When he gave her those puppy dog eyes, she found it difficult to resist. “Fine,” she grumbled. “I forgive you.”
Charlie grinned with relief. “Good, because I need to ask you something.” He got down on one knee and it was then Ari realized he’d been hiding one hand behind his back.
Her eyes widened in horror. “Charlie …” If this was a marriage proposal, she was going to die. He did know they were only kids, right? And that it was kind of illegal?
He pulled his hand from behind his back and offered her a corsage in a clear box. “Ari Johnson, will you go to homecoming with me?”
Laughter burst from between her lips as she stared down at him on his bended knee. “Homecoming is next semester. It’s months away.”
“I know. I’m planning ahead so Bobby, AJ, and Stevie B. can’t beat me to the punch. So will you?” he grimaced. “A quick yes or no will work … My knee is kind of on a stone.”
Laughing hard, Ari reached out and took the corsage. She gripped Charlie’s arm and urged him to get up. “Yes, I’ll go to homecoming with you.”
Grinning a little goofily now, Charlie gripped the edges of her doorway and leaned close to her.
“Yeah?”
“Yes.”
His expression suddenly changed as his eyes roamed her face. The smile left his lips and regret flashed in his dark gaze. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Ari. I promise I’ll never hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you, ever again.”
It was not a promise Charlie had managed to keep.
The hiss of flames brought Ari’s head out of her memories and into the room. Charlie stepped out of the Peripatos beside the bottom of her bed. He was wearing faded jeans and a wrinkled T-shirt, and a lot more jewelry than he used to. He wore two silver rings, a couple of copper bracelets, and a number of chains bearing metal talismans. It was all to fuel his power. The jewel that fueled most of his power must be on him if he’d used the Peripatos, but it was hidden. Was the emerald in his pocket?
“You look pensive.” Charlie cocked his head to the side, his face expressionless. “Does that mean you’re willing to cooperate or that we’re about to become mortal enemies?”
Wearily, Ari got to her feet. “Do you really think after everything that I wouldn’t cooperate?”
Something dark flashed in his gaze and he clenched his fists. “You need to learn when to give up.”
“Are we doing this or not?”
He raised an eyebrow at her tone but nodded. “Them for my freedom, right? So, do you have a plan, or are we going to put our heads together and work it out?”
Ari bristled at the innuendo in his voice. It was so smarmy, so not Charlie. “I have a plan. All I need from you is to lure the Ghulah and Pazuzu out to Rancocas State Park in two days’ time, at dusk. The park is beside the New Jersey Turnpike.”
Charlie curled his lip. “And where in the park am I to lure them?”
“Somewhere in the middle, away from the creek. I’ll be able to sense you.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “This wouldn’t be a trap, would it?”
Instead of answering his question directly, she replied with utmost sincerity. “I don’t want you to die, Charlie.” Her eyes glittered at the thought and he gave her a sharp nod.
“I believe that.” He shook his head as if he didn’t understand her. “Fine. I’ll get them there and then I’m gone.
You’ll keep those ass**les off my back?”
“Yes, I will.”
“You’ll have backup tomorrow, right?”
Ari smirked at him. “What? Do you still care after all?”
“No. If you die, I have no one watching my back as promised. So, do us both a favor and bring some backup.” He scowled at her and let the flames of the Peripatos engulf him.
For what could have been a minute or an hour, Ari stared at the space where Charlie had stood, feeling brittle and restless at the same time. She wanted this to be over. She wanted him to be okay. If she couldn’t get him through this and out onto the other side, Ari would never be able to forgive herself. His life had come to this because of her, because her mother placed her with Derek in Sandford Ridge, Ohio.
Ari had to change it. This couldn’t be Charlie’s ending.
Fire exploded in the room, shaking Ari out of her maudlin thoughts as a giant of a man stepped out of the flames.
Her heart surged into her throat.
“Red,” she breathed, shocked he was there but relieved too.
He gave her a small nod. “Ari.”
Ari took a step toward him and faltered at what she found in his eyes. They were colder somehow, and they still held grief. He mourned her mother, Sala.
At the thought of Sala, Ari felt overwhelming loss and regret. She never got the chance to get to know her mother—a Jinn who’d loved Ari so much. Sala had also loved Red, and he had adored her back.
“How … how are you?” she asked softly.
“I am well. And you?” He gazed around her room, taking everything in. Ari was sure it was so he didn’t have to look at her. She shivered, hating this strange, formal distance between them.
Her uncle had made so many mistakes, most regarding Charlie, but he’d also been her closest ally among the royal Jinn. Ari wasn’t even 100 percent sure he was her ally, but with little else to hold on to, she’d always needed to believe that he was friend, not foe.
“I’m all right.”
“I brought you this.” He stopped and held out a strange wooden box with Middle Eastern arabesques and motifs carved into it.
Ari tentatively took it. “What is it?”
“Trey confided in Glass of your plan with Pazuzu and Charlie. This is a Secretum. You need it, yes?”
Sighing, Ari nodded. She should’ve known Trey would turn to the Glass King. He trusted him far more than Ari did.
And yet, Glass and Red clearly trusted one another. So, if Ari trusted Red, surely she could trust her other uncle. “Thank you for bringing this.”
“You’re welcome.” He frowned.
“Please be careful with Pazuzu. The three of you must work together closely.”
“We will.”
He turned sharply, his long, bright red plait swinging across his lower back. “I need to be going … unless there’s anything else I can help you with?”
“Actually, yes.” Ari took a quick step toward him and he flinched, causing her to screech to a halt. Hurt pierced through her at his reaction, but she managed to stifle it from her expression and tone. “Asmodeus keeps visiting my dreams. I don’t know why. It’s unsettling to say the least.”
Red’s face darkened and he gave her a tight nod. “I’ll look into it.” And without a goodbye, he disappeared into the Peripatos, leaving Ari feeling more alone than ever.
7
Dancing with Giants
The visit with Ari was surprisingly painful.
Red sighed wearily. She looked so much like Sala. The hurt brought on by this very physical reminder of his lost love was compounded by guilt. He should be taking better care of Ari in Sala’s absence, and now that his father was no longer interested in Ari, he didn’t even have loyalty to Azazil to excuse the distance he’d created between himself and the girl.
With that in mind, Red found himself back in his father’s palace for the first time in weeks. He marched through the cold corridors, barely acknowledging the bowing heads of the Shaitans he passed. The visit to the palace was for Ari’s sake. Asmodeus was dreamwalking Ari. Not good. Any attention from the Sultan’s first lieutenant was never good.
Red had to discover the reason behind the visits and somehow dissuade Asmodeus from toying with her. That might not be a problem, unless Azazil interfered.
The Shaitan who led him to his father knocked on the grand double doors of Azazil’s guest parlor. The doors swung open abruptly and the Shaitan slid away from view. Red gazed into the large, elaborately decorated room to find his father, Azazil, seated quite casually on a black leather chaise.
Asmodeus stood near him by the empty fireplace.
“Son,” Azazil smirked at him. “What brings you to see me on this fine summer day?”
While autumn was coming to an end in the human realm, summer burst to life on Mount Qaf. Not that it made much difference to Red and his kin as they felt little of the changing temperatures.
“Too many weeks have passed, Father. I thought I’d pay you a visit to see how you fare.” He strode into the room and gave Asmodeus a curt nod before settling into the chaise opposite Azazil.
His father raised an eyebrow.
“Finally stopped mourning your little Ifrit? Sala, was it?”
Ignoring the Sultan’s condescension, Red glanced up at an impassive Asmodeus. “Any news of my brothers?”
Asmodeus sneered. “The White King’s determination to find the whereabouts of Lilif’s body proves inexhaustible.
Fruitless but inexhaustible. Your brothers Shadow and Gleaming have openly joined the cause.”
“Not surprising. They’ve made their allegiance known for centuries,” Red murmured, turning his gaze on Azazil. “I take it they’ve not come close to discovering her whereabouts?”
He grimaced at the thought. “Of course not. He’s aided by fools.” Azazil sighed. “I must admit to being rather bored lately. I’m thinking of planting a clue just to make things a little bit more exciting.”
“Father, you are joking, aren’t you?” Red was aghast at the thought. He could never tell when his mercurial father was being serious.
He laughed at his son’s expression.
“Of course I am. I’m bored, not a fool. I’ll find something else to entertain me.”
A moment of silence passed before Red finally said, “Speaking of,” he looked up at Asmodeus, “any reason you’ve been dreamwalking Ari Johnson?”
Red did not like the way the
lieutenant’s eyes glittered at the mention of Ari’s name. He did not like that at all. “I’m merely getting to know her.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to.” His mouth twitched, his expression antagonistic. “I find her quite lovely. Beautiful face, stunning body. I’m thinking she’d be a nice addition to my harem.”
For not the first time, Red felt a fatherly protectiveness rush over him—his blood heated at the thought of Asmodeus anywhere near Sala’s daughter. “She’s not for you, Asmodeus. She belongs to someone else. Leave her alone.”
“Hush now, son.” Azazil chuckled.
“Leave Asmodeus to his fun. The girl means nothing to us now. Let him do as he wishes.”
Jaw clenched, Red faced his father and tensed at the look in his eyes. Although Azazil’s tone was playful, his eyes were not. His was a command to leave Asmodeus alone to his games with Ari. Inwardly cursing the two of them, Red could do nothing but nod his acquiescence.
As Ari snuggled in Jai’s arms, she feared she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. It was the night before her battle with the Ghulah and Pazuzu, and although Jai had done much to take her mind off it, when he drifted to sleep with his arms wrapped around her, Ari was still awake.
For hours she lay there, staring into the dark, her stomach churning with nervous anticipation. And then, as though her lids could take any more weight, they drifted closed and Ari ventured into unconsciousness …
“Finally. Took you long enough.”
Ari burled around at the familiar deep voice, her whole body tensing.
Asmodeus.
She was back at his cove, dressed in the white dress he seemed to like so much. “Again?”
Instead of smirking at her snarkiness as he would’ve done in the past, his eyes narrowed and he approached her slowly, in a way that made her take a step back. There was something more menacing than usual about him.