Jai stood to his feet. It was bad enough the guy was already a good four inches taller than him he didn’t need to be sitting at his royal feet like a servant. “News, Your Highness?” He may not be a servant but he was still respectful.
The Red King nodded and looked down at Ari. “Dalí is your cousin of sorts.”
Feeling just as confused as Ari looked, Jai asked, “Cousin of sorts?”
“He’s the half-breed son of The Gleaming King.”
Ari’s voice was soft and worn, “A sorcerer?”
“A powerful and very intelligent sorcerer.” The Red King looked worried and that immediately set alarm bells ringing in Jai’s head. “If he’s after Ari he must believe he’s discovered a way to harness the power of the Seal. Dalí is a known dark sorcerer which means one of The Guilds must be hunting him.”
“A Guild?” Ari queried.
“Remember? They were discussed in the book I gave you?” Jai tried to jog her memory. At the shake of her head he continued, “The Guild was created by The Gilder King. They hunt sorcerers and try to prevent evil against humans by Jinn hands. Like the Ginnaye, there are different tribes of The Guild all over the world.”
“And one of those will be hunting Dalí?”
The Red King nodded. “Yes. We just have to find out which one.” He shot Jai a meaningful look and Jai felt the significance of it like a punch to the stomach.
Oh hell, no. Jai held in a groan and fought the urge to flee. “You want us to go to my father?” he felt sick just saying the words. Take Ari to meet his family? To see how he was treated? She’d lose all respect for him. Dammit. He couldn’t stop his ferocious glare from burning into The Red King — to hell with the consequences.
However, the Jinn just stared pleasantly back at him. “Luca Bitar has many contacts including contacts among The Guilds. He should be able to help you.” He looked at Ari now. “And to be honest I think it best if you leave Ohio before more idiotic Jinn find out about you. And before The White King realizes you have no intention of retaliating. Once he realizes that he’ll try something new… or old. Say… like, killing someone else you care about.”
Ari blanched at the thought. “If we leave, if we head to the Bitar’s will he know?”
The Red King seemed to choose his words carefully. “There will be an enchantment put over you. It won’t last long — a few days maybe — but it’ll be enough to give you some breathing space. Jai should teach you and Charlie some self-defense in that time. Once Luca finds out where The Guild is you should go to them immediately. They’ll hunt Dalí down before he hunts you down. Oh, and just so you know, Luca, Nicki and Tarik have been warned that if they tell anyone what Ari is, the sentence is death.” Exhaling, Ari’s uncle stepped back, preparing for the Peripatos again, and as if he hadn’t uttered something so terrifying and final he said calmly, “You need to work out the logistics of how you’re getting to the Pacific Palisades. I’ll let Luca know you’re on your way.”
He left and Jai stood there staring at the empty space in front of the fireplace. All of his insides felt knotted and this unbearable anger was lodged in the back of his throat. He felt powerless, and he hadn’t felt that way about his family in a long, long time. Eyeing Ari he found his anger was directed towards her for making him care. Only the reminder that she had been through enough without him adding more crap to it kept him from bursting out into an aggressive argument with her for no good reason at all.
“We’ll fly the old-fashioned way since Charlie can’t use the Peripatos,” Jai growled, not looking at either of them.
“Well, say it like it’s my fault why don’t you,” Charlie grumbled.
Ignoring him instead of punching him, Jai waved a hand over an empty space on the floor and conjured a bag of Charlie’s clothes from his bedroom. He then did the same for Ari. “You’re all packed. Let’s go.”
He brushed past them, feeling their gaping stares on his back. He shook off a shiver, feeling vulnerable. Jai hated feeling vulnerable. “Hurry up,” he snarled, pulling the front door open.
“What the hell is his problem?” he heard Charlie mutter behind him, the sound of bags being picked up the only thing cooling Jai’s growing temper.
“Just leave him,” Ari replied quietly and the understanding in her voice made him turn around and glare at her as she walked towards him. He didn’t want her to understand. Why had he told her that stuff about his family? He was an idiot. Even worse, Ari didn’t return his glare. Her eyes were soft on him as she passed him, heading for the SUV in the driveway.
Charlie nudged by him without a word, clearly taking Ari’s advice to heart.
Ari’s quiet understanding on a day when she’d just buried her dad made Jai feel like the biggest a**hole. The burn inside him cooled a little and he took a deep breath. It wasn’t her fault his family was screwed up. Now was not the time to lose it. He wasn’t fourteen anymore. He was a grown man. He needed to act like it. Feeling a little calmer, Jai pulled the house door shut and locked it magically. When he turned around Ari still hadn’t gotten into the car. She was gazing at the house, her eyes glistening with tears. This might be the last time she ever saw it. Feeling even more of a tool, Jai walked slowly towards her. “Have you got everything you need from in there?”
She nodded slowly. “If I remember something I can just conjure it, right?”
“Right.”
“And Ms. Maggie’s already in the car.”
“What?” Charlie squawked from inside the SUV, glancing around for the invisible Ifrit like he was trying to shake off a spider.
An unexpected chuckle was pulled out of Jai at Charlie’s comical frantic freakout and he caught Ari’s own reluctant smile.
“You don’t mind Ms. Maggie tagging along, do you?”
It wasn’t the greatest thing having a Jinn hiding around in the Cloak where he couldn’t see her. When he’d first attempted to get into Ari’s house using the Cloak himself, he’d stumbled into the invisible Ifrit. Both surprised to find another Jinn in the home, the Ifrit had begun screaming at him telepathically to get out. She was a shrew and she’d kept up a constant telepathic rant until he’d decided it best to wait outside until The Red King said it was alright to reveal himself to Ari. The Ifrit had seemed pretty protective of Ari and The Red King seemed certain of her, and despite Jai’s curiosity over who the Ifrit was and why she was so attached to Ari, he’d let it slide since the Jinn female made Ari feel safe. “Not if you need her.”