Of Wish and Fury (Seven Kings of Jinn)

Shaking his head in wonder, disbelieving that little Mikey was already making out with girls in closets, Charlie pushed his math homework away. He better remember to tell Ari he was pushing their date back half-an-hour. Oh, and that she now had two Creaghs crushing on her…

Mikey had died that weekend. Everything had changed. Everybody had changed. And no matter how much Charlie wanted to let go, he knew the only way to put Mikey’s ghost to rest was to find the bitch that had killed him. There in lay his problem with Ari.

Ari still hadn’t returned his phone calls. It burned that she’d asked Jai to throw him out. It had burned to let him. But somehow he’d hurt the one person he’d never meant to hurt. Again. He needed her to call. He needed to know that, despite her being upset at what he’d done, she understood what he needed to do. And also that she didn’t regret that amazing kiss. He’d played it over and over in his head the last few days, trying to remember if he’d ever felt like that with a girl before. He hadn’t. Maybe it was because he loved Ari. He’d never loved any of those other girls.

Before Mike, before everything went to hell, Charlie had these big plans for him and Ari. They would finish school, maybe take a year out to travel together, and then come back home and go to the same college, maybe get an apartment together. Before Mike, Ari had been Charlie’s world. He’d watched her turn into this awesome girl and God, he didn’t think he’d ever meet anyone as beautiful as her, inside and out. He wasn’t the only one who noticed. Guys at school had asked him if they were together because, if not, they wanted to ask her out. The possessiveness, the jealousy that had torn through him, woke him up and he’d realized then that he wanted Ari to be his and only his. Her sixteenth birthday was supposed to be the night it all happened. She’d known it was coming. He’d made it pretty obvious by talking about their future a lot in those weeks running up to it, and it had gratified Charlie to see that she seemed to want to be with him too. Such grand plans. To protect her like he’d always done, to take care of her and never neglect her like Derek had. But then Mikey happened and Charlie hated himself so much he couldn’t bear it. He’d needed everyone else to hate him, too.

But Ari wouldn’t.

He pushed her away, kept her at arm’s length, and yet she’d still loved him. He’d pushed harder. For a while she dated a couple of other guys and that had killed him to watch, but he’d convinced himself otherwise. He’d drowned himself inside countless other girls, using them deplorably, not even really aware of anything but the need to disappear for a while.

And then the relief to discover he wasn’t responsible for Mike’s death. Relief replaced the pain. Revenge replaced the hate. Discovering the truth about Ari, that she was some important mystical weapon in a jinn war, didn’t faze him. Okay. It was damn weird. And it had taken time to adjust, but once he came to terms with the facts about everything, it didn’t change the way he felt about her. He still wanted to protect her. And this time, he wanted the means to do it. The power the marid had given him would aid him in hunting and killing the labartu that killed Mike. And after that, he’d use those powers to help safeguard Ari.

Charlie grunted. That’s if the powers he’d been granted ever made an appearance.

When the marid had first given him the powers, he’d felt the surge of energy crash into his body in glorious heat. But now nothing. Had the Red King lied to him? Had it been a test? Had he failed? Anger choked him at the thought as he watched his father grunt in his drunken stupor. He needed the powers to be real. He needed revenge.

And he wanted Ari to call him back.

When his cellphone buzzed in his back pocket, Charlie’s heart lurched in hope and he fumbled for it, pulling it out and grinning when he saw Ari’s picture on the caller ID. He answered, relieved. “Ari?"

“It’s Jai,” the jinn replied. “I have bad news.”

Charlie’s heart literally stopped and he found himself poised over a precipice that he knew he’d tumble over if Jai told him something that meant he’d never hear Ari’s voice again.

“You there?”

“I’m here,” he said, the blood whooshing in his ears.

“Charlie… you better get over here. It’s Derek.”

His heart slowed a little, but the uneasiness that had wound its way into his muscles didn’t leave. “What’s happened? Where’s Ari?”