Darkness, Kindled (3 page)

She scowled at him. “I don’t think that’s really any of your business.”

At the sudden dark heat and annoyance in his bearing, Ari tensed, her breath catching as he leaned into her, his mouth brushing her ear. “I’m making it my business.”

Ari’s lids flew open and she struggled to draw breath, panting with fear and something else as she stared up at her dark bedroom ceiling. She turned onto her side, pulling the covers tightly around her. She didn’t know what to do about Asmodeus. She hadn’t told Jai he’d been visiting her dreams. She hadn’t told anyone. But Ari knew his increasing attention was a worry and the only person she wanted to tell was Uncle Red. He’d know what to do. But it depended on whether Red wanted to talk to her … and if he would help her if he did.

The 
I That I Am Is Not Me

Emotionally exhausted, Ari managed to drift back to sleep, but her conscience couldn’t seem to rest. She woke at 6 a.m., an hour earlier than usual. Mouth dry, Ari shuffled sleepily out of her room to fetch a glass of water from the kitchen. It would’ve been easy enough to conjure one, but Trey and Jai had been raised to use their Jinn abilities when it mattered, or when it was the only convenient solution. Otherwise, they lived their lives like humans. It was partly an attitude—the Ginnaye believed using Jinn magic for everyday living was lazy—and partly about living as a human so they wouldn’t slip up in front of one.

Tired gaze to the floor, Ari was about to hit the stairs when Trey’s bedroom door opened. She glanced up, and stopped at the sight of a huge, gorgeous, blue-haired guy wearing jeans and a slim-cut T-shirt. “Glass?” she said loudly, more than a little shocked to see him there. It wasn’t that she didn’t know the Glass King—aka one of her uncles, aka an all-powerful, scary Jinn king—was seeing Trey romantically, it was that she’d never seen him in the vicinity of Trey’s room before.

It caused her a note of panic on behalf of her friend. She didn’t want Trey to get too deeply involved in the dangerous world of Jinn royalty, but he seemed smitten with his new boyfriend.

And frankly more alarming was the face that Glass seemed completely into Trey.

Glass raised a finger to his lips, hushing her, and she winced apologetically. He gestured to the stairs and Ari hustled down them, feeling the potency of the Jinn behind her but not hearing his movements at all. She entered the kitchen in the back of the house, a huge space with an island in the middle and a large dining table on the far left.

Sliding doors opened out onto a decent-sized backyard.

“Would you like some water?” she asked politely, pulling a chilled bottle of water out of the fridge.

Glass shook his head. “I will get myself a coffee.”

This was so weird.

Ari merely nodded.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like

Glass, it was just that she’d never become as comfortable with him as she was with Red. Red smiled and joked with her, whereas Ari had never seen Glass smile unless it was backed by sinister intent. Trey was his opposite in every way.

Thinking about Red caused Ari to ask Glass for the fifteenth time, “Have you heard from Red?”

As the Jinn king lifted the mug of coffee he’d conjured (clearly he was okay with taking shortcuts in life), his expression grew more focused. He took a sip and pulled back to study her. “I have.”

She refrained from rolling her eyes. The thing about a Jinn king … they never answer unspoken but obvious questions. “How is he?”

“He’s fine, Ari.”

“Will you tell him I asked for him?” Again.

Glass bowed his head, letting her know he would honor her request. Despite her stomach knotting up over the distance between her and Red, Ari couldn’t help but think that a bow of the head was a pretty cool and dignified way to answer somebody.

Before the two of them could be subjected to awkward silence, Ari was relieved to hear footsteps on the stairs.

Two seconds later, Trey wandered into the kitchen. As always, Ari felt an affectionate squeeze in her chest, as well as an honest appreciation for his masculine beauty. Trey was tall with an athletic, rangy build, messy dark blond hair, and tip-tilted gray eyes. His face was an artist’s dream, and he dressed like a modern-day James Dean. In other words, he was Hot with a capital H.

Trey instantly turned his regard to Glass. He grinned. “Morning.”

To Ari’s utter surprise, she watched Glass’s lips twitch as he muttered, “Morning,” before taking a sip of his coffee. Almost immediately, Glass put the mug down and it disappeared. With a casual nod to Ari, he passed her and then stopped at Trey’s side. “Until later.” Glass squeezed his shoulder and Trey nodded, his eyes burning in such a scorching manner, Ari couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable. She was intruding on something intimate and private. Then, to not just Ari’s shock but obviously Trey’s as well, Glass bent his head and brushed his mouth over Trey’s. Without another word, the Jinn king stepped back into the Peripatos.

Trey looked adorably dumbfounded for a moment. He glanced over at Ari with an almost boyish smile. “He’s definitely warming up to me.”

Ari laughed. “Yeah, I think so.”

As quickly as he’d flashed the smile, Trey grew serious. His long strides ate up the kitchen floor until he held Ari tightly in his arms. She felt his lips press a kiss to her head and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling safe and loved. It was a wonderful feeling to have after everything that had happened to her.

“Jai told me what happened. You sure you’re okay?”

She nodded against his chest, not ready to let go. “I’m fine. Honestly. It was a shock at first, but I’m over it.”

“Well, at least you weren’t lying to me about that.” Jai’s voice broke through the comforting, warm fog of Trey’s embrace.

They pulled back from one another to find Jai leaning against the wall, his features hard, his green eyes spitting angry, gold flints. “Can we have a minute?” he asked Trey but didn’t take his focus from her.

Ari’s heart rate sped up a little.

What had she done now?

“Sure thing.” Trey held up his hands almost like he was surrendering. “I’ve got training this morning, anyway.

I’ll catch you guys later.”

As soon as the front door slammed shut, Ari braced her hands on her hips. “What was that about?” she demanded snippily.

Jai pushed himself off the wall and took a few short, anger-infused steps toward her. His perused her body meaningfully before coming up to her face. “What are you wearing?”

Feeling sideswiped, Ari glanced down at her nightie. “Uh … a nightie?”

“Where are your pajamas?”

She quirked an eyebrow at his caustic tone, not at all impressed. “Probably in my drawer.”

“Why are you wearing that 
instead of them?”

“I just bought it. I liked it.” She shrugged. Truthfully, she’d bought it to try and entice Jai. It was a short lilac silk nightie with a low neckline trimmed in lace. The hem, which barely covered her ass, was trimmed in lace too. She’d bought five in different colors.

Ari wasn’t going to tell him that, though.

Unease crept over her as Jai’s face grew even darker. She’d thrown it on last night because it was the closest thing at hand, and she’d been too sleepy that morning to think about what she was wearing. Crap.

“Jesus Christ, Ari, it barely covers anything,” he snapped. “Can you not wear it in front of my best friend?”

Double crap.

“It’s just Trey,” she argued, trying to make it seem not so bad. “He’s like a brother.”

“Except he’s not. And I know for a fact that he doesn’t see you as a sister.” Jai’s jaw clenched. “You may be friends but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t appreciate a hot girl when he sees one.”

Feeling a little resentful, Ari turned away from him to put the rest of her water back in the refrigerator. “At least someone thinks I’m hot,” she mumbled under breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“No. I heard what you said.” She detected a deepening anger in his voice. “What the hell does that mean?”

Ari’s shoulders hunched up at the question, not sure she was ready to talk this out with him after all, but saved by the bell, Jai’s cell rang. He cursed in frustration before answering it.

Turning around, she watched him as his one-word answers gave nothing away. “I’ll be right there,” he finally said.

He hung up and looked at her, his mien grave. “That was Michael. He needs my help on something, but when I get back, we’ll talk.”

Great.

“Can’t wait,” she answered sarcastically.

With an unamused sigh, Jai stepped back into the Peripatos.

Stomach in knots over their disagreement, Ari rushed to her room to shower. Having lived with Jai temporarily months ago when they first met, Ari already knew some things about him. He was incredibly organized and tidy and he didn’t have a lot of stuff.

Ari, on the other hand, liked to nest, so she’d bought a lot for the house using her Guild Hunter money. Jai didn’t say anything as she gradually filled what had been a fairly modern but masculine home with little girly knickknacks—cushions, candles, ornaments, vases …

They didn’t share a bathroom so she hadn’t been introduced to the intimacy of that, but she had on occasion watched him as he shaved. She knew he made his bed every morning like a soldier, that his bedroom was filled with two things—clothes and books—that he ate well—protein shakes, fruit, nuts, oatmeal, vegetables, grilled chicken, fish—and that he rolled his eyes every time he took in Ari and Trey’s side of the refrigerator—pizza, burgers, pudding, diet soda. She knew he worked out every day for two hours and if he worked out longer than that, something was bothering him. Sometimes she got that something out of him; other times he just pulled her onto the sofa and switched on a movie. All these things she knew and yet she still felt like she didn’t really know him. He was holding back and she didn’t know why, and the thought of talking about it scared the hell out of her because she was so terrified he was going to tell her this had all been a huge mistake.

Trembling at the thought, Ari got

out of the shower and wrapped in a towel. When she stepped out into her room, the steam cleared and the sight that greeted her knocked the wind right out of her.

“Looking good, Ari.” Charlie

grinned at her from where he lounged on her bed. The grin was wide but not wide enough to reach his eyes. “Nice towel.”

***

Once Ari had picked up her jaw from the floor, Charlie felt a tingle of magic in the air seconds before the towel was gone and replaced by jeans and a T-shirt. He felt a flicker of annoyance that she’d cover up around him—as if she wasn’t safe from him. He snorted inwardly.

Who was he kidding? Of course she wasn’t safe from him.

With less difficulty than before,

Charlie managed to keep his expression blank as Ari took a step toward him, whispering his name. He felt the familiar ache in his chest whenever he was around her. Would it kill her to stop being so beautiful and caring just long enough for him to get through this? He didn’t want her to care. Fallon had died caring about him.

Feeling the fury build in his 
blood, Charlie dropped his gaze, trying to control the rage.

What happened to Fallon was not 
happening to Ari.

The plan had been to stay low, to 
figure out what his next move would be now that he was a fugitive and had a chunk of Mount Qaf emerald in his possession. There were options. After he’d killed the Labartu, he’d gone somewhere dark, started thinking some pretty shitty things about Ari. After a week of hiding out, he’d begun to feel a little normal again and realized that they’d all been right. The emerald had changed him. But he wasn’t giving it up. He was, however, intent on giving up Ari. He harbored some deep resentment against her, resentment he feared would one day get the best of him. Thus, all the options he’d drawn up … well, not one of them had included her ever being in his life again.

But then the Ghulah found him.

“Charlie, what are you doing here?”

Ari asked in a low, panicked voice.

He sighed as though bored, as if 
being in the same room with her, smelling her perfume, seeing a pair of her panties lying on the floor didn’t do a number on him. Just because he resented her, didn’t mean he wasn’t still attracted to her.

It was quite the pickle.

“I’ve been approached by a Ghulah.

Apparently you and Jai attacked her in Roswell.”

Ari blanched, nodding slowly.

“Remember, I used the Seal on her.”

“Yeah,” he grinned, “she’s pretty 
pissed at you for that. And guess what? She knows you’re no longer the Seal and that you have no power over her. She wants my help in bringing you down.” He watched Ari’s face grow ashen. Part of him wanted to comfort her. He squashed that feeling like an ant beneath his thumb. “She thinks since you’re apparently hunting me with the intention of killing me, I might be up for a little preemptive attack.”

“Charlie, I—”

“Relax, Ari. If I thought you

wanted to kill me, I wouldn’t be here.”

Noting her suspicion, Charlie had 
to temper his growing irritation. She would never trust him again, would she?

“Why are you here?”

He slid off the bed and stood, 
standing a few inches taller than her. “To bargain with you. I’ll help you take care of the Ghulah if you’ll keep the Guild off my back.”

“How?”

She hadn’t immediately scorned the idea. Charlie tried not to growl. Goddammit, she had to stop caring about him!

And yet … he needed her to care if his plan was to work out. It was such a mess. “You make it hell for them every time they think they got me. You mess up, you cause problems, you do what it takes to give me the time to get the hell out of dodge. In exchange, we’ll take the Ghulah down together.”

She was clearly worried about his 
plan and his intention for her to betray people she’d grown to care about. “I don’t need help taking down a Ghulah. I’m not worried.”