Darkness, Kindled (Fire Spirits 4)

Feeling overwhelming relief, Ari sat back on Jai’s lap, loving the absence of the churning knots in her stomach.

They’d both acted like idiots. It was time to learn from that mistake. Ari shifted and tried to escape his lap, but Jai’s hold on her tightened and he frowned.

“Where are you going?”

She smiled. “I think I better remove myself from your person so we can talk. Your lap is very distracting,” she told him pointedly and not without a little feminine smugness.

Jai nodded and let her slide off.

She curled next to him. “Do you want to go first?”

Her heart thumped nervously. “I have two things to tell you. You go first.”

“The Guild suspects Charlie’s back in town.”

Ari blinked at his blunt breaking of the news.

Crap.

It was a good thing she’d planned on telling him about Charlie’s little visit. “The Guild is right. He came here today.”

“What?” Jai shot from the sofa, his energy suddenly stifling the room. “What happened? Are you okay? What did he do?”

Mr. Cool with everyone else but her. Ari reached for his hand to calm him down. “Let me explain.”

And so she did. She told him everything, not leaving a thing out. Being in a towel (that went down well).

Charlie trying to kiss her (a little spark of ember actually blazed in Jai’s hands before he controlled it). Charlie’s threats.

Jai took a calming breath when she was done. “How do you want to handle this?”

Ari winced inwardly. What she was about to ask of him was a lot, considering how much Jai had grown to respect Michael. “By ourselves, if we can.”

He sighed wearily and sat down beside her. “I guess I knew that was coming.”

“Jai …”

“I get it.” He nodded reassuringly, even though his jaw was clenched so tight it was in danger of shattering.

“We’ll deal with it.”

“There’s more.”

“Oh, goodie.”

“Jai.” She made a face. She needed him to be cool on this.

He held up a hand in apology. “Hit me with it.”

“For the past two months … Asmodeus has been visiting me in my dreams.” Ari closed her eyes, bracing herself for his reaction.

When her confession was met by silence, she pried her eyes open and found Jai staring incredulously at her.

“You’re just telling me this now?”

“I thought he’d stop. That he was just playing with me. I mean, he is just playing with me but he’s not stopping and I don’t know why …”

“Because he wants you, that’s why,”

Jai growled dangerously.

Ari blanched. “I was trying not to burden you.”

“Is that really why?”

Oh, God, they weren’t having another argument already? Ari sighed and slid along the sofa until she was pressed up against his side. His jaw clenched tight again and she stroked her fingers along it, feeling the bristle of his stubble. “He frightens me, Jai. I talk to him because he knows where to hurt me. And where to hurt me is sitting right in front of me. I talk to him so he won’t do anything to hurt you.”

Jai heaved a sigh but wrapped an arm around her waist. “You still should’ve told me.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

They were silent a moment and then Jai tilted his head to peer down at her, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“None of this is going away tonight. It’ll be here in the morning.”

Ari’s stomach flipped with excitement. “What do you mean?”

“I mean …” He stood up, pulling her with him. “I’m taking you out on a real date tonight.”

“Really?” she laughed happily, glad to shove their troubles to the back of her mind for now. “A real date?”

Jai nodded, grinning at her. “A real date. I’m taking you to dinner, to my favorite restaurant. In Rome.”

“You’re taking me to Rome?”

He tugged on her waist, drawing her against him. “We’re Jinn, baby.” He kissed her, swallowing her giggles.

When Jai said he was taking her to Rome, he wasn’t kidding. He told her to dress nice and Ari hurried upstairs to look through her wardrobe. She’d conjured all her clothes from the house she’d shared with her dad, Derek, but was having difficulty picking something. Giving up, she called Caroline, who seemed delighted that Jai was taking Ari on a date.

Her hand muffled the handset to relay the news to Michael. When she removed it to speak to Ari again, she said, “I have a dress that’ll work. If I put it on my bed, do you think you can conjure it? It’s black. Do you have shoes that’ll work?”

“Yes and yes. Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You two have fun. And Michael says to be careful and vigilant at all times.”

“Of course. Good night.”

“Good night.”

Ari gave Caroline a few minutes and then concentrated on the idea of a dress lying on Caroline’s bed. Like a second pair of incredibly long arms, Ari felt her magic reach out and grab hold of the fabric. With a tingle of electricity in the air, the dress appeared on her own bed, the magic sucking out of the room as if through a powerful vacuum.

Stepping toward the dress, Ari smiled. It was simple but elegant. When she tried it on, it fit almost perfectly. She was a little taller than Caroline so it was shorter on her, but the black silk shift made her look older, more sophisticated. With a little bit of magic, she wove her hair up off her neck into a French coil at her nape.

Happy with her appearance, Ari slipped into a pair of black suede heels and braced herself for Jai’s reaction.

He was waiting for her at the bottom of the staircase wearing a black thermal crew-neck sweater that showed off his broad shoulders and a pair of black slacks. The diamond earring in his ear winked in the light as he turned to her and Ari had to suck in her breath. Damn, he was like a model. A flush of pleasure washed over her as he smiled, watching her descend. When she came to a stop beside him, he drew back, his eyes drifting down her body and back up again. His green eyes shone.

“You look fantastic,” he told her, voice gruff with emotion.

Ari grinned at him. “So do you.”

“The restaurant we’re going to is called L’Archeologia on the old Appian Way. Remember to use the Cloak as you come out of the Peripatos.”

She nodded, her stomach full of butterflies. They were going to Rome! Her smile turned sly. “Race ya!” And with that, she stepped into the Peripatos seconds before Jai could.

The pull of the Peripatos told her they were nearing their destination. She shrouded herself in the Cloak and stepped forth, blinking as she took in the famous paving. She turned around and realized she was standing under the wooden canopy of the entrance to the restaurant. She felt Jai’s familiar tingling magic and then his hands groping to find her. She let him pull her behind a slim Roman pillar that had ample foliage to hide them from view. As a couple wandered past, Jai brushed his fingers sensually down her arm.

Come out of the Cloak.

They appeared at the same time. Ari had to tilt her head back to smile up at Jai, he was standing so close. “We’re on the old Appian Way. How cool is that?”

He grinned and stroked her chin with his thumb, seeming happy that she was happy. “I called in a reservation.

Tonight, everything else is gone, okay? It’s just you and me on the old Appian Way.”

“That sounds like song lyrics.”

Jai frowned, his eyes teasing as he took her by the elbow and led her inside. “What kind of music do you listen to?”

“Folksy, Legionnairey stuff.”

He chuckled but couldn’t respond because the maître d’ appeared. He asked something in Italian and to Ari’s utter shock, Jai conversed with him. In Italian.