“You should try and get some rest.” Harper said, abruptly.
I laughed ruefully. “You really think that I could sleep at a time like this? After all that I’ve heard tonight? And, knowing that he’s still lurking out there?”
“You know that I am here. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“Yeah, I know that.” I smiled over at him. I knew that he wouldn’t let Milligan anywhere near me if he could help it.
“But, you really should try and rest. I need to do some research into this.”
“And, I would only distract you, right?” I grinned.
“Yep.” He laughed. Harper moved to sit on the sofa, closing his eyes briefly and sighing.
“Shouldn’t you get the laptop if you need to do some research?”
Harper smiled and opened his eyes. “It’s not that kind of research. I need to speak to someone.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “I guess that you don’t mean that you are going to be speaking to someone on the phone.” I still didn’t really know much about this Djinn business, but I had a feeling that he would be going somewhere else to talk to someone while his human body stayed right here. The thought made me shiver a little.
“No. You’re right.”
I didn’t ask him what he was going to do or how he was going to do it. This was all getting a little bit too much for me. Harper was right. I needed some rest. I needed to hide away in the safety of my bedroom like a little kid. I knew that I would be safe from Milligan whenever Harper was here for me. That didn’t stop me from thinking about him, though.
Just as I closed my eyes and drifted off into a restless sleep, I saw his body in my mind’s eye, felt his hands moving towards my body….
I wasn’t even free from him in my sleep, and that was infuriating.
Chapter Fifteen
The morning dawned bright and early. I still hadn’t got much sleep. Maybe half an hour here and there, but it was not enough to feel refreshed when I finally crawled out of bed. I put my dressing gown on over my pyjamas and padded out into the kitchen. I really couldn’t stand the stuff, but I was going to have to try and have a cup of coffee to try and wake myself up this morning. Tea just wasn’t going to cut it and I didn’t fancy Pepsi quite so early on in the morning.
There was no sign of Harper in the living room so I guessed that he finally headed off to bed for some rest, too. I went back into the kitchen as the pot began to boil. Grabbing a bar of chocolate, I decided that maybe a sugar rush wouldn’t hurt me this morning, either.
I walked back into the living room with the disgusting smelling and ridiculously sweetened cup of coffee. I hoped that plenty of sugar would at least make it more bearable. I had the sense to place the mug on the coffee table before I walked over to open up the curtains. Cautiously peering out, I was immensely relieved to see that the street was empty, save for an old man walking his dog.
I sat back down on the sofa and picked up the coffee. That was when I realised that I was shaking. I don’t really know what I would have done if he had still been out there. I’d have probably acted like a little girl and run screaming into the safety of Harper’s arms. Or worse still, run out to Milligan and jumped on him in the middle of the street. I was just glad that it hadn’t happened. I didn’t want the first thing that I saw this morning to be his face looking up at me.
I raised the cup to my lips and almost gagged on the smell alone. Yak. I was going to have to do it if I wanted to stay standing on two feet today. I went to take a sip but the mug jumped out of my hand as I heard a loud bang on the front door. The hot liquid splashed down my legs. I was just grateful that I had made it extra creamy, else I would have severely scalded myself. I stifled a painful yelp as Harper’s bedroom door quickly opened up and he poked his head into the lounge to see what all the fuss was about.
“What have you done?” He asked.
“I thought that I would take a shower in coffee.” I glared at him. “What the hell does it look like?”
Harper shook his head at me and turned to go and answer the door as another knock came. I stood up and swiped at the wetness on my legs, swearing harshly under my breath. I strained my ears to try and hear who it was that was knocking on our door at such an early hour. I relaxed a little when I heard a soft woman’s voice. That was just fine. I didn’t really care who it was as long as it wasn’t Milligan. I made my way back into the kitchen to get a cloth to mop up the mess that I’d made.
On my way back into the living room, I sneaked a glance at who Harper was talking to in the doorway, but all I could see was a cloud of long honey blonde hair. Again, it wasn’t Milligan, so who cared?
I wiped up the spilled coffee and threw the cloth into the sink to deal with later, before heading back to my bedroom. Harper and the female were still whispering at the front door and didn’t even look my way when I walked up behind them. I slammed my bedroom door shut behind me and headed straight for the shower. I guessed that this was one of the perks of being unemployed. I could take my time and not have to rush about like a headless chicken in the morning.
Dressing casually in jeans and an old checked shirt over a tee shirt, I thought that this was another bonus to not having to go into work. I didn’t have to worry about putting on a tonne of make-up and spending an age on my hair to make sure that I looked presentable. I knew that I was going to have to start looking around for another job within the next couple of weeks, but I was going to relish my freedom while I still had it. Also, I didn’t really want to be looking for another job with all this Milligan stuff looming over me. He was sure to ruin any chance that I got.
I walked back out of the bedroom and realised that the front door to the apartment was now closed and that the voices were now coming from the living room. I didn’t have much of a choice but to go in there and see who she was and what she wanted. It wasn’t like I could hide out in my bedroom all morning. I wasn’t that ignorant.
As soon as I walked in, a can of Red Bull came flying at my head.
“I thought that you might need it this morning. I heard you tossing and turning all night.” Harper grinned over at me, seemingly back to his normal self. “And, the coffee didn’t seem to do you too much good.”
“Yeah, thanks.” I said, absentmindedly. I was too distracted by the sight of the woman who was sat next to him on the sofa. She was beautiful. There were probably much better words to describe her, but that just about covered it.
She sat smiling from Harper to me, waiting patiently for an introduction. She had long rich blonde hair that hung down her back in soft waves. She had the palest, most mesmerising eyes that I had ever seen. Every single feature on her face was perfect. She had gorgeous almond shaped eyes that were perfectly complimented by arching eyebrows and lashes long enough to be false, but I had a feeling that they were completely natural. She had the kind of cute little button nose that you only ever read about and lips that were full and pouty without looking surgically enhanced.
“Carrie, this is Marissa.”
“Hi, Carrie. Good to meet you.” She said pleasantly in a rich velvety tone.
“Hey.” I replied, feeling a little nervous. I wasn’t sure who she was or why she was here. I had never seen her before and I hadn’t heard Harper mention her before.
“Marissa is here to help us.” He said.
“Why don’t you come and sit down with us and we’ll see what we can come up with to sort this out.” She smiled at me winningly and I found myself sitting down opposite of them with an inane smile on my face.
“Marissa’s been looking forward to meeting you.”
“I really have. I’ve heard a lot about you. Harp never stops talking about you.”
“All good I hope.” The words just kind of slipped out of my mouth. It was the standard reply when someone said that to you.
“All good, I can assure you of that.”
I looked over at Harper and I was surprised by how well he was looking this morning. I d
idn’t think that he got that much more sleep than I had, but he looked as refreshed as he would have if he had slept for a week. He grinned over at me like he knew what I was thinking.
“Marissa is one of us. A Djinn, I mean.” He held her hand tightly. I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy run through me. I had never seen him that close to anyone else but me. Not even with Dee. “We feel revitalised when we are together in our human physical form. It’s a feeling I can’t even describe to you. I feel on top of the world this morning.” He smiled over at Marissa.
“It sure does feel good.”
“She drove all night to come and help us.”
I had to repress a nervous giggle. “It sounds like you’re going to burst into song.”
Marissa looked confused.
“Roy Orbison reference.” Harper muttered to her but she shrugged her shoulders. “She came here to try and help us figure out what to do with Milligan. I’ve told her everything.”
I looked over at her briefly but I didn’t see anything else in her eyes except for the determination to help us. I was glad that I didn’t see any scorn or blame. This was all my fault for being so weak. I didn’t see any disgust in her eyes at my human weakness. I knew that Harper would have told her everything, every little detail, but there was no condemnation in her eyes.
“It’s not too often that we aren’t able to negotiate, even with the Shaitan. But, Milligan sounds like a strong one. I think that it is going to take more than a bit of talking this time.” She said.
“So, what’s the plan, then?” I asked.
Marissa and Harper exchanged a look that I didn’t understand. “We still don’t know yet. We’re still trying to figure that one out.”
I sagged in the seat. I had been hoping for a miracle. I thought that when they said she was here to help us that she would know some way to get him out of my life. No such luck.
“We will figure it all out, I can promise you that, Carrie.” he said, looking determined.
“Yes, we promise.” Marissa said so seriously, like it was a solemn vow.
They started speaking and I tried to follow what they were on about but seeing as none of it made any sense to me, I soon enough lost track. They were talking about clans, royal courts, kings and queens. It just didn’t mean anything to me. This was their world, not mine. It was way out of my league. I sat back and sipped on the energy drink and waited for them to fill me in. I let them get on with it. I knew that they would tell me if they came up with anything of any interest to me. They didn’t even seem to notice when I got up and walked out of the room.
I went to the privacy of my bedroom. Picking up my phone, I rang the hospital for an update on Destiny. There had still been no change. I guessed that whatever had happened to her and the subsequent coma was all down to Milligan. I had the feeling that she would stay that way until he decided otherwise. I hated that he had this kind of hold over all of us. What had Destiny ever done to deserve getting caught up in this?
As I went to go back to Harper and Marissa to see if they had come up with anything, my phone beeped with a text alert. I picked it up without thinking and the moment that I looked at the screen, I wished that I hadn’t. It was a text from Milligan. I didn’t want to read it. I didn’t want anything to do with him. But, I couldn’t help myself. I had to see it.
‘I want you now.’
That was all that it said. A pleasant shiver ran through my body. God help me, but it still felt so good that he wanted me. I knew that it was because he had this freaky hold over me, but I couldn’t seem to shake it off. He wanted me. I wanted him, too. No matter how much I loathed him, I wanted him.
My phone beeped again.
‘You want me, too.’
Shit. It was almost like he was able to read my mind. I made an effort to throw my phone on my bed and let out a frustrated sob. I had no way of controlling this. He was controlling me. I couldn’t fight it. There was no way to fight it. I wanted to be strong, but how long was this going to go on for? I couldn’t even fight him when he was nowhere near me, so how much of a chance would I really have if I actually came face to face with him again? And, I knew that he wasn’t going to stop now. He was getting way too much from me to let me go. I was stuck until Harper and Marissa came up with some kind of solution as to how to get me out of this.
Knowing that I had to do the sensible thing and tell the pair of this about this most recent attempt at contact, I walked over to the bed and gingerly picked up the phone, like I was handling a deadly snake. I dropped it the second that it beeped and vibrated in my hand. It bounded off the hard wood floor a couple of times. I had half hoped that it would be broken or that the screen would have smashed, but when I turned it back over, no such luck. It was fully intact and the screen had lit up with a new message.
‘I’m everything that you want and more. Come to me.’
My finger hovered over the delete button for a moment, but I knew that I couldn’t do that. I had to show them. I looked at the screen one last time and walked quickly back into the living room. Harper and Marissa looked up at me expectantly and I handed over my phone. “I got a text. Well, three actually.”
They both nodded knowingly. “That explains your sudden mood change a few moments ago.” Marissa said, still nodding like one of those nodding dogs that you can get for your car. I almost forgot for a moment that they could ‘read’ me like that and then a thought flashed through my mind.
“So, you feed off of emotions, too, right?”
Marissa smiled. “I know what it is that you are thinking and asking. I am the same as Harper. I am Si’lat. I only feed off of pure, positive energy.”
I nodded like I knew what she was on about.
“And, don’t worry about your energy while I am here. When clan are together in their human physical form, we can feed off of one another.” I must have looked shocked or something, because she added with a playful wink, “I didn’t want you to worry about the two of us draining your life force completely.”
I cleared my throat. In all fairness, I hadn’t even thought of that. I thought I may as well ask some questions while she seemed quite so talkative. “So, are you and Harp in the same clan?”
“Yes, we are. He’s the big boss-man.” Marissa grinned over at him warmly and nudged him with her shoulder. It was clear how close their friendship was and it made me feel a little sad that he had to shield this part of his life from me for all of this time.
“Are you someone’s guardian, too?”
“Not at the moment.”
“So, how does this guardian thingy work exactly? Is it something that’s chosen for you or are you just thrown in at the deep end and have to like it or lump it?”
“In a way, I guess. Certain circumstances send the power that calls to us and we answer it. Like the fire. That’s when you called out, and it was Harper that chose to answer it.”
“You know about that? About the fire? It was a very long time ago.” My voice was a barely there whisper. I hated to talk about it.
“Yes. I know and I am sorry for your loss. But, to us, it doesn’t really seem all that long ago.”
“What do you mean?” I leant forward in my chair, my eyes never leaving hers.
“Carrie, we have a different kind of life span to you. Djinn are capable of living for thousands of years. It is more of an existence than a life. In our time on earth, we live several different lives. This is just one of many.” She gestured to her body.
“Wow. Impressive.”
Marissa giggled a tinkling laughter that seemed to caress my skin. “Yeah, I guess it is pretty impressive.”
“I’ve just had a thought.” Harper said, turning his attention to Marissa and taking her eyes away from me. That was actually fine by me, though. I was out of coherent questions for now, anyway. “Marissa, do you think that I should contact Rhetka?”
“I guess that it would be worth a try. Anything is worth trying.”
“What’s
Rhetka?” I asked.
“Not what. Who. Rhetka is the Queen of the Si’lat. She may have some kind of idea of what we could do with Milligan.”
A queen? A Djinn queen? I didn’t know what to think of that. I had to hope that they would all be able to work it out between themselves. I was clueless about all of this Djinn business.
“How do you even get in contact with her?” Was it like a normal queen where you had to request an audience? Did that really happen in real life anyway? It didn’t really matter. This wasn’t exactly a normal situation. It was about as far as we could get from normal.
“I have to go and see her.”
“Where?”
“It’s not really anywhere that you will be able to understand. It’s not just like getting in the car and going to another place. It’s not a physical place. It all goes much deeper than that.”
I gave him a dumb look and he laughed. “You keep saying that I won’t understand.”
“That’s because you’ve been given a lot to think about already. I don’t want to freak you out with information overload. I’ll explain it all when we’ve got some more time to spare. I can’t get into it now. I’ve got to go.”
“I’m going to be staying here with you.” Marissa said.
Harper nodded. “I don’t want you to be left alone until we have sorted this out.” He stood up.
“You’re going now?”
“Yep. The sooner, the better. If Rhetka can tell us what we need to do, then we can get this over and done with. If not, well, we’ll have to look for answers elsewhere.”
That sounded practical to me, but I didn’t like the idea of him leaving me here, even if Marissa was sticking around to babysit me. Harper didn’t bother to say another word. He simply walked over and kissed me on the top of the head. I looked up at him with wide eyes. I knew that he was doing all of this for me and all I could do was watch him walk out. I expected him to pick up his car keys, but he walked by the table that they sat on. He walked straight into his bedroom and slowly shut the door behind him. I looked over at Marissa in confusion.
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