jinn 01 - ember

by Schulte, Liz

  He sobered far too fast. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?” I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tight. Why couldn’t Hell just leave us alone? He had come so far in the past year from where he had been.

  He narrowed his eyes. “Like you think I am broken.”

  I touched his cheek. “I don’t think you’re broken. There is nothing wrong with you that a little sanding can’t fix.”

  He tilted my chin up with his thumb and raised a dark eyebrow. I kissed him instead of answering. Holden hated sympathy and would reject it. It was the fastest way to get him to shut down the crack in his emotional armor.

  He broke the kiss. “Have you contacted your mother yet?”

  I shook my head.

  “We’ll get her tonight.” It was sweet how close Holden had become with my mother over the years. Though they were an unlikely pair, they had bonded over the time they’d thought I was dead, and it was still strong. She took his side in arguments all the time. So much for nepotism.

  I nodded. “Are you sure about this? What if this isn’t an attack from Hell? What if it is someone else? We might be exposing her for no reason.”

  “We are going to treat it like it is. If I’m wrong, then we’ll call it a trial run.”

  “I don’t think we should bring mom here. The farther away from us, the safer she will be.”

  He considered it. “It’s easier to keep an eye on her here, and we really don’t have anyone to send with her this time.” Last time Mom was sent away, Baker went with her.

  “I could get a guardian to go.”

  “They aren’t much good in a fight.”

  “No, but they could warn me if something showed up.”

  He nodded slowly. “If that is what you think is best.”

  “I do. What about your niece?”

  Our first Christmas together, Baker and I researched Holden’s family, trying to find a picture of his brother for him. Baker found the picture, but he also found a lot more. Holden had flesh and blood, living family. To my knowledge, he still hadn’t seen her, but if Baker could find her, so could someone else.

  “She’s not easily connected back to me.” he finally said. “As far as I can tell, no one has any idea that she exists.”

  “So leave her where she is?”

  “Yes.”

  “I could ask Quintus—”

  Holden rolled his eyes. “Absolutely not. Send him away with your mom.”

  “He can assign someone to watch Maggie too. Your call. A guardian lurking around a human wouldn’t draw attention.”

  “I really don’t want to owe him any favors.”

  I laughed. “Quintus doesn’t think like that.”

  He curled his lip, looking thoroughly disgusted. “Fine, but not a word about who she is.”

  “My lips are sealed.” I made a silent prayer to Quintus and he showed up almost immediately, the brightness of his light making Holden squint.

  “I knew you’d need me for something,” he said with a dimpled grin. “Holden.” He held out his hand.

  Holden shook it. Though neither of them would be willing to admit it, I believed they’d found a mutual respect for one another. At the very least, they were more civil to each other.

  “What can I do to help?” Quintus asked. He really was a sweet, good man.

  “I need someone to watch over my mom until this is over. Someone I know and trust.”

  “Harrison?”

  “Perfect.” He was the biggest, burliest teddy bear of a guardian I knew. Guardians may be pacifists, but just looking at him would give less committed enemies pause. “And we have a human we would like someone to keep an eye on, if you don’t mind,” I said. “Who is available right now?”

  He frowned. “There’s a human involved in this?”

  “Not really involved, but I think she could be in danger. Probably not, but it would make me feel better to know someone is watching her.”

  He nodded. “I’ll do it myself.”

  Holden pointed at him. “And you’ll do it unseen.”

  “Of course.”

  He nodded, his arms crossed over his chest in a way that made his muscles bulge. “Nothing supernatural should come within a thousand yards of her.”

  “Okay. Who is she?”

  “Why do you need to know that?” Holden glowered at him.

  “So I can find her,” Quintus said through clenched teeth.

  I held back a laugh. This had to be hard on Holden. He hadn’t even seen her and now he had to trust Quintus, which couldn’t have been an easy thing. “Her name is Maggie Edwards.” I gave him the address and once again he was engulfed in a ball of light.

  Holden continued to glare at the spot Quintus had been.

  “I really think you should meet her.”

  The muscle behind his jaw ticked. “It’s not a good idea. Neither is sending him. Call him back.”

  I placed a hand on Holden’s chest and made him look at me. “Quintus will take care of her. That’s his job and he’s very good at it.”

  “Not that good. You saw him.”

  I laughed. “I’m also an angel.” Holden didn’t look convinced. “I will tell him not to follow her if it makes you feel better.”

  He nodded without considering it. I couldn’t get a grasp on Holden’s feelings about Maggie. I thought he would want the living connection, but so far he had yet to treat it with anything but suspicion.

  “YOU REALLY DON’T need to tag along, kitten.”

  “I’m going to let that one slide since you nearly died, asswipe. Call me kitten again and I will stab you with a pen.”

  Nearly died? Applesauce! I grinned though my face was still sore from the beating. I couldn’t exactly tell the Sekhmet to scram, but that was exactly what I needed her to do. “I’m headed to a real ragamuffin joint. You don’t want any part of the lowlifes in there. Why don’t you skedaddle along, baby.”

  Those cat eyes glinted and her stems that seemed to go on forever moved a little faster. “Shady hole-in-the-wall, why that’s my specialty,” she purred. “I could always blow off a little steam. Supernaturals or humans?”

  This chick was the cat’s meow. It was a damn shame we weren’t an item. It would have saved me a heap of trouble, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I had another Jane I needed to see, so I had to ditch Femi. “Humans.”

  Her face fell. It was dicey whether or not humans could perceive her. Some could, some couldn’t. It depended on how sensitive they were, but it made the appeal of coming with me a lot less tempting, which was exactly what I needed.

  “However, if you wanted to knock a few heads together”—I could almost see her ears perk up—“there’s a jinn establishment just down the way.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you talking to humans?”

  “If demons are looking to make a move up here, they’re gonna need vessels.” I held my breath to see if she would buy the load of malarkey I’d laid at her feet.

  “I guess… And this bar is where they’ll find them? How can you know that?”

  “These cats are easy targets. I just want to see what’s poking around in the less reputable areas.” She nodded. “At the jinn joint”—I chuckled at my own joke—“keep your head down and your ears up. They all know who I am, so I can’t go there, but you might be okay.”

  “Fine. Where will you be?”

  “Gunthers.”

  “Be cool, Daddy-o.” Femi winked and fist-bumped me before she made a right as I headed left.

  I waited until she was out of sight then ducked into an alley to do a little changing. I straightened my tie as I left the alley with the rough edges shaved off my outward appearance. To survive in my world, I needed to look a certain way, cast a certain reflection that would make anyone double or triple think about attacking me. Not that it helped much in New Orleans, but it did work—at least most of the time. However, lunch with Maggie required a softer touch. I went pa
st Gunther’s and hopped on the train. I walked into the restaurant right on time, and Maggie was already tucked into a booth looking ducky. Don’t go goofy now, Baker.

  Breaking it off with her would be the right thing to do, the smart thing to do. I had been playing with fire, and it was time to put it out or enter the burn unit. I had been thinking about doing it for weeks, but I always hesitated. I’d even convinced myself to wait until I could talk to Olivia about it, but events in New Orleans sealed the deal. Olivia would have understood—love and softer feelings were her cup of tea—but I hadn’t had a chance to bring it up when the boss wouldn’t over hear. I wasn’t too good at the love stuff. As far as I could tell, all it ever did was complicate otherwise straightforward situations. I could have used her advice today, especially now, but right after I got a little toned up was no time to confess to carrying a torch for the boss-man’s only family.

  She smiled as I walked toward her. She had the sweetest face I had ever seen and a personality to boot. Velvety brown eyes, luscious pink lips, and a frame that hit on all sixes. I was all balled up, but she was also fragile and breakable in a way that the Abyss could crush. “Hey, baby.” I kissed her cheek and she groaned.

  “Baby is not now, nor will it ever be, an acceptable nickname, Baker.” She flashed that thousand-watt smile. “How’s work?”

  “Good. I have a couple operations this afternoon.” I might have led Maggie to believe I was a doctor. I’d been careful never to actually speak the words “I am a doctor” because I didn’t want to lie to her. It wasn’t my fault if she misinterpreted the word operation. Sure, if Holden found out, he would shit a brick. That was another good reason to end this now—so he wouldn’t find out. In fact, I had nothing but reasons why I should end it.

  She put a hand on my cheek. It took everything I had not to cringe with pain. “You work too hard.”

  I shrugged. “Some days the job beats you down. Other days it’s the best gig in the world.” I took a sip of water. “How’s your day been?”

  She wrinkled her adorable nose. “Rachel and Lisa were so funny this morning.” She launched into a long story about her extremely innocent life.

  I had to do it now. All ties had to be cut, especially if we were going to war. I liked Maggie. I couldn’t say if I loved her or not, but she was a human and that came with a whole bag of problems—problems I was trying to get away from. I didn’t want her death on my hands. “I have to go away,” I blurted out, interrupting her story. Still, the words I needed to say wouldn’t come out of my mouth. I was such a fucking chicken. I should have said, “We need to stop seeing each other,” but I hedged.

  She frowned and tilted her head to the side. “Where are you going?”

  I leaned back. I needed to get this over with. No loopholes to come back. Maggie and I weren’t meant for each other. “To a conference. I’ll probably be gone a couple weeks.” My chipper tone was foreign to my ears. Again, the wrong words had slipped out. Every time I opened my mouth, placating lies spilled forth. I couldn’t make myself say the words with her looking at me with those big eyes. I’d have to do it over the phone.

  The sparkle in her eyes vanished and shut down. She briefly reminded me of Holden—definitely not the image I wanted. “I see. And you’re just telling me about it now?”

  “It’s…” I blew out a breath. I had no idea what to say. The bank was closed. No more dilly-dallying. Do it now, Baker. “It just came up. I’m presenting. The first keynote speaker backed out and they asked me. It’s really quite an honor.” It was like I was possessed. So much for not lying to her.

  She smiled and took my hand. “That’s wonderful, sweetie. Maybe I could come with you. I haven’t met any of your colleagues or friends.”

  “That’d be great, but I‘m going to be really busy the whole time and it probably won’t be that much fun for you. We’ll plan a trip together soon.”

  Her smile faltered. “You aren’t married or anything like that, are you, Baker?”

  “Of course not, doll.”

  She gave me the same level look Holden gave when he was sniffing out lies. “I haven’t met anyone in your life. You’ve met my friends, but you are a mystery to me. You run off at all hours of the night, you disappear for days at a time, and you never tell me about your day. I’ve never even been to your house.”

  “What you see is what you get. No mystery here.” My mouth was dry. My lies wouldn’t hold together forever. My human friends were slightly less than reputable, and I could hardly introduce her Olivia and Holden.

  Our order arrived, saving me from further questioning, and she continued to talk about her friends and work, letting me off the hook while I planned how I was going to dump her before our trouble found its way to her. After lunch, I walked her back to her office building. She looked at me for a long moment, sadness flickering over her face. She threw her arms around my neck, making my heart squeeze, and pressed her sweet lips to my bruised mouth. “I’ll miss you, Baker.”

  She walked away. A mixture of guilt and hope filled me. I was tired of being alone. I hadn’t known it until I’d been faced with the happiest couple in the whole fucking world day in and day out. Sure, they fought like two hobos battling over the last bottle of booze, but there was no denying that Olivia and Holden began where the other ended.

  In my life, the only things that came close to being that important to me were my friends. They were more important than any dame would ever be. Dysfunctional as they might be, Holden and Olivia were the only family I’d had in quite some time. I would do anything for them—including letting Maggie go. I went back to Gunther’s looking more like myself. My shoes stuck to the floor and made a thrrpt sound as I walked to the bar.

  “Gunther.” I shook the bartender’s hand. “How the hell have you been?”

  “Living and breathing. Can’t ask for more. Haven’t seen you around in a while, Baker. How’s it hanging?”

  “To the left.” Gunther laughed and sloshed a beer across the counter to me. “What’s new? What’s the word? Where’s the game?” I asked.

  “That depends on what you’re looking for.”

  “What I’m always looking for: opportunity.”

  He picked up a napkin and scrawled something on the back of it. He scooted it toward me but kept his palm flat over it. “Same terms and conditions.”

  I slipped him a few bills and gave him a single nod.

  “This conversation never happened.”

  “What conversation?” I took the napkin and headed for the door. A silver spike heel on a black leather boot popped up in front of me, blocking my way. I looked over at Femi. Shit.

  She stood with catlike grace and stretched, following me out. “I would just love to know where you’ve been.”

  I winked at her. “I have a lead.”

  “The one you got in there or somewhere else? Why did you try so hard to ditch me, Baker?”

  “I didn’t ditch you, kitten. Everything is jake.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know what that means, but I know you ditched me.” She jabbed a sharp fingernail into my rib. “You don’t have to tell me what you did, but if it comes back on us, your mine.” Her tongue ran over her teeth.

  “I had some personal business to take care of.”

  “Right now was the only time you could do it?”

  I nodded. “It had to be done before Hell becomes a wet blanket.”

  She tapped a foot. “And it’s done?”

  “I stuck a fork in it.” Or at least I would very soon.

  “Let’s see this lead?” She plucked the napkin from my hand. “It’s just an address.”

  I took it back from her. “Time to check in with the boss.”

  We started back toward Olivia and Holden’s apartment. “Why do you do this for chuckles?”

  I smiled at her nickname. Besides Olivia, Femi was quite possibly the only person in the world who had enough balls to call Holden chuckles. “I don’t do it
just for him.”

  “Well you sure as hell aren’t doing it for you. Holden may have been protection at one point, but right now he has more shit raining down on him than a sewer. What’s your angle, Baker?”

  “I thought if anyone understood it would be you.” She raised an eyebrow. “My reasons aren’t so different from yours.”

  “Sy and Olivia are my family. Scratch that—they are better than my family. They accept me just as I am and don’t try to make me fit into their idea of what I should do or how I should act.”

  “What about Holden?”

  “Olivia loves Holden so I do as well. But he’s not exactly easy to love, is he? He’s like that sociopathic family member you try not to stare at during the holidays.”

  I laughed. Holden wasn’t that bad. He put on a good front, but underneath it all, he had honor. Not something many jinn could say. “Friendship means a lot to me. Olivia, Holden, you—you all mean the world. I got your back no matter what.”

  “Well aren’t you a charmer?” Femi threaded her arm through mine with a pleased expression. “So friend, friends talk about their personal lives, right?”

  “Not with the kind of friends I have.”

  She laughed. “How old are you?”

  “Older than I look.”

  She rubbed her forefinger and thumb over her chin, flipping her long golden ponytail over her shoulder. “Sixty-five?”

  I shook my head and pointed up.

  “One hundred and twenty?”

  I pointed up again.

  “You’re lying.”

  “You’ll never know, kitten.” She elbowed me and I groaned. “Damn it, woman. That rib’s already been broken once today.”

  She kissed my cheek. “Don’t call me kitten.”

  “WHY DID THEY send you a message?” Olivia asked from the chair while I cleaned my gun and waited for Baker and Femi to get back.