Charlie chuckled and sipped at his coffee, hoping not to prolong her embarrassment as she brushed fingers against her trembling eyelashes. And then just like that, because it was her way, Fallon abruptly held up a hand in wave. “Thanks, Charlie Creagh. I’ll not be seeing ya.” Grinning, she shoved her hands in her pockets and strode away out of his life forever.
***
“Mmm, can we just stay here forever?” Ari mumbled, snuggling deeper into Jai’s side and resting her head on his chest. They cuddled together on the couch, the fire roaring in the fireplace, an action movie blazing across the screen. Trey was off somewhere with Glass, giving them a little peace and quiet before tomorrow’s party. Caroline Roe had decided that the best way to bring The Guild back together was to enjoy the festivities and have a New Year’s Eve party.
Jai and Ari were not exactly looking forward to the party. Neither felt like they’d caught up on the sleep missed while trying to bring the Jinn queen to her knees.
Jai’s arm tightened around Ari’s shoulder and he kissed her forehead, content in a way he didn’t think he’d ever been before. “I wish.” His eyes slid back to the television screen as James Bond kicked ass in his very nice suit.
Jai wondered if he could get away with hunting in a three-piece suit and then immediately rejected the idea based on estimated dry cleaning bills alone.
“Are you enjoying the movie?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you enjoying the movie?”
“Yeah, baby,” he answered a little distractedly as the fight sequence escalated. “Aren’t you?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Her finger trailed down the center of his stomach and Jai tensed, no longer interested in the on-screen action. He watched her hand as it descended and his breathing shallowed. “I just thought maybe since we’re alone—” She hadn’t even finished the sentence and Jai had her on her back, his mouth on hers, his hands on her body.
Jai was in the middle of unbuttoning her jeans when the doorbell rang. Jai reluctantly jerked his head up. You have got to be kidding me? “Who would be ringing the doorbell at this time?”
“Jinn,” Ari answered grimly, her cheeks flushed from his attentions. “I definitely feel a Jinn out there.”
“Well, that could be anybody,” he grumbled, irritated by the interruption. He got up, fixing his clothes as Ari swung her legs off the couch.
“Sorry I can’t be more specific,” she answered dryly.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he muttered, brushing his fingers along her jaw as he passed her.
“Wait for me.” She hurried to be at his back. Jai peered through the small eyeglass and immediately froze at who he saw on the other side.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he whispered, taking a step back.
“Jai,” Ari sounded worried now, “Jai, who is it?”
He turned his head to look at her and answered almost as if he was asking a question. “My father.”
Catching the surprise on her face, Jai gave her his worst reassuring smile ever before yanking the door open.
Luca Bitar stood before them, a big, healthy-looking guy, an older version of Jai. “Father,” Jai said, using the term out of habit. “What are you doing here?”
“Can I come in?” he asked, his eyes moving from Jai to Ari, his request put to the both of them.
Jai’s gaze swung back to Ari.
Whatever you want.
He stepped aside. “Come in.”
Luca seemed to exhale with relief and stepped inside, his presence still intimidating even after everything. “I drove here,” he informed them as he followed Ari into the sitting room, his eyes scanning the house.
“You drove all the way from California?”
His dad nodded, smiling. “Decided I could use the time to myself.”
Gesturing to a seat, Jai waited for Luca to sit. Ari remained standing, looking as awkward as Jai felt.
“Can I get you coffee or water or …?” she asked, shrugging.
Luca smiled up at her. “I’m okay, Ari, thank you.”
“Jai?”
“I’m fine, baby.” He held a hand out to her, needing her beside him. She immediately came to him, tucking his hand onto her lap as she sat close. He turned back to his dad. “So why are you here?”
Luca studied the two of them closely, and Jai had the weirdest feeling that he liked what he saw.
“Dad?”
Clearing his throat, the elder Ginnaye sat up in his chair and drew a deep breath. “This is … I’m not even sure how to start or what to say. In the end, I don’t think there’s anything I can say to erase the past or to erase my mindset, or Nicki’s.”
Understanding now why Luca was here and feeling that awful, familiar weight of unworthiness press down on his chest, Jai squeezed Ari’s hand, probably hurting her. She didn’t complain. If anything, she held on tighter.
“All I can say is, I’m sorry,” Luca continued, those words exploding in Jai’s head like shrapnel. “I’m sorry for what I did and didn’t do, and I’m sorry that sorry won’t ever be enough.”
Everyone sat silent, the room thick with tension.
And then Luca murmured, “I’m proud of you, Jai. Word of what you and Ari did is circulating the Jinn world and people are phoning to congratulate me. I keep telling them I didn’t do anything. Six months ago that wouldn’t have been the case. I would have accepted the congratulations as my due and really believed that I had a hand in making you the good man you are today. But that extraordinary young woman sitting next to you once told me that you are everything you are despite me, and that I can’t take credit for the man you’ve become.”
Jai turned to Ari, the weight slowly disappearing. “You said that?”
She nodded shyly and shifted closer to him.
Luca abruptly stood, drawing their gazes back to him. “I’m not a perfect man, Jai, but I’m finally admitting I was wrong. I don’t know how you feel, or if you enjoy working with the Hunters, but I want you to know that I’d be proud to have you back—you, Ari, and Trey, of course.”
For the first time in his life, Jai’s father wasn’t telling him what to do. He was treating him like an equal and he was asking him to come back. It didn’t make it all better—neither did sorry—but in that moment, Jai felt good. He felt even better to stand, hold out his hand, shake Luca’s hand, and decline his offer.
Seeming unsurprised by the rejection, Luca sighed, gave Ari a respectful nod goodbye, and moved to leave.
He stopped beside Jai, not looking at him, and clamped a hand down on his shoulder. He squeezed it, the first real fatherly gesture he’d ever given him, and then without another word, he walked out of their lives.
The weight on Jai’s chest that hit whenever he thought of the Bitars eased. And when the smell of Ari’s perfume hit him seconds before her soft body curled against his back, her arms sliding around his waist, her cheek pressed to his shoulder blade, that weight disappeared entirely.
He wrapped his arms over Ari’s and leaned back into her.
“You know, if you wanted to go home, I would’ve gone with you,” she told him quietly. “I’d follow you anywhere.”
At those beautiful words, Jai turned slowly and gathered her close, his hand cupping the back of her head, holding her in place for a long kiss. When he finally drew back to allow them air, Jai brushed a thumb over her gorgeous lower lip and answered, “This is home. You’re home. I like it here and I know you do too. Michael is good people, Ari. We’ll be happier here than we could ever be there.”
She nodded and pressed her forehead against his chest. “How do you feel?”
It took him a moment to find the right words. Finally, he decided on just one. “Free.”
21
Haunting Me
The month of January was cold but quiet. Michael gave Ari, Trey, and Jai a break for a while—a vacation of sorts—and kept the workload light. It was weird, but everyone went about their business like nothing had happened, like they hadn’t just averted an apocalypse. Even Fallon.
Even the Jinn kings were quiet. Even freaking Asmodeus who, for all his threats of dire retribution, hadn’t made a squeak since. Red had been keeping an eye on him, trying to preempt any attack the lieutenant might decide to spring on Ari.
So far, nothing. In fact, no one seemed anxious about it, not even Jai, usually the worrier in the group.
Trey was definitely not worried.
Trey was too busy in happy La-La-Land to be worried about anything. Glass spent a lot of time at the house (another reason why no one was worried about Asmodeus attacking) and was even helping Trey organize a show he’d managed to snag at a gallery in Trenton.
Ari didn’t know why she felt out of sorts while everyone else appeared to be settling into their lives. She guessed it was weird not to have some big disaster looming that she had to somehow prevent. She was spending her “vacation” time training with Jai, hanging out with Fallon, and learning how to speak Arabic. Jai was teaching her. Suffice it to say that often those lessons ended in a heated argument, but Ari was getting used to that. She and Jai could be a little hotheaded around one another but the making-up part made it worth it.
Deciding to give Jai some space, she wandered to the mall so he could hang out with Trey at the gym. Ari hadn’t shopped for what felt like forever, and she found, now that she was back doing it, shopping was kind of dull.
She was about to give up when she saw Agent Provocateur. She grinned instantly, a naughty thought coming to mind that involved a very hot, green-eyed Ginnaye who happened to share her bed every night. Her interest in shopping suddenly renewed itself.
Ari wandered into the lingerie store and to search for something her boyfriend might approve of. She was musing over one particular item when her neck tingled and the familiar presence of a Jinn washed over her. Quickly glancing around the store, Ari searched its customers and staff for the source. It was none of them.
It wasn’t like Ari should be alarmed.
An entire Guild of half-blood Jinn Hunters lived in Burlington. However, she could sense levels of power, and the Jinn she was sensing was not a half-blood.
A full-blooded Jinn was in the mall, and she wasn’t sure she’d encountered him or her before.
Adrenaline surged at the thought of kicking some malevolent little genie’s ass. Forgetting the lingerie, she walked with purpose out of the store, glancing right and then turning left. Smack bang into a broad chest.
The tingling rushed over every inch of her skin as she stumbled back and gazed up at the Jinn.
The Jinn who was kind of familiar, actually.
Tall, dark-haired, cute in a boyish, innocent way. “Whoa.” He reached out to stop her from stumbling too far. “Sorry about that. You okay?”
Ari eyed him warily, trying to politely brush his hands off. “I’m fine.”
“I sensed you here.” He nodded his head to the lingerie store and his grin got a little less innocent and whole lot more wolfish. “Nice.”
Since he wasn’t pretending he wasn’t Jinn, Ari decided to dispense with any pleasantries. “Who are you? What do you want?”
He frowned at her questions, looking more than a little displeased. “You don’t remember me?”
The Jinn seemed genuinely hurt. Ari shrugged apologetically. “I’ve met a lot of new people lately. Sorry.”
That appeared to appease the guy somewhat. “I’m Beau,” he said, as if she should know who the hell he was.
“Um …”
Beau glowered now. “We met at Emmett Bradford High School a few months ago. In Midland. Connecticut.”
Just like that, Ari remembered. He was the cute guy who’d flirted with her as bad-boy Jai waited in the parking lot. Of course, that had been minutes before a bunch of crazy Jinn manipulated by The White King had come after her.
