Scorched Skies (21 page)

“I think I know enough.”

“Oh really?” his face darkened now and he took a threatening step towards her. “Did you know I had sex with Yasmin to get back at Hugo?”

Silence, thick and horrible and ugly, fell between them.  Ari pinched the bridge of her nose, stunned and unsure of how to feel. “What?”

“I caught Nicki having sex with Hugo behind my dad
’
s back.” He shrugged unhappily and Ari noted the tension around the corners of his mouth. She was relieved to realize it was shame. “It wasn
’
t honorable, it wasn
’
t gentlemanly, but Yasmin had been throwing herself at me for months so I did it, as payback. She treats me like crap, Ari. They all do. I thought they deserved it. If Hugo ever found out his precious girl had been defiled by me he
’
d lose it. I guess that was reason enough for me to screw with her.”

Eyes blazing Ari shoved him and he stumbled back, taking it. “Are you deliberately being crass?”

“I
’
m trying to show you who I am!”

Chest heaving with unexploded rage and hurt Ari shook her hands out to stop them from whacking him. “Did you care about her at all?”

“What would upset you more, Ari? That I did or I didn
’
t?”

“Just answer the question!”

“No!” he yelled. “I could give a rat
’
s ass about her. She thinks I
’
m scum and I think she
’
s worthless. Does that make you feel better? No. Don
’
t try to make me into someone I
’
m not,” he hissed. “I don
’
t do relationships, I don
’
t do love. I do my job and I do it well.”

Angry tears poked at the corners of her eyes and Ari fought to breathe, hating him and hating herself for feeling so much for him. She wanted to be numb! She
’
d promised herself she would be!

Seeing the tears Jai cursed and dragged a hand roughly over his face, looking exhausted. “Ari,” he sighed. “You and I, we
’
re friends OK. I don
’
t want to hurt you. I
’
m just being honest.”

Not able to say another word for fear of what those words might be, Ari silently slipped into her room, locking the door behind her. As soon as she was inside, the duvet on her bed turned down invitingly.

“Thanks, Ms. Maggie,” she breathed gratefully, kicking off her shoes and diving into the comfort of the bed. Her insides were a mess now. She at once felt fury at Jai for treating anyone as callously as he
’
d treated Yasmin, but then she remembered how stuck up the young woman had seemed and how crummy Hugo had acted towards him. It didn
’
t make what he did right. Ari didn
’
t know what she was madder at… Jai denying there was anything between Ari and him because he was afraid of what his father would think or the fact that another girl knew what it was like to be with him. Or…

… relief that there was no other girl he was in love with.

“That
’
s it, Ms. Maggie. I
’
m giving up on boys completely and concentrating on staying alive.”

If only her heart would listen to such exquisite sense.

~14~

Sometimes I
’
m not myself. I Don
’
t Know Who I Like Better

Perhaps it was because of the restless sleep Ari had that night. She
’
d dreamed of the weird Jinn people again and still couldn
’
t work out what that was all about. Was it just her imagination? Or was there something meaningful to these little dives she kept taking into another world where a beautiful brother and sister seemed at constant loggerheads? And the dreams had only come when Ari had finally fallen asleep. She
’
d lain in bed for hours before that, thinking about her dad, about Charlie and of course about Jai.

Perhaps it had happened because she was sleep deprived, stressed and cranky.

Ari needed some explanation for her behavior that morning. Behavior that was beginning to freak her out.

It happened as she headed down towards the training room. She finally had a lay of the land as it were within the large mansion and was striding casually from the breakfast room where she
’
d breakfasted alone (no surprise there considering Jai was probably avoiding her and Charlie was desperate to use his powers all the time and would already be in the training room
—
she
’
d bet money on it), her footsteps echoing off the cold floor and high ceilings. Her soft footsteps were joined by a quick skitter behind her. Ari
’
s heart sped up and she turned, bracing herself just as Jai taught her.  She relaxed at the sight of a border collie trotting towards her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted over to her. He was gorgeous. Ari smiled down at him. “Hey boy.” She stroked a hand over his black head as he nudged his white muzzle into her side. Where had he come from? She hadn
’
t seen him around the mansion before. “Where did you come from, boy?” Ari used both hands now to scrub his face affectionately.

All of sudden flames burst around the dog, their licks of fire like wisps of smoke on Ari
’
s skin as she stumbled back, heart racing in shock. Out of the flames a figure appeared.

The dog wasn
’
t a dog at all.

It was David.

“Ari Johnson,” David said, a soft drawl in his words as his eyes swept over her greedily. Ari had the sudden urge to cross her arms over her chest to shield herself. “Well, well… look at you.” He drew to a stop inches from her, trying to intimidate her. Ari refused to step back. “All alone. Finally.”

“Yeah well, if you
’
ll excuse me, I
’
m late for training.” She turned to go and uneasiness choked her when his large hand snapped out and grabbed her upper arm.

“Now, now, what
’
s the hurry?” he grinned. “You know, if Jai had turned down this assignment I was going to be your guardian.”

She let how distasteful she found that show on her face and David
’
s eyes narrowed.

“You
’
re a little ill-mannered you know that.” He pushed her now and she stumbled back into the wall in surprise, unable to believe that this jerk was actually accosting her. He pressed up against her before she could move, the smell of coffee on his breath turning her stomach.

“What is your problem?” Ari hissed, eyes wide with disbelief. She pushed against him but he wouldn
’
t budge. “Are you kidding me? You
’
re actually coming on to a Bitar client under your father
’
s roof?”

She saw a flicker of something in David
’
s eyes but it didn
’
t stop him from sliding a hand down onto her hip, his other hand stroking her cheek. Ari turned and bit at him which only made him laugh. “You
’
re not just any client, Ari. You
’
re something else. An Important. Why? What makes you so special? My parents won
’
t tell me.”

“If you don
’
t get off me, I
’
m going to kick your ass.”

“Try me.” he squeezed her hip harder.

Fear began to coalesce within her and Ari tried to glance around to see if anyone was about but the hallway was deathly quiet. She couldn
’
t even feel the hum of Ms. Maggie
’
s energy. Crap, just when she needed the damn Ifrit to smack this idiot upside the head with a vase. She pushed again but he just pressed harder against her, his nose now trailing along her neck. Ari shivered, terrified. He wouldn
’
t try to do anything, right? Not here?

“You know,” David whispered in her ear. “There are rumors going around that Jai has an unhealthy interest in you.”

There are?
Her heart leapt at the thought.

“I think I might finally win a round with him if I took something he clearly wants for himself.” His hand disappeared under Ari
’
s shorts and her blood instantly ran cold as she stilled.

The sticky, thick blackness spread across her lungs making it difficult to breathe, but as the ugliness ripped itself apart from her, leaving Ari floating out of her body as if she were merely a spectator, she didn
’
t much care that breathing was difficult. It was happening again. The voice that rumbled out of her was deeper, darker and much more frightening than she could ever be. “I command you to release me.”

David instantly let go of her and stepped back, his eyes wide and afraid.

Ari grinned evilly at him. “You will never touch me again,” she commanded. “Nor any other woman without her permission.”

“I will never touch you again, nor any other woman without her permission,” he repeated, dumbfounded. He flexed his fists as if checking he was still in control of his own body.

Task done, the anger that had unleashed the darkness began to ease and Ari fought to snap back in control of herself. Her frantic breaths filled the hallway and furious tears glistened in her eyes. She
’
d just used the power of the Seal against a nobody.
Oh god, oh god, oh god
.

Think, Ari, think!

Shuddering, Ari wrapped her arms around herself and glared at the piece of scum who had forced her to do something she was ashamed of. “I command you to never tell anyone I commanded you at all. I command you to keep this encounter with me to yourself.” Her voice was her own but it shook with the demand.

David nodded, his jaw clenched in fury now too. “I understand.”

And just for good measure… “I command you to never question anyone about whom and what I am.”

If it was possible his face turned purple with frustration and anger. “Understood.”

Warily, Ari stepped around him, her eyes glued to him as she backed off. Feeling cold for the first time, she whirled around and began to run to the training room.

She was still shaking as if the world were trembling under her feet when she reached the doorway to the room and saw Jai, Trey and Charlie inside talking. The sight of them forced Ari to calm down. She had to pretend that she hadn
’
t just commanded a Jinn against his will (even though he had been trying to make her do something against
her
will). And no matter what was or wasn
’
t between her and Jai, she knew he
’
d go crazy if he found out David had just tried to intimidate her physically. As she stood there watching the three of them, Ari realized that despite their faults they all had something that was honorable about them. Maybe it was having been brought up in a small town that made it so difficult to compute that a guy she had met only once and hadn
’
t even exchanged words with had just tried to molest her? Feeling her stomach flip, Ari grew angry at herself for not having reacted faster before the ugly power of the Seal had taken over for her. She drew in another shuddering breath. She had to act cool or the guys would know something was up. She was supposed to be upset with Jai anyway after last night, right? And she and Charlie were still on unstable ground. That left Trey, who didn
’
t know her well enough to know when something was seriously up with her.