“Not without first making me watch the moment I lose the woman I love forever.”
“Jai—”
“I’m not giving in!” he roared, standing, glaring down at her, his chest heaving with passion. “There has to be a way!”
“Jai—”
“I’ll fight him for you.”
Ari stood up slowly, her expression aghast. “You can’t be serious.”
“Would you die for me?” She stared at him in silent panic. He knew she would, but she couldn’t admit it and strengthen his argument. “Ari, would you die for me?”
She closed her eyes and two more tears slipped down her cheeks.
“Ari?”
Stop.
“Would you die for me?”
“Yes.” As soon as she uttered the word, she knew there would be no talking Jai out of it. Although it killed her to do it, she called in help.
Red, I need you to come take Jai. I need you to watch over him until this is all over so he doesn’t do anything to get himself killed.
The last word was barely sent when the flames flickered into the room. Red and Glass stepped out of the peripatos and immediately took hold of a surprised Jai.
“What the hell are you doing?” he bit out, struggling against their grip. His eyes flew to Ari. “What are you doing?”
Ari hurried over to him and ignoring her uncles, she stood on tiptoes and pressed a hard kiss filled with longing against Jai’s mouth. When she pulled back, his expression had dimmed from rage to desolation. “I won’t let you die for me.”
She turned, closing her eyes and cradling her chest as if she could somehow contain the pieces of her broken heart. Red and Glass removed Jai from the room, his shouts for her echoing in her ears.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Blood Brothers
He wasn’t allowed even an inch of space to breathe.
Jai bowed his head, knees drawn up, hands dangling uselessly over them. The Red King was sitting in a similar position, their backs to the wall of Red’s chamber in Azazil’s palace. Red was almost pressed up against him, close in case Jai decided to do something stupid like attempt to use the peripatos to get to Ari and to get off Mount Qaf.
Jai warred with himself. He wasn’t the type of guy who could sit and do nothing, but he knew if he did anything, it would end in his death and Ari would blame herself. His throat burned and drew tight, and for a moment he fought to breathe.
Red sighed beside him. “I cannot make you any promises this won’t go ahead, Jai. But I can tell you, while I stay here with you, Glass is out there and he is trying.”
“Why?” Jai asked bitterly. “Really? Why have you allied yourself with us? And why should I believe it?”
“I’ll try not to let that piss me off,” Red replied with an edge in his tone, “since I know you’re going through something right now.”
“Didn’t answer my question.”
Red sighed again. “I am loyal to my father, Jai, because of who he is, and because in the grand scheme of things, he will always try to protect these worlds and the balance. I am loyal to Glass, because we have proven ourselves to each other. We know that neither one of us would betray the other, to anyone, not even to Father. And I find I am loyal to Ari because even after everything, even after my deceit, she threw herself in front of my mother’s attack to save me. She has proven herself my ally. I am loyal to her, and since there is nothing in these worlds that means more to her than you, I am consequently loyal to you too.”
Jai found a small amount of relief in that. He turned to Red, and although the words killed him to form, he asked, “If we can’t get her out of this, will you still watch over her? Make sure he doesn’t hurt her?”
Something flashed in Red’s eyes and Jai finally saw for himself Red’s loyalty and affection for Ari. He hated the thought of her with Asmodeus almost as much as Jai did. “I will protect her if it comes to that. And if it doesn’t … I will still make sure she is protected.”
“He won’t give up. Asmodeus … even if we find a way out … he won’t stop.”
Red’s jaw clenched as he turned to stare out at the night sky through the balcony window. “I’ll make it so he has to.”
“No,” Trey breathed, slumping down in a chair, his heart pounding hard in his chest. The rest of the Roes stood in tense silence, taking in what the Glass King had just relayed.
“Isn’t there something we can do?” Fallon asked. Trey heard the panic he was feeling in her voice. “We can’t leave Ari to that. We can’t let that happen to Ari or Jai. Not after everything they’ve done.”