression at all.
She cursed herself for thinking Asmodeus had moved beyond his idea of retribution.
“Your Highness,” she finally spoke, sensing Jai’s tension increasing beside her, “why did you request our presence?”
Before Azazil could answer, the huge double doors at the front of the hall swung open and to Ari’s great relief, Red and Glass entered. They strode determinedly to the other end of the hall, ignoring the awed looks of the Shaitans as they passed. As they drew closer, Ari could see the solemnity in her uncles’ faces.
“I don’t remember inviting you,”
Azazil murmured, definitely amused as Red and Glass came to a halt beside Ari and Jai. They bowed deferentially to their father.
Once straightened, Red eyed his father, completely unamused. “We’re here to make sure nothing untoward happens to Ari and Jai.”
“Oh, how very noble,” Azazil snorted and shot Asmodeus a grin. “I shall hand things over to you, my friend.”
Asmodeus nodded militantly and then turned his cruel gaze on Ari. “I have petitioned the Sultan for his granddaughter’s hand in marriage, and he has granted my request.”
In the wake of his announcement, an utter, crisp, cold, disbelieving silence fell upon the room.
Ari quickly ran his words through her head again, bile rising in her throat as her brain processed their meaning.
Slowly, she and Jai turned their heads to look at one another. She saw the horror she felt reflected in his eyes and knew she hadn’t misunderstood.
“WHAT?” she yelled, whipping back to Asmodeus, wishing she could set him on fire with her eyes. “Over my dead body,” she growled.
She felt Red and Glass shift closer to her, tension mounting.
Azazil chuckled quietly to himself, enjoying it all immensely.
Asmodeus again wore the smug expression of victory. “Oh no,” he took a few steps down the dais toward her, “that would be over his dead body.” He nodded his head to Jai as he came to a stop, towering over them both. “If you do not comply, if you do not marry me and join my harem, I will see to it that your young Ginnaye here dies. So,” Asmodeus reached up and stroked a finger along her jaw, down her throat, trailing his touch across her upper chest, “I think you best agree, and agree quickly.”
Jai growled and lunged toward the lieutenant.
Red, however, saved him from the consequences of his impulsive attack. As if having already sensed Jai’s oncoming loss of control, Red was a blur of movement, binding his arms around Jai, holding him back.
Asmodeus curled a lip at him and then swiftly transferred his sneer to Ari. “Jai Bitar is a prince among the Ginnaye. Do you know this, Ari? Not yet twenty-four years old and he has garnered the respect of the Ginnaye Tribes for his unwavering determination, power, and self-control. However, it seems when it comes to you, he loses everything that makes him remarkable. He loses control because of you, Ari, and I find I can relate. I have lost control of my existence around you. A girl.
Not yet even nineteen.” He took a threatening step toward her. “You have brought two princes to their knees, and I find I am in the mood to give you a taste of how that feels.”
“You can’t do this.” Ari gazed up at him in hatred, her fists clenched by her sides.
“I’m afraid if Father has granted his petition, then he can,” Glass murmured as he eyed Asmodeus in disappointment.
“Father, I beg you to rethink this.” The Red King, still holding Jai, looked up at Azazil with far more calm than Ari hoped he was feeling. “Ari and Jai have done much for us. Is this how you would repay them?”
Azazil scoffed. “I am giving her to Prince Asmodeus as a bride. Do you know how many young Jinn girls would be kissing my feet in gratitude at such a gift?”
Desperation flooded Ari and she found her eyes drawn back to Jai. He was no longer struggling against Red, but she could see his loss of power cut him deep. She could also tell he was deliberately not looking at her, and she knew it was because if he did, he would lose it completely.
“I won’t do it.” Ari shook her head.
“And I won’t let her do it,” Jai added darkly.
“It has been commanded of you by Azazil. If you defy him, you both die.” Asmodeus eyed Jai. “If you defy me, I will kill you, boy. So let me ask you something … how much do you really love her? Will you let her go willingly and give her the peace of mind that the man she loves at least is out there somewhere, alive and healthy, or do you get in my way and I kill you? If I kill you, she has to live with the fact that she is responsible for your murder. Would you put her through that?”
Jai registered the threat and although the fight did not leave his eyes, he relaxed. Re
d reluctantly loosened his hold. At the same time, tears fell silently down Ari’s cheeks.
They were trapped.
She couldn’t think of a way out of this one.
As if he knew she’d come to that realization, Asmodeus whispered, “I told you I would make you feel what I felt when I had to kill Lilif. You took my other half, Ari. Now I’m taking yours.”
***
There appeared to be no oxygen in the chamber where she and Jai had been put for the night. As an act of “kindness,” Azazil was allowing Ari and Jai one last night together. In two days’ time, there was to be a celebratory feast announcing Asmodeus’s betrothal to Ari and then two days after that, the wedding.
As extra punishment, Jai was to remain on Mount Qaf until the ceremony was complete. Asmodeus wanted Ari to feel the pain of having Jai bear witness to his utter loss.
In the end, when even Glass and Red could do nothing to change Azazil’s mind, Ari had given in that this was happening. She couldn’t think of what lay ahead with Asmodeus. All she could feel was that what lay ahead did not include Jai. And the pain she felt … the pain was unbearable. It radiated out from her chest and formed a lump in her throat and a knot in her stomach.
Her life, her future had changed in the matter of minutes and although she should be used to it by now, she couldn’t process it. She couldn’t process how her future happiness had been destroyed in an instant.
She was alone now with Jai. She stood by the end of the bed, gazing at him in heartbreak, his eyes dark with rage and denial. “We have to leave,” he suddenly said, his voice different, thick and hostile.
Ari shook her head. “Jai, they’ll kill you.”
“Do you want to marry him?” he asked hoarsely, his eyes flashing as he strode toward her. He gripped her upper arms and gave her a little shake, causing her to gasp and reach for him. “Do you want to spend your life in his harem? Bending to his every whim? His every whim, Ari? You’ll be his bride. You’ll be in his bed.” Jai’s grip grew more painful. “Do you want me to just stand by and let that happen?”
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