Worried that Jai’s sudden need for privacy meant something else had happened, Ari’s heart raced as she hurried up the stairs after him. She followed him into one of the smaller back bedrooms and watched with trepidation as he carefully closed the door behind them. He turned to her with a determined expression on his face. “What’s goi—”
The question was swallowed in his kiss as he pulled her into his arms and crushed her mouth under his, his hands tangling in her hair.
Her surprise quickly burned away with his heat, and she wrapped her arms around him, melting into the desperate, intoxicating kiss. When he finally let her up for air, he gazed into her face with hooded eyes, brushing his thumb tenderly over her swollen mouth. “I just really needed to do that.”
Oh.
A slow, delighted smile spread across her face and his beautiful eyes brightened at the sight of it. “Well, you know any time you get that urge, just go for it. I’m willing to accommodate.”
He grinned. “Good to know.”
She rested her head against his chest and sighed, enjoying this moment of peace since it was only going to last for another few minutes.
Feeling Jai’s fingers brush through her hair melted her even more, and she longed for the day when this was the kind of moment that wasn’t stolen.
“Did you get any sleep?” he asked quietly.
She nodded. “Trey made me.”
“I knew I was friends with him for a reason.”
She smiled and reached up to press a kiss to his throat. “I have to go.”
Jai’s arms tightened. “I want to come with you.”
“You know I need you here protecting them.”
“And who’s going to protect you?”
Tilting her head back to meet his eyes, Ari gave him a cocky smile. “I don’t know if you know this, but I’m pretty kick-ass now.”
He nodded casually. “There’s a rumor to that effect floating around the Jinn world.” He smiled a little but Ari could still see the concern—maybe even fear—hiding in the back of his eyes.
She smoothed her hands down his chest in a comforting gesture. “I promise you that I am going to get out of this alive. I promise.”
“You have to.” The desperate emotion in his eyes gripped her heart. “I need you to for the both of us. If …if something happens to you, if I have to live my life without you, I’m afraid of what will happen to me. I’m afraid I’ll get bitter and angry like my dad. Or worse … destroy everything that touches me like Charlie did.”
The air was sucked out of her at his declaration, and her fingers unconsciously curled into his shirt. The immensity of the responsibility he was putting on her shoulders might have made a lesser person panic. Or at least a person who didn’t love him back just as much. Instead she cradled what he’d said in her chest next to her pounding heart and offered it protection with fierce determination.
“I’m coming back.” She tugged him closer, their faces almost touching. “I’m coming back to you. I will always come back to you.”
***
After their private and very epic goodbye, Ari let the Roes and the Creaghs know she was preparing to leave for Mount Qaf. Rather than cracking an inappropriate joke like she would have done before, Fallon gravely hugged Ari and wished her luck. After more hugging, Ari took Jai’s hand to combine their energy. She needed to telepath to Red in Mount Qaf and that could take it out of a person. Ari needed to keep all of her strength for whatever was coming next.
Red, I need you to bring me to Mount Qaf! she shouted, hoping he could hear her.
Ari, I can’t leave here unless it’s extremely important, he answered impatiently.
I know how to take down Lilif.
In an instant, fire exploded in the room and Mrs. Creagh yelled out, her two boys cursing. The Red King stepped out of the Peripatos and eyed Charlie who looked at Red like he was a god among men.
In a way, Ari guessed he was.
“You’ve found him. Good.” Red turned back to Ari. “I think I know what you’re planning and I don’t know if I like it.”
“I know I don’t,” Jai murmured.
“Red,” Ari sighed heavily. “You know this is the only way.”
He held out his hand. “Let’s go.”
With one last glance around the room and one last long look into Jai’s eyes, Ari took her uncle’s hand and let him whip her through the unbelievable roller coaster ride to Mount Qaf.
Thankfully, Ari had become used to the sensation of traveling the Peripatos, so much so that even the more exhilarating ride to another realm didn’t affect her like it used to. She stepped out with grace and attempted to keep her face expressionless, even though she’d never before been hit by a more powerful wave of magic.
Sitting in a large, thronelike chair by the fireplace in an elaborate parlor, Azazil alone emanated enough power to make a human stumble back. Sitting in a room with his six sons—Red, Glass, Lucky, Gilder, Shadow, and Gleaming—and with Asmodeus standing by his side, the feeling was almost crushing on her chest. It took her a moment to get used to the thickened air. She checked out the two Jinn kings she’d never met.
From the description Charlie had given her from his very limited time spent in the Gilder King’s presence, Ari knew the tallest of the kings with the long golden hair was Gilder. His energy, in particular, pulsated with power. Ari was fascinated by his hair—each strand looked like real spun gold. He eyed her dispassionately and she felt a shiver ripple down her spine. Charlie had also told her Gilder thought she should have been eliminated in order to save all of the fuss. She was guessing after everything that happened in the last few days, his opinion had not wavered.
The other king who drew her gaze was the Lucky King. Despite the optimism of his name, the balding, handsome, and very young-looking king wore an expression so dour, Ari almost flinched when he lifted his wounded eyes to her.
What a depressed-looking soul he was.
“Ari, aren’t you brave,” Azazil murmured, bestowing a saccharine smile upon her. “My sons aren’t particularly happy they’re holed up in my palace in hiding from their mother. It goes against their natures to hide, you see, and they just so happen to blame this entire fiasco on you.”
Ari gulped and quickly glanced at them all, her eyes flicking away from Asmodeus’s dark expression. “You were the one who said yes.”
There was a moment of silence and then Azazil threw his head back in laughter, his white silky hair shimmering around his shoulders. His eyes glittered as they came back to her face. “Oh, I am glad you’ve developed some bite since the first time we met.”