by S. Young
Gulping down the truth, Ari shook her head, the build-up of anger in her throat making it difficult to speak. “Nothing.”
“No, I don’t accept that. You never lie to me. Do not start now.”
She scoffed, the noise escaping her before she could stop it. Her father’s nostrils flared and she suddenly felt dangerous. Weightless and dangerous. “I never lie?” She shook her head, daring him to hate her. “Right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means… How would you know?” her voice rose an octave on the last word as she stood from the couch. “You’re never here. And when I complain you’re never here, you just call me a brat who doesn’t know how lucky she is to have such nice things in her life because her dad works hard to give them to her. Lucky?” she whispered, daring him to hate her and wanting him to love her all at the same time. “I’m all alone, Dad. I have no one, no one but Charlie, and he doesn’t want anyone to love him. So no. I’m not lucky, Dad. I’m eighteen and I’m alone because you’re never here. You’re never here and I made a mistake. I’ve made a few of those.” She shook her head, watching the color leach from his cheeks and his eyes dim from anger to sadness. “You think I never lie? I lie, Dad. I lied about Penn. I don’t want to go there. I don’t want a business degree. And worse… I don’t know what I want. I don’t know who I am. And I lied about that. I lied because I want you to love me, even though you’re never here. And…” she sucked in a breath, that old falsehood still biting at her conscience. “I lied about your girlfriend Michelle.”
Her dad jerked back, the confusion on his face crumbling Ari’s resolve a little. “Michelle?”
“Your girlfriend that I said hit me.”
His eyes lit up with recognition. “Michelle.”
“You really liked her. I knew that even then. And you hadn’t liked anyone so much before. I got scared. I didn’t want a mom and I didn’t want to share you. So I lied. She didn’t slap me.” Ari exhaled shakily. “I’m sorry. But I lied. A horrible lie I didn’t fully understand the consequences of. I just didn’t want another mom abandoning us. I didn’t want you abandoning me.” She laughed humorlessly. “And that is just such a joke because you abandoned me, anyway.”
The silence between them was so thick, but so fragile. Ari waited, tense, her whole body frozen as she waited for him to respond.
Finally, Derek lifted his head, his features hard, his skin stretched taut across his face. His dark blue eyes blazed at her as if he didn’t recognize her. Without another word, he rose to his feet and walked past her. The front door slammed and Ari jumped at the noise, staring blindly down at the armchair he’d vacated.
Well, you wanted to push. You wanted to punish. Someone. Anyone.
Ignoring the ache in her chest, Ari turned slowly around, only to come face to face with Jai as he entered the living room. He stared at her, expression somewhat unfathomable, but she noted a softening in his features that hadn’t been there before. She dropped her gaze, not wanting his sympathy.
The shrill call of the phone broke the awkward moment, and Ari reached over to answer it.
“Ari?” Charlie’s warm voice asked in disbelief and relief.
“Yeah.”
“Yeah? That’s all you’ve got to say. Ari, I’ve been going out of my mind. What the hell happened the other night?”
She glanced out at the darkening day and sighed. “I’ll tell you in a minute. You at home?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be there in ten.”
This was not at all what Jai had imagined would be his assignment. One, the actual assignment — the girl — was a bigger situation than even he could have anticipated. And two, she differed from what he’d thought she’d be. Usually importants were surrounded by people, had busy lives, were focused and driven. But then Ari wasn’t exactly an important. Not precisely. Jai watched her as she grabbed her keys and shoved her feet into white flats. She turned back to him, her long hair sliding like dark chocolate across her back.
“We’re walking. I feel like walking.”
Jai shrugged. Walking worked for him. It was just the destination that bothered him.
For over a week now, he’d been following Ari, protecting her. It had surprised him how lonely she was, how abandoned she was by even the people who were supposed to love her. Her dad was an idiot, Jai thought so even more now after overhearing their argument. Her friends were typical teens too wrapped up in their own lives to see Ari was drowning, and her so-called best friend, Charlie, who she talked about all the time (even with that damn ifrit who’d tried to bar him from the house) wasn’t there for her. He seemed to come in and out of Ari’s life, playing with her feelings, pulling her in, pushing her out. Jai thought the kid needed his head dunked in a tub of cold water, but part of him also got where the guy was coming from. Anger, especially over the death of a loved one, wasn’t easy to relinquish. Whereas some wanted an escape from it anyway they could, others, like Jai, channeled it into something productive. He guessed it all came down to how you were wired. Still, it bothered Jai, for some inexplicable reason, that the first person Ari wanted to run to after all that she’d been through was Charlie. Charlie who was too messed up to give her any kind of support.
He shot a look at her as she breezed down the sidewalk, her long legs working to get away from him. She better not think about telling that kid any of this stuff. Jai sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He shouldn’t care what she did with her personal life. That wasn’t part of the assignment. But something about her had drawn him in since they had charged him with following her. He understood what it was like to be all alone. And Ari was a nice girl. She was. Contrary to how she was reacting to him (but hey he was used to that), she was a nice girl.
With eyes a guy could drown in.
Jai frowned at that. Ari had jinn eyes, clearly inherited from her mother. Those were powerful eyes, indistinct, but startling. She shot him a sideways glance, checking him out, and Jai hid a smile. She was only eighteen (and a virgin, according to her friend Rachel). She came from a small town in Ohio and she didn’t really know herself. Jai sighed inwardly. She was an innocent. In every way, his thoughts suddenly depressed, darkened. It was unfair. The Red King should have armed her with the truth. Given her a chance to prepare.
The Red King said Jai couldn’t tell her the truth but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hint at it. Right?
Chapter 10
Easing you cut me
Jai hadn’t said a word to her when she announced she was going over to Charlie’s. He had followed her out of the door, past the now empty driveway (she’d put her own car in the garage before she’d been whipped into the genie realm), and down the sidewalk that would lead her out of her neighborhood and into Charlie’s. An awkwardness still hung in the air after Jai overheard the argument between her and her dad. Ari kept shrugging, as if that would somehow rid them of it. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering how she could talk him into helping her.
When he sighed, she realized he was going to break the uncomfortable silence first. “You know you can’t tell Charlie anything, right? Nothing about me, you, or any of the jinn.”
Ari drew to an abrupt halt, staring up into his dark, handsome face as if he’d gone mad. “Are you kidding me?”
A muscle in Jai’s jaw twitched. He leaned down so their faces were at eye level. “No,” he replied sternly, before straightening. “I don’t kid.”
“There’s a surprise.”
“So are we clear?” he ignored her jibe.
Ari reached out to pull him to a stop, feeling how hot his skin was under her hand. Fire spirits seemed to run at a higher temperature than everyone else. She wondered if she’d also start radiating abnormal amounts of heat if she were to tap into her jinn abilities. It was ironic because she was much more of a rain and water person than a sun and fire person. The rain made her feel better, new, refreshed. “No, we’re not clear,” she argued. “I�
�m telling Charlie. I have to tell Charlie. He deserves to know that he isn’t responsible for his brother’s death.”
“Look, that’s very noble, but the fewer people involved in that part of your life, the better for everyone.”
“You can’t talk me out of this.” Ari swooped past him, her long hair billowing behind her like a banner in the wind.
“Your uncle would be pissed.”
“Don’t call him that.”
“The Red King then.” It was now Jai’s turn to reach out to her, his large hand clasping around her upper arm. His calloused palm caused sensation to shiver across her skin. Ari stopped, jerking her arm out of his hold. She met his stubborn look with one of her own. “Ari, the king might come across all cool and human and nice, but he has his own agenda. And you do not want to cross the Red King. You don’t want to cross any of the Seven Kings of Jinn.”
She nodded. “I get you’re doing your job. I get I can’t get rid of you. But, other than making things right with my friends, I want nothing to do with the jinn world. I’m going to pretend that none of it exists until I have no choice but to. Because I don’t want that world, Jai. I want this one. I want my friends to be okay.”
Disgruntled, Jai shook his head but didn’t argue. He fell into step beside her and despite what she’d just said, she was kind of glad to have him there now that she knew there were jinn out there actively trying to destroy the lives of the humans of Sandford Ridge. Nick was next on the to-help list.
When they reached Charlie’s street, Ari pulled Jai to a stop again. “You need to hide for now.”
He shook his head belligerently. “I’m never leaving your side until ordered by the Red King.”
“Question: what happens when I need to pee?”
Jai narrowed his eyes. “You’re so juvenile.”
She smiled sweetly. “Go away.”
“No. I’ll go into the cloak.” He tried to appease her.
Ari shook her head. “After Ms. Maggie, it freaks me out.”
“Fine.”
Before she could question his resigned sigh, Jai surprised her by glancing surreptitiously around. He strode away from her, slipping in behind a large tree that hid him from the rest of the street. Ari frowned. “What—” Flames flickered in reds and oranges and yellows, peeking out from behind the tree. Just like that, the flames disappeared and a huge Great Dane padded out from where Jai had been standing. Ari gulped, remembering the Red King told her that the jinn could take the form of different animals. “Jai?”
He barked at her, and she took that as a yes.
Eyeing him as he found step beside her, Ari had to curb the urge to pat his head. He was a white Dane with black spots all over him. His soulful black eyes still contained a hint of disdain and Ari snorted. “Trust you to choose a Great Dane.” Walking, Jai came up past her waist. She imagined when sitting, his head would reach her shoulder. Ari had only known Jai for a few hours, but she already knew he exuded one word. Intimidation. She tutted. “How am I supposed to explain you to Charlie?”
He cocked his head, and Ari had to hide a smile at his comical expression. It said, ‘Does it look like I give a shit?’
Not wanting to admit she was enjoying Jai’s company, Ari picked up the pace and wasn’t surprised to see Charlie waiting on the front porch for her. He moved toward her as if he were going to hug her and then seemed to think better of it. Her chest ached at the panic in his eyes, and she hated herself for worrying him.
In a weird way, though, it was nice to know he still cared.
“Where the hell did you go?” he snapped, and then his eyebrows drew together in puzzlement when he saw the dog. “What the hell is that?”
“That…” Ari shared a look with Jai. “That is… Hamlet.”
“What?”
Ari shrugged, smiling. “Hamlet. He’s a Great Dane. Get it?”
Charlie jumped down the porch steps, shoving his hands into his pockets as he glared at her. “Witty.”
Trying to remind herself that he was just being a jerk because she’d worried him, Ari nodded her head toward Vickers’ Woods. “Can we go for a walk? Talk?”
He strode past her with a grunt.
Ari smiled and followed him out of the drive. Feeling mischievous, she turned back to Jai and patted her leg. “Come on, boy.”
At Jai’s little growl, Charlie threw the Great Dane a dirty look and eased Ari so the Dane walked beside him and not her. “That dog is freakin’ me out.”
Confused, thinking Jai was pretty cute as a Great Dane, Ari frowned. “Why?”
“He’s so…” They both watched as Jai’s eyes darted around the street, watching vigilantly for any signs of attack. Charlie made a face. “Human.”
“Oh no,” Ari replied dryly. “He’s definitely not human.”
Charlie bugged her to tell him what happened to her the night of her party, but she remained silent until they found one of the many paths that led into the woods. They passed the cherry trees someone had planted years ago without permission; the blossoms added perfume to the dank smell of soil. Settling on a large fallen trunk, Ari tried to relax, allowing her mind and body to calm. She listened to the familiar sound of the interstate in the distance. Charlie stood before her, his legs wide, his arms crossed over his chest. She winced, noting the dark circles under his eyes were even more prominent today. It looked like he hadn’t slept a wink since she’d disappeared. Dried leaves and twigs cracked under Jai’s paws as he padded over to her and sat on his haunches. He watched Charlie with an obvious hint of disapproval in his eyes. Charlie saw it and eyed the dog warily.
“Where did you say you got the dog?”
Ari held up a hand. “I’m about to explain. It’s just really difficult to explain. You might think I’m crazy.”
“I think your dog might be crazy,” he mumbled, retreating. “I get the feeling he doesn’t like me so much.”
“Charlie.”
“What?” He finally dragged his eyes from Jai. “Sorry. You were saying?”
Ari suddenly realized something as she took in his overall appearance. His pupils weren’t dilated and except for the dark circles under his eyes, his skin had an almost normal color to it. “Are you sober?”
His brown eyes flashed at her. “Yeah, Ari. I’m sober. You disappeared out of your own bed two nights ago and I couldn’t find you anywhere. I called your friends, I called your dad. No one knew what happened to you. Yes. I’m sober. I’m sober because I’ve been looking for you!”
She tilted her head, eyeing him sadly. “You should be sober because you’re eighteen, Charlie.”
He shook his head, his unkempt hair sliding into his eyes. “Look, I didn’t come here for a lecture,” he told her wearily. “I came here to find out what happened to you.”
“What happened to me…”
Here goes.
“What happened to me… I met my real father.”
For the first three quarters of the story, Charlie watched her in taut silence, his expression confused and concerned. She knew as she went on about being pulled into the realm of the jinn, being attacked by a nisnas, meeting her father, the White King, and discovering she was jinn, that he thought she’d gone crazy or was maybe on some kind of drug. Then, as she told him about coming home and finding her uncle, the Red King, in the house with a bodyguard named Jai, Ari noted his eyes grow anguished. Like he had lost her somehow.
The sadness turned to anger as she told him about Ms. Maggie being jinn, about Nick being possessed by one of the jinn and Mike… he grew so furious as she talked about Mike.
When she was done explaining about the labartu who killed Mike, the silence between them pulsed with raw fury. She braced herself, determined to be brave.
“You think that’s funny?” Charlie hissed between clenched teeth. “You think that’s fucking funny, Ari!”
Jai growled from beside her, standing up from his haunches to pad in front of her, guarding her. “Jai,” she begged. “Show hi
m. Please.”
The Great Dane’s head turned to her, his enormous eyes indignant.
“Please, Jai.”
“You’ve gone nuts.” Charlie stumbled back from her. “Only sane person in my life and she’s gone nuts.”
“No!” Ari jumped up, terrified she was losing control of the situation. “Charlie, I’m telling you the truth, believe me. I know it sounds insane. I know. But it’s the truth. You didn’t kill Mike. One of the jinn did. Because of me. And I’m so sorry,” she choked. “I am so sorry. But I can prove it. The guardian I told you about. The jinn. Jai. That’s him.” She pointed at the Great Dane.
Charlie’s shoulders slumped, his face crumpling, his eyes glowing bright with unshed tears. “Ari, please.”
“It’s him!” she cried, turning on Jai. “Please. Help me.”
The dog stared at her for a minute more, and then the surrounding air shimmered. Ari released a breath of relief. Smokeless fire erupted, crackling and spitting, the heat licking Ari’s chilled skin. And then it dissipated, leaving Jai standing in its place.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You owe me.”
“Holy fu—” Charlie gawked.
“Charlie.” Ari rushed at him, clasping his face in her hands. “Charlie.” She shook him until his shocked gaze unglued itself from Jai. “Charlie, I told you I’m telling the truth.”
“This is real?” he whispered, amazed, hurt, shocked, scared.
She nodded silently, caressing his cheek.
He jerked away from her and Ari felt the loss of him. “You’re… jinn? Jinn are real?”
“Apparently so.” She locked her jaw, trying not to cry at the coldness in his eyes.
That coldness suddenly melted into wrath. “And… that’s why Mike’s dead? It was what… what did you call it?”
“A labartu. They’re jinn that target kids. She was the cyclist that ran you off the road. It wasn’t your fault, Charlie.”
