Stone Chameleon (Ironhill Jinn #1) (16 page)

A woman’s unfamiliar voice, deep and sultry, spoke into my ear. “Your boy is so much fun to play with, Baylou. He can’t swim, did you know that?” Her laughter sliced through me like a serrated blade. “Come and play with us tonight. We’re at Ironhill High School, where I believe you went, did you not?” Her tone sharpened, though it dropped in volume. “Don’t keep me waiting long. Boredom might drive me to do something rash.”

I tossed the handset on the bed, grabbed black slacks from my dresser, and tugged them on. While dialing Harper on my cell, I struggled into a black T-shirt.

After a few rings, she answered, “Yeah?”

“Where are you?” I all but shouted. “It’s a woman. She’s at the high school with Dom.”

“What? How do you know that?”

“She left a message on my bloody answering machine.”

The air in her car must have been blue with the profanity passing her lips. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but every direction I take there’s an accident.” Her tires screeched. “Dammit, are you blind, arsehole?”

“I can’t wait for you. Get there if you can, and call Gerry, and…that’s it. Just call Gerry.” I would not bring Isaac in unless I had no other choice.

“Don’t you dare go there by yourself! This is a total setup.”

“I made a promise to his grandmother, and I mean to keep it.” I ended the call and strapped on every weapon I had. Throwing knives went around my ankles, the elven blades on my arms, and the katana on my back.

Benny chastised me as I strode past him. “Sorry, friend, but I don’t have time to chat tonight.” If I stopped, the fear nipping at my heels might outrun the adrenaline and determination driving me forward.

F
orcing every speck of my attention to the road and not the scenarios playing out in my mind, I drove through the bright lights of the city. A flick of my finger turned up the radio. I used the music to drown out the voice shouting from the back of my head that insisted I was about to deliver myself into a murderer’s hands.

What did she want with me? The tone of her message sounded personal. Other than my mother, I had no family, no friends I’d parted ways with on bad terms. Did she hate the jinn, discover my roots, and plan to destroy me? If I left Dom to die, and yet another child was taken from his grandmother’s world, I’d die inside, anyway. No matter how dangerous it might be, I had to go.

The stoplight ahead turned red, forcing me to hop on the brakes. I squirmed in my seat, wringing my hands around the steering wheel as a group of young teens ambled across in front of me toward the movie theatre. “Come on, come on, come on,” I chanted, begging the light to change. It seemed to be the longest red light of all time.

She could be hurting him. She could be drowning him or carving out his heart right now.

I pounded my palm on the wheel. The instant the green flashed, I shoved the accelerator down and sped away from the intersection. Three blocks to go. It might as well have been three continents for the distance it represented in my frantic perception.

My phone buzzed against my hip bone as I pulled into a dark street a half block from Ironhill High at quarter past ten. “Lou Hudson.”

“Tell me you haven’t gone in yet,” Harper said through heavy breaths, as if she’d been running, or still was. “There’s no way these accidents were coincidence. This entire part of town is in complete chaos. You’ll never guess what’s all over the street.”

I shivered. “Water.”

“And, surprise! Gerry got a call about another dead vampire out near the windmill almost to Norristown.”

I rubbed my aching head. “And he found nothing.”

“Yep, and he’s still almost a half hour away. He’s trying to get some other units there sooner, but dispatch told him there’s something major going on besides the accidents.” There was more panting and grunting, making me imagine she’d jumped over something. “Isaac isn’t at the hive. I’ve ditched the car, and I’m looking for a cab. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure you’d go alone, Lou. You have to wait for me. Please.”

I’d never heard her sound so vulnerable, so afraid. “It’ll be all right. Maybe she just wants to talk to me.” I winced at the lie. Harper was no idiot.

“Bullshit! She killed five vampires, so she’s got to be one badass bitch. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes if I have to steal a car to do it, and I’m loaded for bear. Where are all the freakin’ cabs in this city?”

“You most certainly will not break the law.” I steadied myself, resigned to whatever would come beyond the black double-doors of the high school. “If you were me, could you do nothing while our friend might be terrified and dying at this very moment? Could you stare his grandmother in the face and tell her he died, and you did nothing out of fear for yourself? Because you were waiting for a friend?”

Her groan held resignation. “I hate it when you do that.”

“You’re a good friend, and I love you with all my might. Goodbye, Harper.” I shut off the phone so I wouldn’t hear a response that might break my resolve.

Thinking calming thoughts, I exited the Focus, made my way to the edge of the property, and stared at the dark building from the cover of trees. The wide open space around it, illuminated by several light standards, would make it impossible for me to approach undetected, even if I took on the appearance of stone. With no cover to use, even a half-blind person would notice a woman-sized rock crawling across the ground.

After settling all my weapons into place, I approached the main doors. If I couldn’t be subtle, I might as well be bold. A tug on the metal handle didn’t move it. I cupped my hands around my face and peered through the window. Nothing moved anywhere in the locker-lined hallway within.

Left or right? There were other doors at the side and back of the building. If she expected me to find my way in, certainly she would have left one of them unlocked. I’d break in to find Dom if need be, but I preferred not to cause any more destruction than necessary.

I went right for no particular reason, jogging along the never-ending row of windows allowing glimpses into classrooms filled with chairs atop desks—the typical arrangement for summer break. The entrance at the south end of the building didn’t budge, so I continued around the back. Every door I tugged upon held firm, the tension in my body increasing with every failure.

Desperate and sensing Dom’s time might be running out, I picked up a discarded tire rim outside of the auto shop bay and launched it through the back door. The crashing of glass and metal filled the night and no doubt carried to every corner of the school. If she hadn’t known I was there before, no doubt she did now.

Splendid.

I reached through the hole I’d made and pushed on the handle to let myself in. Pulse ticking away double-time, I stopped and listened, slipping my fingers around the bone handles of my daggers and pulling them free of the sheaths. Not a sound came back to me save for the drumming of my heart. If I’d been a psychotic vampire murderer who had an affinity for water, where would I go?

Oh!
Did the school have a pool? It didn’t when I went there, but I seemed to recall reading something about renovations in the paper after part of the school had burned in a fire. I considered calling out for Dom, but it would have painted a target on my head before I could determine what lay ahead.

Careful to step around the glass, I followed the hallway to the first cross-juncture, where the lockers turned from yellow to muddy orange. I’d had my first kiss against those dented lockers, one that grossed me out at the time. It didn’t have the toe-curling appeal Amun’s kiss had. I shook off the rest of the reminiscent memories and concentrated on my mission.

Both directions looked the same, but more of the school lay to the right if memory served, so I followed my instincts that way, forgetting which section had been rebuilt. When that yielded nothing more than the cafeteria and empty classrooms, I returned to the main corridor and followed it until the next hallway peeled off.

If my nose hadn’t picked up the faint scent of chlorine, I’d have walked right by the unmarked doorway without another glance. I put my ear to the barrier. Not a sound registered. I pushed it open to find a dark stairwell leading down. A stronger blast of chlorine wrinkled my nose as I moved inside and closed the door with a gentle
click
behind me.

I took the stairs two at a time until I reached the cement landing at the bottom. Moving with caution, I patted my fingers along the wall in a rich darkness that ate my vision entirely. When I came to a door, I nudged it open with my hip and gave a sniff, hoping for pay dirt. The stench of body odor and smelly socks suggested I’d most likely found the boys change room. Either that or a rotten potato cellar.

At the end of the narrow space, I came upon what I’d been looking for. A small amount of light seeped around the edges of the pool entrance. I opened it a crack and peered through. Dom lay on the far side of the water on the white tiled deck. His hair lay in a wild array around his head, drenched and draining into a puddle beneath his limp form.

A small swarm of water butterflies fluttered about his head, waiting for him to move so they could slash at him some more. Given the thatch work pattern of cuts on his back, they’d been at him for a while, the little bastards.

Several more rips than normal adorned his jeans, and his shirt had been shredded and left in a heap beside him. Lights shone from within the pool, casting a ghostly blue onto the white ceiling that rippled and shifted with the water. As the surface glimmered, I realized I’d never again step foot into a lake or a pool without being crippled by fear.

I reigned in my panic enough to give a quick glance around the room for the mystery woman, but found nothing but a few life preservers and a pair of goggles hanging on the lifeguard’s seat. After re-sheathing my daggers, I withdrew my katana and sped to my friend. I slashed at the insects until they broke into mist as they had in the sewer.

Kneeling beside him, I lay the katana on the tile. “Dominic.” I gave him a gentle shake. “Can you hear me?” At his sudden scream, I covered his mouth with my hand and turned his face toward mine. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth and nose. Terror had claimed his soul, apparent in his wide eyes.

“Water.” His voice shook. “Eyes in the water.”

“We need to leave.” I tried to help him to his feet by pulling his arm over my shoulder, but he clung to me with such ferocity his weight toppled me down on him. “Please, Dom. It’s Lou. You need to help me get you out of here. Do it, and I’ll buy you a lifetime supply of Doritos.”

Whether he noticed my tears or found humor in my offer, he calmed and appeared to register my presence, perhaps for the first time. “I hoped you wouldn’t come.” He paled as he pressed his forehead against mine, and his fingers fisted into my shirt. “I’m so sorry, Lou. I tried to run, but she’s too fast.” He looked past me and screamed again.

The floor disappeared. I met face-first with the solid block wall, and one of my elven daggers broke free of its sheath and clattered to the tile below. Bone-jarring pain echoed through my head and down my spine. Dazed, I fell back onto the deck, rubbing my gushing nose. Water pooled around me, soaked me to the skin. White spots dominated my vision.

What new hell was this?

As if in answer, something snaked around my leg. A tentacle of water lifted me to the high ceiling. I withdrew my remaining dagger from its sheath and slashed at it, but the blade sailed through with no resistance. The liquid manacle tightened around my ankle until I cried out. A small army of droplets burst out of the tentacle like spores, forming into translucent wings as the newborn butterflies rushed toward me.

I needed to think, dammit! If they reached me, I’d be in ribbons within seconds.

Although it would reveal my heritage to Dominic, I replaced the dagger in its sheath, fished my ebony stone from my pocket, and clenched it in my fist. Holding the image in my mind, I transformed my leg only to match the stone, filling with my magic until I let loose a roar that should have frightened away every living thing for miles. The tentacle shivered and tightened harder until I thought my ebony foot would break off.

Razor-sharp wings made of water sliced at my back and arms, fluttering away from my flailing, or bursting into mist if I touched one of them. No amount of punching, clawing, or brute strength freed me as the creature dangled me over the floor for several minutes.

I stopped my struggle long enough to look for someone who might be controlling the water, having not considered it until that moment.

There, in the pool. A woman stood on the bottom with long, flowing hair the color of lilacs in the spring, rippling out around her like beautiful snakes. My jinn teeth broke through my gums as I imagined taking her head in my hands and giving it a sharp twist.

Her arms stretched up toward the surface, and she smiled, one of pure malevolence and victory, her eyes sparkling like sunlight reflecting from still waters. Not a stitch of clothing covered her nude form. She wasn’t in chameleon form; I could deal with that.

If I couldn’t affect the puppets, perhaps I could affect the puppeteer. Perhaps with some puppets of my own. I called to the walls, summoning shards of stone from the concrete to break free and come to me. I didn’t take time to form them into anything fancy—pointy would have to do.

When I had several dozen hovering behind me and out of her line of sight, I flexed my energy and sent them darting toward her. Too late, I realized I hadn’t thought through my plan. The last vision I had was crimson bleeding up from the bottom of the pool and the floor coming up fast.

My head smashed against the hard deck. Sickening pain coursed through me from top to bottom. As I lost my hold on consciousness, Dominic’s bone-jarring wail chased me into the darkness.

* * *

Somewhere beyond the drum chorus marching in my head, I became aware of raised voices in the room, the sounds slapping against my ears. Ugh, had I left the TV on? No, I never did that. Bloody neighbors must have been fighting again.