“Dad?” she asked softly. “You awake?”
No answer. A shuffle from beyond the door told her he was there though.
“I have some breakfast here.”
No answer.
Feeling impatience burn in her veins, Ari struggled to keep her voice even. “Mr Zellman called from your office again.” As if she didn’t have enough problems to deal with.
“I’ll call him later,” Derek replied softly, sounding pretty close.
“That’s what you said yesterday.”
“I’ll call him, Ari. Just… I’m tired, sweetheart. We’ll talk later.”
Each bite of rejection was getting bigger, and frankly, Ari was getting tired of standing there like an unmoving, idiotic target. Letting the tray drop with a petulant clatter, she turned away muttering under her breath, “You said that yesterday, too.”
Beyond annoyed, Ari fled the unbearable loneliness of the house, slamming out of the kitchen door and into the backyard. The sun smirked down at her and she felt like flipping it off. Everything was a mess. She hadn’t spoken to Charlie since she’d asked Jai to throw him out that fateful morning they’d discovered he was a sorcerer. Ari had been too enraged to be in the same room with him. She couldn’t look at Charlie, never mind talk to him, and her cell was switched off because he wouldn’t stop calling.
A sorcerer? According to Jai and his stupid book, a sorcerer was such an ambiguous status. It could send normal half-breeds off the deep end, never mind humans imbued with Jinn power. Who knew what this would do to Charlie? And why had he done it? Her heart literally ached thinking about it. Ari just couldn’t understand why he would wish to become a part of this world when she had told him how much she wanted to be free of it. The pressure on her chest increased, and she glowered up into the bright sky. No. She wasn’t stupid or clueless enough to think Charlie’s decision had anything to do with her. It was all about revenge. He was going to get himself killed. Matters were not helped between them when he refused to tell her and Jai who had granted the wish. Jai reckoned it had to be a Marid or a Shaitan. Ari couldn’t discount that perhaps her real father, The White King, and all-around swell piece of crap was behind the wish. She hated to even think her uncle, The Red King, had something to do with it. In fact, right now she had to believe otherwise; no matter what. She needed at least one powerful ally in all this craziness.
The ache flared across her chest in a jagged shot of lightning and Ari gasped, a release of anger pouring out of her in heartbreak. Everything had changed with Charlie. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was or what it meant, but everything had changed. Whatever it did mean, Ari knew there was no going back for them. Willing the pain out of her, Ari concentrated on the patch of sky above her and forced the clouds to grow dark and heavy with water until they burst, pounding into the ground and slapping against her skin in symphony with her hurt.
Ari, stop.
Wincing at the commanding voice echoing around in her mind, Ari twisted around to find Jai standing tense in the doorway, his fists curled tightly together, his vivid gaze burning through her. His jaw was taut and she knew he was annoyed. Yeah, well, she was annoyed too. He’d been kind of A.W.O.L after throwing Charlie out for her and he’d been unable to meet her gaze whenever he did decide to grace her with his presence. She felt her cheeks stain red as she remembered the night at her front door when he’d rejected her. She wasn’t stupid. He was completely uncomfortable around her now. Yay.
Disappointed in him, but not wanting to analyze anything else, Ari shrugged nonchalantly and turned to look back up at the sky. It’s making me feel better.
Stop it. Now.
What is it? she sighed wearily. What’s wrong?
A growl rumbled behind her, “I said stop it now, Ari.”
She turned around at his agitation, her own eyes flashing angrily in response to his commanding tone. Taking a second, Ari drew in a deep breath, letting the rain run in rivulets down her cheeks and onto her lips. Noting Jai’s increasing impatience, Ari concentrated, willing the rain off and the clouds to return to normal. The shadows bled from the garden and once again the sun beamed down upon them. “What is your problem?” she snapped.
He exhaled heavily and Ari felt a prickle of worry when she spotted the dark circles under his eyes. Watching him rub his hand familiarly over his short hair, she let her eyes wander before she could stop them, drinking in his gorgeous face, strong forearm, and the tiny diamond in his right ear that was winking in the sun. Her eyes focused in on it. That was new.
Jai cleared his throat and she drew her gaze back to his. He rubbed the ear stud self-consciously between his index finger and thumb. “My friend, Trey. A gift. I didn’t want to say no. He means well.”
His crooked, uncertain smile hit her in the gut with a bolt of pure lust, and right then she hated him for making her all gooey inside. She sighed, shifting her feet uneasily. That wasn’t really his fault though. “It looks good.” She smiled despite herself. The stud was so small, it was barely even noticeable. It was tasteful. Still, she felt like teasing him a little. “Very genie of you.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of.”
“I promise, it looks good,” she reassured him and immediately wished the words hadn’t come out like that. Had her voice gone all low and… flirty? She felt blood rush into her cheeks again as his eyes darkened on her, a strange tension springing up between them as they stared wordlessly at one another. Yes, her voice had gotten flirty. Yes, Jai was once again reminded she was hot for him. She couldn’t break away from his gaze. It was like his eyes were a fish hook. All he needed to do now was reel her in.
Reel me in. Please reel me in.
Realizing her thoughts could so easily have echoed into his mind, Ari bit her lip, wishing someone would just throw something at the space between them so it would get shocked by the electricity sparking there and break the damn tension.
What was she doing? Deliberately setting herself up to be rejected again? He was in love with someone else. Shaking her head, Ari let her eyes drop. “What’s with the attitude? The rain?”
Jai’s face instantly changed, becoming blank again as she reminded him why he’d come out here in the first place. “It’s time we talked about the magic,” his voice was surprisingly quiet and unsure. “Honestly, this time.”
Ari frowned at the word choice. “Honestly?”
“Will you come inside?”