He rolled his eyes. “Stop playing, Mikey.”
“I’m not playing!” he shouted, sounding scared. “Dude, I know her.”
“We need to hurry this up,” Trey sighed and with a crackle of energy Ari now found familiar, Trey held up his hands and let the ember dance out of his fingertips.
The Creaghs stepped back, amazement on their faces.
“What. The. Eff,” Mikey murmured, eyes huge.
“We are Jinn,” Trey informed them solemnly. “What Ari told you is the truth, and now one of the most powerful Jinn in history is after Charlie. We don’t have time to make you believe us. We need to go. We need to—”
Fire exploded around the room. Ari and Trey immediately put themselves between the attackers and the Creaghs.
“Stay back!” Ari shouted at them.
She set her shoulders in determination as the two Marids came at them.
15
Who We Used to Be
“That cut on your forehead should be healing quicker than it is,” Trey murmured in concern, his fingers gently brushing the skin around it.
Ari gave him a weak shrug. “It’s because I’m absolutely exhausted.” First she’d killed an Utukku, then she’d fought with Lilif, and then she’d fought with Marids, and then she’d expelled what tiny amount of magical energy she had left transferring everyone through the Peripatos one at a time. Exhausted didn’t cover it.
Her friend did not look pleased.
His eyes shifted over her anxiously, stopping at her arms. His lips pinched together for a moment before he said, “Those scratches should be gone too.”
“Again, so sorry,” Mrs. Creagh murmured from behind them.
They turned to look at the Creaghs.
Mrs. Creagh and Mikey sat close on the large leather sofa in the spacious townhouse. Charlie sat on the couch’s arm. Trey and Ari had had a difficult fight with the stubborn Marids. They’d tried to finish the ordeal with as little bloodshed as possible. Still, with magic firing around the Creaghs’ living room, Mrs. Creagh and Mikey had huddled behind Charlie who guarded them with a look of horror on his face. The Creaghs’ astonishment was understandable. They’d just witnessed the otherworldly power of Ari and Trey explode in a glittering display of the cool black dust curse.
“Believe me now?” Ari had asked, ignoring the bead of sweat rolling down her face and the multiple stitches in her ribs from dodging magical blows.
All three of them had nodded in mute shock.
Getting them to agree to go through the Peripatos hadn’t been easy. Mrs. Creagh, protecting her sons, had gone first, clawing Ari’s arms in terror.
Charlie got up slowly and wandered to the huge bay window at the front of the house. He stared out onto the quiet street. Neighboring houses of varying sizes looked pretty old, some even gothic. Quaint, but elegant. “I can’t believe we’re in Scotland.” He glanced back at Ari. “Want to run everything by me one more time?”
“I think maybe Ari should sleep.”
Trey shook his head.
“No,” Ari replied. “They need to know what’s happening. I’ve been where they are and it is not fun.” She hobbled to an armchair and Trey, realizing she wasn’t going to listen to his advice, sat down on the one opposite. Charlie crossed the room to sit with his family and listen as Ari reiterated the tale, this time giving them even more information than she had before.
When she was done, Charlie looked at his mother and brother. “I don’t remember any of this.”
Mikey shrugged. “I don’t remember, either. I just know when I look at Ari, I get this weird sense of déjà vu.” He jerked his head around to her, his eyes wide. “I was really dead?”
Mrs. Creagh grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight.
Ari felt the tears prick her eyes but she held them back, nodding solemnly to Mikey.
“And I went crazy because of it?”
Charlie asked softly.
“You blamed yourself at first
because you were driving, but when you found out it was a Jinn, you wanted revenge.”
“So I became a sorcerer?” His cheeks paled. “Did I just say that? I sound like a fucking mental case.”
“Charlie,” Mrs. Creagh drew in her breath. “Show me some respect, please.”
“I think if ever there was a time when I could get away with cursing, it’s now, Mother. I just found out in another reality I destroyed lives to get vengeance for the death of my little brother.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I like you a lot more now.” Mikey grinned. Charlie rolled his eyes.
“None of that matters now, as long as past mistakes aren’t repeated,” Ari warned. “What matters at the moment is you’re a target and we’re trying to protect you. The Guild I told you about, the Roes, they’ll be here soon to take over your protection. Once they’re here, I can head to Mount Qaf and see about ending this so you can go back to your lives.”
“Go back to our lives?” Mrs. Creagh scoffed. “How do we go back to our lives knowing that all this exists?”
Ari shrugged. “You just do. Not a great answer, I know, but an honest one.”
“And now it’s time for Ari to sleep.” Trey waved a hand at the door indicating the staircase that would lead her to a bedroom.
Deciding he was definitely right, Ari nodded and limped her way to a bed. She instantly passed out.
***
After sleeping for a couple of hours, Ari woke to discover the scratches on her arms and the cut on her forehead healed. Feeling more energized, she wandered through the drafty old townhouse, listening for voices. It was getting dark outside so she wasn’t sure if the others had gone to bed. As she took the stairs, she heard Mrs. Creagh and Mikey talking in the sitting room. She gave them a wave as she passed and headed into the kitchen to look for provisions. There was nothing.
Hmm. She wondered if Trey had fed the Creaghs. With a sigh, she imagined some of the food she knew was in their house back in Burlington and with a crackle in the air, it appeared on the large oak kitchen table.
“Wow. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.”
Charlie’s voice brought her head up. He stood in the doorway wearing a hoodie she recognized as Trey’s. He’d obviously conjured it from their house and given it to a cold Charlie. It was winter in Scotland, after all, and it was freaking freezing. Ari decided to check out the heating issue after she’d eaten. She waved at the food. “Hungry?”
He shook his head and took a step toward her. “Trey already fed us.”
“Good.” She smiled, feeling more than a little uncomfortable around this Charlie, and she slipped into a seat.
“Do you mind if I eat?”
“Not at all.” He took the seat opposite her, obviously not as uncomfortable as she was.
She bit into a granola bar and popped open a soda, feeling his dark, warm eyes on her. She glanced up at him from under her lashes and froze at the small smile on his lips. Ari swallowed some chewy fruit and nut. “What?”
“A few hours ago I watched you and your friend decimate two big guys, and then I was pulled through this really fast wind tunnel from my home in Ohio to Scotland. And now you’re sitting at a table, eating a granola bar like you’re a normal person.”
Ari snorted. “I am a normal person.”
“You’re the daughter of a Jinn king.
You’re a girl from a Disney movie.”
Ari laughed. “Okay, I was a normal person.”
Charlie smiled and continued to watch her eat. Ari had just picked up a bag of chips when he asked, “What was I like? Before? Or in the other … man, this is too weird.” He sat back, running a hand through his hair.
She sighed heavily and dropped the chips. “This is quite possibly the weirdest situation that anyone will ever be in, ever, so if you’re having difficulty computing it after only finding out about it, oh, six hours ago, that’s okay. No one is expecting you to just get it. In fact, I’m pretty impressed by how ca
lm you’ve all been.”
“We were provided irrefutable evidence that this is real. We either accept it or ignore it. I’m not a fan of ignoring it.”
Ari cocked her head with a soft smile. “You sound like the old Charlie. You are, I guess.”
“Was I so different after Mikey …?”
Ari leaned toward him. “Charlie, whatever happens, don’t become a part of this world. It’s not meant for humans.
It destroyed you. Watching it destroy you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
He shook his head slowly, his eyes fixed on hers. “You look at me with such affection and familiarity. It should freak me out but … I think I like it. You must have really cared about me to do something so huge with such massive consequences, to save me and my family.”
“You were my oldest and best friend. I would have died for you. I still would.”
“You’re amazing,” he breathed, his expression turning warm. “I can totally see us becoming best friends again.”
Ari chuckled, trying not to blush at the way he looked at her.
“This is going to sound like a total pickup line, but you have the most extraordinary eyes I’ve ever seen. I bet you get that a lot.”
“They’re weird eyes,” Ari shrugged.
“People notice.”
“Not weird. Beautiful. You are beautiful.”
“Glad you got that out of your system now,” Trey wandered into the kitchen, shooting Charlie a droll look. “I wouldn’t repeat it unless you want her boyfriend to turn you into some kid’s Buzz Lightyear figurine.”
Ari’s skin burned, not only from Charlie’s very smooth come-on but also from Trey overhearing it. It grew even hotter when Charlie shot her a disappointed look. “Boyfriend?”
She nodded. “Jai.”
Charlie frowned. “So you and I never … I could’ve sworn there was something … we never … ever?”
And in that moment, Ari quickly decided it was for the best if she lied. It would make it easier for everyone, especially Fallon, if new Charlie didn’t get any ideas in his head about his old relationship with a girl he found attractive. She shot Trey a quelling look before turning back to Charlie. “No, we were always just friends. Remember I told you that you dated Fallon, one of the Roes.”
He nodded, but his expression was a little tense. “The Guild Hunter I inadvertently had killed. Is she … mad about that?”
Ari shook her head. “No. She was there because she cared about you. She doesn’t blame you.”
“So this Fallon chick … she’s cool?”
“Very.”
Charlie looked up at Trey. “She hot?”
Trey grinned. “Very.”
“I could work with that.”
Ari glared at him. New Charlie was like old Charlie—charming and irreverent. That wasn’t going to cut it in this situation. Things were far too delicate. “Here’s a heads-up … in our reality, Fallon cared a great deal for you and she was murdered in her attempt to help you. Because she’s Jinn, she remembers that reality and was more than a little cut up to hear you don’t remember her anymore. Tread very carefully with her, please. I don’t want her hurt more than she already is.”
He held up a placating hand. “I’m sorry. I’m just … still computing. But I’ll tread carefully.”
The sound of a key turning in the front door shot them all to their feet. Trey and Ari took the lead, hurrying into the hallway as one of the large double doors blew open. In stepped a travel-weary Michael, followed by Caroline, Gerard, Megan, Fallon, and Jai trailing at the back.
Fallon’s eyes immediately sought the space behind Ari, and as they locked onto Charlie, they widened, so many emotions flickering through them, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly what she was feeling. Ari would just go with … a lot.
She smiled reassuringly at Fallon and was just about to shoot Jai a welcome grin when her shoulders hunched up at the appreciative murmur behind her, “Tell me that’s her. If so alternate Charlie had good taste.”
16
You’ll Take a Piece of Me with You
“I’m Fallon.”
Ari watched, impressed, as Fallon held a hand out to Charlie. Although her eyes were burning with curiosity and questions, her fingers didn’t tremble once. She was steady as a rock. She had always been impressively self-possessed, but Ari still noted that subdued quality to her that hadn’t existed before. She wasn’t sure if she liked it.
The group introduced themselves to the Creaghs, Jai clapped Trey on the back in greeting, and then hugged Ari close. They moved into the sitting room and now everyone’s attention was on this weird reunion of sorts.
Charlie’s eyes glittered with a surprising amount of good humor and interest as he reached to shake Fallon’s hand. As they held onto one another, Fallon took another step closer to him and narrowed her eyes. After at least half of minute of intense scrutiny, she whispered regretfully, “You’re not him.”
Charlie frowned and shot Ari a quizzical look. She sighed, squeezing Jai’s hand in hers. Of course Fallon would be freaked out by this Charlie. She, unlike Ari, had never known this Charlie. This was the Charlie Ari had loved. Brooding, vengeful, intense Charlie was the young man Fallon had loved. He was nowhere in sight.
Fallon’s expression fell and she quickly stepped back against her mom. Caroline wrapped her arms loosely around her in comfort and protection.
As if he knew he’d somehow disappointed her, Charlie ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
“No tattoo,” Fallon muttered, her eyes still on him.
At that, Charlie raised an eyebrow and curled his lip. “I had a tattoo? I hate tattoos.”
“You had the word ‘justice’ written in Arabic around your wrist,” Ari explained.
Charlie made a face. “I sound pretty tortured.”
“Yeah, you do. Dude, you love me a lot,” Mikey teased. Ari couldn’t help but giggle. It reminded her of old times.
Throwing his brother an unamused look, Charlie retorted, “I was obviously bored without your incessant pain-in-the-assery in my life.”
“Pain in the assery?” Mikey nodded.
“I like that. I’m using that.”
“You can’t use that. If I impart any wisdom in this life, it’s ‘be original.’”
“Well, considering your history, I would’ve gone with ‘stay away from suppressants and sorcerers.’”
Ari sucked in her breath as everyone stiffened at the crack.
Mikey raised an eyebrow. “What? Too soon?”
Lips twitching, Charlie turned back to Ari. “You sure I went on a rampage because of this guy?”
Ari burst out laughing, all the fear and anxiety melting away for just a second. Everyone stared at her like she was nuts. Charlie asked, a small smile playing on his lips, “What? What is it?”
Her eyes flickered between Mikey and him and she shook her head, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Everything was worth it. To hear you two bickering again.” She turned to Jai and squeezed his hand. “It was so worth it. Does that make me an awful person?”
Jai shook his head, his expression serious. “Never.” He tugged on her hand and spoke to the others as he led her out of the living room. “Ari and I are just taking a minute.”
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 mout
h. “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.