Scorched Skies (22 page)

The guys all turned at the sound of her approach and she gave them a vague, uncomfortable nod. “Did you start without me?”

“No,” Jai replied, his eyes surprisingly searching considering what had went down between them the night before. Ari gulped when his eyes narrowed. Damn. He saw too much. “You OK?”

“I
’
m fine,” she brushed him off coldly and hoped he
’
d think it had to do with last night. “Can I spar with Trey today?”

Trey grinned at her. “Of course you can, sweetheart.” He winked at her flirtatiously and it amazed Ari how one guy
’
s flirting could be harmless whereas another
’
s could be so sleazy. She shivered again, and this time Trey frowned. “Sure you
’
re OK?”

“Ari?” Charlie asked now, eyeing her carefully. “You look pale.”

Feeling like a nervous filly about to take flight, Ari glanced from one to the other. She needed girlfriends. She was so sick of being outnumbered. Turning the tables on them, Ari shrugged. “I didn
’
t sleep well.” She glared at Charlie and then Jai and they both blanched, assuming they were to blame for her sleeplessness. “Trey?”

He nodded, looking a little confused. “This way, Mademoiselle.” His tall, athletic body took off in front of her, heading towards a large mat in the back of the room. Ari followed, ignoring Charlie and Jai.

Sparring with Trey eventually relaxed Ari until she no longer felt guilty about what she
’
d done to David. She
’
d made sure no one would ever find out about what she
’
d done and a tiny part of her believed that he
’
d deserved that loss of control. A tiny part of her wished she could take credit for being such a badass.

So lost in thought Ari let her guard down and Trey swept a leg out across her shins, knocking her off her feet. She slammed on to her back with a silent
‘
oomph
’
. Too busy trying to suck in the breath that had been knocked out of her, Ari was oblivious to Trey
’
s playfulness until he was straddling her, holding her pinned to the mat. He was a strong, exciting weight on her and Ari flushed, a breathless giggle falling from her lips as he growled at her.

“What are you doing?” she squirmed, sure her face was beet red from being held down by one of the nicest and most gorgeous guys she
’
d ever had the good fortune of meeting.

“Attacking you.” Trey wiggled his eyebrows comically like a master villain. “Isn
’
t that the whole point of this exercise?”

“And what am I supposed to do?”

“Uh, get me off of you. Isn
’
t that the whole point of
your
exercise?”

Charmed, Ari relaxed completely. “Maybe I don
’
t want to.”

Trey
’
s grin couldn
’
t get any wider. “Are you flirting with me?”

“Maybe.”

His head dipped closer to her face and Ari lost her breath again, eyes caught in his steel grey ones. “While I would love to take you up on the flirting,” he squeezed her wrists to demonstrate his sincerity, “I think it might end up getting me killed.”

Ari felt a little disorientated from the warm weight of his legs across hers and his strong body perched so tantalizingly near. She
’
d been thinking how great it would be to want someone as easygoing as Trey, instead of loving someone as hardheaded as Jai. “What?”

Trey grinned again and raised his head to look across the room. Whatever he saw made him chuckle and he bent down to whisper in Ari
’
s ear, “Jai would kill me. Don
’
t give up on him, Ari.” He sat back up, smiling at the obvious confusion in her eyes. “So, I get that Charlie is in love with you and everything but do you think he might be bi?” he asked hopefully.

Startled by his complete change of subject, Ari could only shake her head.

“Bummer.” Trey looked genuinely disappointed. “He
’
s got that whole moody, damaged thing going on. It
’
s hot.”

“What
’
s going on?” Jai
’
s deep voice rumbled above them and Ari flinched, catching sight of his angry upside down face.

“Nothing,” Trey replied easily, letting go of Ari and helping her to her feet. She swayed a little. “Just sparring.”

Jai gave him a stony look and Ari ignored the annoyance in her chest as Charlie approached wearing the exact same expression. She blew an exasperated breath of air out at them. “We were just messing around.” And then just to be contrary Ari shared a secret smile with Trey hoping it would irritate the hell out of her best friend and guardian.

No matter that
Jai knew what Trey was up to he still wanted to kill him. He walked away from Ari, Charlie following in his wake, and the two of them begun to spar a little harder, punching their anger into the magic. When he
’
d turned around to see what had distracted Charlie he had not been expecting the rush of pure molten jealousy that had cascaded over him. The sight of his best friend straddling Ari, of her grinning flirtatiously back up at him, had stuck him in the gut like a knife. It had winded him.

It had hurt.

Shit.

As soon as he saw the look in Trey
’
s eyes when he approached, Jai had known that Trey was deliberately trying to provoke him. And Ari… grinning back at Trey like she
’
d have welcomed his attentions. Jai realized that perhaps for the first time he and Charlie were feeling the exact same way. Not sure who he was madder at, himself or Trey, Jai put his all into the sparring and was genuinely pleased to see Charlie defending himself so well. Sparks of kindled magic and the glow of ember lit the air as they dodged and attacked. Charlie was a quick learner.

He shot a quick glance out of the corner of his eye to see what Ari was getting up to with Trey and was relieved to see they were sparring like normal. She was so pissed at him. And rightly so. Hell, he regretted telling Ari about Yasmin. It wasn
’
t that he wanted to be with Ari
—
he couldn
’
t be with her, it would cost him too much
—
but the thought of her thinking less of him really killed him. What the hell had he been thinking to blurt all that stuff out? What an idiot.

Charlie
’
s punch connecting with his gut dragged Jai
’
s attention back to where it ought to be. As they fought on, Jai watched as Charlie grew lighter on his feet, his eyes blazing with excitement. For the most part he
’
d seemed happier these last two days than Jai had ever seen him, and unfortunately he thought he knew why that was. Stopping abruptly, Jai held a hand up to ward Charlie off. He squinted at him and sighed. “You sure you
’
ve got your magic under control, Charlie. You
’
re not… I don
’
t know… thirsty for more?”

At his question the excitement dimmed in Charlie
’
s eyes and he scrubbed at the short hair he was clearly unused to. “I don
’
t need more or anything. But I would like to know about the talismans. About how to use them?”

“That
’
s not even up for discussion.” Jai shook his head, worried and wondering how he could explain to Charlie that the magic could warp him, change him. It didn
’
t seem to be sinking in so far. “Listen-”

“Jai!” his father
’
s voice boomed around the room as he marched into the training room, thankfully alone this time. Luca nodded at Ari and Trey as he headed towards Jai. Trey gestured to Ari to follow the Ginnaye leader. Jai snorted. His friend was such a nosy bastard. Surprisingly, Luca waited until all of them were clustered together before he spoke. “No word on The Guild yet,” he said and Jai felt his stomach sink. He
’
d really been hoping to get Ari the hell out of his father
’
s house as soon as possible. “However,” Luca eyed Jai carefully, “I have a client looking for one night security. A British actress is in L.A. and she
’
s been having difficulty… some death threats have been made against her. Now she and her boyfriend are only here for a few nights and tonight they
’
d like to go to a club without an entire security detail. I suggested I could provide a male and female security officer to go undercover as another couple with them as their security.  It gives them security without it feeling like security, you know. Anyway, they liked the idea, but I have a problem.”

Yeah, Jai didn
’
t like where this was going.

“All my guardian
’
s young enough to pull this off are on assignment. If you take the job I will make sure Ari is protected here tonight. Yasmin is already good to go. I
’
d consider it a favor,” Luca said with an astonishing amount of politeness.

The thought of being with Yasmin set Jai
’
s teeth on edge and he didn
’
t miss the way Ari
’
s face clouded over at the mention of the Ginnaye. However, his father rarely asked him nicely for anything. “Fine, I
’
ll do it.”

Trey took an apologetic step forward. “Dude, I
’
d do it but I have a case tonight. But… uh, hey,” he glanced at Ari and Jai tensed at the mischievous glitter in his friend
’
s eyes, “I think you should take Ari instead. She
’
s come along great in these sessions and uh, I think this would be good defense practice for her.”

“You,
uh
, think too much,” Jai snapped back at him.

“No, now wait.” Luca was nodding along making Jai
’
s eyes narrow. “Would you be up for it, Ms. Johnson?”

Don
’
t even think about saying yes,
Jai telepathed and then cursed himself for a dumbass when her eyes flashed defiantly at him.

“Sure.” She smiled at Luca. “I
’
d be happy to.”

Jai glared at her. “No way.”

“Ari
’
s more powerful than Yasmin,” Trey argued, seriously asking for Jai
’
s fist to meet his face. “Give her a chance to prove that to not only you, but to herself. I think she needs to know she can take care of herself, man.”