The home was modern and airy and, if Ari was being honest, a little cold. There was this weird abstract painting of a woman hanging over the door and brittle potted plants with no flowers dotted here and there.
“Sir, this is Ari Johnson and her friend Charlie Creagh,” Jai introduced them and Ari frowned at his demeanor. He was super efficient stoic guy times a hundred, like he had been when they’d first met. She struggled not to scowl when she nodded a greeting at Luca Bitar. She didn’t like Luca on principal.
Luca nodded briskly. “Good to meet you both. His Highness arrived hours ago to let me know you were en route. I’m sorry about your adoptive father, Ms. Johnson.”
Her usual response would have been to tell him to call her Ari. Instead, she acknowledged his sympathies with a polite nod.
“And this is the sorcerer?” Luca turned to Charlie, his gaze heavy with suspicion. Ari felt uneasiness settle over her. She’d forgotten that the human-living jinn, like the ginnaye, believed all sorcerers to be dark. When Luca’s eyes narrowed and Charlie’s fists clenched at being looked upon in such a way, Ari moved protectively toward Charlie.
To her and Charlie’s surprise, Jai beat her to it. “Charlie is under my protection and guidance and is not to be harmed.” His voice boomed around the hall with authority and while she felt her insides melt at his proclamation, Ari almost missed the glitter in Luca’s eyes. That glint surprised her, and she had to take a moment. Luca seemed proud of Jai. Yes, proud. He cleared the emotion from his handsome, rough-hewn face just as quickly as it had appeared, but Ari was definitely not mistaken. She threw Jai a quizzical look. He bristled with tension, suggesting to Ari he'd missed the look in his father’s eyes. Perhaps he was blind to the positive. Or perhaps he misunderstood how Luca really felt about him. As Jai and Luca discussed what was happening and what they needed, Ari mused over this. Despite everything, she felt a need to make Jai's life better.
No, her inner voice snapped at her, telling her to mind her own business. She was looking for a distraction from the grief, and messing with Jai’s family was not the way to go.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway, bringing Ari out of her thoughts and quieting the discussion between Jai and Luca. A tall woman rounded the wide, spiraling staircase and drew to a stop at Luca’s side. She looked to be in her early to mid-fifties and had masses of dark, curling hair. Her trim figure was revealed in a tight denim shirt tucked into skinny jeans. Calf-length flat leather boots completed the outfit that screamed, ‘I’m tough but I’m hot too’. There was arrogance in her eyes as she looked the trio over.
“This is my father’s wife, Nicki Bitar,” Jai introduced in a flat tone.
The woman didn’t even look at Jai, and Ari felt her fists curl at her sides as she remembered what Jai had told her. What kind of woman blamed a baby for the actions of its parents?
Bitch.
Jai threw her a startled but amused look and Ari blanched realizing she’d telepathed that at him.
Sorry, she apologized quickly.
He smirked at her and looked back at his father. Don’t be.
“The seal and the sorcerer,” Nicki murmured, the soft Irish lilt at odds with her hard demeanor. “It sounds like a fantasy novel. Can it be trusted?” she sneered at Charlie before her assessing gaze landed on Ari. She looked her over thoroughly, annoyed by what she found.
“Can you?” Ari snapped back and the woman’s eyes widened.
Luca shot Nicki a quelling look and she made a huffing sound. “Fine. We must not upset the Red King’s importants, must we?” her saccharine voice set Ari on edge. “I’ve had the maids prepare three guest bedrooms on the third floor, east. You know where they are, boy.” She made a vague gesture at Jai before turning on her heel and walking away.
Boy? She called Jai ‘boy’? That now familiar ugliness built inside Ari, that little knot of blackness that seemed to detach itself from her, power crazy and reckless. Ari drew a deep breath, fighting it down. She could not use her powers against people unless it was a life or death situation. The Red King’s explanation of the consequences had been enough to scare her out of even thinking about it. Except in moments like these. Exhaling, Ari tried to relax, letting her gaze flicker back to Luca. He watched her carefully, and for a moment she feared he could read her mind. Instead of flushing with embarrassment as she might have a few months ago, Ari glowered at him for being a coward, for allowing his son to be mistreated.