“Do you know this woman?” Isaac turned the photo toward me, his jaw tight.
My hand went to my mouth as I recognized Rachel smiling back at me in the arms of a redheaded vampire. “Rachel. She’s our resident nurse, granddaughter of Dr. Courian.” I wondered how he didn’t know her, but I supposed he’d never actually been inside of the reservation, and she rarely left.
“What is she?” No inflection gave me a hint as to his state of mind.
“She’s part kelpie and part mermaid, if I’m to believe the doctor.” I shook a finger at him. “That would explain why Albert might have a pool. Not for himself, but for the one he loves.” And judging by the adoration in the vampire’s gaze, she was his world, and he was hers.
Good lord, she may not even know he was dead. The last time she left the reservation was several weeks ago. I had no idea she’d been dating anyone.
Isaac was suddenly in front of me, and I no longer had to guess at the state of his emotions. The appearance of his fangs did the job well enough. “And is it some gigantic coincidence that a woman of the water is dating one of my missing vampires, who just happens to have a pool in my district where Olivia said this so-called murderer is residing, and that vampire is now dead?”
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. “I swear to you Rachel has nothing to do with this, other than being the cause for Albert to have somewhere for Celeste to swim. I’d wager my life on it, and the lives of all whom I love.”
He stepped closer, sniffing at me like a wolf to a kill while I trembled in his powerful shadow. “If I discover you’ve covered for this Rachel, then you’ll beg for release from your pitiful life before I grant it.”
I swallowed the lump of fright from my throat. “Rachel would never hurt anyone.”
“So you say.” Gripping my shoulders, he spun me around and pointed me toward the door. “Let’s find the pool, shall we?”
It took us a while to find the entrance to the basement. My tingling nerves told me we were close to discovering Celeste’s hideout, and I needed confirmation.
“This space was built with magic, not tools,” Isaac said as we descended carpeted stairs. “That’s how Albert created it without my knowledge. He must have paid a warlock to do this for him. Any construction must be approved by me. If Albert turns out to be alive, then he’ll answer for this.”
For Albert’s sake, I hoped he was already forever dead. I almost asked Isaac why he cared what his vampires built for themselves, but decided I didn’t want to rattle that can of scorpions to see what crawled out to sting me.
The scent of fresh growing plants and tropical humidity enveloped me as I sped down the last few steps. The cavernous space resembled a jungle, complete with palm trees and oversized ferns. Moss-covered vines dangled from several places along the ceiling.
The water looked more like an oasis at the bottom of a crystal waterfall than a pool, lined with natural stone slabs, each one of which would have required the strength of a few dozen trolls to move by hand. The same eerie blue light I’d seen at the high school pool filtered up from within the water.
Albert had built this sanctuary as a gift for Rachel. How dare that water bitch desecrate it?
“I canna distinguish the smell of Celeste from the smell of the pool,” Isaac said, glaring at the water as if trying to come up with a way to hurt it. “I canna tell if she’s been here recently or not.”
“So you believe she’s real, and I’m not just trying to lead you away from me?” Dammit, why did I have to put that idea into his head? “How do you know what she smells like?”
“What I believe is irrelevant without proof for the council. And I know what she smells like, because I picked it up on your skin the night Marina was killed, like the sea in the early morning, slightly fishy with a touch of sweetness. You carry her scent even now, under your vanilla soap and shampoo.”
I lifted my hand to sniff, but got nothing but the vanilla. Thinking of our next steps, I considered a few scenarios, any involving Isaac ending poorly. “So you smelled her on me, yet you kept me in that cell the entire time, knowing I was innocent.”
He said nothing, only gave me a black stare and went back to inspecting the room.
Although a few sharp words sat on my tongue, I didn’t spit them out. Time was short, and I needed him gone. “I’m sure you have hive business to attend to. Why don’t you bring Amun and Harper here, and we’ll wait for her to return?”
“Why are you trying to get rid of me?” His head made a slow turn. “Are you so afraid to be alone with me?”
“I’m not afraid to be alone with you,” I said with indignation. “You told me to bring you proof, and that’s what I intend to do. Her head in a bag if I can manage it. It would be helpful if you’d return my stone to me.”
“You are.” A smile broke across those full lips, one that halted the function of my heart for a few beats. “You’re afraid to be alone with me. Is your attraction to me so strong?”
“Attr—what are you bloody going on about?” I tossed up a hand. “We don’t have time for this. Even if I was afraid, would it be such a shock for a woman to be scared of a vampire who’s threatened her life on numerous occasions, the latest of which he meant wholeheartedly and still might carry out in the next twenty-four hours?”
That wiped his smile off in a hurry. My shining black rock appeared in his hand, pinched between two fingers. “Tell me why this so precious to you, and I’ll return it.”
“Why is it so important to you to know?”
He stood taller if that was possible, given his ancient highland warrior stature. “Answer me.”
“My mother gave it to me. Satisfied?”
He took slow deliberate steps to me, his gaze never leaving the stone. Every instinct told me to flee, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction at the moment. “When I asked you to tell me the reason, I meant the real one.” His eyes rolled up to stare at me, and to my immense relief, they remained black. “Why do you continue lying to me when you know you canna succeed?”
I swallowed and stared at his fangs, mere inches away from me. Perhaps I’d give him just enough truth and omit the dangerous bits to suit him? “When I was eighteen, I went base jumping in Mexico at Sótano de las Golondrinas.”
His brows bunched together. “The Cave of Swallows? You leaped into a giant hole with nothing but a parachute strapped to your body?”
“Yes, and don’t sound so shocked. I like a little adventure in controlled doses.”
“Noted.” His lip twitched. “So you found the stone there?”
I nodded, sighing at the memory. “It was the most magical place I’ve ever been, pulsing with a life of its own. At the bottom, there’s another sinkhole in the limestone where the rainwater drains into. I found the stone imbedded in the wall of the sinkhole.”
I smiled, remembering the limestone singing to me in such a sweet, resonant song, and the black rock that beckoned me to it, whispered its secrets and begged me to take it for my own. “The rainwater had worn it smooth. It’s black ebony stone, the only one of its kind known to exist, so I’m thinking someone might have thrown it in, perhaps to make a wish. It could be from another realm all together. For me, it holds the same pulse of magic as the Cave of Swallows, grounds me to the earth and helps me focus.”
Isaac took a step back and lifted the stone, turning it in his fingers. “I feel nothing but cold stone and see nothing but a plain black rock.”
“That’s because you’re feeling with only your fingers and looking with only your eyes. I see an angry, territorial vampire when I look at you. Is that all you are, Isaac? A monster bent on dominating the world through fear? Or is there more to you I might see if only you’d let me, if I look with my heart and soul instead of my eyes?”
His jaw drew tight, as if I’d slapped him with all my might. “You know nothing about me.”
The air crackled. Every hair on my body stood on end, prickling my skin. The stone appeared in my pal
m, and I found myself alone in the underground jungle.
“That could have gone better.” At least he’d gone, solving one of my many problems.
Harper and Amun appeared a moment later. She fell into a fern, retching, while Amun’s arm shot out like a surfer trying to balance on his board.
“What just happened?” He rushed to me and crushed me in his arms. “Lou? Sands of hell, I didn’t know what he’d done with you.”
“I’m safe for now, though I think I just upset Lord Grouchy Britches more than I intended to.” I basked in Amun’s warmth, allowing my hands to slide up the firm panels of his back. “We need to figure out what to do before he cools off and comes back, and before Celeste arrives.”
If she arrived.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Maybe we can knock her out before she changes to water,” Amun said from where he sat on one of the stone slabs lining the pool.
“Knock her out? Are you nuts?” Harper ripped into two more Pixy Stix and upended them into her mouth. “She’s trying to kill Lou. Nobody messes with my bestie and gets away with it. I’ll plug one between her eyes. Game over.”
Amun growled a threat.
I gestured to the tropical oasis. “What are we even doing here? We must be mad to linger so close to water. She can pull us all under and my magic will react. Even if I changed, being stone doesn’t negate my need for air, and if my primal instincts erupt, I could end up killing you both.”
Harper shot me a wary look, but averted it without saying anything. It hadn’t occurred to me she didn’t yet know what sort of jinn I was.
“What do you suggest we do, then?” Amun’s shoulders straightened, all business. “We have little more than twenty-four hours left.”
“We need to lure her somewhere out in the open, where the chances of anyone getting hurt diminishes. Now that I have my stone back, I can transform much faster.”
“And how do we lure her out?” He got up and paced along the edge of the pool. “She’s skittish, smart, and we have nothing of value that would make her risk herself like that. All she has to do is hide until the council orders Isaac to execute you, and she’s home free. She’ll claim the entire pod, including Elias, and Isaac will own me. Sands of hell, you don’t suppose he’d turn me into one of his disciples, do you?”
Over my desiccated corpse. “I won’t let that happen. She must have something she cherishes. If she’s as proud as you say, I’d wager she kept something of her mother’s.” I pushed at my hair that frizzed in the humidity. “We just have to find it.”
When the two of them remained where they sat, I said, “It’s not going to find itself. Help me.”
Harper joined me, spreading foliage, darting around trees and vines. “What am I looking for?” Shoving a square of chocolate past her lips with one hand, she lifted a potted plant with the other.
“No idea,” I said, stopping at the stairs leading into the water. Several fish, one quite large, floated through the underwater paradise. “She’s of the water.”
Amun stood beside me. “Yes, if she has something precious, it would be in the water.”
When I kicked off my shoes, Amun touched my arm. “I know I haven’t been much help to you, so let me do this much at least.”
I smiled at him, tired enough to be thankful for his help. “That would be kind of you. Thanks.”
He peeled his T-shirt over his head, revealing his tight body in one staggering blow. The swish of fabric accompanied the descent of his slacks and socks to the floor, leaving him in nothing but a clingy pair of blue shorts. His backside flexed as he dove head first into the deep pool.
Harper whistled. “Hot damn. I’m surprised the water didn’t go up in a puff of steam with that fine man slipping his smoking hot ass in there like that.”
“Harper!” I glared at her, which earned me a shrug.
“What? It isn’t like you didn’t look.”
I tracked Amun’s shadow moving around the bottom of the pool. “I did no such thing.”
“I heard that little sigh and saw your tongue pinched in your lips the second he dropped his drawers.”
“Ah! I did not.” Did I? Bloody hell. “Even if I did, you shouldn’t be looking. You’re dating that young officer, are you not?” And he’s mine, whispered through my mind before I cut it off short.
Amun surfaced, shoving his wet curls away from his face in a sensual movement that contracted my belly and everything lower. He filled his lungs and dove again.
I expelled a jagged breath, released from his visual spell.
“Oh. My. God. You’ve got it really bad for him, don’t you? Worse than I thought.” Harper twittered a bright laugh, ripping the cellophane from a Twinkie. “The prim and proper Lou Hudson has fallen head over tits for the mighty Amun Bassili.”
“Shut it.” I walked around the perimeter, hugging myself. “So, I find him attractive. It doesn’t mean I’m falling for him, just admiring the view, all right? And how do you eat that garbage all day long and not end up four hundred pounds?”
“Being part elf has its benefits.” Her silence drew my gaze to her. She kicked at a broken chunk of rock with the toe of her boot. “Hey, is there some jinn allergy to sugar, and that’s why you always turn me down when I used to bother asking?”
“You could say that. It turns me into a very dangerous drunk.”
She grinned, but it faded. “You seem to like rock, so I’m guessing you’re an earth elemental. Can I ask one thing? You know, about the other night?”
I straightened and steeled myself for the question I feared answering. “You want to know why I bit him, and if we did what it looked like we were doing.” Good lord. I’d almost had my first true sexual encounter in a public aquarium.
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s one of those dangerous bits of information.”
I searched out the ebony in my pocket. “To make a long story short, the biting is sort of a jinn engagement thing.” At her dropped jaw, I quickly added, “But I didn’t know what it meant until after. I won’t be going through with the rest of the ceremony, whatever it is. The marks are just a symbol of our attraction to one another. And no, I haven’t slept with him.” Even though I wanted to with every fiber of my being, knowledge that painted my face with shame.
Amun burst through the surface, holding a glass box in his hands. “I found something.”
Saved from my embarrassment, I took the box from him and set it with care on the deck. “What do you suppose it is?”
Harper bent down and lifted the lid, flashing me a sardonic look. “Why not just open it?”
Yes, why not, indeed? Perhaps I was afraid it would turn out to be nothing.
I took out a roll of bubble wrap from within and unfurled it. Inside, I found a glass sculpture of a nude woman with her arms extended upwards, a shell resting in her upturned palms. “Beautiful and quite intricate,” I said, turning it around.
“There’s something else,” Amun said. After a long hesitation, he fished out a silver chain adorned with small hand-carved charms around its length. His fingers curled around it, and he closed his eyes.
I rested my hand on his shoulder. “Amun? Have you seen this before?”
“This was Caroline’s.”
Harper squatted beside me for a better look. “Who’s that? And how do you know?”
“She was Celeste’s mother.” Amun breathed the words. “Isaac killed her. And I know because I made it for her when I believed we might one day be together.”
Fighting off an ugly squirming within, I rolled the sculpture back up in the plastic, pried the necklace from Amun’s grasp, and returned both objects to the glass box under Harper’s questioning stare.
“We have her treasure,” I said, tucking the box under my arm as I stood. “Now we only have to hope it’s important enough for her to come and get it back.”
“I have a feeling it will be.” Staring everywhere but at me, Amun dressed.
“Great.” Harp
er clapped her hands free of Twinkie crumbs. “That leaves one question—where do we lead this liquid bitch to so I can bend her arse around my foot?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Connor turned into Amun’s lane minutes before 3:00 a.m. after we called him for a ride. Isaac had damaged my car so badly the engine wouldn’t turn over, and he didn’t bother coming back to make sure we made it out of his territory without being eaten. How thoughtful of him.
Harper snored softly beside me in the back seat, her head slumped on my shoulder. The sweetness of her breath made my teeth hurt. When we came to a stop in front of the dark ranch house, I nudged her until she groaned, and then tugged her out of the car and toward the front steps.
“Do you think she’ll take the bait?” Connor took the stairs two at a time and opened the door for us.
“She will, or I’ll find another way. I won’t allow any of you to fall into her psychotic hands.” Weariness dragged against my voice, but it lifted at Connor’s relieved sigh.
“Even if she does come, how do we stop her?” Amun came in behind us and flopped onto the sofa.
They all looked to me, even Harper, who’d perked up since I’d urged her down on a hard rocking chair. The powder on her lips suggested the reason, having downed another few Pixy Stix.
Turning my stone over in my fingers, I listened to its unique harmony, hoping it would chase away the shred of jealousy remaining over Amun’s reaction to the necklace. It didn’t work. I wanted to ask him if he still loved Caroline, but my nerves couldn’t handle a positive answer, so I remained silent.
“I think the first priority should be to detain her,” I began. “I can raise the bedrock and erect a barrier around her no matter what form she’s in, but if she comes as water, it has to be solid. Even a small crack will allow her to escape.”
“Then I shoot her?” Harper waved her Sig at the ceiling.
Amun rose to an imposing stance, sneering down at my friend.
I jumped up and blocked his view, tilting his face in line with mine when he tried to side-step around me. “I’m trying to understand the culture, Amun, I truly am. Your instincts tell you she must be protected at any cost. But you must also see my point of view. If saving another vampire from final death and saving you and Elias and the others from becoming Celeste’s play things means I need to kill her, I’ll do it and accept the consequences.”
Stone Chameleon (Ironhill Jinn #1) Page 28