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.