Jai gazed downat Ari, watching the slow rise and fal of her chest. After Red had used his mojo to knock her out, Jai had carried her upstairs to one of the bedrooms in Jack’s house— wel, what had once been Jack’s house. It was weird to think that he’d never realy known Jack at al. That they’d met only briefly before The Red and Glass King’s had kiled him.
They were malevolent, ruthless sons-of-a-bitch.
Jai could feel their powerful energies on the other side of the door, where they stood waiting with Falon, Charlie, Trey and Michael. He’d insisted on being the only one to sit with Ari until she woke up, despite Red’s concerns that the Seal might stil have a grip on her.
Holding her hand, Jai wondered how she would be when she regained consciousness. So much had happened. Finding out her mother, Sala, was actualy Ms.
Maggie al along (although it made sense now why their make-out session was interrupted by her), and discovering Red had betrayed her from the start. It had crossed Jai’s mind more than once that Red was behind Charlie’s wish. Jai was pretty sure it had crossed Ari’s mind too, but to actualy have it confirmed. She had been beginning to trust Red. They both had been. They both needed to trust him. And the bastard had gone and ruined it.
Ari’s eyelashes fluttered and Jai squeezed her hand. She made a little groaning noise before her eyes slammed open. “Jai,” she whispered and when she turned her head on the pilow to meet his gaze, Jai sagged in relief. It was Ari. Just Ari.
“Hey,” he whispered back. “How are you feeling?”
“A little groggy.” She pushed herself up into a sitting position, her silence thick in the room. Finaly she looked back at him, her extraordinary eyes a strange golden blue color. “Is he stil here? Red?”
Jai nodded.
“I don’t trust him anymore, Jai. I don’t want him here.”
“He’s a Jinn King, Ari. He’l go when he wants to.”
Her bottom lip trembled a little and Jai felt her pain like a punch in the gut. Is that what caring about someone else this much was like? To feel their pain almost like it was your own? Shifting onto the bed, Jai wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tucked her into his side. She rested her head on his chest, her hand over his heart.
“The Seal petrifies me, Jai. That was bad. That was realy bad.”
It was worse than bad. The darkness inside her made him feel lost, helpless, but he couldn’t let Ari know that. She needed him for this. “We’l do what I said before.
We’l use whatever triggers we can to spark the Seal and we’l train you to fight it.”
“That’s so risky. What if I can’t control it? Like just then, Jai, if Red hadn’t knocked me out…”
“Then I’l knock you out,” he murmured with a smile in his voice, “Before you can do any damage. But we are going to get you through this.”
“Is Michael taking me off the assignment?”
“No,” Jai replied without thinking. Even if Michael wanted to, Jai wasn’t going to let him. Ari had been through too much… she needed something to hold onto and that something for her was hunting. It was a form of control for her. It made her feel less like a sitting duck and no one was taking that away from her, especialy not now. “We’re stil heading out if you feel up to it.”
“Yeah, yeah I do.” Ari raised her head to look up into his face. “I need to get away from here for a while.” She glanced at the door. “Is he out there?”
Knowing who ‘he’ was, Jai nodded.
“Wil you tel him to leave?”
With the two Jinn Kings in the house, Jai could feel the thrum of energy built down around them like a bucket over a sandcastle. At Ari’s words, the house seemed to deflate, like the bucket had been lifted and the sandcastle crumbled. “I don’t need to,” he told her softly. “He and Glass just left.”
So were they alone now? Was it just them against Azazil and The White King?
“I guess so,” he answered his own question.
15 - This Sky is Not Theirs to Reach… It is Yours to Place Your Stars Upon
It was so quiet in Midland, Connecticut. The team, which consisted of some familiar faces – Falon and Jai of course, Bryleigh and Scott Becke and Scott’s brother James, and Bryleigh’s sister Ailidh – were settled in the fairly large farm house they’d rented on the outskirts of Midland. It was on what used to be a working farm, and was fenced in at the back by a woodland. Having grown used to the sound of traffic, Ari couldn’t sleep. Falon was sleeping no problem, having drifted off in her bed across from Ari, the sounds of the birds and the trees blowing in the breeze clearly soothing to her.
It just agitated Ari.
Despite postponing their arrival by one day, they’d stil left hastily for Midland. Afraid of getting upset, Ari hadn’t been able to say goodbye to Charlie. It just felt like betrayal al over again. So instead she’d promised Michael that she could do the assignment and Jai had backed her up, promising them al – including a very worried Trey – that he’d help her get control over the Seal. Without Jack/Glass around, Trey was needed even more to look after Charlie. Falon had wanted Charlie to come with them now that he no longer had a mentor, but Ari was having none of it and Jai was acting like her trusty enforcer. After seeing what he did to The White King, no one was arguing with him.
Restless, worrying about everything, Ari finaly threw the covers off and drew on some clothes. The thought of her mother out there somewhere, of the fact that they no longer had a Jinn King aly (had they ever?), of the Seal taking over her again, of the assignment starting tomorrow morning, was causing chaos in her mind and gut.
The only time she’d felt calm these last twenty four hours was when Jai was around.
Needing him more than she liked, Ari tip-toed out of her room and down the hal towards Jai’s. He was sharing with James so she couldn’t just go in there.
Jai, she said loudly enough to selfishly wake him.
Yeah? His fast reply told her he’d been awake already.
Will you walk with me?
No words were telepathed back at her, but she thought she heard some rustling from behind the door. She strained to hear and almost immediately jumped back as his door peeled open. He stood in only jeans, the strength of his upper body gleaming in the moonlight shining through from the hal window. “You okay?” he whispered to her, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.
“I want to walk with you,” she whispered back. “I can’t sleep.”
Without a word, Jai slipped back into the room. There was some more rustling and then he was back, wearing a t-shirt and boots. So they wouldn’t wake anyone tip-toeing down the creaking staircase, both of them used the Peripatos, bringing them out to the backyard at the outskirts of the woods.
“You want to walk in there?” Jai raised an eyebrow.
“Scared?” Ari teased.
Roling his eyes at her, Jai took off at a slow strol and Ari quickly fel into step beside him.
“You worrying about everything?” he asked softly, glancing down at her in the near dark.
She nodded. “There’s a lot going on in my head right now. Thank you for coming out here with me.”
“I couldn’t sleep either.” He shrugged.
They were silent for a moment—the only sound they made was the breaking of twigs, crunch of leaves and squish of soil under foot. It smeled so clean and fresh out here. It reminded her a little of the woods back home in Sandford except the air was brisker somehow. And the trees around her were thicker than the ones back home. The thought of home just reminded her of everyone she’d left behind and more melancholy set in. Needing solace, Ari reached for Jai’s hand, sliding her cool fingers between his.
She watched his strong profile as he looked uncertainly down at her grip. Finaly he squeezed her hand in his.
“What?” she asked. “The handholding too much?”
To her surprise he looked down at her with a rueful smile, shaking his head. But he didn’t say anything.
“You can tel me, you know. I do remember what you were like when we first met. You’re not exactly the hugging, handholding type.”
“With you… it would appear I am.”
Smiling a little shyly at that, Ari moved closer to him, wrapping her right hand around the wrist of his hand that held her left. “I can’t believe my mom was watching out for me this whole time.”
“It makes a lot of sense now.”
“I’m so mad at her and I’m so mad at Red… but there’s a part of me that feels…” she shrugged and he drew them to a stop. Looking up at him, Ari tried to find the right words. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Try.”
“I feel… less abandoned.” Somehow admitting that made Ari uncomfortable and she abruptly let go of Jai to continue, “My real father created me like I’m some genetic experiment and I’m pretty sure he just tried to kil me or at least was going to torture me. My fake dad literaly told me to my face that he never realy loved me enough, and my mom… wel, al this time I thought my mom abandoned me and then got herself magicaly incarcerated. But she didn’t abandon me, Jai. And she told me that she loves me.” She smiled weakly. “It’s crazy, but I don’t feel so alone anymore.”
Puling her close, Jai’s expression was unreadable. “It’s not crazy, but Ari, you were never alone.” He took a shuddering breath and to her surprise she felt his fingers tremble on her face. “I love you,” he admitted, his voice rough with emotion. “Okay? I love you. You’re not alone.”
For a moment Ari couldn’t believe he’d actualy said it, but the warm, rushing feeling of delirious joy that exploded through her chest and throughout her body finaly brought it home. Melting against him, a stupid grin on her face, Ari whispered back, “God, I love you too. So much.” She felt almost desperate as she slid her hands up around his neck, clutching his nape. “You know, I stil don’t have al the answers. About my mom, or Red, or White… or Azazil. Lilif, Asmodeus. Al I know is that there are al these people who think I belong to them. And the truth is, Jai, I’l only ever belong to you. If you want me, I’l belong to you forever.”
His eyes widened a little at her declaration and then seemed to spark with some unnamed emotion. “Ari,” he groaned and wrapped his arms around her waist, puling her so close, she was nearly off the ground. “I’l always want you,” he whispered urgently against her lips. “You’re mine now, okay. Only mine.” His kiss was as desperate as her declaration had been, and she clung to him tightly, reveling in the taste of him and the taste of their newfound certainty of one another. His kiss softened, becoming drugged and languid, sweet and hot al at the same time. Ari moaned, as he trailed butterfly kisses down her neck, her breath halting as he reached up to unbutton her shirt so he could press kisses against the rise of her br**sts. Excitement tugged in her bely as her hormones took off at a run. Needing his lips back on hers, Ari grasped his head and reached for his mouth, touching her tongue to his so soft and tentatively she knew it would drive him crazy. His muffled groan reverberated through and Ari’s knees almost buckled beneath her. Wanting some skin on skin, she slid her hands up under his shirt, her fingers trailing across his six-pack. Jai shuddered and kissed her harder, his body propeling her back against a tree. She didn’t even feel the impact, she was too busy running her hands al over him under his shirt and pushing her h*ps against his in a way that she knew was sure to escalate things.