Scorched Skies (35 page)

Thinking unkind thoughts, Ari glanced quickly away only to stumble inwardly over Jack Hollis. An older member of the team, Jack ate his meal quietly, not looking up to engage in conversation but happy to remain withdrawn from the rest of the group. Ari felt a tug on the back of her shirt and glanced around Charlie
’
s back to find Fallon leaning around him.

“Jack doesn
’
t talk much,” Fallon whispered, clearly having been aware of Ari
’
s people watching. “He distanced himself since his wife was killed by a Ghulah.”

Flinching, Ari remembered her own fight with a Ghulah in Roswell a few weeks back.

The Jinn
’
s female façade smiled up at her sweetly, her mouth covered in gore from where she
’
d been eating the boys. To Ari
’
s horror, her jaw elongated unnaturally, revealing huge sharp teeth. Ari closed her eyes, shutting out the image of blood and flesh dripping from the Ghulah
’
s mouth.

“That
’
s awful,” Ari murmured, feeling instant empathy for the man.

“Yeah,” Fallon agreed and for once the hint of irony she managed to attach to every word was missing. “He
’
s a good hunter though.” She slid back in her seat and asked Charlie something in a low voice. Whatever he said made her grin and he chuckled at her impish smile. When he reached for a glass of water, Ari caught his expression and was surprised by the look in his eyes. It was a look of appreciation for a pretty girl. It was a look of happy relaxation.  Warmth flooded Ari, a strange mix of jealousy and relief taking hold of her as she imagined him moving on and being content with life. She so wanted that for him. Not this. Not a doomed relationship/fragile friendship, blood and revenge.

Sighing inwardly, Ari reached for another bread roll, her fingers colliding with one of the twins
’
. She didn
’
t have time to wonder whether it was Callum or Matt. She was too busy yelping in pain as a blast of magic flew up her arm like an electric shock. Cradling her injured arm and biting back pain, Ari barely registered Jai crashing to his feet, plates clattering and a few glasses spilling with the movement. However, through the pain Ari felt the crackle of power surge in the air, a glow the color of ember radiating out from Jai
’
s hand into a swiftly moving arc that rippled the air. Everyone but Ari and Charlie were pushed back from the enchantment, their bodies bumping against the now invisible force. Ari
’
s stunned eyes lifted to Jai. He was trembling with fury, his own gaze on her cradled arm.

“I
’
m fine,” she told him quietly, almost frightened by his intensity and the power he had at his fingertips. Somehow she tended to forget he was a full-blooded and very strong Jinn. Swallowing loudly Ari chanced a glance at the twins who glared at her with fear in their eyes. “I don
’
t think he meant it.”

“I didn
’
t,” the twin who
’
d blasted her insisted, his wary eyes flickering between Jai and Ari before stopping on Jacob who looked as furious as Jai. “She just startled me. She makes me nervous.”

“She has a name,” Charlie growled from beside her and she felt his hand press protectively on the base of her spine.

“It
’
s OK.” Ari pulled away from him. Perhaps her sarcastic jokes earlier really had pushed these guys too far. They hated her. “He didn
’
t mean it.” The rest of the family looked unsure. Some glared at the young man, including Fallon, while others held sympathy in their expressions. “I really am sorry if I make you nervous. I don
’
t know how else to assure you that I have no intention of using my particular ability against you. The Seal isn
’
t something anyone should meddle with which is exactly why I
’
m here…To stop a dangerous person from attempting to use it. A dark sorcerer. So.” She winced, flexing her fingers and checking her arm was still functioning. “I
’
d really appreciate it if you all stopped looking at me like I just pulled a shotgun on you. Last time I
’
m saying it.”

Gerard Roe stepped back from his place at the table, drawing all attention to him. “It won
’
t happen again, I promise. Callum apologize.”

So it was Callum who
’
d hurt her. His face softened even though his brother Matt still gazed at her with half-lidded, paranoid eyes. “I really am sorry. It definitely won
’
t happen again.”

“Jai, if you
’
d care to drop the enchantment?” Gerard eyed him with unquestionable respect and admiration. Ari tried to mask similar feelings as her guardian looked at her again.

We can leave if you want.

Warmed by the suggestion Ari gave a slight shake of her head.
No. We need them. And I
’
m OK, really. Thank you.

Jai
’
s jaw unclenched and the whole room seemed to slump as he withdrew his magic and slowly settled back into his seat. Anabeth began cleaning up the spills around them with simpering flirtatiousness that set Ari
’
s teeth on edge.

“You
’
re such an idiot,” Fallon said, drawing Ari
’
s attention as she threw a roll at Callum. “Nervy much?”

Callum blushed. “Shut up.”

And just like that the team resumed their meal, skirmish and magical use over.

Ari
’
s arm still burned for the next few hours but at least when she got up to help clear the table she was rewarded with a warm smile from Bryleigh and conversation from Megan.

~21~

No Ordinary Cowboys Herding Me to Revenge

It was in moments like these The Red King found himself annoyed, and that annoyance was directed solely within. As he stood in the dead of night by his brother, The Glass King, both of them looking upon the lifeless body of Jack Hollis, Red was perturbed by his own pretentious musings. How could he, a being possible of great feeling, feel absolutely nothing after helping aid in the murder of an innocent, and an innocent with Jinn ancestry? Often beguiled by humans, Red at once admired and sneered at their ability to feel pain at the loss of people they did not even know. To be capable of such feeling must be a wondrous but stupid thing indeed for surely you would feel constantly helpless in the face of so much tragedy.

Glancing up at his brother whose vibrant blue hair blew softly in the breeze, Red frowned. “You understand what is to be done?”

Glass gazed back at him with those cerulean blue eyes of his, his face so stern in its perfection it was as if it had been carved from marble. His deep voice rumbled into the deserted night. “I told you I would do whatever you needed me to; whatever I can to help you and father.”

“Good. You better change before I get rid of the body,” he reminded him as both their eyes returned to Jack
’
s empty form. It had been quick, bloodless. No joy in this kill. But it was a necessity. For Azazil.

Immense power surged into the air. Red could feel its likeness in his own veins and watched calmly as Glass
’
body began to tremble. Shadows writhed under his skin, bones cracked and muscles pulled tight as he began to shrink in inches. Still tall, his classically handsome face bloated then sunk, bulged and popped, before snapping back into shape. His long cerulean hair began climbing the length of his body as if his skull were eating the strands, the color morphing with the shift to a dark muddy brown. His leather vest and trousers shimmered out of existence, replaced by a check shirt, worn jeans and army boots.

“How do I look?” Glass asked, his voice softer, accented.

“Like a Guild Hunter called Jack Hollis.”

Glass quirked an unfamiliar eyebrow. “Then it
’
s time to play.”

That first night
under the strange roof, sleeping in a twin bed across the room from a stranger, Ari didn
’
t have the chance to struggle to fall asleep. Fallon talked so much she kept her awake the whole night. In under eight hours Ari learned that Fallon was a sarcastic, outgoing, optimist-wannabe-pessimist. She was an only child, loved and spoiled by her parents and large extended family. She
’
d lost friends, one cousin, and a grandfather to the job but had been brought up on ideals of The Guild. To die protecting people from wicked Jinn was an honor and something to be celebrated as heroic rather than mourned as tragic.

Growing up in New Jersey, Fallon hadn
’
t really made friends outside of The Guild. It was too difficult to keep the life a secret and the fact that they travelled a lot raised too many questions when they brought in outsiders. People were only initiated into the group if they were going to marry a Guild member. Even then, the Guild member had to be certain their future wife or husband wouldn
’
t immediately run to a shrink when the news that Jinn lived among them was broken to them. Fallon had tried out a serious relationship in school but had only ended up hurt when he dumped her for being distant and secretive. For the last few years, dating had been casual and fun. Nothing more. Until she met someone in
‘
the life
’
Fallon didn
’
t want her relationships to be anything more than casual.

Ari also learned a lot about the other team members in Phoenix. Anabeth, the red-head with wandering hands, was a year older than Ari and Fallon, and according to Fallon she was a selfish, spoiled flirt. Her mother was also second generation Jinn so Anabeth was pretty powerful. Fallon did
not
get along with her.  Her half-brothers, the twins, were usually pretty laid-back guys. Matt had a fiancé back home in The Guild and Fallon had messed around with Callum a couple of times when they were bored. Fallon thought what he did to Ari at the dinner table was feeble and had decided to end their
‘
friends with benefits
’
situation almost immediately afterwards. Everyone else according to Fallon was pretty cool. Her aunt and uncle, and Susan and Aidan Roe
—
her cousins
—
were nice people. She didn
’
t know James and Scott Becke all that well but she was getting to know Bryleigh, and Fallon thought she could be a pretty nice person if she stopped acting like she
’
d popped out of a magazine for Women of the
‘
50s. Because Jacob was one of the elders of the Roe Guild, Fallon knew his kids Brechin and Ailidh Ballendine well. They were nice, but took everything very seriously. They did not understand Fallon
’
s flippancy. But then again, Fallon wasn
’
t sure anyone did.

Once the girl had given Ari a rundown on the group she
’
d started in on the questions. When did she find out she was Jinn? What had her dad been like? What was Azazil like? What was Mount Qaf like? What was going on with her and Jai? And on and on… And to Ari
’
s surprise she found herself telling Fallon everything. It all spilled out of her, from Mike dying on Ari
’
s sixteenth birthday, Charlie
’
s spiral downwards, her dad
’
s negligence, her eighteenth birthday and being swept up into Mount Qaf. How wicked her real father was. The Red King. Jai. Nick
’
s possession. Charlie
’
s wish. Jai
’
s rejection. Derek
’
s death and how little time she
’
d been allowed to mourn him. Ari laid it all out there, keeping only Ms. Maggie to herself. By the time she was done the air in the bedroom had felt thick with her spewed emotions. Finally, Fallon had whispered into the brightening gloom, “You
’
re going to be OK, Ari Johnson.” And that was it. Ari had made a friend. It felt nice.