She brought a shaky hand up to her neck. “Here, I think.”
After I healed her neck, I looked her over, but nothing else seemed to be wrong. Thank the gods. Whatever he’d done to her, it wasn’t life threatening. Why then, did he do it?
“I need to shower,” she said, her eyes haunted. There was more to what happened with Samir than a few cuts.
“I’ll take you home, but first I need you to tell me everything.” Then I was going to hunt Samir down myself and slaughter him.
She hesitated. “I really need to shower first. Can I stay here? I don’t want to see Gran or Ty, and I just need to be near you. You keep me safe.”
The breath caught in my throat. Her words meant more than she understood. To be that person to her. The one to keep her safe. I liked that. Murdering Samir would have to wait until tomorrow.
“Of course. The bathroom is down the hall.”
She shuffled her feet. “I need clean clothes.”
“Already there.”
She gave me a half grin and slid out of my room.
I stood and stared out my window. I’d seen a few bodies carved up the way Liv was, but never understood the purpose. Was he torturing her, or was there more to it than that? I’d never thought much about it before because I never cared about human bodies.
Either way, Liv wasn’t safe.
Less than fifteen minutes later, she stood in my doorway wearing a t-shirt and short shorts. She chewed on her bottom lip and wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Do you feel better?” I wanted to pull her into my arms, but was suddenly self- conscious. We’d never spent the night together before.
She shrugged. “A little.”
“There’s a guest bedroom next door. I’ll show you where everything is.”
She shook her head. “Can I…stay with you?”
Oh. Ohhhh. “Are you sure?”
She crossed the room and sank onto the bed. She kept her head down and traced her finger along the comforter. “I don’t want you out of my sight. Even in the shower I was terrified Samir was going to show up.”
My heart broke a little. She shouldn’t have to live in that kind of fear. I sat next to her and drew her hands into my own.
“What happened?”
She explained all that took place in the forest. I tried not to let my anger and fear show. If she saw me rattled, it’d make things worse. I was the Jinn Samir had been looking for, and she’d tried to protect me. This was wrong. I should be the one protecting her, and now it was my fault that she was in danger. Again.
She yawned.
“Are you tired?” I asked.
“Very.” She yawned and stretched, her shirt creeping up and revealing a sliver of her stomach. It was all I could do not to run my finger along it.
I stood and clenched my fists, keeping my fingers to myself. “I’m going to change, and I’ll be right back. Will you be alright for a few minutes?”
“Yeah.” Her voice was soft and meek. This was so unlike her. She was normally so sure of herself, but now she was terrified. I’d have to find a way to take that away from her.
I changed in the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I should be worried about Samir, but instead, all I could think about was Liv in my room. Sleeping in the same bed was a level of intimacy I’d never experienced before. It was different from sex. Somehow knowing I was doing it only to protect her made it even more special. What were her expectations? What if I accidentally crossed a line? This shouldn’t be that difficult, yet I felt as if I was about to make a life-changing decision. I took a deep breath. I was being ridiculous.
By the time I got back into the room, Liv was already lying on her side, her eyes closed and her dark hair spread out behind her. I slid in and lay on my back, afraid to touch her and betray her trust.
She shivered next to me. “Will you hold me?” she asked.
I rolled over and drew her into me, her body warm and soft against mine. I buried my face in her hair, inhaling the lavender shampoo she just used. I wanted to hold onto this moment for eternity. Nothing existed outside of Liv and me.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“Anytime.”
“Goodnight, Gabe.”
“Goodnight, Liv.”
The next morning, I woke to Liv’s hair tickling my nose, her leg thrown over me, and her hand resting lightly on my bare stomach.
This was heaven. Though I wouldn’t take Samir attacking her to get her here. But I enjoyed sharing a bed with her. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep alone again.
Her fingers traced a lazy circle around my belly button, and suddenly I wanted things I couldn’t have. I moved her hand up and held it against my chest.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked.
“Surprisingly, yes. I thought for sure I’d have nightmares.” She smiled and snuggled into me. I didn’t want to take any chances and do something wrong. I didn’t trust myself in the moment.
“I think Melissa is making breakfast. Shall we go check it out?” The smell of bacon and eggs had crept under my door.
She nodded against my chest and climbed over me. “I’m starving.”
Ali and Melissa chatted at the breakfast table. Ali raised his eyebrows at Liv but didn’t say anything.
“Oh, dear, I didn’t know you were here. Can I get you some coffee?” Melissa jumped up and waited.
Liv looked up at the clock and gasped. “I need to go home.” Her grip tightened, and she met my eyes, her fear back. It was as if for a few moments, she’d forgotten what happened the night before.
I dropped a kiss on her forehead. “It’s broad daylight. You should be okay. I’ll be waiting for you on the curb in forty-five minutes.”
She squeezed my hand and slipped out of the door.
Melissa handed me a cup of coffee, and I sank down next to Ali, who was nursing his own cup.
“Liv was attacked by Samir last night,” I said, not bothering to hide the anger in my voice.
Ali spat out his coffee. “Samir is here?”
“Yes.” I clenched my fists. I was ready to go beat the living daylights out of him. However, this was not a problem I’d be able to solve on my own.
Melissa’s frowned. “You told me Samir hadn’t been seen in thousands of years.”
“He hasn’t,” Ali replied.
“How do you know about Samir?” I asked.
“Ali told me the entire history of the Jinn.” Melissa set a plate in front of me filled with eggs, potatoes, and bacon.
“What’s he doing here?” Ali asked, looking concerned.
“My best guess, Liv brought his vessel over when she brought mine.” His was the one we couldn’t account for. I knew who all the others were.
“What did he do to her?”
“He cut her palms, feet, and cheeks. Then he was going to slice open her neck, but I got there in time.” My heart raced. What if I hadn’t got there?
“We’ve seen this before,” Ali said.
“I know. Have you seen it recently?”
“Not since Samir disappeared.”
I’d seen a few girls with their faces carved open before. It was gruesome, but it never hit me in the gut like Liv. I clenched my teeth. He would pay for what he did.
“Before today, I wasn’t even positive it was Jinn.” The goddesses and the Jinn weren’t the only supernatural beings to walk the Earth. I’d really thought it was the vampires. As if I needed another reason to never let Liv out of my sight.
“The…the people I work with were trying to figure it out. We need to deal with this before she gets hurt. ”
“What people?” I asked.
“Doesn’t matter. What matters is that we need to get him back into the bottle. Liv won’t be safe until he is.”
“So let’s get on that.”
I had no idea what to do. After school, I was going to read that book from cover to cover. There had to be something in there about Djinn. Since Samir was one as well, maybe it would help me
figure out how to kill him.
“Of course, brother, but not until you tell me what happened before.”
I snapped my head around. “Before what?”
Ali chuckled. “You and Samir disappeared at the same time, and everyone knew you were running around together. If I’m going to help you, I need to understand what happened.”
Liv was the only one who’d heard this story. It wasn’t something I liked to think about, much less share with my friends. Shame burned in my throat.
“Samir developed a taste for children.”
Ali curled his lip. “That’s despicable.”
“Yes, I know. He wanted me to help him, and when I refused, he compelled me to.” Nala’s face still haunted me. The look she gave me when she realized I would kill her.
“That’s one sick bastard. How did you get away from him?”
I let out a breath. After this, Ali might throw me out on the curb. But it was a chance I had to take. “He didn’t think to forbid me from working with the goddesses.”
Ali burst out laughing.
“This isn’t funny.” I clenched and unclenched my fists. I wanted to put that incident far in the past so I didn’t have to think about it.
“I knew it,” he said, clapping me on the back. “There was something suspicious about how you both disappeared.”
That damn bastard was gloating. We were dealing with a catastrophe, and he was all proud of himself. If I wasn’t so worried about finding Samir, I might punch Ali in the face. “You don’t find me a coward?”
“On the contrary. You saved the lives of children. That’s above any beef we have with the goddesses. I would’ve done the same thing.”
I let out a breath. The rest of the story would be easier to tell.
“I sought out Bast.”
“Bast?” Ali frowned. “Why her? There are a hundred different goddesses you could’ve used. Their daughters would’ve worked as well.”
“Because I knew she’d want Samir. He got away from her, and she wasn’t going to let him go.”
“Well, she put him away for three thousand years. Maybe we should try to find her again.”
I jumped up, my chair clattering to the ground. I got right in his face. “You have no idea what that wench did to me.”
Ali scooted his chair back and held up his hands. “Maybe you can enlighten me.”
I seethed. “She wanted me to take the elixir to become Djinn. That was the only way she’d get rid of Samir. She tortured me when I refused. She forced me in and out of my vessel for years.” Just the thought of being dragged out of that vessel again and again, and landing in a puddle on the floor was enough to make me ill.
Ali paled. “What happened to the elixir?”
I rubbed my hand over my face and waited. He’d figure it out.
He went quiet for a few moments, and then his eyes widened. “You took it, didn’t you? To protect Liv. I knew you’d changed, but I didn’t make the connection. Holy hell, Gabe.”
I leaned up against the counter and rubbed my face. I hadn’t wanted to tell him. “Please don’t tell anyone.” If word were to get out, my life would be over—I would be a slave to the goddesses and be forced to slaughter my own kind at their whim.
He held up his hands. “Got it. I can’t now, actually. I have to follow your command. I have no choice.”
I straightened. He was right. I let out a breath of relief. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to force you.”
“It’s okay. You did it nicely. You can kill him, you know,” Ali said.
“Actually, I don’t think I can.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we’re both Djinn.”
Ali chewed his bottom lip. “Killing him might still work. We should at least try it. There has never been two Djinn before.”
“He might kill me.” And then he’d go after Liv. I had to protect her.
“He won’t be expecting it.”
“I have to find him first.” Which I was determined to do, but not without a plan.
“Samir doesn’t know that Liv belongs to you yet, right?” Ali sat back in chair and crossed his arms.
“Right.”
“He will follow her to see who her Jinn is. If he finds out it’s you, he’ll torture her just to get to you.”
“How am I going to keep her safe if I can’t be with her?”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I know people who can protect her. Samir won’t be able to go anywhere near her. She’ll be safer with them than she will be with you.”
My stomach tightened. I could not send her away. Then I wouldn’t be able to protect her. “What are you talking about?”
Ali stood and clapped me on the back. “Witches, Gabe. I’m talking about witches.”
I could feel the blood drain out of my face. I hated dealing with witches. We followed a strict set of rules, but their gods let them basically do whatever they wanted. What the hell had Ali been up to in the last three thousand years?
“Why would they help?”
“Because they aren’t all bad. Plus, a few of them owe me a favor.”
“How are they going to keep her safe?”
Ali shrugged. “I know that they know how to keep Jinn out when they want to.”
“Are you sure Liv will be safe with them?” Witches. Really?
“Yeah. Grand Haven has a strong coven. I had to let them know when we moved in. They don’t like the Jinn much and will do whatever they can to keep Liv protected. If you hadn’t been an idiot and taken out Jasper on your own, they would’ve taken care of him.”
“How on earth could they have done that?”
“I didn’t ask, just called in my favor. I think they work with the goddesses quite a bit.”
“What am I going to do? I don’t want to hide.”
“You’ll be plenty busy. I’ve got a library of books, and you can start searching for a way to get rid of Samir for good because the witches still don’t know how to take out a Djinn. Liv doesn’t even need to go anywhere. They’ll protect her house and school and keep an eye on her.”
I didn’t like this plan. Not by a long shot, but I had no idea how else to keep Liv safe. Hiding in the house like a coward went against every fiber of my being.
Like it or not though, Ali was right.
Witches though.
I’d never even met one. The stories that came from Greece about them were more than enough to know that I needed to keep my distance. They were bloodthirsty fiends. Literally. It was a good thing I trusted Ali.
Because Liv would be safe.
And that was all that mattered.
Chapter 9
Liv
I sprinted down the steps. Even those few minutes away from Gabe felt like too long. Mostly it was because he made me feel safe, but it was more than that. Spending the night with him was number one on my list of things I wanted to do again.
Ali stood at the end of the walk alone, and I stopped cold. “Where’s Gabe?”
“He’s not going to school for a few days.”
“Why not?” I frowned. He had to protect me. Samir could find me at any moment and drag me off to the woods and drain my blood.
“Because it’s not safe for him to be seen with you. For either one of you. I can keep you safe.”
“No. I need Gabe.”
Ali put his arm around me and pulled me away from the house and hissed in my ear. “Samir could be watching us at this very moment. We want him to think that I’m your Jinn. I pose no threat to him. Gabe does. He’s not leaving the house until we have a plan to take care of Samir.”
I looked around for any hint of that stringy hair or hooked nose, but Ali and I were the only ones out here.
I shrugged off his arm. “I want to talk to him.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed. Gabe answered on the first ring. “What happened?” he asked, panic in his voice.
“Nothing. I’m just making sur
e you’re okay. I’m not buying Ali’s story.”
“You’re safer with him.”
I gulped. “Who saved me from certain death? You. Not Ali.”
“Please trust me on this one.”
“Fine,” I said, angry for no reason. I just really wanted him with me.
I hung up the phone and stalked away from Ali.
A man stepped in front of me, and I jumped back, but it was just a jogger. My heart raced, and I tried to still my rapid breath.
“Are you okay?” Ali asked.
I shook my head, slowing now so he could walk next to me. My eyes flicked around the group of students in front of the school, looking for any sign of the creeper.
“I’m just scared he’s going to show up.”
“I know. Trust me, you’re safe.”
I didn’t believe him.
On the way to first period, I tried to think of something else because everywhere I looked, I saw a stringy-haired, large-nosed creeper. I had to stop reliving my nightmare.
Ali touched my elbow, and I yanked it away. “Sorry,” I said. “Jumpy.”
He gave me a tight smile. “I know. I’ll be back after this class.”
“What if he shows up during class?”
“There are more protections here than just me. You’ll be fine.”
I wished he’d stop saying that.
I dropped into my seat in American History. Just three weeks of school left. Then it would be beaches and relaxation all summer. Hopefully with Gabe right by my side. Samir’s face popped into my head.
No. Beaches. I needed to think about beaches. We could make it the summer of a hundred beaches.
The cloying smell of blood floated around me. I shook my head and swallowed. The smell disappeared. How long would this haunt me? I pulled out my phone. Time to do research on places Gabe could take me because my fear of Samir would pass, and then it would be summer.
A finger tapped me on the shoulder. I jerked my head up, ready to run. Nora looked down at me with sad eyes. I did a double take when I noticed her hair. She’d dyed it black like mine. I desperately wanted to know why, but I wouldn’t talk to her. Not yet. She was still a boyfriend-stealing bitch.
“Can we talk?” she asked in a soft voice and sat next to me. Oh geez. I wasn’t ready for this. Maybe I could make a wish that she would never talk to me again. Though…what if Samir got to me, and I died before we made up? That would be awful for her. She didn’t deserve that. Though, this was too sudden.
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