“It’s not realy for Jinn,” Jai answered Ari’s unspoken question as she looked into the kitchen cabinets. “This safe-house—it’s in case we need to bring a human client here,” he finished on a hiss, puling the wet cloth away from his head.
Worried, Ari took the cloth from him and eased him around so she could see the wound. It was a gash across the base of his skul and was already healing. “You okay?”
“Yeah, it just nips as it sews itself back together.”
“Yay Jinn super-healing,” she murmured, her stomach stil churning.
What had happened felt so surreal. “Jai? Why were they working together?” she asked as he turned around slowly to face her. “The Jinn, surely they know working together is stupid if they al want me for themselves?”
Jai nodded and dumped the bloodied cloth into the sink. With a heavy sigh and tired eyes, he leaned back against the counter, his arms crossed over his chest.
“There was a mix of power out there. A couple were Marids— and pretty strong. I imagine they were the ones who convinced the lesser Jinn to attack. Probably paying them. The stronger ones would probably have duked it out over who got you once they actualy had you.”
Shuddering at the thought, Ari made a gesture of agreement. It made sense—a horrible, sickening kind of sense. It had been one thing to discuss the probability of Jinn coming after her, but the reality of them attacking was so completely different. It was shocking. And terrifying. Kind of apocalyptic in its epic horror.
Stil shaking but trying not to, Ari shrugged. “So what now? Are you caling Falon?”
Surprise shot through her when he shook his head, his expression grave. “We can’t trust anyone, Ari. They found you somehow, and the last time that happened it was one of the Roes who had betrayed us.”
“So… what? What are we going to do?”
“If it’s true, if the Jinn are after you, you’re safer just with me. Running with me.”
Aghast at the thought of leaving everyone, Ari shook her head. “No. What about Charlie? Trey? We can’t just leave them!”
Expression implacable, Jai walked tentatively towards her as if approaching a wounded animal. He reached up to brush her hair gently off her face, his fingers trailing down her cheek until his thumb rested on the cut on her lip. Slowly, his mouth lowered to hers and he pressed the softest kiss to her wound. When he puled back, his eyes were inches from her, boring into hers with heat and dark emotion. “Al that matters is protecting you. If Sala hadn’t arrived I don’t know what I would have done.
We tried living our lives as normaly as possible, and I tried to give you what you want by agreeing to let you work for The Guild. But it almost got you taken, Ari.
Connections… connections right now are going to get you kiled. We’l try and get word to Charlie and Trey, but they’re on their own just now. So are we.”
The part of her that wanted to cry was fighting the darkness of the Seal. Her throat clogged with fear and exhaustion and while she didn’t want to appear fragile, Ari thought it best to let the tears win over the Seal. They flooded down her cheeks and Jai cursed softly under his breath as he puled her into him, his arms wrapped so tight around her she could barely breathe as she soaked his t-shirt with her tears. “I want to be strong, Jai. I want to fight back, but the reality of every Jinn in the world knowing what I am is so much scarier than I thought it would be.”
Gently, he pushed her away from him, his hands gripping her upper arms as he leaned down with fierce love in his eyes. “You did fight and you were strong. It was scary, Ari, but you fought. You didn’t just stand there and take it. You fought. And you have to promise me, no matter what happens, that you wil always fight.”
She nodded, sucking back tears brought on by shock. “I promise.”
Jai’s shoulders sagged in relief and he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Ari sighed. At least she stil had Jai.
“What now?” she asked again as he strode into the sitting area of the open-plan cabin. She absentmindedly looked for a glass, desperate for some water, as she waited on his reply.
“We’l crash here for a few hours, plan our next move. But we have to leave soon before someone starts checking out my father’s safe-houses.”
Ari’s glass slipped from her hands and shattered into the sink as she heard the familiar hiss of flames behind her. She spun around, heart pounding, eyes wide with trepidation as they watched The White King’s face burn at her through the flames of the Peripatos. He didn’t even step out of it and Ari had no time to think, let alone act, before his long hand reached out, clutched hold of Jai and wrenched him into the flames with him. “Too late.” He glared at her, her roar of disbelief folowing in the wake of their disappearance.
Silence reigned in the cabin except for the echoes of her own scream throbbing in her ears and the thuddity, thuddity, thuddity thud of her racing heartbeat.
White had taken Jai.
Tears spiled down Ari’s cheeks as she bent over, trying to catch her breath. A strange keening noise escaped her as exhaustion and rage tried to take over. He knew. White knew about her and Jai.
He knew.
She colapsed to her knees, trying to draw breath, trying to shove the panic attack down. A panic attack would do her no good. It would do Jai no good.
Hands clenched into fists, Ari looked around for inspiration. Think. Think. Think!
White had Jai. He was going to use him to get to her. He would hurt him. And there was no saying how long he’d take to make his move. Ari had to get Jai back.