Stone Chameleon (Ironhill Jinn #1) (27 page)

“Go with care, Lou Hudson.” He touched my arm, startling me. Rudy never touched anyone, and certainly not females. If his wife Coulira discovered he’d laid his hands on another woman, she’d be within her rights to punish him. What that entailed, I had no idea, but whenever I asked Rudy, he shivered. At least the males had the same right, unlike the jinn. There weren’t many species that had evolved into a matriarchal society.

I offered him what I hoped to be a reassuring smile. “Thanks, old friend. Be safe.”

C
arrying four rats by the tail, I stepped onto the sidewalk, pausing to listen for the bat. The whole evening would have gone much smoother if I’d been able to use my abilities. Fire wouldn’t do much to a woman made of stone.

When I heard nothing, I started forward, trying to remember how far down the Cuffs ‘R’ Us store had been. Not more than two blocks if I remembered correctly. I continued across the intersection to the next block, scanning for the motorcycle and my cantankerous bat. The sound of my blood rushing through my head drowned out everything. A little fear wouldn’t hurt me, would only keep me sharp and, if my luck held, alive.

I crossed another intersection. The overhead lamp glinted off of something shiny and chrome behind a black Mercedes. Slowing my pace, I averted my gaze toward the charred sidewalk, using only my peripheral vision to take in my surroundings. I didn’t want to chance catching its stare and issuing a challenge I didn’t intend.

As Rudy had described, the bat had its claws wrapped around the handlebars of a Harley Davidson parked on my side of the street. Its leathery wings, showing a network of blue veins through the skin, stretched before settling back to its side. The coming dawn must have been making it drowsy.

Small steps took me nearer. It needed to see me before I took my pose. Another step. Still no movement from it. Another, and another, until I arrived within ten feet of the beast. A shriek and flap of wings warned me I’d come close enough. The air heated as it readied to defend itself with a flaming exhalation.

Pearls of sweat gathered along my forehead and between my breasts. I dropped to the pavement, abasing myself before it. One of the rats woke up and bit my index finger, using my momentary shock to escape. I winced but held still. Claws touched down on the sidewalk in front of me, tapping with impatience.

The bat shrieked again, a warning that pierced my eardrums and rattled my nerve, sending a blast of heat along my back. Still, I held my ground. Waited. Listened. Willed my pulse to slow so my fear wouldn’t perfume the air so much he’d be unable to resist the temptation to barbecue me and take me home to his flock of batlings for breakfast.

More tapping, nearer. Small twitters filled the silence, followed by a sharp squawk. If it expected me to say something in its language, I was done for.

The sound of it scrabbling across the sidewalk hardened my muscles. A rat screamed—I assumed the one who’d escaped me—and a crunch ended the sound. Warm breath blew across my fingers, but I didn’t dare raise my head to look. One of the rat tails slid from my grip. More crunching.

I backed away as it snatched the third furry treat, rising to my feet and walking toward the truck without looking directly at the beast. A challenge would break the rapport I’d begun to establish. They were typically greedy creatures, according to my readings. To prove its dominance over me, it wouldn’t let me be until I’d given it the last morsel hanging from my fingers.

I picked up the pace as flapping erupted behind me. Claws dug into my shoulder. My muscles cramped under the weight of the bat, but I kept going despite his hot breath warming the top of my head. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d had my hair singed. If I made it to the stairs leading down to the subway tunnel from which Celeste had driven them, maybe the dragon would be happy to go home without a fuss.

Its screech in my ear startled me sideways before I righted myself and speed-walked toward the small maintenance building near the border. Only two blocks to go. The clawed fingers in the middle of its wing reached down for the rat. I noticed in time to switch it to the other hand. If it claimed its prize, it would have no more reason to follow me.

Just a little farther. It chirped in protest. I resisted the urge to rub the sonic ringing from my ears.

As I approached the building, the thought of that infernal witch destroyed the small amount of enjoyment I’d found in the dilemma I was almost at the end of. I had only two days remaining to come up with a plan to find her, deal with her, and convince Isaac I’d taken care of it. As far as puzzles went, it was a doozy.

The bat’s claws sliced into my shoulder as I tugged on the metal door leading down to the maintenance tunnels adjacent to the subway system. “Ouch, you stupid dragon. I’m trying to help you.” I tossed the rat down the stairs. When the bat dove after it, I slammed the door shut, turned, and slid my back down the cold surface until my rear met the ground.

“You can come out now!” I shouted for all I was worth. Which wasn’t much on so little sleep. In the distance, Rudy echoed my message. Quiet footfalls sounded from their direction as the three men approached.

My bed called my name.
Cozy comforter, Lou
, it promised.
Soft sheets carrying the lilac scent of fabric softener. And Amun
. His whole house smelled like him, a sensual cloud to lull me to sleep. Oh, yes. That sounded lovely. I frowned, realizing I’d claimed Amun’s spare bed, already thinking of it as mine.

An angry shout came from beyond the storefronts on Rouge, shattering my daydream. I came to my feet. Still two blocks away, Amun and Blake stopped in the middle of the street. Rudy ducked behind a trash can, only the crown of his bald head and his staff poking over the top. When the rage-filled wail came again, I dashed off without waiting for the others, lingering long enough only to pinpoint the general direction. The northeast.

“Wait!” Amun’s voice chased me down an alley between the Swinger’s Emporium and Randolf’s Shoes. My instincts were certain Celeste was at it again, and I’d be damned if she’d take another of Isaac’s people on my watch. So close to dawn, her prey wouldn’t stay conscious for much longer.

I stopped at the edge of the building near the rear delivery bay doors. Celeste’s infuriating laughter raised my hackles. I launched myself away from my hiding spot. A sudden wind pinned me to the brick wall. I blinked, and Amun appeared from the gust, his magnificent frame uncovered again.

“What do you think you’re doing? Are you
trying
to die tonight?”

Covering his mouth with my hand, I glared a warning at him. It took effort to ignore his hard, nude body pressing against mine.

Understanding flitted across his gaze.

At his nod, I removed my hand and gave a jut of my chin toward the direction I thought she might be. Together, we exited the alley and listened to her low voice beyond the dumpsters at the rear of the next building. No sound came from her victim.

I broke into a run, kicking off my shoes as I went in case I needed to transform in a hurry. With Blake and Rudy still out there somewhere, I’d have to keep my dimensions the same so as not to destroy my clothes. Damn Isaac for not returning my ebony.

Amun flanked me on the left, a cushion of air beneath his feet. An air walker’s version of emergency shoes, I guessed. I rounded the dumpster. Celeste, in full water form, squatted beside a male vampire who appeared human enough he must have been high in Isaac’s ranks. He lay there, the tendons in his neck straining. Black veins wove across his forehead and down his throat. He, too, had been starving. Why?

I tasted the stone beneath my feet and used its structure to mold my arm into a beating stick, which I threw at her as she saw me. Her watery hand shot up between us, and I stopped, welded to the ground.

Amun growled from beside me, and I guessed he’d met the same fate.

Of course! Water made up most creatures’ bodies. She could control us from the inside the way I called stone from within any other substance. Why hadn’t she done that to me at the aquarium? Did she have to be in chameleon form to evoke that power? I’d already been stone when she knocked over the water, so I assumed that meant I had to be in flesh form. That information would be useful.

“Did you have fun at my little party, Baylou?” Her shifting water form obscured the location of her mouth.

“You will not harm him.” I glanced at the struggling vampire. He moved his head, but only my eyes and mouth obeyed me. My magic, however, didn’t fall under her control. I continued soaking up the stone through my feet, into my bones, intending to leave my skin for last so she wouldn’t notice what I was doing.

If all the water left my body, so would her control of me. If my hypothesis was accurate. I’d have thought Amun could do the same by becoming the wind, but if he didn’t think of it on his own, I wouldn’t risk telling him until I’d broken free myself.

“If you wanted to watch me destroy him”—Celeste solidified to resemble a glass figure, passing a fingertip over her liquid lips—“all you had to do was ask.” A stream of water extended from where her index finger should have been. Her other hand motioned around it, curling it into a circular shape that spun at an incredible speed.

The saw. That’s how she cut into them, using a super thin, ultra-fast stream of water, like a power tool. No sound. No mess, as the water would wash away the blood.

Brilliant.

Insane, but brilliant.

She knelt, her amused gaze locked onto me as she dipped the spinning blade far enough it ate into the pavement, which squealed and sparked in protest. A hairline gouge appeared in its path.

The vampire’s rage evaporated as his protests turned to whimpers. “What are you doing?” he asked. “You said if I didn’t feed you wouldn’t hurt me or my family.”

Her cackle filled the night. “You silly creature. I lied, and it’s been so much fun watching you starve in a pathetic attempt to save yourself. That damned lord of yours must be furious by now—and terribly afraid. That’s the price one pays for hurting one born of water.”

Unlocking my jaw, I said, “You’re despicable.”

She bobbled her head. “Perhaps, or simply practical, depending on how you look at it.”

The vampire’s terror spilled into his voice. “If you kill me, my lord will destroy you.”

“No.” She shook her head, passing her liquid hand over his brow in a disturbingly tender gesture. “But he will kill
her
.”

My legs regained some of their control, but my upper body took longer. I needed to distract her. “You’re ensuring your own funeral, you know. If Isaac doesn’t rip out your throat, I’ll do it for him.”

Amun made a disgruntled sound, but I didn’t look at him. I took it he didn’t approve of antagonizing the crazy woman, but I didn’t concur.

“The stronger of us will prevail, my dear Baylou. I am pure water, pure jinn. You are but the child of a traitor and a human whore.” Her focus shifted to Amun. “Even my future sperm donor must admit my bloodline is better for our future than yours. No hard feelings.”

“Mum was a proper lady, unlike you.” She knew my father? But he was no traitor, was he? Was that why Mum believed he deserved to die?

Celeste moved her water blade toward the vampire. With a tremendous effort, I finished the change to stone and leapt forward. I couldn’t move Celeste, but I could move the vampire. Fingers curled around his ankle, I yanked him away, her blade slicing into his shoulder instead of his chest.

She roared, surging up like a tsunami wave. “Why won’t you just die gracefully?”

“Stone beats water, bitch!” Building a thicker rock crust around myself, I ran into her, causing her to splash in a few directions. “Who was my father? Why do you call him a traitor?”

She regrouped and flowed a few feet away before reforming. Her surface shimmered with power and fury. “Who do you think told the fae of our plans to take the crest from their sanctuary so we could, at last, inhabit their world and share in their power? All we had to do was control one of the gate keepers as I’m controlling this dead thing, and we could have had anything of theirs we wanted.”

Even with her shifting form, her expression exuded disdain. “We welcomed your father into our pod as an honored guest, and he spied on us for the other factions, betrayed us. He killed us all, your dear father. I hope he rots in the netherworld under the devil’s boot.”

Either her reactions didn’t carry through her water form to the ground, or she believed what she said, because I didn’t pick up a hint of deception. If he’d spied as she said and was working with the fae, I had to believe he’d done it to prevent a war and had failed miserably. To believe anything else would have broken my heart and shaken my faith at its roots.

“If you weren’t provoking the fae in the first place, we’d still be thriving as a people. You and your kind killed our people.” I glazed over the other burning-and-pillaging issues Amun had mentioned. At the moment, it felt good to throw all the blame on Celeste.