Darkness, Kindled (Fire Spirits 4)

The blade of her knife sunk in and up through his back and into his chest, powered by Ari’s Jinn magic and strength. A stab to the heart. She’d trained to do this on dummies.

It felt different stabbing through flesh and muscle.

His eyes widened in horror, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

And then his body relaxed, slack,

tumbling to the floor like a puppet without a master.

The bloody knife fell from Ari’s hand, clattering to the tiled floor as she stared at the dead Jinn. She stood frozen for a moment, staring down at the body and the pool of blood gathering around it. She’d killed someone. Her stomach lurched.

Stumbling over his body, Ari grabbed for the sink, her hands braced on either side as the cold nausea climbed through her and she vomited the horror of what she’d done.

She felt his energy before she felt his hands brushing the loose strands of hair back from her face. “Baby,” he whispered hoarsely, his breath warm on her ear.

Ari turned the cold tap, fingers shaking, and though she barely felt its coolness, she dipped her mouth under and drank. Then she splashed water on her face and straightened, leaning back into Jai’s chest.

“I told you I’d do it. I’ve done it before. You didn’t need to.”

She gave a slight shake of her head, trying not to flinch as she felt the slice of the blade through the Qarin’s chest again. She’d been nervous about assassinating a bad guy. She’d just never realized that taking a life would affect her this much. She should have. “I’d have to do it eventually. I wanted to get it over with.”

Jai’s hands slid up her arms to curl around her biceps, holding her closer to him. “You did good.”

“Did I?” Ari asked.

He kissed her hair. “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t feel this bad about it. Remember, he did a lot of terrible things to humans, Ari. Humiliating, horrifying, murderous things.”

She knew that. She knew she’d taken one less bad guy off the street. Ari just needed her guilty conscience to play catch-up. Wincing at the sink, Ari turned around in Jai’s arms, his hands falling to her hips to keep her close. “Don’t tell anyone I upchucked, okay?”

“No one would think less of you.”

“Still … don’t.” Michael and

Caroline might accept her but some of the other Guild Hunters were still wary.

She needed to prove herself to them. If they found out she’d vomited after her first kill … well … she didn’t know what they’d think.

“I won’t tell anyone,” Jai assured her, but the muscle in his jaw flexed. “You’ve got nothing to feel ashamed of.

Assassination isn’t in their job description, so most of them have no idea what it feels like to take a life. They have no right to judge you.”

No longer pissed off at him, Ari squeezed one of his hands gratefully. What Jai had said was true. The Guild Hunters were half-blood Jinn—half human, half Jinn, created by the Gilder King as a measure of balance against the evil Jinn. Guild Hunters could hunt and tag evil Jinn, but if they ever killed one, the Law Makers on Mount Qaf would know and would bring them to be tried. Unfairly, on Mount Qaf, it was a crime punishable by death for a half-breed to kill a full-blooded Jinn. It was also proclaimed that full-bloods weren’t allowed to kill one another either without facing trial, but Red had slipped that that wasn’t a law created by the Law Makers, and trials were only held every now and then to discourage infighting.

That meant Michael Roe, the leader of the Roe Guild of Hunters, had in his possession three full-blooded Jinn—Ari, Jai, and Jai’s best friend Trey. When Charlie went AWOL after killing Akasha (the Labartu who’d murdered his little brother), Ari decided joining the Guild with Jai and Trey was the best move forward. Michael decided he liked the idea of having Hunters in his Guild who could assassinate a bad guy for once. He’d also told them Charlie was a priority kill now that he was a wacko Sorcerer with a dangerous piece of Mount Qaf emerald powering his juice. To Ari’s everlasting relief, Charlie had gone underground these last two months and none of the Guilds could find him. She hoped he stayed there.

“You’re right.” Ari replied, her smile wan. “I did them a favor. Who gives a crap what they think?”

“Good.” Jai nodded, his expression hardening again. “Now let me clean up this guy, call the Guild to come take care of the human Sam Shepherd, and then we can get you home. How’s the rib?”

Ari looked down at the Qarin, her

stomach feeling a little steadier. “It’s healing. I’m … okay.”

To Ari’s relief, she and Jai were kept busy cleaning up the mess, handing human Sam Shepherd over to the rest of the Guild to brief him before sending him back into the human world. Then she and her boyfriend had to return to Michael’s to debrief him on the situation. Talking it out helped her deal with the immensity of what she’d done. Michael’s eyes grew fatherly and concerned when he learned Ari was the one who did the killing, and Ari wanted to ask what the hell he was playing at.

He wanted her to assassinate Jinn, and when she did, he went soft on her about it? It was nice that he was concerned … but also confusing.

Ari didn’t say anything, though.

After losing his daughter Fallon in Charlie’s war against the Labartu, Ari hadn’t the heart to call him out on his convoluted leadership skills with her.

Caroline fed them while they gave Michael the rundown. When it was over, they sent Ari and Jai on their way with another concerned look. The fact that Ari had chosen to shack up with Jai and Trey in the house they’d bought a couple of blocks away from Michael’s worried them. Yeah, Ari was eighteen and legally could make her own decisions, but they were worried what their other employees might think of a young girl living with two extremely hot, slightly older men.

They could think what they wanted.

Trey was one of her best friends now. And Jai, well … Jai was being weird.

Hence, the pissiness earlier.

Still shaken from the day’s ordeal, Ari was too exhausted to deal with her frustration regarding Jai. They entered the quiet four-bedroom house and immediately sensed Trey wasn’t home. Not surprising. With him serving as a combat instructor for the Guild—and because he was Trey and blessed with an abundance of charm—he’d made friends easily among the Hunters and was probably out at a bar with a few of the guys.

“You should eat,” Jai told her as she headed toward the wide staircase.

Dragging herself upstairs, she

shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

“Ari …”

“I’ll eat in the morning.” She

turned around at her door. Her bedroom was down the

hall from Trey’s and directly across the hall from Jai’s.

The root of her exasperation with him?

When they’d moved in two months ago, Ari had been touched by Jai’s thoughtfulness when he opened the door to the largest bedroom in the house and said it was all hers. By giving her her own bedroom, he was telling her he wasn’t pressuring her into having sex, or forcing their relationship to move too fast. It was thoughtful and considerate and so sweet.

But two months of barely there

kisses from him and no sneaking into her bedroom at night was driving her insane! Okay, so the kisses weren’t anything to scoff at, but anytime things got too heated, he’d back off and tell her to go to bed like she was a kid.

There had been none of the good stuff like what happened months ago on Mount Qaf after Charlie’s trial. He’d barely freaking touched her since, and she was beginning to feel like a not-so-hot leper.

The gentle touch of Jai’s knuckles stroking her jawline brought her out of her fog. She took hold of his hand, her eyes catching his. His were searching, worried about her. She felt a rush of love, lust, and confusion.

And she wasn’t in the mood to deal with it.

She’d killed an evil Jinn.

Boyfriend trouble would have to take a back burner for the night. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She pulled away from him, dropping his hand.

“Hey.” His fingers gripped her bicep a little tighter as he eased her back toward him. Jai frowned down at her. “You need me to stay with you tonight?”

Tonight of all nights, he asks? When I’m so exhausted I can barely stand?

Ari shook her head, biting back her frustration. “I just want to sleep. I’ll be fine.”

His strong fingers flexed around her arm and he stepped closer until his chest was brushing hers. He gave her a rueful, unsure smile that didn’t quite eliminate the vulnerable expression in his gorgeous eyes. “Can I get a kiss goodnight at least?”