No matter that Jai knew what Trey was up to, he still wanted to kill him. He walked away from Ari, Charlie following in his wake, and the two of them sparred a little harder, punching their anger into the magic. When he’d turned around to see what had distracted Charlie, he had not been expecting the rush of pure molten jealousy that cascaded over him. The sight of his best friend straddling Ari, of her grinning flirtatiously up at him, had stuck him in the gut like a knife. It had winded him.
It had hurt.
Shit.
As soon as he saw the look in Trey’s eyes when he approached, Jai had known that Trey was deliberately trying to provoke him. And Ari… grinning back at Trey like she’d have welcomed his attentions. Not sure who he was madder at, himself or Trey, Jai put his all into the sparring and was genuinely pleased to see Charlie defending himself so well. Sparks of kindled magic and the glow of ember lit the air as they dodged and attacked. Charlie was a quick learner.
He shot a quick glance out of the corner of his eye to see what Ari was getting up to with Trey and was relieved to see they were sparring like normal. She was so pissed at Jai. And rightly so. Hell, he regretted telling Ari about Yasmin. Not that he wanted to be with Ari — he couldn’t be with her, it would cost him too much — but the thought of her thinking less of him really killed him. What the hell had he been thinking, blurting all that stuff out? What an idiot.
Charlie’s punch connecting with his gut dragged Jai’s attention back to where it ought to be. As they fought on, Jai watched as Charlie grew lighter on his feet, his eyes blazing with excitement. For the most part, he’d seemed happier these last two days than Jai had ever seen him, and unfortunately, he thought he knew why that was. Stopping abruptly, Jai held a hand up to warn Charlie off. He squinted at him and sighed. “You sure you’ve got your magic under control, Charlie? You’re not… I don’t know… thirsty for more?”
At his question, the excitement dimmed in Charlie’s eyes and he scrubbed at the short hair he was clearly unused to. “I don’t need more. But I would like to know about the talismans. About how to use them?”
“That’s not even up for discussion.” Jai shook his head, worried and wondering how he could explain to Charlie that the magic could warp him, change him. It hadn't seemed to sink in so far. “Listen—”
“Jai!” his father called as he marched into the training room, thankfully alone this time. Luca nodded at Ari and Trey as he headed toward Jai. Trey gestured to Ari to follow the ginnaye leader. Jai snorted. His friend was such a nosy bastard. Luca waited until all of them clustered together before he spoke. “No word on the Guild yet,” he said, and Jai felt his stomach sink. He’d really been hoping to get Ari the hell out of his father’s house as soon as possible. “However,” Luca eyed Jai carefully, “I have a client looking for one night security. A British actress is in LA and she’s having difficulty ... she's received death threats. Now she and her boyfriend are only here for a few nights and tonight they’d like to go to a club without an entire security detail. I suggested I could provide a male and female security officer to go undercover as another couple with them as their security. It gives them protection without feeling like security. Anyway, they liked the idea, but I have a problem.”
Yeah, Jai didn’t like where this was going.
“All my guardians who are young enough to pull this off are on assignment. If you take the job, I will make sure we protect Ari here tonight. Yasmin is already good to go. I’d consider it a favor,” Luca said with an astonishing amount of politeness.
The thought of being with Yasmin set Jai’s teeth on edge and he didn’t miss the way Ari’s face clouded over at the mention of the ginnaye. However, his father rarely asked him nicely for anything. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
Trey took an apologetic step forward. “Dude, I’d do it, but I have a case tonight. But… uh, hey,” he glanced at Ari and Jai tensed at the mischievous glitter in his friend’s eyes, “I think you should take Ari instead. She’s come along great in these sessions and uh, I think this would be good defense practice for her.”
“You, uh, think too much,” Jai snapped back at him.
“No, now wait.” Luca was nodding along, making Jai’s eyes narrow. “Would you be up for it, Ms. Johnson?”