Scorched Skies (8 page)

“No. It
will
.”

Charlie frowned. Could Jai really find it dishonorable of him to want to avenge his little brother
’
s murder? Unsure of Jai
’
s opinion of him and unsure of how to reply, Charlie froze. Words hadn
’
t even formed in Charlie
’
s mind yet when flames crackled in the air and The Red King stepped out of the
Peripatos
. Was it weird that Charlie didn
’
t even blink at that now?

“Ari is going to be OK,” he told them, his usual relaxed demeanor gone and replaced by something tense and wary. “She should wake up soon.” He looked at Jai. “Did you do what I asked?”

“Ari should get a call very soon.”

Charlie frowned, feeling very much out of the loop. “About what?”

“Derek
’
s body.”

Oh right. Jai had told him he
’
d left him in his car where he
’
d be found at the side of the woods. The coroner would declare the death as caused by an aneurism. Charlie felt a little sick. Derek
’
s death was being treated as something that needed to be tidied up nice and easy for Ari to deal with. It somehow dehumanized the man they were talking about.

“Who knows how Ari will react to this.  We have to make sure she doesn
’
t do anything foolish.” The Red King had a determined blaze in his eyes that Charlie wouldn
’
t want to mess with.

Anger churned in his gut as he looked Ari
’
s uncle over and was reminded of his brother, Ari
’
s father. “It was definitely The White King then?”

The Red King nodded. “He
’
s trying to bait Ari into doing something that will land her trapped in Mount Qaf. He plans for her to take revenge against the Jinn who did this, possibly even attempt revenge against him. And if she does that she
’
ll be forced to Mount Qaf to face trial and my brother will use that opportunity to try to get what he wants from her.”

“So what now?” Jai asked quietly.

“Now I wait around for her to wake up,” The Red King said. “I
’
ll explain why an attempt to kill The White King is a bad thing. I just hope that this time the Seal is in the hands of someone who cares nothing for power and will not misuse it.”

“It is,” Charlie assured him finding his own voice twinned with Jai
’
s as they replied in unison. They glanced at one another, their eyes narrowing warily like two opponents stepping into the ring.

~5~

War Shivers in the Darkness… Waiting

“I wish I was a better father. I wish I was a better man. I wish I loved you the way that you deserve to be loved. I
’
ve been angry for years, Ari. And it wasn
’
t until I discovered the truth about you and Sala that I realized how angry I am at your mother.”

Dad, no.

Smoke rose all around him as he stared at her with anguished eyes.

The smell of burning flesh clogged her throat, hitting her gag reflex.

“I really do love you, kid. I guess I just never loved you enough.”

No! His face flickered beneath the flames but he didn
’
t cry out in pain. She did that for him.

He smiled a bittersweet smile even as the fire tore through him.

“I will never regret keeping you safe, even if I didn
’
t know that
’
s what I was doing.”

DAD, NO!

Her eyes slammed open and then immediately shut themselves again at the bright glare of light in her bedroom. Taking a deep breath, sensing the presence of Jinn in her room, Ari fought her way through the nightmare to reality. What was she doing in bed? What had happened?

She had been in Vickers
’
Woods with her dad.

Where was her dad?

“Dad?” she pried her eyes open and felt her heart rate speed up at the sight of her uncle, The Red King, at the foot of her bed. He didn
’
t give her his usual laid-back smile. Instead he stared at her stonily in the relentless silence.

Finally Ari let go of the breath she didn
’
t even know she
’
d been holding and she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She was still in the clothes she
’
d been wearing when she
’
d chased her dad out to Vickers
’
Woods but the sky was darkening outside so some hours had passed since then. “What
’
s going on?”

“Derek is dead.”

The words didn
’
t register at first. Ari blinked, her brain automatically trying to rearrange the sentence so it made sense. “What?” her lips felt numb all of sudden.

“Derek is dead. He was killed.”

Derek is dead.

Ari shook her head, fumbling to push herself off the bed. She stumbled to her feet and shoved strength into her legs. She charged past her uncle and out of her room, racing down the hallway to her dad
’
s bedroom. She pushed open the door and found it empty. That didn
’
t mean anything. He was probably downstairs. Shaking now, Ari spun around to leave only to find the entrance blocked by The Red King.

“He
’
s gone, Ari.”

“No.” She shook her head, anger making her eyes glitter with unshed tears. “You
’
re lying.”

Her uncle shook his head sadly. “The White King sent two Shaitans after you. One knocked you out in the woods and the other gave Derek a brain aneurism.”

It was blunt. Harsh. It didn
’
t make sense.
Dad?
The things he
’
d said. Blunt. Something had hit her. It hurt. She
’
d switched off.
DAD!
  “I want to see him,” her voice shook. “I want to see him.”

“We put him back in his car. Someone will find him and the coroner will declare it natural causes. It
’
ll be easier that way.”

Natural causes?

Derek is dead.

The room spun and Ari fought to draw in oxygen. Everything. It had been for nothing. She hadn
’
t saved him. Who had she been kidding?
Derek is dead.

“I really do love you, kid. I guess I just never loved you enough.”

“The White King?” she whispered hoarsely, hitting the floor with a painful thud when she miscalculated the space between her and the bed. She was vaguely aware of The Red King
’
s strong hands wrapping around her upper arms as he lifted her easily, like plucking a daisy from the grass. He sat her down on the bed and took two careful steps backwards. Ari found herself focusing on those very blue eyes of his. “The White King?” Her father had done this? Deliberately?

Dad.

The pain exploded out of her in soul wrenching fury as she screamed, the wail turning to body jarring sobs. She couldn
’
t feel her limbs. Everything was gone except for the agony in her heart and burning fire in her throat. There were distant sounds all around her. Hurried footsteps growing louder. Familiar male voices calling out in anxiety. And in among it all The Red King
’
s voice was there, authoritative, flat, in control. After a long while her cries began to slow, to ease, to quiet, and she became aware of the soft fabric against her wet cheeks. Ari blinked, the world returning to her in painful gulps. She was lying on her dad
’
s bed. It was dark outside now. Her swollen eyes looked over, following the Jinn presence she felt in the room. The Red King sat beside her on the bed, watching her. They were alone. Ari could have sworn Jai and Charlie had been in the room.

“Why?” she croaked, another tear slipping down her cheek.

Her dad was gone. Why?

The Red King reached over, brushing her hair from her face in a fatherly gesture that added another crack to her already broken heart. “My brother
’
s plan was twofold. One, killing Derek was revenge for you outwitting him and two, if you seek vengeance for what he
’
s done, if you kill the Jinn who did this, you will be forced to Mount Qaf to be tried in court. Once The White King has you in Mount Qaf he
’
d use that opportunity to manipulate you to his will.”

Ari let that settle on her for a moment.

A moment was all it took for a small ember to flare into a rage. She sat bolt up, her body suddenly firing with energy. “I
’
m not going to kill the Shaitan that did this. I
’
m going to use my power against The White King. I
’
ll stop him. I can command him to stop this.” Ari was surprised but gratified to realize that the threat did not sound stupid or empty. It was real. After all, she was the Seal of Solomon.

The Red King
’
s eyes darkened. “No.”

“No.” She glared at him. “What do you mean no? I thought you were on my side.”

“I am. And if you command one of the Seven Kings of Jinn to your side, Azazil will see that as a threat and it won
’
t matter what side I
’
m on, I won
’
t be able to stop my father from doing all he can to destroy you.”

“Then I
’
ll command Azazil to back off.”

The Red King threw her a condescending look. “In that book that Jai gave you… did it not tell you the full of extent of Azazil
’
s importance?”

“What do you mean?” she asked warily.

“Azazil is the father of our kind, the first. The balance of order is contingent upon his existence; life, destiny, chaos, destruction are all bound to him. Even I, his son, do not know the depths of Azazil. All I know is that he is connected to all the realms in ways you cannot begin to imagine. He is known in many worlds, and in many cultures, and he has many names. The power of the Seal may be great enough to command him to his knees but nothing is powerful enough to deal with the consequences if a being connected to the balance of life itself falls in supplication to a teenage girl bent on revenge.”