Scorched Skies (42 page)

“I
’
m OK.” She gave him another squeeze and stepped back without letting go. She still felt a little unsteady on her feet.

Fallon stood in between Jai and The Red King, their intimidating height and presence making the girl look particularly diminutive. Ari barely had time to acknowledge The Red King with a grateful smile
—
he
had
saved her life
—
when Fallon punched her playfully on the upper arm. “Check you out.” She grinned. “You survived an
Haqeeqah
. I think I
’
ve found a new god to worship.” She bowed her head with an insolent spark in her eyes.

Ari threw The Red King a quizzical look. “
Haqeeqah?
”

Her uncle smiled indulgently and Ari caught that quick look of fondness he tried so hard to hide. Was she coming to trust him after all? “It
’
s female for truth. It
’
s the essence of the power of an emerald carved from Mount Qaf itself. It
’
s pure in its source, its power. As pure as truth.”

“And it nearly killed me?”

His eyes darkened. “Yes.”

Charlie
’
s arm bristled under her hand. “Did you find out who did it?”

They all turned to gaze at Red and he didn
’
t even flinch under their expectant and aggressive regard. Instead he gave a quick shake of his head. “No one will admit to it, and those I suspected have been proven innocent by Azazil.”

Charlie glowered. “So that
’
s it? This is ridiculous. How are we supposed to protect Ari from not one, but three enemies, and not even know who the last one is?”

“We don
’
t know who he is,” Jai interjected. “But we do know he wasn
’
t coming after Ari. He was coming after me.”

“Yeah,” Fallon threw him a
‘
duh
’
look, “but only to get you out of the way so he could get to Ari.”

They began talking over one another and Ari
’
s head throbbed with their argument. She gazed passively at The Red King and he gave her a sympathetic smile.

Thank you for saving my life,
she told him telepathically.

His eyes sharpened.
You
’
re very welcome. I will always be there.

Thank you for saving his life too.

Red
’
s smile dropped as he shot a quick look at Jai before turning back to her.
You did that. Not I.

Yes she did. Because the thought of losing him…

Ari.

Her eyes met Red
’
s bright blue ones again.
Yeah.

That
’
s why he was hurt. They
’
ll try to use him against you. You have to hide it. How you feel.

Shaking her head infinitesimally, Ari straightened her spine,
I
’
m done hiding. It
’
s time to hunt.

A rakish grin flashed across The Red King
’
s face and he clapped his hands to hush the squabbling. “Enough. One enemy at a time. And it seems Ari is ready to kick some ass.”

They all looked at her, mirror images with raised eyebrows and pursed mouths.

She quirked her own eyebrow at them, acknowledging that pretending she was alright might actually help her
be
alright. “You heard our liege,” she teased. “Let
’
s put this behind us and knock at least one of these guys down.”

~25~

Can you hunt a hunter?

Sitting in another room that wasn
’
t her own, Ari gazed at the window wishing she could stare out of it. But they were taking extra precautions to make sure Dalí and no one else knew where Ari had disappeared to, so she had to remain unseen. She was bored. Jai was avoiding her and Charlie was passed out on the bed beside her. Ms. Maggie
’
s energy hummed in the room letting her know she was nearby too. Charlie had been overly attentive and Ari knew he felt guilty about losing himself so much in learning to be a sorcerer, that he hadn
’
t even known Jai had gone out on a hunt, let alone that Ari had followed him to her near-death. Of course it wasn
’
t Charlie
’
s fault, but Ari wasn
’
t above withholding those actual words as long as it meant he was distracted from indulging too much in the addictive power he
’
d wished for. She twisted around to look down at him fondly, his long legs dangling off the end of the bed. That couldn
’
t be comfortable. A soft snore blew out between his perfect mouth and Ari felt a rush of contentment to see him like this. She missed her friend. They didn
’
t talk about ordinary things anymore, like books and films and music. Instead Ari sat around waiting for Charlie to come down from his last magical high. The last had been from riding the
Peripatos
with The Red King. To hinder the chance of anyone following them, Red had offered to take Charlie to the hotel they
’
d be staying at in Cleveland using the
Peripatos
so that Dalí didn
’
t use Charlie to track Ari.

Ari had grimaced, her hands akimbo. “And you couldn
’
t have offered to do that before? Back when we had to take a flight to L.A or Phoenix?”

The Red King grinned unapologetically. “Well I thought you guys needed quality time together. Things have been strained.”

“Strained my butt. You do things when you want to do them, no rhyme or reason, right?”

Her uncle shrugged, his eyes glinting enigmatically.

Ari sighed and looked at the clock for the millionth time. Jai was in the room next door. Waiting too. The team was taking a plane. They
’
d be there soon and things could get moving again. She would have something to concentrate on instead of the fact that Jai tensed anytime she touched him or that her heart sputtered even worse than it used to when he looked at her. Even now she was acutely aware of him in the next hotel room, her ears straining to hear some kind of movement. Restlessness thrummed through her veins. Had she done a one-eighty? Had she really come through all of this to be back to pining for a boy who didn
’
t love her back? Surely not.

No. Well, yes and no. It was stupid to think she could just switch it off. She couldn
’
t even do that with Charlie, she brushed a finger over his handsome sleeping face. She could try to move on, yes, but she couldn
’
t lie to herself. She loved Jai. Chest-crushing, heart-squeezing, breath-stealing kind of love and what had happened had changed her perspective all over again.

Maybe she didn
’
t stand a chance in this tug-of-war for the Seal. Maybe she was going to die.

Maybe there was no other end for her in this.

However, The Guild had it right. Wasn
’
t it better to die fighting for something, for the people she loved, than to give up to a tragic end?

“I think so,” she whispered.

“You think what?” Charlie asked softly and Ari turned to look down at him. He gazed up at her with beautiful sleepy dark eyes. A bittersweet ache lit across her chest as she remembered how much she had been in love with him. But it had been puppy love. Childish dreaming. She loved him yes. But she wasn
’
t
in
love with him. Ari finally understood the difference.

“I
’
ve been trying so hard to let go of you,” she told him softly.

At the serious turn of conversation Charlie pulled himself up into a sitting position, his eyes suddenly wide awake. His hair was growing out. It looked better. More like him. “And have you?” his voice was hoarse under the heaviness of the question.

“I didn
’
t want to care anymore. After my dad and you and… everything… it just seemed too hard. But I still care.” She took one of his hands in hers and squeezed. “And I am so terrified for you.”

Frowning Charlie squeezed her hand back. “Hey, I
’
m going to be OK. I
’
m learning to control this thing. Admittedly, I got lost in it and I don
’
t want that to happen again. I feel like crap for not knowing what was going on, for not being there when you needed me.”

“That works both ways,” she admitted.

“I
’
m going to take my time,” he promised. “Do this right.”

“You
’
re still going to get yourself killed.”

“I have to do this, Ari. Can
’
t you understand that?”

Ari took a minute, thinking about how she
’
d feel about Anabeth if she
’
d succeeded in killing Jai. There was hatred yes, and she
’
d want justice, and if no one else was relying on her she would have been tempted to take that justice. But Ari wasn
’
t wired that way. She
’
d always thought ten steps ahead. That
’
s how come she was able to prevent herself from using her gift against The White King even though he
’
d had her dad murdered.

“I think I can,” she told Charlie and watched as he seemed to melt under her admission. “But, it doesn
’
t mean I agree with you.”

They were quiet a moment, Charlie
’
s thumb sliding over her palm. His hands were just a little smoother than Jai
’
s, she realized.

Ari thought of Fallon who
’
d been unhappy to be left behind with her team on the plane. Ari had watched as Fallon had given Charlie a hug and whispered something in his ear. “So…” she smiled cheekily at him, unable to keep a little awkwardness and a teensy bit jealousy out of her words, “You and Fallon. She likes you.”