Charlie’s eyes widened and he nodded mutely.
“Good. You’re there. Now, focus on a small object you have with you here. Imagine it in front of you. Tell yourself you want it in front of you. You need it.”
Thinking about his smartphone, Charlie glanced down at his other hand, imagining the phone there, wanting it there. Needing it — “Jesus Christ!” he jumped back at the heavy drop of technology in his hand and the smartphone crashed to the ground. Staring down at the phone, Charlie’s heart pounded in his chest. This was so different from defensive magic. This was… this was…
His blood ran so fast and hot. He felt power rushing in it. Charlie’s eyes glinted as he smiled wickedly up at Jack, who gazed back at him in approval. “That was cool.”
Chapter
Twenty-Three
NEEDING WHAT YOU’VE NEVER HAD
The basement had a disused, musty smell. Light spilled into it from four very shallow windows set just below the ceiling and shadowed objects protruded into the room with a creepy ambiguity that always frightened Charlie as a kid. But now that he was older, he shut it all out. His sensory nerves were only aware of the thrill of the talismans and seals. He and Jack had barely taken a break for food and even then, Jack had to drag him out of the basement. Ari and Fallon tried to talk to him at dinner, but he couldn’t concentrate. All he could think about was the rush of energy surging through his veins. Food tasted bland and water couldn’t quench his thirst. For the first time, he didn’t even feel that sense of melancholy longing when he looked into Ari’s eyes. No. All he could think about was the basement and the power it held. The power that could lead him to the labartu. Jack had promised if Charlie controlled the magic sufficiently enough to ease his worries about a young inexperienced sorcerer running around unleashed, that he’d use guild resources to find the labartu that had killed Mike. It really felt as if everything was coming together for Charlie — that there really was hope of justice at the end of the tunnel.
“Very good,” Jack murmured, watching Charlie channel water from the pipes through the obsidian rock.
Charlie held the blue obsidian in his hand, rubbing the stone as he flooded water into the sink across the room.
“Here.” Jack held up a black rope necklace with three metal disks dangling from it. Copper, silver and gold. He placed it around Charlie’s neck. “For you to keep.”
“Thanks.” Charlie touched the metal, feeling truly grateful. Jack was turning out to be a kind of father figure he’d never had and it had only been a week. Then again, that week was longer than any time Charlie’s own dad had spent with him. “I really appreciate this.”
“Not done.” Jack grinned. The older man had brightened, too. Others had remarked on the transformation that Charlie’s company had wrought on him and seemed grateful to the young sorcerer for pulling Jack out of his funk. Jack held up a masculine — yet still more garish than anything Charlie had worn — ring inset with both blue and green obsidian. “It’s yours too if you want it.”
Hands shaking a little, Charlie slid the chunky ring onto the middle finger of his left hand. Strangely, it felt right there.
“What the hell is going on?”
At the sound of the familiar and unwanted voice, Charlie briefly closed his eyes before turning to face Jai. The jinn looked huge standing at the bottom of the staircase, his face dark with contained anger as his eyes swept over the table.
“Now, look, Jai.” Jack held up a warning hand. “I’m just doing what’s best for Charlie.”
“He’s just a kid,” Jai snapped, taking a forceful step toward them. “And one you barely know. What the hell do you or him know what’s best for him?”
Irritation flared through Charlie, as it always did when Jai referred to him as a kid. He didn’t know if it was bred from some kind of competitiveness for Ari or if Jai really saw him that way. He hoped not because deep down… well, Charlie guessed he wanted Jai to respect him. “I’m not a damn kid,” he growled, taking a step toward the guardian. Jai was only a couple of inches taller than him, after all. He could take him. Charlie rubbed a finger over his new ring, amazed by how much more confident he felt with power at his fingertips.
Jai narrowed his eyes on the ring and guffawed. “Don’t even try it.” Then Charlie watched as the guardian’s gaze turned inward and a sick feeling churned in his gut. Was Jai using telepathy? To contact Ari—
Fire burst into the room beside Jai and Ari stepped out of her beautiful golden flames, flames that seemed so much brighter than the flames of other jinn Charlie had seen using the peripatos. “What’s going on?” she asked, and Charlie hated the way she sidled up to Jai, her body pressing unconsciously close to his. Charlie shoved down the thought that the two of them looked right together. They weren’t right together. He shook his head inwardly. After all this, he was still determined to show Ari that he was the one for her, not Jai. He still had time. Charlie had to believe that. And right now that time was being wasted when he could learn more about the talismans.