jinn 01 - ember (3 page)

I had seen Baker turn himself into Holden before, but it still seemed strange that he could just change one body part and put something there that wasn’t there before. Could all shifters do that?

“You’re thinkin’ too hard over there, angel. Where’s the boss-man?”

That reminded me. I was supposed to tell Holden when Baker woke up. I reached out with my mind and easily connected to him.

“Baker’s awake and talking.”

“Has he said what happened?”

“Not yet. Just a sec.”

“What happened, Baker?” I kept the connection with Holden and repeated Baker’s response word for word in my mind.

“I took Selene to see the priestess and was waiting outside of the gates for her, minding my own business, when four jinn appeared out of nowhere and jumped me.”

“Only four?”
Holden said.

“What do you mean ‘appeared out of nowhere’?” Femi asked.

He sat up and dropped his feet to the ground. “I mean they weren’t there and then they were.”

I shook my head. “That’s not possible.” Holden was the only jinn I knew of who could do that. If more could, word would have made it to the guardians. I would know.

Baker gave me a rare, serious look. “They weren’t there.”

“Are you hearing this?”
I silently asked Holden.

“Yeah,”
he mentally grunted.

“Do you think they took Selene too?” Selene was a witch I had recently become friends with. She had plenty of trouble in her own life, and the last thing she needed was for our fight to bleed over into her already tumultuous existence.

“I didn’t see her,” Baker said.

“I’ll call Sy. If his cousin is missing, he’ll know.” Femi hopped up and padded silently into the kitchen area.

“How’d he get back to Chicago from New Orleans?”
Holden asked, and I repeated the question.

Baker shrugged. “Search me. I haven’t the foggiest. All I know is if they wanted to bump me off they could have. They just toned me up real good then tossed me out of the car in front of your building, saying to give you a message.”

“What’s the message?” Femi asked, coming back into the room. “Selene is fine, by the way. Well, she’s in deep shit, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“I’m the message,” Baker said. “You don’t just walk away from the jinn or Hell. It doesn’t work like that. Holden and I have been saying it for months now.”

I raised an eyebrow. “But why’d they wait so long?”

Baker pressed his lips together. “I don’t know. Probably because they were trying to figure out a way to deal with you. If they are attacking, chances are they have found it. You should probably stay out of it as much as you can. Maybe go on a trip with your mom.”

Ugh. These men and their insistence on treating me like I was made of glass needed to stop already. I had more than proven myself. I wasn’t hiding at the first sign of trouble—they needed me. I smiled, the angel’s feathers definitely starting to bunch. “And how exactly do you intend on fighting them? Look what four jinn did to you, Baker. I, on the other hand, am not so easy to neutralize.”

“You, angel, are like bringing a hydrogen bomb to a knife fight. If we show up with you, they’ll produce something equally as terrible. It’s best to let us see what we’re dealing with before you jump in.”

Worry ticked in my mind, reminding me Holden was there.
“Stop fighting with him. Tell Baker to get his ass back out on the street and see what his sources know. We have been too caught up in the elf problems and haven’t been paying attention to our own.”

Holden sounded calm, too calm. That was never a good thing. He was sinking back into his jinni frame of mind, and all the progress I had made in drawing him out was fading away faster than I thought possible. Changing over a hundred years of carefully crafted ideas and survival instincts wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

“Holden said you don’t have to help us, Baker. We don’t want to put you, any of you, in harm’s way. The two of
us
can handle this. You guys should distance yourself.”

“Liv—”

“The boss-man said that?”

I smiled because it was the easiest way to hide a lie.

He laughed. “Shit. You had me worried. The boss would never be so soft. I’m not backing out because someone rung my bell. I’d lose all my street cred.” Baker stood, puffing out his chest, and wavered slightly.

“Not a good idea, champ.” Femi caught his arm and made him sit back down.

I glanced at the clock. I needed to let Quintus know I wasn’t come in today before he came to find me. “I have to see Quintus. Will you two be okay?”

Femi gave me a sardonic smile. She had the most amazing confidence of anyone I had ever met. There wasn’t a fight in this world or the next she didn’t believe she could win. Femi was tough, but so was Baker and look what happened to him. “Tell dimples I said hi.”

I transported to the guardian headquarters and was immediately surrounded by fifteen people with questions and complaints. I did the best I could to answer them all as I walked toward where I knew Quintus would be.

He looked up at me. “You’re late.”

“Yeah. I can’t stay. I probably won’t be around for a while. Maybe a couple weeks. I don’t really know for sure.”

“Oh?” He sighed when I didn’t reply and looked back at the board. This was the last thing I needed. I didn’t have time to draw out whatever was bothering him.

I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, my patience getting thinner by the moment. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

He stared straight ahead. “You have responsibilities. You’re supposed to lead us. Guardians don’t take vacations.”

I mentally counted to ten against his unfair words. “And have I ever neglected those responsibilities? I have been here every day reorganizing and building a stronger system of checks and balances, but I can’t ignore what is happening in my life. I‘m doing the best I can. Holden needs me.” I took a deep breath. Despite my effort to defend myself, I felt guilty. “But if you get into a jam, let me know.” I couldn’t bear the idea of not being here to help someone if they needed help, and he knew that.

“There are people here who need you too.” He held up small sheets of white paper with names and locations on them of humans who needed guidance. His eyes finally trailed to me, still tinted with an old hurt I hoped someday would go away.

It finally dawned on me. He thought I was slacking to spend a little extra time with Holden. “Baker was attacked. Hell is probably going to make a move against Holden and me soon. I don’t want to involve the guardians. The organization is still too fragile, and let’s face it, you guys really aren’t equipped for this. If all goes well, I’ll be back. If it doesn’t, I need to know you can take care of everything here. I will let Uriel know to check in with you guys every now and then.”

“Oh.” He sounded much too relieved given the news.

“So we’re okay?”

He smiled, dimples punctuating it. “Do you need help?”

“No. Thank you though.”

He nodded, but I didn’t miss the hint of disappointment in his voice. “If you need anything—”

“I should really get back.” I held up my hand in a half wave. “Thanks, Quintus.”

I transported to the apartment, where Femi and Baker were talking about movies like it was any normal Wednesday afternoon. “Hey,” Baker said brightly. “I’m glad you’re back. I’m about to head out again.”

“I think you should stay,” I told him. I looked at Femi. “Is he healed?”

“More or less.”

“I really think we should get Holden to come back. The two of you can fill Femi and me in on what you know. Then we can make a plan.”

Baker stood and kissed my cheek. “I appreciate the worry, but we need to find out exactly what is coming at us first or all the planning in the world won’t help. Besides, we already have some stuff in motion, and we’re here to protect you. Not the other way around. Tell Holden I‘ll be back soon.”

“I’ll come with you,” I said.

He narrowed his eyes. “Have you moved your mother somewhere safe?”

Damn it. How did he know about that? He’d been passed out? I sighed. “I haven’t had a chance.”

“Well, that’s your priority and I have mine. Take care of your family first.”

“But—”

He was already started for the door.

Femi looked at me with a helpless shrug. I nodded toward him and she understood what I meant. “Hold up, Baker. I’ll go with you. I don’t want to have to heal your stupid ass again.” Femi followed him out, leaving me alone.

“Olivia.”
My name echoed through my mind, soft and alluring, but it wasn’t’ Holden’s voice. I stilled, listening. “
Come to me.”

There was a knock on the front door, startling me back. Holden had a key. Femi and Baker had just left. No one else would come here. Immediately my light grew around me and my muscles relaxed like the angel half had been waiting for the opportunity to show off. I walked confidently to the door and opened it wide. There was note tacked to it and nothing else. I tilted my head so I could see it better without actually touching it—after the hours of listening to Holden drone on about all the ways people could sneak attack including lacing paper with chemical weapons, I knew better—but all I saw was a tri-folded white sheet of paper. I didn’t even know if chemical weapons could hurt me, but now wasn’t the time to risk it.

“What’s happening?”

I jumped. This time it was just Holden—of course it was Holden. No one else should be in my head. The other voice, well that was…hopefully my imagination. He must have sensed the angel perking up for a fight. “
Someone left a note on our door.”

“Where did Baker and Femi go?”

“To see what they can find out about who is targeting us.”

“Shut the door and don’t touch the note. I’ll be there soon.”

I hated when he was bossy. I knew it was nerves and I knew his past loss played no small part in it, so I tried to be patient. But other times I wanted to smack him. I went to get the tongs from the kitchen. Plucking the letter from the door, I brought it in and laid it on the counter. Holden appeared behind me a misty cloud of black smoke.

“I told you to leave the note on the door.”

“Oh, I forgot I took orders from you.” I smiled sweetly at him. “You’re being extra aggravating today.”

He cracked the knuckles on his left hand and looked at the letter. “Now’s not the time, Liv.”

His voice was too dismissive. Seriously, what did they think I was going to do? This time I did smack the back of his head. His fingers clenched into a fist on the counter as he turned back to me with a look that had made far bigger people than me cower. “What?” His face was hard and impassive as he stared down at me.

“You left me home today, Holden, to sit here and wait for you. Do it again and I’m going to start digging into this by myself. I’m not going to sit here and hide.”

He nodded once. “You’re right. You shouldn’t. You and your mom should stay with the guardians.” It took me a moment to realize he was serious.

“Holden.” I put a hand on his chest. “I am the only weapon we have.”

“And losing you will destroy us in more ways than one.”

I pressed my lips together. “What did you say when I was leaving you to go to my trial?” It wasn’t too long ago that the guardians had put me on trial for being a traitor to the race. Holden and I had fought side by side then, but since he had fallen back into his usual pattern of being overprotective.

He stiffened but wrapped an arm around me. The stony resolve in his green eyes cracked. “I said a lot of things.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

He tightened his grip. “We’re stronger together.”

I nodded. “That applies here too.”

“This is my problem, not yours.”

“Just like the trial was my problem?”

“It’s not the same.”

“Sure it is. There are no ‘your’ or ‘my’ problems.” The note was all but forgotten. “They’re our problems.”

“They’ll use you against me. The first trap and you’ll march right into it.” He shook his head. “I’ve watched you die before. Never again.”

I wasn’t scared of jinn or demons. I had no reason to be, but I also wasn’t going to walk into a trap. “Give me a little credit.”

“Liv—”

I held up a hand. I wanted to make my point and him to listen to it. “You don’t think I am scared of anything, but that isn’t entirely true. I am scared of something. I’m scared they will kill you and I won’t be there to stop it. You aren’t any more invincible than I am. Together, Holden. It’s the only way to make any of this work. Divided, our weaknesses are greater than they are when we are complete. We balance each other. We make each other the best versions of ourselves.”

His face softened and he kissed me. “No hair-brained schemes.”

I nodded. “No bossing me around.”

“And no matter what happens, we trust the other above everything else. If they can find a weakness in us”—he shook his head—“then we’re sunk.”

“Always.” I may not agree with his methods, but I would always trust him to do what was best for us. Holden didn’t take things for granted, especially not our relationship.

He kissed me once more then scooped up the note, unfolding it, the skin tight across his face. He scanned it and pressed his lips together before scanning it again. Holden’s shoulders shook as he started to laugh. He closed his eyes and looked up, wordlessly handing the paper to me. It was an invitation to a tenants’ meeting.

I wadded it up and threw it at him, laughing. “I used tongs to remove that from the door.”

He laughed harder.

I would never get tired of hearing Holden laugh. It was the best sound in the world—resonating and honest. He never faked amusement or chuckled to make someone feel better. When he laughed, he meant it and the stone façade he still wore far too often would fall away. It made him look young and alive. I liked to think that this is what he was like before he became a jinni, but from what he told me, I doubted it. If there was ever a time Holden had been carefree and innocent, he didn’t remember it.