Unable to process what he’d said, I basked in his warmth, which reduced me to a languid mass in his arms. If he hadn’t held me so close, I might have folded down to his veranda decking like a cooked noodle.
Sighing, he slipped a finger beneath my chin and brought my gaze in line with his. Determination stared back at me from his midnight eyes, the veil lifted to allow a glimpse of the sparkle in their depths. His sweet breath, carrying hints of mint from his toothpaste, washed across my lips as he drew closer. The back of my neck prickled, but it existed far beyond the world we’d slipped into.
At the clearing of someone’s throat, Amun paused with his lips hovering above mine. His brows pinched together.
“I grant you time to save yourself, and this is how you spend it?” Isaac’s petulant tone came through the air like a blade.
Amun spun toward the vampire, shoving me behind him. “What are you doing here?” he growled. “It’s only been a day.”
Although my deep-rooted romantic preened at Amun’s protectiveness, the assertive woman I’d become bristled.
Isaac leaned against the door—our only path to a safe haven—appearing more ragged than I’d ever seen him. His kilt hung askew on his hips, as if he’d dressed in such a hurry he hadn’t done it up tightly enough. Eyes sunken, his piercing black stare cut into me across the distance. His pale complexion and the black veins crawling down his throat suggested he hadn’t fed in a while.
“I expected Miss Hudson to have at least come up with a name for me, but you doona even have that, do you?”
When I blinked, he’d moved away from the door, fists held tight at the ends of stiff arms. He hovered over Amun, the two of them locked in a glare.
“It isn’t for lack of trying,” I said, moving out of Amun’s shadow.
“Apparently you’re not trying hard enough. Do you need a reminder of what happens if you fail?”
Amun unclenched his teeth. “All we need from you, old man, is to leave us be so we can finish what we’ve started.”
“And how do you plan to do that? From what I’ve heard of your conversation, you’re looking for a fish I’m assuming you found traces of within the water the woman left behind?”
How did he know about that?
“Yes,” I said. “We’ve checked out every pet shop in the city, and it’s unlikely to be a home tank given the grouper feces also found in the sample. Most breeds of grouper are far too large to fit in a home-sized tank, according to Amun.”
Isaac scoffed, his glance finding me before returning to the other jinn. “And to think I considered you to be the brightest mind I’d encountered to date.”
My lips parted, aching to deliver a few choice words in his direction. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I wasn’t sure whether to be complimented or insulted.
“It means you’re looking for exotic and large fish, yet you neglect to investigate the largest collection of both in the entire region.”
It took a few seconds for my weary brain to connect the dots. “Oh, mercy. How could I have been so stupid?” Ironhill’s new aquarium. I’d never been there, but I often saw advertisements for it on TV. Being tired wasn’t conducive to effective sleuthing.
A tickle of power along my arm drew my gaze to Amun, as wired for battle as a lit fuse racing toward the TNT. A waver of distortion stood out from his spine. Jinn energy. Bloody hell. It licked along my skin, hungry for destruction, a barely contained tornado about to break free and consume all in its path.
If I felt the power, then it wouldn’t be long before Isaac stopped being angry long enough to notice. I’d accepted that I might die, but I wanted to go down fighting, not because of colliding male egos.
“This cock-wagging solves nothing.” When neither paid me any mind, I muscled my way between them, wiggling until my body separated the two very hard, tense bodies. Isaac’s power bit along my back, while Amun’s tickled my front, both men continuing to stare at each another over my head. Once I maneuvered my palms to rest against the jinn’s chest, I shoved for all I was worth, using Isaac’s solid form for leverage.
Grunting, Amun stumbled back a step and spared me a glance, and not a happy one. “This doesn’t concern you.” He grabbed my arm and pushed me toward the door. “Go back inside while I teach this dead man some manners.”
“Ouch,” I said, rubbing my bicep when he released me. The rest of my chastisement caught in my throat when Isaac’s power smothered me in a stinging blanket.
“Kneel,” he said to Amun in that voice that grabbed me by the soul and demanded I listen. “Doona move until I release you.” Although he hadn’t directed the command at me, I ended up on my hands and knees anyway, unable to raise my forehead from where it pressed against the wooden decking. I weighed a million pounds. Lead filled my limbs. My blood had become fire, heavy with lava, surging through my veins.
A roar from Amun rattled my bones. “You bastard! This is more than a blood trace. You’ve enslaved us!”
Beg pardon? His magic, the incantation. I’d always thought vampiric slavery came about after the taking of a mind and multiple feedings, but clearly I’d been wrong on that, too. “Explain this!”
“Come to me.” Isaac dreamy voice spilled over me, erotic and warm. My body obeyed him, overriding my attempts to clench my muscles. On my feet again, I walked down the steps toward the barn, where he waited. Nothing mattered but getting to him. The resonance of his voice sang through me, offered the promise of safety and comfort, of everything I’d ever wanted.
When I drew near, he offered his hand, and I took it with a frightening sort of desperation.
He turned my arm and inspected it. “How badly did he hurt you?”
From the deep place he’d shoved my consciousness, I crawled up and regained at least some of my faculties. “Funny thing for you to ask, considering you’re going to kill me in two days.” I tugged on my arm to claim it back, but his fingers slipped down to mine and held firm.
His head fell forward, his waves tumbling down to obscure his expression. “Why have you not slept?”
“Don’t insult my intelligence by pretending to be concerned about my wellbeing. Now, let go of me.”
The click of a gun being cocked came from my right. “You heard the lady, dirtbag, let her go,” Harper said. “These babies are filled with fae silver. It’ll make a nice splatter of your eye before it melts your bones. Fe-fi-fo-fum, chum.” She cocked her head gripped the handle with both hands. “Care to try me, you prick?”
“Doona test me, elf.” His eyes turned to shimmering red. My feet moved me into the line of fire, facing Harper and the barrel of her Sig. I strained to move, but my limbs continued to obey him. Mercy mother of hellfire.
“What are you doing, Lou?” Harper ran to her left, but I kept myself between her and Isaac against my will.
“It’s not me.” I sucked at the air, drowning in confusion.
Understanding bloomed in her eyes. “Freakin’ fuckballs.” She dropped the weapon to point at the ground, huffing like a dragon about to make mincemeat out of the vampire. “How did he get you?”
“Long story,” I said, fighting his hold on me, but without evoking my jinn power, I had no defense against the power he had over me. “Now, do what I say and go back inside.”
“I won’t le—”
“Now, Harper! If he wanted to kill me, I’d have been dead by now. Go.”
Shooting a pointed stare over her shoulder at him, she did as I asked, though her pace and posture reeked of defiance. She strode past Amun on the veranda and slammed the door behind her hard enough I expected it to snap at the hinges.
“If you’re done having your fun, Isaac, you need to leave.” Released from his hold, a heavy exhalation slowed my pulse as I turned to face him. “We’re about to follow a lead we picked up today.”
“You’ll stay here.” He gestured toward the jinn with his head. “Let him go, and that half-breed elf.”
I crossed my arms. “I’m the only on
e who’s seen her. This is my problem, not theirs.”
“Why must you always be so stubborn?” Shaking his head, he headed for the car, his kilt swaying around his knees with his strong gait. “If you won’t stay, then I’m going with you.”
I raised my hands and let them fall back to my sides. “You just used me as a human shield, so why the concern? And why not force me to stay if it’s so important to you?” I pointed at him, changing the subject when I realized what I’d said. “You’re a dirty liar. What did you do to us? It wasn’t any blood trace, was it?”
He halted, his gaze fixed on my face. “I own you now. Damaged, you’re not worth as much to me. And if you force me to compel you, I will.”
“Ah! You most certainly do not own me. Now, answer my question. What did you do to us?”
The wind of his movement preceded his appearance before me. “I doona answer to you.” His mouth opened to say more, but he cried out and grabbed the back of his neck.
“Isaac?” Eyes narrowed, I edged forward, searching his flexed body for signs of deception. “What’s happening?”
The air crackled as he flashed out and reappeared in front of Amun, snarled his fist into the jinn’s cotton shirt, and jerked him to his feet. “If any harm should come to her by any other than my hand, your eternity will know only suffering.” As quickly as he’d arrived, he disappeared.
Amun launched his fist into the wooden post and roared with the bellow of some inhuman beast.
“Have you any idea how close you came to exposing your power to him?” Walking on wobbling legs, I came to the bottom of the stairs. “I’m astounded you’d be so careless. Honestly, I don’t know how he didn’t notice.”
Troubled even more by Amun’s silence, I mounted the first step, glaring at him. “And when I try to help you smother the imminent explosion, you shove me aside like a misbehaving dog?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Forgive me. I was so angry. Please tell me I haven’t hurt you.”
“I’ll live, he’s gone, and we have work to do. Can you please get Harper so we can go?” No matter how much Isaac had ticked me off, dug his claws farther into my soul, and destroyed the first tender moment I’d shared with a man in years, he’d still given me the one clue I’d overlooked in my tired state.
If the woman from the pet shop turned up nothing, the aquarium would be our next stop. I was certain I’d just fallen further into the vampire’s pocket, and he’d never allow me to forget that I owed him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Amun parked behind a black van on the street near Pete’s Pet Shack. His sigh told of another imminent argument. “I still say on that point, Isaac was right. You should have stayed behind. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“We’ve been through this,” I said. “I need to be certain we’re tracking the right woman before we make plans to take her down.”
“What?” Amun spun to face me, his lids fallen to a harsh slant. “What do you mean, take her down?”
“Kill her arse,” Harper said from the back seat, “whatcha think she means? Jeez.”
He stared forward as though contemplating how easily he could smash a fist through the windshield. Unbelievable. After everything she’d done to the vampires, to Dominic, and to me, why was he defending her? Because she might be jinn, she’d get a pass?
“Can I speak to you outside, Amun?” I climbed out without awaiting a response and stood beside the van where I imagined Connor Lewiston waited within.
“I can’t believe you’d suggest murder.” Amun’s footsteps tapped against the sidewalk at my rear. “If she is…then she’s our people. We don’t destroy our own—it’s part of the code we’ve always lived by. It’s our law.”
I spun on my heel, hands on my hips, but kept my voice low. “So, it’s perfectly acceptable for her to arrange for Isaac to kill me, is that what I’m hearing?”
“No, it’s not acceptable,” he said, rubbing a palm over his freshly shaven jaw. “I’m not saying she doesn’t have to be stopped. The future diversity of our bloodline hinges on the few females we have left. I know your mother was human, but it’s rare for a child of a mixed couple to inherit the jinn spirit from its father. To destroy her is unthinkable.”
“Then what are you suggesting? That we capture and contain her in a facility somewhere? That you breed her however you please to make sure there are future children?” Bile rose in my throat. “Are you under some delusion she’ll behave herself just because you say so, spread her legs and accept you into her body just to further the race? Because that’s inhumane and disturbing on a primal level.”
Images of Amun with her curdled my blood and made my teeth click together. I wondered if he thought I’d be the bearer of future jinn children, but didn’t have the time to let him know what I thought of that notion. “How can you even think about bringing a child into the world as it is, when we can barely keep ourselves alive?”
A flash of disbelief passed over his stare. “Our race depends on us, Baylou, and our instincts will not step aside and let us go quietly into the night. I don’t know what to do. This is an impossible situation.” He sneered at his shiny black loafers. “I just know we can’t kill her. There has to be a way to make her see reason for the good of us all. If she is one of us.”
I was about to ask him what he meant about our instincts when the side door of the van slid back and Connor hopped out beside me. “Miss Hudson. Nice to see you again.” At my glower, he chuckled. “Aw, come on, now. No hard feelings about the other night?”
I’d give him a hard feeling square in his nose. My focus returned to Amun. “Answer one question for me. Why go to so much trouble to wipe me out if my being female is so precious a commodity? Or is that a cultural drive shared only by the males?”
Connor and Amun exchanged a glance, and even though it was subtle, I caught Amun’s head shake.
“You know, don’t you? You bloody bastards know why she’s doing this, and you haven’t told me.” I folded my arms together and leaned against the van. “So it seems I can’t trust you any more than I can trust Isaac.”
Amun uttered a few curses into his hand. “I knew you wouldn’t understand, and I haven’t had a chance to explain everything to you yet.”
“Then explain it now.” I spat the words at him, done with niceties.
“Everything okay, chica?” Harper hung her head out the window of the car several yards away, her stare scrutinizing Amun, and then me.
“Fine, just give us another minute.” I held up my hand to her.
Another male voice, sweet and familiar, came from the driver’s seat of the van. Elias the flower delivery boy, I presumed. “You might want to get inside. The girl’s coming out.”
I waved madly at Harper to join us and climbed into the middle seat behind Elias.
“Nice to see you again.” The young jinn’s smiling hazel eyes found me in the rear-view mirror.
Unable to help myself, I leaned forward and squeezed his shoulder. “Hello again.” Why had Amun brought a child into my war? I’d be giving him a sharp piece of my mind later. “Do we know if she drives or walks?”
Elias shrugged, leaning around the seat to show me his profile and a pink cheek. “I guess we’ll find out in a second.”
Harper and Connor ended up in the back seat, and Amun plunked down beside me. “We’re not done talking about this,” I whispered to him. “The instant we find a moment, you will tell me everything, and I mean everything, including why you thought it appropriate to drag a boy into harm’s way.” After what happened to Dom, I couldn’t bear the thought of another innocent losing his life because of me.
Amun nodded and tried to take my hand, but I angled myself away and stared out the tinted window. The blonde hussy stood on the sidewalk in front of the store, looking up and down the street.
“Looks like she’s waiting for someone, and there’s no bus stop there.” Elias righted himself in the seat and started the van. “Guess we’l
l be following a car.”
Only a few moments passed before a bright orange Mazda 3 came along and stopped in front of the girl. Amun punched the license plate into his phone for safe keeping, while I concentrated on the driver. “Male, young, with a shaved head and large silver rings in his ears if that’s what I’m seeing.”
“Sounds hot.” Harper snorted, her amusement fizzling out when I cast my stare on her. “Sorry.” She shrugged, withdrawing the giant green lollypop from her mouth. “It’s been, like, a week since I’ve gotten laid. A girl has needs, you know.”
Every male eye in the van turned on my friend, especially Connor’s, whose gaze held more heat than I was comfortable being in the same room with.
“Oh, please,” I muttered. “Can we focus, please?”
The car took off. Elias waited a few moments for stealth’s sake, then pulled a U-turn in the middle of the street. To have a better view, I crawled between the bucket seats and took the vacant passenger side one. The girl’s arms flailed about her head within the car, and the rapid movement of her lips suggested she wasn’t speaking kindly to the man.
Interesting. “I think they’re fighting about something.”
“Hey,” Harper shouted over the road noise, “do you suppose this is blonde bimbo’s man, or the water witch’s?”
I squinted harder. “Either way, we only need one of them to lead us to her. If this doesn’t bear fruit, we can have Gerry run the plate for us while we go to the aquarium.” It occurred to me I should have called him, but I didn’t want to risk bringing him into my mess if I didn’t need to.
“They’re not going to Olivia’s house,” Amun said, showing me the map on his phone. “She lives on Cranbrook Crescent, and we just went by the juncture that would take us there.”
I tapped my foot, willing her to lead us where we needed to go, wherever that may be. After three more turns, taking us to the east side of the city, I knew. I drew in a breath that had difficulty finding its way out again. “They’re going to the aquarium. Yes! They’re going to the bloody aquarium!” Elation ran a hot course through me. It took effort not to bounce up and down like a complete loon.
Stone Chameleon (Ironhill Jinn #1) Page 21