But that couldn’t possibly be true.
Otherwise why did hers hurt so much?
~26~
This Vengeance of Mine
Despite the Marid’s assurance he had placed an enchantment around the room that acted as a sound barrier and would deter his mom from wanting to come into his bedroom, Charlie still couldn’t help glancing anxiously at his closed door. As if coming out of some two year dream, his mom had started paying attention to him again. It was weird. It had coincided with him finding out the truth about Mikey’s death. Like his relief, his release of the guilt that had been killing him had physically and mentally changed him… so much so it had affected his mom even – she was actually acting like she cared again. She’d also mentioned something about Ari. Ari had said something. He smirked at the thought. Beautiful Ari. Couldn’t keep her nose out of his business. Now his mom called him. A lot. Made it hard for him to hang out at Rickman’s — not that he wanted to do that so much, now that all of this weirdness had gone down with Ari.
Now that he had a chance at revenge.
When The Red King came back yesterday after Jai and Ari had left for Roswell, Charlie had been shocked to discover he ‘wanted to talk’. He told him he saw how much he was suffering, feeling useless while Ari and Jai worked their voodoo magic to take down the dick that had hurt Derek. He said he knew Charlie wanted to do the same thing to the person who had killed Mike. He said he could give Charlie what he needed. All he had to do was promise not to tell Ari that The Red King was the one who handed him the key to it all and to be there when The Red King called in the debt.
Charlie wasn’t stupid. He knew it would be like making a deal with the devil.
But he was offering him a chance to destroy the bitch that killed Mikey. That’s all he wanted. He knew that this would bring him peace. He’d spent too many nights fighting his own rage, hating himself for killing his brother. No one could know what real self-hatred did to a person unless they’d been through something similar. And to discover that he wasn’t to blame, that he had been paying attention to the road, that magic – Jinn – was responsible for taking Mikey, for destroying his family’s life, left him with a new kind of rage. He needed vengeance. He needed it like he needed oxygen.
The Marid The Red King had sent stared down at him from his great height, dressed in a dark, charcoal suit that really ruined the whole ‘genie’ image for Charlie. “Do you know what you would like to wish for?” The Marid growled and Charlie felt the hum of his dark, angry energy. This guy was not cool.
Remembering the epiphany that had come to him in his dream, Charlie had jolted out of bed that morning to grab the book Jai had given him about the Jinn. Some of the wording made him frown as he looked over what he wanted but… but surely this was the only way? Plus—- he grinned inwardly, feeling warm and sure at the thought of Ari — if he did this he’d be strong enough to protect her, maybe not strong enough as a certain guardian he’d like to punch, but strong enough to be what she needed. Finally, to be what she needed.
“Yes,” he replied, clearing his throat when it came out all husky and nervous. “I wish to be a Sorcerer.”
The Marid raised a thick dark eyebrow before he nodded slowly. “I grant you this wish, Charlie Creagh.”
~27~
Kiss of Darkness
Ari hovered outside her dad’s bedroom, glancing at the hall clock again. It was noon and he still hadn’t made an appearance. For the fiftieth time she raised a fist to the door, ready to knock, ready to face him. And then the nerves caught hold of her gut again like vicious little gremlins playing with her insides, and Ari fell back, taking deep breaths, trying to pull herself together.
Just as she was sure she was ready to knock for real this time, the doorbell rang downstairs. Hoping it was no one else but Charlie, Ari almost threw herself into his arms when she swung the door open to find him there. But the memory of the night before, of crying herself to sleep over someone else, stopped her short. Charlie grinned at her, striding into the house, an electric energy seeming to buzz around him. He placed a proprietary hand on her waist, his lip curling in that sexy, arrogant way of his. “Can we talk?”
Curious, Ari nodded. “Sure.”
She headed upstairs, hearing them creak behind her as he followed her. Suddenly she was conscious of the fact that her ass was in his face and she hurried up the steps, bemoaning how easily she blushed. It was just… Charlie had been acting so differently around her lately. She wasn’t sure what it meant and right now she wasn’t sure she could deal.
Wow. She never thought she’d ever doubt wanting to be with Charlie.
Feeling inexplicably guilty again, Ari let him into her room and shut the door quietly behind them.
“Have you spoken to your dad yet?”
She shook her head, staring at him as he stood before her, his eyes warm, his hair all mussed up as usual. He stood with his hands stuck lazily in his pockets. He looked casual, relaxed.
Happy?
“He’ll come around.”
“Yeah.” Ari wasn’t so sure. “So… what did you want to talk about?”
He sobered, taking a step towards her. “First, I want to apologize.”
“Apologize?” For what? What did he do?
“Yeah. Apologize. For all the times in the last two years I turned my back on you. I was messed up and I didn’t want to drag you down. I didn’t think I was good enough for you.” He took another few steps until he was standing inches from her, the lemon detergent his mother used on his clothes tickled her senses, reminding her of those two lonely years. “I’m sorry, Ari,” he whispered, leaning in and making her heart pound. “For hiding from someone so special and taking you for granted. And on that note… the second thing I wanted to talk about…” When his lips came down on hers and his strong arms pulled her close, Ari froze. Probably assuming it was surprise, Charlie grasped the back of her neck, his fingers threading through her hair. The soft pressure of his lips began to unwind her and Ari found herself holding on to him, kissing him back. Thoughts of Jai pushed in on her, screaming at her that she was acting unfairly. But Jai doesn’t want me, she argued. And Charlie does. And I love Charlie. I do. Sighing into his mouth, Ari let her lips fall open and Charlie took the invitation, his tongue teasing hers in a wet, deep kiss that flushed her cheeks rosy red.
So she didn’t feel the overwhelming, unbearable, nerve shattering heat she felt with Jai.
But this was good.
This could be so good.
This was Charlie.
Kissing him back harder, Ari almost smiled when he groaned, the vibration shooting through her body. He gripped her closer, her shirt straining against her chest as he scrunched the back of it in his fists, aiming to press as much of his body against hers.
“Ari,” he moaned, pulling back to look at her, his eyes bright with desire. He just took a moment — almost as if he couldn’t be away from her lips any longer — but that moment was all Ari needed to be reminded that his eyes were brown.
Not green.
And as awareness of what she was agreeing to came down on her like a ton of concrete, so did her awareness of everything else. She felt the hum of energy above Charlie’s skin, the hum that she’d attributed to lust.
But it wasn’t lust.
It was familiar.
It was…
NO!
She pulled back from Charlie, her mouth falling open in disbelief, her hands shaking as they slid across his chest feeling the power pulsate from him. “What did you do?” she croaked, horror filling her mind.
His wide eyes grew less panicked as he realized she had sensed it on him. He grinned, tugging at her arms and folding her hands in his. “I made a wish, Ari.”
“What?” NO! NO! NO! This isn’t happening!
“I’m a Sorcerer now. I had to Ari.” He pulled on her hands as she tried to tug out of his hold. “I have to get that bitch that killed Mikey and this was the only way to do it.”
“No!” she cried, disbelieving he had done this to himself. “Didn’t you read that stuff about them, Charlie? This isn’t a way to get revenge for Mike. This is a way to destroy yourself!”
The screaming in her head only grew louder as her heart pounded in panic. There had to be away to fix this. There had to be? How did this happen? How did he make this happen?
About to voice the question, Ari jerked back from him as flames erupted at the bottom of her bed, and Jai dove out of the Peripatos with a look of pure fury on his face. He lunged at Charlie and Ari moved fast, putting herself between the two of them.
“What the hell did he do to you?” he yelled, completely disregarding the fact that her dad was down the hall.
Terrified by the look on Jai’s face, Ari held him back with a forceful hand pressed against his chest. She felt his own heart pounding beneath her palm and was surprised by his reaction. It occurred to her when she was recoiling in horror at Charlie’s admission she may have telepathed that horror to the one person who made her feel safe. Stupid. Stupid. Shaking her head at herself, Ari slapped her other hand against Charlie’s chest. “He made a wish.”
Jai looked momentarily stunned, his rage deflating at the revelation. “A wish?”
“To be a Sorcerer,” she added pointedly.
Rearing back at that, Jai eyed Charlie over her shoulder, his vivid gaze focusing on him, searching. When he found what Ari had, he shook his head in disgust. “You are such a dick.”
Epilogue
Moving the Players into Position
“So the rumors were true, brother?” The Gilder King asked from his place beside The Lucky King. Like The Red King and his brother of The Glass, those two were on truly friendly terms, and truly comfortable with one another because they were the only two brothers neutral in The War of the Flames.
The Red King lounged before them on his leather chaise longue, the huge fire behind him having no effect on the room’s occupants other than to add a shadowy, secretive ambience he thought fitting for the occasion. Rarely did the Jinn Kings meet with one another these days, and never all at once. But before him was a nice gathering of his brothers.
Everyone but The White King. The White King who was mad. Delusional enough to believe he could possibly be Sultan. No one had Azazil’s power. No one. And only one had the ability to manipulate Azazil. A girl… an innocent…
They all stood around his living room with its dark red painted walls and gilt-laden furniture. His taste differed from most Jinn. He liked texture and color and luxury. The cold decorative tastes of the general masses seemed in complete opposition to their fiery natures and he refused to bow to convention.
“Yeah. The White King stole the Seal and now it’s a girl. His daughter.”
The Gleaming King cursed viciously. “Why would he not tell me of this?”
The Red King grinned. Yeah, that had to sting. The Gleaming King and The Shadow King were allied with The White King. They shared bitter looks, making no effort to hide the fact that they were surprised the king they backed in the war hadn’t seen fit to confide something so important to them. He hoped it effed up that sick little “Triple Alliance”. “I guess he was playing this one close to the chest, boys. But it’s true. With the Seal of Solomon alive and kicking and literally up for grabs, the war has become a whole new ballgame.”