Darkness, Kindled (Fire Spirits 4)

14

An Old Street, NewSidewalk

Lilif had summoned White away from the noise of their attacking army to the eerie quiet of his palace in Zubair. She sat across from him, her fingers tapping slowly against the arm of his square-cut, straight-edged black chair. It was made of cool glass, a coolness only matched by his mother’s appearance. For once she wasn’t pacing back in forth with a disturbing frenetic energy.

The White King found her contemplative mood perhaps even more alarming. It was much too like him … much too like him when he had a dangerous but intelligent strategy brewing.

“Your business did not go well, then?”

Lilif looked up at him, face blank.

“I went to recruit your daughter and she was unmoved by my promise to keep her and her Ginnaye safe once The After claims us.”

White had not expected anything less. “Is she still alive?” he asked with affected boredom.

She nodded tightly. “For now. You created a strong daughter.” She quietly told him what had occurred in the graveyard and White felt a strange feeling wash over him.

Was it pride? For Ari?

No, he scoffed inwardly at the thought and turned back to his mother. “What now, then? It is obvious we are not going to get into the palace.”

“I know.” Lilif lifted her dark eyes to his. “We must force Azazil to us.”

“And how can we accomplish that? We cannot use the Seal against him until he is within your grasp.”

She rose casually, her fingers trailing along the edges of the items in his room. She did that a lot. As though she needed a reminder that she now had a tangible connection to the world again. “When Ari asked her favor of Azazil, his power would’ve left a signature on those affected by the change. Of course, there will have been many affected by the change, but there will be one or two in particular whose destinies were the focus of the change. The signature left on them will be particularly hefty.”

White froze, instantly understanding where his mother was going with this.

It was true that when Azazil changed a destiny, the person whose destiny he changed was left with a trail of Azazil’s power in their blood for a number of months after. Blood was a powerful element in enchantments, especially for tracking or drawing a being to you. If Lilif got her hand on someone who had enough of Azazil’s power in their blood, she could use it to pull Azazil through the Peripatos to her.

As soon as he realized this was her intent, White began telepathing their conversation to his brother.

“Do you know whose blood might be particularly affected?”

White gazed at her dispassionately, as though he cared not a whit. In truth he didn’t care for the boy he was about to turn into a target, but he cared about their world, which made protecting the boy important.

Get to Charlie now, he told Red, his gaze still blank. Lilif is after his blood.

“Well?” she asked somewhat impatiently.

His blood?

Red asked impatiently. Why?

He shrugged. “It could be a number of people,” he said, attempting to stall her.

“Names, Son, I want names.”

To pull Father to her, of course, he snapped at Red. Just do it!

“This could be a complete waste of time.”

I’ll contact Ari at once, Red assured him.

She took a step toward him, a small smile playing on her lips as she reached up to brush her fingers down his cheek. “Give me a name, White … or you will force me to do something I will truly regret.”

He flashed her a look to tell her he wasn’t afraid of her. She smirked, patting his cheek affectionately, urging him to speak. “Charlie Creagh,” he told her stonily. “A human called Charlie Creagh.”

“Ah, yes. The boy. That destructive little ingrate. I find it rather poetic after all the trouble he’s caused that his blood, his death, will have a hand in aiding us. Is he back in Ohio?”

White shrugged. “How would I know?”

“You’re a Jinn king. You are all-knowing.”

And with a grunt, White nodded.

“I’ll have Rabir look into it.”

***

When Jai returned from taking down the Labartu, he’d been outraged to discover Ari had come up against Lilif without anyone there to protect her, and that when Red did turn up, Ari had put his life before hers.

Jai understood Ari had done the right thing, but hell … he’d told her not to go off alone. And did she listen?

No. Stubborn didn’t even cover it. He’d barely had a chance to check her for injuries, to get the full story out of her, before the Red King showed up and warned them that Lilif was going after Charlie. His warning was quick as he had to return to his father and brothers, but from what Jai could make out, apparently Charlie had traces of Azazil’s power in his blood—like a signature.

And Lilif was going to use that signature to draw Azazil to her.

Michael had just been asking how the hell Red knew this when the Jinn king disappeared, throwing one last look of concern in Ari’s direction.

Blowing Jai’s mind with her utter strength and determination, Ari rose from her seat as though she wasn’t completely exhausted. “We have to take him and his family somewhere to protect them.”

Staring into her concerned and weary eyes, Jai wished they could be allowed a moment, just a moment, to take a breath before having to jump into the next disaster. Ari had just battled Lilif—not exactly a stroll in the park. “Ari, we’ll take care of it. You need to rest.”

She gave him a soft, sad smile.

“Jai, there isn’t time to rest. This isn’t just about Charlie. Lilif may be targeting him, but there are other people affected by the change, most prominently Derek and Fallon, and Lilif might come after them if she can’t get to Charlie. If Fallon is a target, then the entire Roe Guild is.”

Understanding the magnitude of what Ari was saying, Jai turned with a heavy heart to Michael. The Guild Hunter had been nothing but supportive and loyal to them, and they’d brought him nothing but upheaval and danger. “Michael,” Jai shook his head, not even knowing where to start, “I’m sorry, but Ari’s right.”

Michael waved him off with an impatient grunt. “Don’t. I see the guilt in your eyes and I don’t like it. We are Jinn, and we are Hunters. We face danger every day. You didn’t bring this upon us, it was thrust upon us.”

Fallon, who’d been unusually quiet, suddenly sat up from her armchair, her cute nose wrinkled in consternation.

“Would someone like to catch me up? I’m totally confused.”

Michael gave his daughter a tender but worried look. “The Guild needs to scatter to our safe houses.” He turned back to Jai. “We have them all over.”

Ari stepped toward their Guild leader. “I suggest we keep Fallon and Charlie together, which means Jai, Trey, and I will be with your family, Michael. Where’s your safe house?”

“Bridge of Allan. It’s a small village in Scotland.”

Ari raised an eyebrow and gave a half smile, affection warming in Jai’s eyes. She was excited at the prospect of going to Scotland, even under the dire circumstances. “Scotland. Cool.” She nodded. “Okay, here’s the plan: Jai, you’ll accompany Michael, Fallon, and Caroline on—”

“And Gerard and Megan,” Michael interrupted. “My brother and his wife share the safe house.”

“Okay, Jai, you’ll accompany all of the above on the flight to Scotland since they don’t have access to the Peripatos, and I’m the only one who can take someone with me into it. Trey,” Ari spun around and gave him an apologetic smile, “you’re coming with me to convince Charlie and his family they need our help.”

So far, Jai wasn’t liking the plan, mostly because it meant he and Ari would be separated for twenty-four hours. “I’ll come with you. Trey can accompany the Roes.”

“Baby,” Ari sighed, “not to be mean or anything, but you aren’t as charming as Trey.”

Trey’s grin widened and Jai

squinted in warning before he could say anything cocky.

“I mean, you are charming …” Her lips twitched. “But only ever to me.”

Fallon coughed in an obvious attempt to mask her laughter.

“Trey will be better at helping me convince Charlie. You might just—”

“Scare the crap out of them?” Trey offered.

“Yes.”

Scare the crap out of them? Jai glowered. He would never scare the crap out of them. He could be a pretty friendly guy when he needed to be.

“That, right there,” Fallon made a motion with her palm toward his face, “that’s the glower that will scare the crap out of them.”

He looked to Michael for backup and found him hiding a smile as he shuffled “paperwork.” Jai gave in. “Fine. Trey with you, me with them.”

Ari nodded militantly and shot a questioning look Michael’s way. “Can we get some protection enchantments put up around Derek? I don’t think they’ll go after him, but just in case?”

Michael nodded, his eyes glimmering with more amusement as he watched Ari take complete control of the situation.

He seemed proud of her, not at all insulted by her ousting him from leadership.

Frankly, Jai was proud of her too.