Stone Chameleon (Ironhill Jinn #1) (28 page)

“Believe what you want. You won’t live long enough for it to matter, anyway. Ironhill is mine. Accept it. If not for me, then for the good of your people.” Celeste surged upward, forming into a narrow column of water that crushed me to the ground before I moved out of the way.

“Lou!” Amun screamed.

I tried to locate him, but there were too many stars obscuring my vision. “Turn to air, Amun! It will break her hold.” Grunting turned to groans before a rush of wind stole my breath and all sound but its mighty roar.

Blake called out from somewhere nearby. Bloody hell. I changed back to flesh, patting down my clothes to make sure they were intact, which they were. “Where is she?”

“Gone.” Amun crouched beside me, draping his arm between his legs to cover himself.

“Dammit.” With his help, I sat up. “At least the vampire saw her, and so did you. We just have to convince Isaac she’s something we’ve never seen before instead of…”

Amun’s headshake filled my stomach with acid. I didn’t want to look the direction he pointed, but I felt compelled.

The vampire lay beside a maintenance hole, both his body and the pavement soaked with water. His head sat a few yards away, and beyond that, his spine lay like a bloody ladder. There was a gaping hole where his heart should have been.

“It took her a split second, basically clothes-lining him with a thin band of water. Which, though it’s horrible to say, saves us from destroying him ourselves since he would have told his lord about our elemental forms. And if you think Isaac will take my word about anything, you’re sadly mistaken. He knows I’ll do anything to protect you, even risk lying to him.”

I pounded a fist on the pavement. “She wanted us to watch. She toyed with him, waited until we were done with the bat, and let us come to watch him die.” Groaning, I brushed off my hands. “And I tend to agree with you about Isaac, though he can just compel you to tell the truth, can’t he?”

“He seems to have control over my body alone, not my mind.”

“But he can take your mind by force. He doesn’t need the mark to invade a person’s thoughts.”

When Amun gave me a blank stare, I realized my idiocy. Isaac wouldn’t stop at the knowledge of the murder if he dipped into Amun’s mind. I wouldn’t bring it up, and hopefully the vampire wouldn’t suggest it. We’d have to find another way.

Blake called out again. “Where the hell’d y’all get to?”

“I need to get my clothes.” Amun headed toward the far end of the alley that led out to another street. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Dissolving like a sand sculpture, he blew off into the night.

“We’re here,” I called to Blake, though I’d have rather been anywhere else. Isaac would be apocalyptically angry about losing one of his eldest.

Amun re-materialized beside me, clothes in hand.

“Awfully convenient of Isaac to send me here to help his people knowing that woman was behind this, and then just takes off, don’t you think?” After I said it, I wondered if the lord himself was afraid of Celeste, as she’d suggested.

Amun donned his shirt and stepped into his jeans. “It makes me wonder if he’s taking advantage of this situation to satisfy his own agenda.”

“My thoughts exactly.” I hoped with all my might Olivia would be awake by the time I arrived to question her. If not, there were other ways to get information, using methods I’d never used before. Desperate times, and all that.

M
y arm shook. “Mmm, stop it,” I grumbled, shoving at whoever dared break me out of such a glorious sleep.

“Baylou.” A light touch brushed across my damp forehead, over my cheek. “You need to wake up. It’s nearly noon.”

“What?” I rolled, almost toppling out of a strange bed, blinking up at Amun’s shaven face and damp curls. “Why would you let me sleep so long?” Enough adrenaline surged through my blood to launch me into space.

“We didn’t get to bed until almost eight this morning.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I called Rachel at the reservation, and she said Olivia woke up about ten minutes ago, but she isn’t talking.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to think past the cobwebs clogging my brain. “Okay, it’s best if she doesn’t talk to anyone but me.” A glance at my arms induced a groan. “Oh, that’s disgusting. I don’t even remember going to bed this morning, and by the look of me, I didn’t shower, either.” The sheets sported a bloody, sooty print of me.

“You passed out on the way. I carried you in when we got home, and I didn’t think you’d appreciate me bathing you when we’ve barely had dinner together. At least I cleaned and oiled your katana, because I know how meticulous you are with your weapons.” He watched me with amusement.

A brief smile graced my lips. I was glad he didn’t seem put off by my mild compulsive tendencies, before Celeste’s words came back to haunt me. “Is Celeste right about me? I am only half jinn. Is she better for our race than I am, and I’m just too far removed from our culture and too proud to see it?” Not that I wanted children, so I wasn’t sure why it mattered, but it did.

All uncertainly drained out of Amun’s features. “No one is half jinn. You either inherit the jinn spirit, or you don’t. You’re as full-blooded jinn as her or me.”

“But she believes what she’s doing is right. I heard the resolve in her voice. She doesn’t just believe it, she’s living it, breathing it, and she’ll fight to the death for it.”

“Those born of water are purists. That you aren’t of water would make her view you as lesser. So yes, she believes she’s looking out for the jinn as a people by claiming the last free pod in the world, to strengthen our bloodline with her own. That doesn’t mean she’s right, or the rest of us want that. Vengeance has warped her mind.”

“Are you saying there’s only one female in each pod, and she’s a sort of monarchy there? All the males belong to her, metaphysically speaking?” One woman sharing dozens of men? Did she have them one at a time, or all together every night? How did their egos stand it? The whole culture seemed foreign and uncivilized.

“Yes, that’s right, according to the bits of information I’ve been able to get out of the other pods. The males aren’t enslaved the way Celeste tried to do to me, but they’ve accepted their part in our race for survival.”

I tried to imagine being raised in that environment, to be ingrained with delusions of superiority, and I sort of understand why she’d gone to such risk to do what she’d done. I didn’t condone it, but I did get it. “Fighting against one who’s passionate about their cause is always harder than some out-of-control predator lusting for blood and mayhem.”

“I suppose you’re right. How does that help us defeat her?”

“I don’t know yet, but the more I understand what motivates her, the closer I come to understanding what can hurt her.”

“I suppose so. After watching you work last night, I can think of no one better to lead us out of this mess.” He stood and went to the door, wearing a peaceful smile. “I like waking up with your presence nearby. You’ll never know how much. Towels are on the counter when you’re ready.”

I faced off with the door after he shut it behind him. Warmth spread through my chest. So much sincerity. So much emotion, and his voice and mirthful expression left no question as to their authenticity.

What was I doing?
Considering moving in with Amun after a few days of intense exposure to him? Maybe the stress had done more damage than I’d thought. All of my energy needed to go to the task at hand, not trying to figure out what to do about the handsome jinn who wanted to belong to me like my very own muscular teddy bear.

It would have been much easier if I didn’t long to have him wrapped around me and crawl under the covers somewhere to touch and be near him. Bloody hell.

The sun was up, so I’d have at least the rest of the day before Isaac came looking for my head as payment for the latest murder.

* * *

“How did you blow away without Blake seeing you last night?” I steered us into IPC headquarters and stopped at the gate. Amun had argued he should be the one driving, but I reminded him I wasn’t a helpless damsel, and he wasn’t my slave and protector. He’d shut up and gotten into the car after that.

“He took off running, and I slipped down an alley,” Amun said, twirling a thread from his jeans around his finger until the end of it turned white. “I still can’t believe you just ran off like that. What if I hadn’t found you in time and Isaac saw you running into danger without me again? I swear, trying to keep you from harm is going to kill me.”

Not that he’d helped much, but I didn’t throw that in his face. It wasn’t his fault he found more comfort in front of a camera than on a battlefield.

“It wasn’t the first time I’ve rushed into danger, and it won’t be the last. I can take care of myself.”

His only response came in the form of a disgruntled sigh.

Simon, joined by two other guards I didn’t recognize, waved me on as the gate opened. Apparently Blake had tripled the guard. If he spent extra money to hire more, then he must have been genuinely scared of Isaac, and my rant on the subject had fallen on deaf ears.

I continued along the drive toward the reservation entrance at the rear of the building. “I never asked what you and Isaac were arguing about that got so out of hand he smashed in my dash.”

Amun choked on a bitter laugh and shot me a cock-eyed look that suggested I was being daft. “Isaac being Isaac, what do you think?”

“That tells me nothing.” I scrutinized the hard lines of his face. “And don’t talk to me like some naïve halfwit. Don’t take out your frustration on me, either. I didn’t ask for any of this.”

Groaning, he scrubbed at his bloodshot eyes. “I’m sorry, you’re right. Just don’t ask me about Isaac right now. It’ll just upset you, too, and we have other things to worry about this afternoon.”

I parked and got out of the Focus, coming around to his side, bent on prying it out of him. “You can’t say something like that and then not tell me. I mean, you have met me once or twice, right?” No point in denying my nature. Everyone seemed to know most of my quirks.

Fingers scratching at the back of his neck, Amun strode toward the metal doors leading to the underground. “Can you leave this one be for now?”

“No.” I jogged to match his long stride. “No, I can’t. What did he say to you? It can’t have been about your business dealings, or you’d just tell me, so it has to concern me or my situation.”

He halted, and I took a few steps by him before registering his absence. “He demanded I back off.”

My lids fell to half-mast. “Back off from what?”

Amun pressed a palm to his forehead, as if trying to keep his temper from splitting his skull. “You, Baylou.” He pointed at my neck. “That thing on your back is his mark of ownership in all respects, including the romantic sort.”

“He what?” My mouth dropped open. “I don’t understand. He told me, and I quote, ‘I will rip your heart out and drink it down as I watch the light leave your eyes.’ He used me as a shield when Harper tried to shoot him. The Scot doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body. If he feels anything at all other than pissed-offedness.”

Eyebrow arched up, Amun grinned. “Is pissed-offedness really a word?”

“Oh, shut it. You know what I mean.” I continued onward.

“Frankly, I don’t think he wants you for himself, he just doesn’t want me to have you. If you thought Celeste was territorial, Isaac is a thousand times worse.”

“That’s enough. The subject’s closed. It’s utter lunacy. Belong to him? Bah! I’d rather have my eyes plucked out by pigeon monkeys. He’s dead, for crying out loud! Even if he did want—ew—that’s just, just,
vile
, disgusting.”

Chuckling, Amun followed me down the stairs into the lobby of the reservation.

Still muttering to myself, I pressed the buzzer at the heavy metal barrier, in place more to keep creatures in than out. “I hate that man.”

“You’ve said that before.”

“It only gets truer with time, it seems.” The panel slid back, revealing James in his green scrubs.

“Lou. I thought it might be you.” James’s too-long dirty blond hair covered his ears, what remained of them. The patch over his left eye didn’t obscure the top of a jagged scar running from the inner corner of his left eye to his chin. When I’d rescued him from a giant horned cerastes in my first year of college, we’d become fast friends. He’d been on board with the reservation since its inception, managing the facility while living there.

We entered when he stepped aside. “What have you been doing?” I asked, gesturing to his blood-splattered scrubs. “You look a little worse for wear.”

“I could say the same about you.” He winked, a smile that didn’t touch his lips playing in his aqua eyes. “I was just helpin’ the doc. We lost the shifter a few minutes ago.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, James.” I put my hand on his solid shoulder. No matter the species, James always took it hard when he failed to save someone. “What happened?”

“The infection wasn’t healin’. Still don’t know what’s so virulent it didn’t let him heal, but the doc’s got samples to study, so we’ll be ready if it shows up again. We took him into the OR to strip away the dead flesh so it could grow back normal, but he wouldn’t let nobody touch him. Said he’d rather die than go back to his pack with a bum leg.”

To Amun, I said, “It’s our policy not to force help on those who don’t want it.”

He scratched fingers through his hair. “But he would have healed with the flesh gone, right? He’d have been good as new?”

“Tried explainin’ it,” James said. “I just think he didn’t want to live, even before this happened to him, whatever it was. Wouldn’t tell me. His choice.”

“Is Rachel about?” I asked, impatient to see Olivia.

James nodded toward the hallway leading to the low-security section. “She’s with your girl now. Every time Rach tries to leave, girl freaks out.” Hands on his hips, he looked at the floor, and then at me. “For what it’s worth, I hope you know none of us believe you done what the TV says you done. Dom looked up to you, talked about you like you’re the damn almighty, and I know you’d never hurt a flea unless it was about to kill you.” He headed toward the direction of his office. “Gotta get some rest. You’ll work it out, Lou. Y’always do. Keep the faith.”

I hoped he was right. It hadn’t occurred to me the media would have gotten hold of the story. Everyone in the world would think I’d killed those vampires and Dominic. I hoped Gerry had broken the news to his grandmother before the story ran.

Amun walked beside me as we went in James’ indicated direction. “Just how much did you care for Dom?”

My step faltered. “Really, Amun? Tell me you aren’t asking out of jealousy about a young man who is now dead.”
Because of me.
Apparently jinn women chose several mates, but it didn’t stop the men from being insecure over it.

He looked suitably embarrassed as he muttered, “I…sorry.”

We found Rachel in the third room along the white corridor. The window allowed us an unhindered view into the space which contained a bed, a bathroom through a door at the back, and a small armchair. Olivia curled in on herself upon the mattress while Rachel sang to her a song that put me instantly at ease.

“How does she do that?” Amun swayed to her melody, though he didn’t seem to be aware of it.

“Believe me, I’ve been trying to figure it out for years. I’m thinking her mother might have been a siren, but Dr. Courian isn’t forthcoming with knowledge of that sort.”

“I could think of a lot of political uses for a talent like that.”

I shook my head. “Spoken like a true businessman. Sorry, but Rachel can do more good here than at City Hall.” And possibly at Mayvern.