Darkness, Kindled (Fire Spirits 4)

5

The Hit Meant for You Bruised Me

A breeze

swept through the White King’s loose hair as he lounged on the large balcony abutting his music room. Only a few white clouds interrupted the azure sky above, and the sun, high in its summer ceiling, caused the mountains of Mount Qaf to glitter triumphantly in the light.

His brothers Gleaming and Shadow lounged with him, sipping hibiscus tea and appearing as though they were nothing more than lords at leisure. Appearances were always deceiving.

“We need to find some way to weaken Father,” Gleaming grumbled. “There must be something.”

“If there was something, we’d be doing it,” White muttered irritably.

Shadow sat up to place his tea on the table. “We need to weaken Father long enough to infiltrate the palace, subdue Asmodeus, take the ring, and utilize it to force Father to tell us where Mother is.”

In that moment White wished, not for the first time, that Red and Glass had taken his side in this hostile endeavor. Perhaps it bode ill for the future that the only brothers willing to come to his aid were the least savvy of them. “Yes, thank you for that illuminating reiteration of the situation.”

“I could leave,” Shadow warned, the boredom in his voice masking his obvious petulance. “I don’t need to be here, subjected to your sarcasm and lack of appreciation.”

“Then go. I don’t need a commentator.

I need a plan.” White took another swig of tea, finding the calm, the patience that he needed to do what had to be done. “Our search for Lilif will probably take centuries unless Azazil hands over the information.” When he looked at his brothers, they both looked green at the thought of going through this for centuries. He sighed and stared back up at the sky. “Keep thinking.”

***

Waking up in Jai’s arms allowed Ari to forget all the bad stuff, at least for a few minutes. Her mind was wiped blank of the Jinn world, her senses focused solely on the chest beneath her head, the strong arm around her waist, the sound of his heart beating against her ear, and the smell of him—that rich, spicy scent all his own.

She had never, not once, felt as loved as she did just then, and for a moment, Ari believed that if she died that day, she’d die happy knowing she’d had this with him. For surely, the overwhelming passion and incredible bond between them was more than many people ever experienced in a full lifetime.

“You awake?” His voice rumbled above her.

Her loopy smile pressed against his skin. “Mmm.”

Shifting back, Jai trailed his hand down her hip, sending goosebumps over her skin. When their eyes met, her heart almost stopped. How was it possible that he could still make her feel like she was crushing on him?

His return smile was unguarded, and it caused a wave of aching emotion to crash against Ari’s chest. Jai rarely looked this relaxed or happy. It thrilled her that she could make him feel that way. “Did you sleep okay?”

“I slept better than okay.” She pressed a kiss against his chest and pulled back to grin up at him.

It made him laugh. “I don’t remember ever feeling this good.”

“Me neither.”

“Do you want to run away?” he joked, cuddling her close. “Just say ‘eff you all, we’re out of here.’”

“I think we might have to take Trey with us.”

“Yeah, I can see us having to buy a home with a pool house for him to grow old in.”

Ari chuckled, tilting her head back for his kiss. Pulling his lips away, Jai suddenly frowned at her. “Are you sore?”

She wrinkled her nose. “A little.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She smiled mischievously.

“If I remember correctly from my girlfriends’ tales, you performed something akin to a miracle last night.”

“You really shouldn’t say these things. It will only make me an egotistical jackass.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “I think we’re past that.”

“You know, if you continue to be mean to me, I won’t do it again. I will become a very selfish lover.” His face was completely deadpan.

Ari’s lips twitched, her chest full of fluttering wings, she was in such a good mood. “Become a selfish lover and I’m out of here. You’ll need to get used to your right hand again.”

Jai threw his head back on the pillow, laughing at her, his eyes glittering in the morning light. “What have I created?”

“A very happy girlfriend.” She crawled over him, her arms braced on his chest, her hair falling like a curtain around them.

“Yeah?” he breathed, staring up at her reverently. He brushed her hair back, curling his fingers around her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

“Mmm.” She pressed her mouth to his, groaning as Jai deepened the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and rolled them, trailing heated kisses down her throat, her chest, down her soft belly. When he kissed her there, she cried out and quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, sensing Trey’s energy in the house now and not wanting to be heard.

Biting her tongue, Ari’s eyelashes fluttered closed as she let Jai take her on another amazing sensual journey.

After a joint shower, they dressed in Jai’s room, acting like stupid, loved-up idiots and enjoying every minute of it. It wasn’t until they were about to leave the room and venture downstairs for breakfast when Jai returned them to a more serious place.

“Did Asmodeus visit your dreams last night?”

Hearing the edge in his voice, Ari was thankful her honest reply was, “No.”

He grunted and Ari automatically wanted to shut his bedroom door to bar them inside, away from all the crap outside. Instead, she followed him downstairs, his large hand holding hers tight in his. When they entered the kitchen, Trey was already there with his easel in the corner, looking out into the gardens. Paper, paints, charcoal, and pencils littered the breakfast table. He glanced up from the blurry, abstract landscape he was working on and grinned knowingly at them. “Morning,” he offered silkily.

He knew.

How did he know? Ari blushed.

“Morning,” she mumbled and hurried to pour herself a white coffee, a black one for Jai—his only vice. Ari wondered if in Jai-Land, she could be considered a vice too.

“Ari, you’re positively glowing this morning. What could have possibly brought such a—ow!” Trey yelped and Ari turned to see him rubbing the back of his head as Jai moved innocently away to take a seat. She snorted and slipped into a chair beside Jai, pushing the coffee toward him.

He smiled softly, his eyes blazing with heat as he looked at her. “Thank you.”

Ari flushed. “You’re welcome.”

“Do Glass and I act like this?” Trey asked.

Ignoring his teasing, Ari studied his painting. “That’s beautiful. Can we hang it somewhere or are you selling it?”

Trey studied his own work. “Nah, I think we’ll hang it. It should stay with this house.”

“So I hate to destroy a pleasant morning, but …” Jai sighed heavily. “Trey, we have a problem.”

His best friend caught the serious note in his voice and lowered his paintbrush. Bracing his hands on the back of a chair, Trey nodded. “Okay, hit me with it.”

Ari was silent as Jai filled Trey in on the situation with Charlie and Asmodeus. It didn’t surprise her that she’d agreed they should confide in Trey. After all, he was on their side and if they were going to be handling this alone, he would be a welcome help.

Shaking his head at the news, Trey sat down at the table. “So … you’re not telling Michael?”

The thought of keeping secrets from a man who’d helped them made Ari ill. It was with a heavy heart she replied, “We can’t tell him, Trey. You know what the Guild will do to Charlie, and I just need one more chance to save him.”

“To save him? Ari, he’s blackmailing you.”

“Trey,” Jai asked softly, “what if it were me?”

Trey groaned. “Oh. Okay, fine. So we need a plan, right?”

“Actuall

y, I think I might already have one,” Jai offered quietly.

That was news to Ari. She sat up straight, anticipation zinging in her blood. “Yeah? Since when?”

“This morning.” He sat forward, his gaze drifting between her and Trey. “What if we try to dry Charlie out?”

Ari frowned. “Like you would a drug addict?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay …”

“How?” Trey asked.

“We tag him ourselves. Bind him with magic and keep him in the basement until the emerald is out of his system and he’s functioning like a human being again.”

Ari’s chest felt heavy at the thought but she’d also begun to feel restless. It was a plan, the only plan they had to save her friend, and she wanted to get started on it. However, they had another issue to deal with first. “And the Ghulah and Pazuzu?”

Jai shrugged. “The Ghulah we can kill. Pazuzu … well, for him we’re going to need to get our hands on a Secretum.”

“A what now?” Ari raised an eyebrow, wondering what it was and how hard it was to get.

“It’s a powerful binding item. It’s created from the wood of a Conessi tree, packed with tellicherry bark and harmal and also treated with harmal. A strong-enough Jinn can entrap another lesser Jinn within the box, and once locked, it’s impossible for the Jinn to escape. If we use Charlie’s help to lure Pazuzu to us, I think the three of us can do it.”

“You think?” Trey made a face.

“We’re talking about freakin’ Pazuzu here.”

Jai smirked. “Trey … there’s two of us and one of her.” He indicated Ari with admiration in his expression. “That ugly bastard doesn’t stand a chance.”

Ari laughed nervously. “Are you using overconfidence to give us confidence?”

“I’ll never tell.”

She chuckled but her fingers trembled around her mug just thinking about the damage Pazuzu had done to her and Jai when they’d last faced him. He’d tried to rip Ari to shreds, and the pain, the excruciating pain, like a million paper cuts all over her body, wasn’t something she’d soon forget. Neither was the memory of watching Jai almost die.