jinn 01 - ember

by Schulte, Liz

  “What does death have to do with any of this?”

  Baker surprised me when he answered her first. “Well, he is an angel, and we are definitely drowning in angel and demon problems, so it isn’t a stretch that he is involved. What’s his alliance?”

  “Olivia’s angel said he doesn’t have one. He is independent.”

  “Just like you,” Femi told her.

  Olivia nodded slowly. “This all makes sense, but I really don’t think he is working against me.”

  “Maybe, but maybe not. The point is, we have to be smart if you want your mom back.”

  “Okay.” Her voice was soft. “What do you want me to do?”

  “We have to assume they are expecting you and they have something to defeat you.”

  “I think the devil covers that,” Baker said dryly.

  “Hopefully not.” If that were the case, we were all fucked and this was end of days. “They also know your confidence is up. You have easily defeated them so far so you will go in cocky.” I was trying to picture it in my mind as I spoke so I could picture what I would do to trap her or neutralize her. “They have to assume you are only there because you know your mom is there. She will be in a prominent location and in immediate danger. It will be designed to distract and make you angry. You won’t be paying attention to what you are doing and will walk into a trap. Then they will offer you to join them or your mother dies.”

  “Okay, so I have to keep my temper.”

  “More than that, Liv. For all we know, the entire church is now a trap. Look around you to what we have done here. There is no reason why they couldn’t have painted the ceiling inside to trap you after the last time you were there.”

  “Then how do we do it?

  “Femi and Baker go in first. They have the least invested. They will not engage.” I made eye contact with Femi and waited for her to agree before I moved on. “Their primary mission will be freeing Marge.”

  “And what are we going to do?”

  I smiled. “We are going to distract them and draw them outside.”

  “How?” Femi asked.

  Baker grinned. “Flash bombs. I can’t imagine a demon who would enjoy those.”

  “Do we have flash bombs?” Olivia asked, looking perplexed.

  “We can make them, no problem.” Femi waved a dismissive hand.

  A COUPLE HOURS later, we stood outside of the church. Liv and I watched Femi and Baker dart through the shadows and toward the back.

  “Are you sure about this?” she whispered.

  I wanted to take her hand and reassure her as much as she wanted me to, but making her glow would be like setting off a beacon. “It’s our best chance.”

  “She was on a retreat. How did they get her?”

  “I don’t know. The same way they got Baker is my guess.” They should be in by now. “You ready?”

  She nodded. “I’ll go right.”

  I transported to the left of the church and began throwing the flash bombs through the windows. The plan was to start in the back and work our way to the front, pushing the demons forward. Olivia and I came around the building at the same time. One demon stood at the top of the steps. He was short with glasses and a plaid shirt. He looked like a high school History teacher, not a demon, but I could feel the evil surrounding him like a wall. He clapped and smiled when he saw us.

  “I must say, very inventive. Completely ineffective, of course, but inventive. Please come inside. We have much to discuss.”

  “Here’s fine.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “So you don’t want to get the old woman back?” He raised his eyebrows. “And here she has been asking for the two of you. Begging really.”

  He turned and went back inside. My fists clenched at my sides and light shot from Olivia. “I’m going in,” she said.

  “I’m right there with you.”

  We walked in side by side. I scanned up and down for traps, but nothing caught my eye. Olivia gasped, her feet stalling. Marge was attached to a cross, head lulling down. Six demons approached slowly, circling us.

  “You were given an offer. Your time to consider is through,” the demon in plaid said.

  I nodded to Olivia. She went for the demon closest to her and I grabbed the one next to me, transporting with him.

  “Holden,” Olivia yelped.

  I glanced back. Olivia was in trouble. Her light wasn’t affecting them at all. Three had her restrained. I pulled my gun and shot the demons farthest from her. Transport, I told her.

  She exploded into a ball of light, taking the demons with her. When she reappeared, they were gone. She dispatched the others just as quickly. Femi cut down Marge and she dropped into Baker’s arms. Olivia and I joined them at the front as Baker laid her on the floor.

  Olivia knelt over her mom and placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “Mom. Wake up.”

  Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked several times. “Olivia, what are you doing here?” She looked around. “Where am I?”

  Olivia closed her eyes for a second. “You’re in Chicago. What do you—” She froze. “You all need to leave. Now.”

  THEY ALL JUST stared at me and no one moved.

  “Leave!” I shouted.

  Still no one moved.

  I took Holden’s hands. “Take them out of here. Now.”

  He nodded, helping my mom to her feet. I waved Baker and Femi to go with him. I backed out, watching behind us, but I was too slow. The door slammed behind Baker.

  “The dark one has arrived. I told you no to go.” The voice I now knew as Death told me. I had been ignoring him all night.

  “Who is the dark one?”

  “Chutriel.”

  “How do I defeat him?”

  “You don’t.”

  A beautiful woman with long dark hair and cat-shaped eyes approached. She smiled. “Welcome.”

  I just stared at her. Chutriel was obviously a girl. Her eyes were the same as mine—as all angels. But she was evil. I could feel it as surely as rain on my skin. “What are you?”

  “I’m just like you. Fallen.”

  I shook my head. “I am not like you.”

  “Not yet, little one. But you will be.”

  “Never.” I stepped toward her.

  She laughed a lovely laugh that sent chills down my spine. “I can give you three very good reasons why you will.” She snapped her fingers and Holden appeared back inside. She snapped them again and Baker was next to him. The third time she snapped, Femi appeared. They all struggled to move but didn’t budge.

  “Enough,” I said.

  “We’re just getting started. How you feel about a little pain?”

  “Hurt me all you want. I am not coming to you.”

  “Not you, dear. Them.”

  She squeezed her fingers together and I could feel the pain coming from Holden even though he tried to hide it. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t use the same tricks on an angel as I could a demon.

  We’ll be fine. Holden’s voice was strained, but I understood. Last time a demon hurt him, I’d nearly become a jinni. I had to be stronger and wiser this time. More importantly, I had to fight back.

  “You really don’t have a choice. Heaven doesn’t want you. They let you leave. Who understands you? Those three? They can’t even fathom a fraction of what we are. Don’t you understand? We are inviting you home. Come to where you belong.”

  “Just because you couldn’t make it doesn’t mean I can’t. I don’t need other angels. I have my freedom. You can take from me. You can kill me. But you will never rule me.” I stepped forward with each sentence. The angel was up to something underneath, but I didn’t know what. Whatever it was, I hoped she would come out swinging soon. I couldn’t do much against a fallen angel as I was.

  “The arrogance—that’s the first to go.” She reached toward me and a whip made of blue flames appeared in my hand, which automatically snapped out as if I’d known what to do with it, taking her hand clean o
ff her body. Chutriel screamed, shattering the glass all around. The whip struck again, this time taking her head, and silence filled the room. I stared, still shocked, at the whip in my hand that was even now fading into nothing. Where in the world had that come from?

  “The Balit.” Baker was the first to speak. “You had it the whole time.”

  I shook my head. “How is that possible?”

  Holden looked at me. “I think the angel knows a lot that she isn’t telling us.” He glanced around. “We should search this place and see what we can find.”

  Femi flung an arm around my shoulders. “You kicked ass tonight. I might not hear for a week.”

  I laughed then remembered my mom was outside alone. I transported to the other side of the door. My eyes immediately spotted her at the bottom of the steps. A shadowy figure stepped up behind her, draped in black. I had never seen it before, but I recognized it for what it was.

  The hooded man looked up at me for a split second. “I am sorry.”

  “No!” I raced toward the dark figure and my mom, but before I could reach them, the shadow folded around her then faded as my mom crumbled to the stone steps with a sickening thud. I lifted the upper half of her body onto my lap and lightly tapped her cheek with the flat of my hand. I’d made it in time. I’d scared the reaper away. She would be fine. “Mom. Mom. Open your eyes. Look at me.”

  She didn’t even twitch. My mind struggled against a thought I didn’t want to hear. She’d just passed out from the stress of everything.

  I hit her a little harder and fed light into her, willing her to look at me. “Mom. Wake up.” Panic coursed through my veins. She wasn’t breathing. I pumped more light into her. She would heal. She had to heal. Holden, I need you.

  An instant later, Holden’s mist formed a few feet away.

  “It’s going to be okay. Holden is here. He’ll know what to do.” My eyes filled with tears and I swallowed them back. “He’ll help. You’re going to be okay.”

  Holden froze when he looked at us. His eyes widened infinitesimally and his lips parted. Crushing sadness washed over me. My only defense was to shake my head against what he knew to be true. I couldn’t accept that. He was wrong. She was going to be fine. She had to be okay. “Help me.” A tear escaped over the edge and rolled down my cheek. Why was he just standing there?

  He blinked himself out of his stupor, but his steps were slow and heavy toward us. The lump in my throat grew with each moment. He lowered himself next to us, reached out, and felt her neck. His lips thinned and the skin around his eyes looked tight. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t have to.

  I let out a shaky breath and my nose began to run. “No. No,” I managed to say around the lump. “She can come back. Right, Holden? Please say she can.” I wasn’t beyond begging. I needed her to come back. Juliet had come back, I had come back, and Holden had come back. So could she. I held my breath and waited for him to confirm everything was going to be okay.

  His eyes closed and his hand fell to his side. The gesture shattered me and all the hope I’d been clinging to. “I’m sorry, Liv.” His voice was soft and shredded.

  She was gone. My whole body heated and her face blurred through my tears. I’d listened to the voice, though Holden had told me not to. I’d sent her away by herself, though he had thought we should send protection. Everything I’d put faith in was wrong, but I’d been too stubborn to listen—I always was. Only this time it had backfired on her, not me. Losing my life was one thing. Losing hers was another. I looked down at her lifeless face, but I didn’t feel peace. I memorized the way she looked, etched it into my heart. Smoothing the hair from mom’s face, I laid her back on the ground and stood up, hands shaking.

  Holden’s arm slipped around my waist. I leaned my head against his shoulder and his cheek rested against my hair. Holden saw the broken world more clearly than I did. The goodness I believed was there wasn’t. Over and over it had been proven to me, but I’d refused to admit it wasn’t there. I turned into Holden and buried my face against his chest. I couldn’t save my mother because I’d been naïve. Holden was strong. I had to be strong too. The silence deafened me, but the angel strengthened my breaking heart and I embraced her this time rather than fighting her. She was warrior, a fighter. I needed her to do what I had to do.

  I straightened away from Holden. His eyes were liquid and brimming with remorse as he wiped away a tear from my cheek. It was hard to remember a time when Holden hadn’t been there to wipe away my tears, only this time it didn’t help.

  “I’m sorry, angel,” Baker said softly as he put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed, reminding me he was there.

  Femi shifted uncomfortably, staring at my mother on the ground. I had no idea what we were supposed to do next.

  “We’ll take care of the body,” Baker said. “You don’t need to stay.”

  Anger flared in me.

  “Not get rid of the body permanently, but call an ambulance,” he clarified.

  I took a deep breath and nodded. I wasn’t able to meet Holden’s eyes. “Let’s go home.”

  I took a step back and transported. When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in our apartment. I was at my childhood home—Mom’s house. I sucked in a shaky breath. All of her things around me seemed frozen in time, somehow smaller and less significant without her here to love or care for them. I felt smaller and insignificant without her. My heart had brought me here because it had been looking for comfort, for a way to hold on to her, but there was nothing I wanted in this house.

  I bit my lower lip hard, the pain giving me the strength to move my legs. I went outside to the swing, not caring if the neighbors could see me or that Holden didn’t know where I was. This place was my last connection with my human life. Everyone and everything else was gone. The cold, familiar chain soothed my burning skin and aching soul. I stared at the house, just four walls and a roof, and listened to the angel plan our attack, our avengement. The realization that I didn’t belong here—I never had—hardened my insides. The Olivia who could come home again was gone. This Olivia had no home, didn’t need one.

  Holden nudged my mind, trying to find me. I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to feel his sympathy or pain. Not now, not yet, maybe not ever. I sat on the swing through the night, not moving. Dew coated my skin as I watched the sunrise. The angel and I blended until I couldn’t tell where she began and I ended. We were one. Our thoughts were one. Our memories were one.

  “You can’t shut down this time, Liv.” Holden’s voice came from behind me. “We’ve started something and there are people who are depending on you.” He waited a couple beats before continuing. “I need you.”

  I stood slowly and turned toward him. My heart fluttered, giving its first sign of life in hours at seeing him. He looked raw and emotional. I couldn’t tell if he only appeared that way to my frozen emotions or if he really had been hit that hard by my mother’s death. He cared for my mother, I knew that. Somehow she had managed to slip into that small and exclusive inner circle of his heart he had protected from the jinn. This wouldn’t be easy on Holden. This wouldn’t be easy on any of us, but I couldn’t find any sympathy in me to give. The promise of swift and ultimate retribution sustained me. It was what I wanted—it was the only thing I wanted.

  “I’m ready to give the jinn a demonstration of my commitment.”

  Holden frowned. “How did you—” His face smoothed and the lines hardened. It was like watching him slip on a mask. His removed detachment matched what I imagined my own looked like. “We’ll go now.”

  I nodded and smiled a little, slipping my ice-cold hand into his. Of course Holden would understand. We were more alike than anyone ever gave us credit for. They had taken everything either of us had ever loved except for each other. If Hell wanted a fight, a war was what we would give them. If we died, it would be side by side on our own terms, taking as many of them with us as we could. My eyes were open and death was on my lips. A reckoning was coming.


  The end.

  Good Tidings

  A Guardian Short Story

  by

  Liz Schulte

  Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.

  I HUMMED ALONG with the Christmas music Olivia played in the background. It had been a while since I celebrated Christmas. It just wasn’t fun to do it alone. Regardless of what Holden thought, I was glad Olivia wasn’t backing down on celebrating the holiday. She still had family and loved ones. Those were the moments you treasured because they could all too easily slip through your fingers. That said, meddling with the boss-man’s family, that wasn’t something I needed any part of. The angel was on her own there.

  “Tell me about your past, Baker,” Olivia said, smiling as she picked out her favorite ornaments to hang. “You’re the only one here that seems to get Christmas. How did you manage to hold on to it?”

  I nodded. “I didn’t always celebrate, but one year everything changed. I realized what a palooka I had been.”

  “What happened?”

  I didn’t talk much about my past. It led to questions I wouldn’t answer—that didn’t need to be answered. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. The angel was different though. This story wouldn’t hurt for her to know. She might even learn something from my past. I took a deep breath.

  1929 WAS A shitty fucking year. A damn rotten tomato of a year. I glared at the jolly fat guy in the too cheerful window display. Good riddance to you, you miserable bum, I thought as I walked past. It couldn’t be over soon enough for me. The year started with the death of five of my friends in a parking garage on St. Valentine’s Day then the whole north side seemed to go into upheaval. I had been to more friends’ funerals this year than any year I could remember. That was always the problem when living with humans—they had short lives. And if that didn’t make a bad enough year, the stock market plummeted in October devastating the population like I hadn’t seen before. People kept saying 1930 had to be better, but they were patsies to think so.

  “It’s only going to get worse,” I mumbled to myself. People couldn’t even wet their beak—well not legally. What was the world coming to?