Darkness, Kindled (25 page)

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Ari said as a welcome.

“What happened?” Jai asked, all 
concern as he and Gerard lifted Beau’s body and used cloaking magic to hide him from human sight. They carried him to the back of the Mustang and threw him inside rather carelessly. Ari explained what had happened and by the time she was finished, the reddening anger on Jai’s face made her nervous.

“We’ll get him back to Michael’s,”

Gerard assured Ari. “We’ll need to get the Aissawa Brotherhood here to do an exorcism, and then we figure out how to trap him in a Secretum before he can get away.”

Ari nodded in agreement. “I’ll meet you guys back at Michael’s.”

***

Jai was not happy. Ari knew this because the entire time they were at Michael’s discussing a plan of action for Beau/Nick/Stalker, Jai grunted answers at her and generally looked like any minute, he’d blow.

Thankfully, Trey was not home 
because as soon as Ari crossed the threshold, Jai let his annoyance be known.

“I can’t believe you did that,” he growled as he passed her to storm into the kitchen.

A little confused and more than 
irritated by his attitude, Ari followed, watching him as he pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and took a long gulp. “What the hell is your problem?

Your attitude at Michael’s … what was that? Were you trying to embarrass me?”

Jai narrowed his eyes and put the bottle aside. “Embarrass you?”

“Snapping at me like I’m a five-year-old.”

“How about snapping at you for the tricks you pulled to take Beau down.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Flirting with him. Kissing him. You don’t do that, Ari,” he hissed, making her cheeks burn with anger. “You are not some skeezy succubus Jinn. You’re a warrior.”

“Hey, my mother was a succubus,” 
she snapped.

“Exactly. And you’re not your 
mother. Or at least I didn’t think so.”

Sensing where this was coming from, Ari crossed her arms. “I’m not your mother, either, FYI.”

“Don’t abbreviate shit,” he 
muttered, taking another swig of water.

“Don’t tell me not to abbreviate shit. Don’t tell me what to do at all. I kissed a Jinn and used the distraction to bring him down. So what?” She sighed heavily. “You kiss women to put the trace on them. You kissed Fallon while I was standing in the next room.”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“It is the same thing!”

“Well, I don’t like it!”

This surprisingly irrational response from Jai made Ari freeze. She contemplated him a moment as he stewed in his own frustrations. “Why are you really mad?” she asked softly.

Jai shook his head, running a hand over his short hair. “Because it’s been a month. Only a month. Is there ever going to be a time when my girlfriend doesn’t attract some lowlife Jinn?”

This was one of the things Ari 
worried would put a strain on their relationship from the very beginning. His words, though quietly said with no vitriol, raised her hackles. “If it’s such a problem for you, get a new girlfriend.”

“Ari, that’s not what I meant.”

“No, what you meant is that you’re sick and tired of me being a bad-boy Jinn magnet. Fine.” She threw him a dirty look as she turned to leave the kitchen. “Next time, though, just say it rather than treating me like crap and pretending to be pissed off about something else. That’s such a girl thing to do.”

Ari had only moved three steps into the hall before she felt the wind whip her hair around her shoulders. Jai pressed against the wall, his body trapping hers. He was breathing heavily, obviously still annoyed, his lips hovering over hers.

“You and I keep butting heads like this, we’re going to have to invest in some helmets,” he murmured against her mouth, causing a delicious tingle in all Ari’s girly places.

“Or you could just stop being an obnoxious jerk.”

“You could stop being so 
defensive.” He pinned her hands to the wall as he ran his nose along her jawline. “I’m not going anywhere. Ever. So when I get annoyed about you being a Jinn magnet, it doesn’t mean I’m giving up.” He pulled back to stare down into her face with his beautiful, soulful eyes. “I get to be frustrated, Ari. So do you. I also get to be pissed that my girlfriend kissed another guy, but since you had a point earlier about the trace, I’ve decided I’m not doing that anymore.”

“You’re not?” she whispered, her eyes dropping to his beautiful mouth. “Those lips are going to be for me and me alone?”

“Yeah,” he promised just before he kissed her hard and deep. When he came up for air, he shot her a wicked smile.

“I have to admit—I like the making-up part of our little arguments.”

Ari nodded and leaned in for more.

“Me too.”

***

He moved above her in shadow and heat.

He was everything.

She sighed into the 
night, arching against him. Jai. Jai …

His hot lips brushed 
hers, his callused hands smoothing over her skin, searching, touching, everywhere.

She wrapped her arms 
tighter around him, drawing him closer, needing to see his face, but it was cast in darkness.

Silken hair slid 
against her cheek and it took a moment before she realized it wasn’t hers.

She froze.

He felt it.

Grim laughter vibrated through him and he pulled back, light moving across his face.

“This isn’t over, Ari,”

Asmodeus warned, pressing his body deeper against hers.

Ari bolted out of the dream, her scream caught in her throat. Trembling, she tried to blink the sensual nightmare out of existence, her eyes falling on Jai who slept soundly beside her. Guilt clawed at her chest as her heart tried to slow, as her body attempted to come down from the dream in which she’d been making love to Asmodeus. All throughout it, her subconscious had believed she was with Jai and then …

Why? She ran a shaky hand through her matted hair. She didn’t have those kinds of feelings for Asmodeus. Maybe once, when they’d first met, she’d felt some bizarre attraction to him, but his tendency toward sociopathic had definitely hammered those feelings out of her.

Her eyes trailed along Jai’s strong back, up his shoulders, to his face. His lips were parted slightly and Ari could still feel them on hers, still taste him against her tongue.

Jai was the only man she wanted.

Consciously or subconsciously.

Which meant Asmodeus was messing 
with her. Her eyes narrowed in the dark as she drew her knees to her chest. He was sending her a message.

He was telling her he hadn’t 
forgotten.

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.”

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?”