by Eve Langlais
Five
There was no pounding this time to warn her. Simply a shriek from her major-domo. He didn’t like being startled, which made her wonder how anyone managed. Usually Ainsley answered the door before people could even lift a fist to knock.
Could it be…?
She almost slapped her hand as it rose to pat at her hair. She remained seated on her sofa as Ainsley appeared at the door, his expression grave, the epitome of a good manservant. His lessons from Zane’s prim and proper Hendricks were paying off.
“My queen, you have a visitor. Where do you wish to—?”
“No time for that.” A man shoved past him, and she was struck by two things: One, he was quite lovely with a light brown complexion and dashing earring in his ear, and two, he was a djinn. Not the same one as before, though.
“Who are you?” And where was Tariq?
“I am Jamaal, and you must be the delightful queen I heard nothing about.” He grabbed her hand, and she allowed him to kiss the back of it, the soft press of his lips a contrast to the twisted skin of the scar across half his face.
“You’re early.” Late afternoon wasn’t seven p.m.
“I would have been earlier, but I had to make a few stops along the way. Where are Azzam and Tariq?”
“How would I know?”
He gave her a sharp glance. “I was supposed to meet them here.”
“Weren’t you travelling together?”
“We were until the ambush occurred and we were separated.”
She blinked. “What ambush?”
“The one on the train. Which isn’t important. What is salient is the fact Tariq should have been here by now.”
“He was this morning. But he left.”
“Not that visit.” The djinn named Jamaal paced. “That bastard stayed behind, I’ll wager. Took them on all by himself. Thinks I can’t handle a few bullets.” Said in a disgruntled grumble.
“Someone was shooting at you?” She tried to piece together the story.
“Our train car looked like Swiss cheese when I left.”
“I didn’t think you could be killed that easily.” Even vampires could handle gunfire. It was beheading and daylight that were the real issues.
“Under normal circumstances, we aren’t.”
Good to know this wasn’t normal. Then again, she’d kind of guessed that given the djinn were the ones to contact her out of the blue. “Are you under attack? Is someone targeting you?”
“Did the scars give it away?” He pointed mockingly to his face.
She barely gave the marks a second glance. People with long lives didn’t remain unscathed. She had the mark of the cross burned in one thigh by a zealous priest. “Who is hunting you? Humans?” Because his description of the ambush thus far seemed to point at them.
“If only it were just humans. We could handle them. Alas, we are being decimated by the only thing strong enough to counter our magic,” said Jamaal.
“Who?” She tapped her foot impatiently as he resorted to drawing out the drama. “Get to the point.”
But it wasn’t Jamaal who answered.
“Not who, what. Demons,” announced Tariq as he strode into the room.
“Does no one know how to knock and wait to be announced?” she declared, only to be ignored.
Tariq chose to address Jamaal. “You made it unharmed, I see. Excellent. Where is Grandfather?”
“How would I know? I left him with you. Don’t tell me you lost him.”
“Maybe. I was busy keeping those hell-spawned demons from jumping into new bodies and following Azzam.”
“They’re still after us?”
“Who’s after you?” Felicia asked. “Would someone bloody well tell me what’s happening?”
Tariq turned his gaze on her, the playful shine of the morning replaced with a serious mien. “It’s a long story.”
“Try giving me a condensed version.”
“Demons. Possession. Eradication of my kind. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll explain more later. Right now, I need to locate Azzam.”
Given he’d stolen whatever retort she had with his claim, she kept her lips shut as Tariq closed his eyes. Whatever he did—magic, or something else—caused his scent to spike.
Delicious. She almost licked her lips.
He snapped his eyes open suddenly and declared, “He’s almost here. I’d better go meet him.”
“I’ll tell the gate to let his car past.” She slid her finger across the screen of her phone to notify the gatehouse.
“He’s not arriving by conventional means. How do we access your rooftop terrace?”
She didn’t ask how he knew about it. Her garden atop the house wasn’t exactly a secret. “Why?”
“You’ll see.”
See what? Curiosity made her say, “You can reach it only through my bedroom. If you’ll both follow me.”
“Two of us. Kinky,” Jamaal teased.
Felicia shot him a glare as she passed him. “If you’re not male enough to satisfy me on your own, then you don’t belong in my bed.” She never was one to share. But her gaze softened as it swept past Jamaal to Tariq. “Do you remember the way?”
“As if I’d forget. After you.” He swept a bow and waggled a brow at her as she strode past. She wondered if she imagined the heat of his stare on her backside. She also wondered if he’d cast some djinn lust spell on her to make her panties wet. If he thought bedding her would be that easy, then she’d have to show him. Just because she had her legs stripped of hair didn’t mean he wouldn’t have to work to see them wrapped around his waist.
Arriving at the bedroom, she flung open the double doors and entered a sanctuary that was…
“Holy Muhammad and his concubines. It’s like a bottle of Pepto barfed all over her room,” Jamaal exclaimed.
Not quite. There were many white and silver accents to break up the preponderance of pink. She liked it. It was her girly sanctuary away from the politics of court.
“I’m going to guess you like the color pink,” Tariq stated.
“Don’t act so surprised. You saw it this morning.”
“Briefly, and at the time I was more focussed on the fact you thought you could choke me to death one-handed.”
She tilted her chin. “I have been told I am strong.” The exact term usually also included freakish when she had to display said strength.
“You’re also cute when you’re just woken up.”
Such an utterly stupid and masculine thing for him to say and yet it shut her mouth more effectively than any insult.
“The roof terrace is through there.” The massive sliding doors could retract into the walls and open up her room to the garden she’d created outside. In the daytime, metal shades locked over them.
Some legends persisted in putting vampires underground to avoid daylight. Those people obviously never survived a cave-in. Much easier to escape from the top floor of a house than when you were buried under tons of its rubble.
She took her time following Tariq and his long-legged stride. Jamaal caught up to him. With the brothers standing side by side, she noted some of their similarities. The build of their bodies, with Jamaal a touch slimmer. They both had dark hair, with Tariq choosing to keep his trimmer. He also sported a beard and moustache, whereas Jamaal kept his jaw clean-shaven.
No denying they were related, and now they awaited the arrival of their grandfather, another djinn. Would he arrive via something rustic like a Turkish carpet? Or would he be more extravagant and coast in on the back of a dragon? Or was she being speciesist? Could be he hired a helicopter and would jump out.
One thing was for sure, the djinn were nothing as expected, and more interesting than she could have hoped.
She leaned against a column of Grecian stone, an authentic antique. Costly, too, given she bought it from an excavation that went to auction on the black market. It formed part of the pergola that provided shade for her delicate skin.
The djinn didn�
�t fear the sunlight. They stood tall in it, faces turned to the sky, arguing in low tones.
“I can’t believe you did that to Azzam. He is going to kill you,” Jamaal snickered.
“He’s alive. He can be grateful.”
“Azzam grateful?” For some reason, both the men laughed at the thought.
But that laughter died as Tariq announced, “He’s here.”
One moment the sky was still clear, those nasty rays waiting to singe her skin if she stepped out into the light, and then the next, there was a chair in the sky.
A literal seat torn from something, the base of it was a pair of metal tracks. Sitting within its padded comfort, an old man, his robes a dark navy trimmed in silver, his beard pointed and long, the top of his head covered in a ball cap.
The floating seat landed in her garden, and then she was treated to the old fellow leaping from it and cuffing Tariq on the arm.
“Don’t you ever do that again!”
“You’re welcome.”
“Welcome for what? It rained.” The man they called Azzam pointed to his robes.
“You dried.” Tariq’s dry reply.
“No thanks to you. You should have let me stay behind and help you fight those men.”
“Fight?” Tariq queried. “I did no such thing.”
“Did they die?” Azzam snapped.
“I merely defended myself. It was their own fault they died. All they had to do was stop firing their guns.”
“How many did you kill?” Felicia waved a hand. “Forget that. Doesn’t matter. Who did they work for, and more importantly, will they follow your trail here?” Felicia fired the questions at him because it became clear whatever shit had sent him fleeing from his country had followed.
“Are you afraid, my mighty vampire queen?”
Her turn to show disdain. “Merely wondering if we should pack the antiques so they don’t get damaged in any coming battles.” She was still peeved at the loss of the Ming vase during World War II.
“You should be afraid because even you and all your minions can’t stop the coming menace.”
“Would you like some ominous music with your announcement?” She arched a brow. “That was seriously cliché.”
“But true. A great danger is coming, a threat to everyone, not just djinn.”
“I know, you already said it. Demons. And too late, my bottle-loving, bearded guest, I’ve already met one.”
Six
“Met one?” Tariq blinked at Felicia and couldn’t help but enjoy the sight of her again. Just the right height to tuck under his chin, with long dark hair and a shapely figure. While her appearance might be that of a young woman, forever frozen in time, her eyes and expression held the wisdom and intelligence of age. “When did you see the demon? Have they already begun to strike?” He’d thought the problem still contained to the Middle East. Then again, the attack today showed the enemy’s powers were beginning to creep farther and farther.
“I met it a few hours before your first visit.”
“How did you survive?” Then his brow darkened, and he held out his hand and called forth a sword, one that flamed on the sharp edge. “Are you allied with the foul creatures?”
Her eyes widened, and then her full lips parted to release a throaty laugh. “Allied with demons? Did the lack of oxygen in your bottle addle your wits? Of course I’m not working with them. I said I met one. Damned thing possessed a friend of mine to give us a message.”
“What did it say?”
“Not much. Basically, ‘We’re coming for you.’”
Tariq frowned. A fiend giving warning? “You claim it spoke through your friend. Is she allied with demons?”
“Ella?” The queen snorted. “Hardly. It possessed her, and she tossed it. Then it possessed someone else and tried to kill Zane. Which wasn’t a brilliant thing to do. It’s dead now.”
“Doubtful it died. Their spirit usually moves on to another host. Who are this Ella and Zane?” Tariq asked.
“People I need to talk to.”
“I agree. Have them fetched at once.” Tariq forgot himself for a moment and commanded the queen.
She arched a brow. “Excuse me, but you don’t give the orders around here.”
“Very well. You can demand their presence. But we must make haste. I don’t know if we have much time. Our journey took longer than expected.” The last jab was aimed at his grandfather, who pretended innocence.
“I can’t order them to come because I don’t know where they are. After the attack, they went into hiding. I was planning to go find them once the sun goes down. You can come with me if you’d like.”
“Leave? But we’ve just arrived.” And while he retained enough of his pride to not complain, he did feel fatigue pulling. Djinn were powerful, but even they required rest and sustenance, especially after expending great amounts of magic.
“Then I guess I’ll go alone.”
Forget getting any rest. “If you’re going, then I’m coming with you.”
“Me too,” Jamaal declared.
As for Azzam, he grimaced. “I am not chasing a skirt looking for peons.” Which, given the weariness enhancing his wrinkles, translated to: I’m old and need a nap.
“Jamaal, stay here with him.” Tariq jerked his head at Azzam. “Make sure he doesn’t cause another lawsuit by pinching the maids’ cheeks again.”
Jamaal opened his mouth to argue, and Tariq shook his head. “Rest. I’ll be back.”
As he turned to join Felicia, they were all startled by a bright voice exclaiming, “Where’s everyone going? Can I come?”
He froze as he noticed the petite woman framed by the pink bedroom at her back. A woman he never noticed approaching. A woman who sent a chill through him.
There was nothing menacing about her. He could blow her over with a single breath. She appeared fragile and almost fey-like. Yet that was just a sham. She was power. He saw it, saw past her fleshy dimension to another level, where she glowed all the colors of a rainbow, only caught in tiny glimpses through the maelstrom of gray smoke swirling around her.
“What is she?” He’d never seen the like.
But his grandfather had. “A witch!” He pointed a finger.
“If you say ‘burn the witch,’ I will kill you.” A man stepped to the woman’s side, his eyes dark with the cold promise of death. He angled himself protectively in front of the petite blonde.
Azzam chuckled. “Burn her? Why would I kill our only salvation?”
Hard to reply to that kind of thing, but Jamaal managed. “What did you put in your cereal today? Because the crazy coming out of your mouth is off the charts even for you.”
“I am not crazy.”
Looking at the queen, Tariq mouthed, “Yes he is.” To which he got a smile. One that even managed to reach her eyes. He found himself staring. Mesmerized.
Which confused him. Since when did that happen? Usually, he was the one captivating women. Yet, here he found himself drawn to five feet of curves and courage. He couldn’t forget how she’d fearlessly gone after him with a firm grip. She never once wavered even though he wished upon her his most successful smoldering gaze.
She didn’t melt and take off that ridiculous sleeping gown. What woman wore such a voluminous thing? She belonged in lingerie, or nothing at all.
Yet, at the same time, he’d never seen anything so arousing. In his recollection, he could almost make out her willowy shape through the gauzy fabric.
And now she wore something just as ridiculous. Linen slacks with wide legs, cinched at her waist, her flowered blouse tucked in, the buttons done almost to the neck. Did she do it on purpose to seduce with her attire?
“Ella. Zane,” the queen exclaimed. “I was about to go looking for you.”
“You would have had a hard time finding us. We spent the day in seclusion,” Zane proffered.
“In a hotel. With a Jacuzzi tub and room service.” The small woman named Ella blushed. “We didn’t leave all day
.”
The queen ignored that to get to the point. “I got the message about Zane being shot. Are you fully healed?” Felicia approached the couple and gripped Zane by the jaw. She turned his face and eyed a spot on his cheek that appeared discolored compared to the rest of him.
“I am—” Zane began, only to have Ella interrupt.
“Someone shot him. In the face!”
“They obviously didn’t have good aim.” Jamaal felt compelled to interject.
“Actually, they did. I almost died, but Ella saved me.”
That caught Felicia’s attention for some reason. She turned to the woman. “What did you do?”
“I don’t know.” The petite woman shrugged.
“You healed him.”
“Maybe. Just a little. He mostly healed himself.”
“Only because she managed to somehow remove the worst of the brain damage,” Zane interjected “What should have taken days or weeks to recover from took only minutes.”
Ella clung to Zane’s arm. “He was so hungry after, too. Good thing the ghosties grabbed hold of the shooter. Zane needed him for a snack,” Ella announced, as if eating a person was the most natural thing in the world. Then again, given her mate was a vampire, it probably was.
Felicia continued to question Ella. “I never knew you could use your powers to heal.”
“Me either.” She shrugged. “And before you ask, I have no idea how I did it. I just got upset, and it happened.”
“Happened?” Tariq queried. “Magic doesn’t just happen. It needs form and structure.”
“Maybe for other people. Me, I kind of wing it.” A bright smile went with the declaration.
“Healing wasn’t the only thing she did.” Zane angled his head at his wife. “Tell them what happened to the car.”
“I’d rather not. She’ll get mad,” Ella said in a loud whisper with a glance at Felicia.
The queen crossed her arms. “What else did you do?”
“Well, once Zane went all fanged and jumped out of the car to eat his shooter, I might have had a bit of a panic attack and peeled open the car like a sardine can.”
A sigh escaped Felicia. “What did I say about using your powers in noticeable ways?”