Burn With Me (17 page)

She looked up at him in wonder. “Why
are
you in such a good mood, Greg? How can you be okay with this? I mean it. You’ve never let me down, I know, but even now, after what you went through…why are you still here?”

“Because I love a girl with freckles, hot hands and cold feet.”

Aziza winced. He’d been her lifeline. Her constant. And she’d repaid his love and unwavering devotion by putting him in danger and allowing herself to be at the mercy of magical men and her own uncontrollable hormones. “Greg, I—”

“Don’t worry so much.” Greg pulled her close and looked out the window. “I know, Aziza. And I can’t explain it yet, but I also know in my heart I’m a part of this. I’m
supposed
to be here. It’s not just about you. It’s me. I’m here for me. Once I woke up from my Niyr-induced stupor, I just knew. And I’m here for you because you deserve it. Hell, looking after you is the most exciting job I’ve ever had. You’re a regular trouble magnet, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I’ve noticed.” She stretched her neck and placed a tender kiss on his cheek. “I love you too. You know that, right?” She saw the glint of the two necklaces, one iron and one gold, that she’d twined together and demanded he put on before they left. She had packed similar items for Penn and Hillary. Rings. For protection. “Enough to give you pretty jewelry.”

He didn’t look at her, but she could see the resignation in his nod. “I know. And how could you not? Even your aunt thinks I’m irresistible. Or I would be, you know, if I were a girl.”

She frowned, thinking of Penn. Of the dead woman holding her picture. “How are we going to protect her?”

“For Penn? We’ll do whatever we have to.”

She agreed. No matter the cost. “The Niyr,” she murmured. “Did you find out more about them too?”

“Other than the fact that they have the ability to induce monster migraines with a touch?” he joked. “Surprisingly little, I’m afraid. I hate suspecting that creepy child of foul play, but it’s almost as if that part was left out on purpose.”

“And he seemed so helpful,” Aziza murmured sarcastically.

Greg was pensive for a moment. “There was something about whispering. Whispers. I don’t think he meant for me to know about it, but, to be honest, I’m not sure. What I do know is that your Qarin don’t like each other, which is no great shock to anyone. And neither side knows what to make of you, which is no great shock to me.” He sighed. “I think for the most part we’re still in the dark. Still on our own.”

Ram turned down the music he’d been blasting and spoke over his shoulder as he drove down the twisting country road. “I’m still here, in case you were wondering. You aren’t on your own, Aziza. This
is
an area where I have a certain amount of training. You and your aunt will be safe. There have been instances where protection has included the family of the Qarin’s charge. Rare, but recorded. And these are unusual circumstances.”

Aziza leaned forward, staring at his beautiful profile while he watched the road. “What about Shev? Did she decide not to come because of…because of what I said?”

“She’s heard worse.” Ram smiled and shook off her concern. “She’ll meet us there. She’s never let me go into battle alone. Says I would become impossible to live with, if I survived at all. Shev is a competitive woman.”

“I’m still not sure why they would assign a set of
tau’ma
to a single Fireborne.” Greg spoke absently. “The treaty was very specific about there being only one from each side. About the need for balance. I’m surprised the Niyr haven’t made a formal protest.”

“Oh, look, he’s still got something rattling around in his head.” Ram’s smile tightened. “Yes, it was a surprise to all of us as well. Neither side disputed the decision, however. Perhaps they simply wanted the best for Aziza. We are the best. Who am I to question?”

But he did. She could sense it. “What would happen if it was disputed?”

Ram shrugged, but it was obvious he didn’t want to think about it. “We would be recalled and replaced. Your previous Jinn Qarin was gone for close to three months before we were assigned to you. It took about that long for Te to be chosen as well. I think the leadership on both sides was in shock.”

It was fascinating, if disturbing, to discover all the details of how her “guardians” were chosen. But she couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of loss for the beings that had been with her since she was born. “What were they like? Did you know the one watching me? The Jinn who was killed?”

Ram glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and the wheel jerked in his hand, diverting his attention. “I knew
of
him. He’d been a famed poet of our people before he was assigned to you. An inspired soul, full of life. I’m told he spoke often of his charge.” He paused. “In fact, most of the poetry of his later years centered around her. They say his finest works were created only after his heart broke for the suffering of the beautiful child. The precious one.”

She looked away from him and studied the green blur of the landscape as it passed.
His heart broke…
He’d watched it all, then. Watched her mother wake her in the middle of the night to pray and protect the house with odd-smelling herbs. Watched the looks of pity Aziza had received from the parents of her peers when her mother threatened anyone who dared come to their door for Halloween, calling them demons. Tricksters. “I wish I’d known he was there.”

“It’s better you didn’t, hon.” Greg tugged on her shirt until she sat back beside him, dropping another notebook in her lap. “You weren’t ready to know back then.”

Maybe not. But if she had, maybe she would have been able to help Emma Stewart understand that they weren’t all evil. Ram could be a pain in the ass and, honestly, she was still pissed at him, but he seemed to want to help. Shev too. She liked to shock but—Aziza thought about how comforting her arms had felt when they’d found the body—there was a gentle side to her. A protective side. Her mother might have realized that she didn’t have to spend her life in fear.

Yeah, and you could have saved her because you’ve got it all figured out?

“You’re right,” she whispered. “I’m not sure I’m ready to know
now
.”

She wasn’t sure she was ready to come here either. The county of Gloucestershire in the Cotswolds, where her mother had been raised. Just thinking about where she was suddenly brought to mind images of stuffy tea parties and ladies who would titter at her lack of couth.

Penn was raised here too
, she tried to comfort herself. There was no one who put her more at ease than her aunt. No one who seemed less stuffy.

Her brother Tarik had come here before he continued on to Bahrain. Before he died. He’d loved the place, told her he thought he could live there happily for the rest of his life. Told her it felt like home.

But she didn’t have a home. Not really. Not anymore. She didn’t want to love the land that he’d described to her. The stable of horses he’d tempted her with, knowing that she’d always wanted to learn how to ride.

“And the house,” he’d waxed. “It’s a mansion compared to our place. An actual English manor. There’s room for all of us. Joseph, when he gets home from Iraq. You and Adam and I. When I get back I’ll fly you all over.”

He’d never come back to keep that promise.

“I don’t mean to disturb you two,” Ram murmured, “but I believe that a flea-bitten jackass on a motorcycle is actually following us. What’s he planning to do—run us off the damn road? I don’t think that’s in the Enforcer handbook.”

Aziza spun around in her seat and looked out the rear window, a small part of her grateful for the distraction. “Oh my.”

There was no mistaking those shoulders. She would know them anywhere. Brandon was behind them, closing the gap at dangerous speeds. “What’s he doing way out here?”

Following her. The way he had been since that first night. After their last encounter she’d expected him to back off out of shame, if nothing else.

Greg started to laugh beside her and he didn’t stop. He leaned against the leather of the seat, sliding down as he gasped for breath. He held his sides and shook his head, but he still didn’t stop.

She reached over and shook his shoulder. “You’re scaring me, babe. What’s so funny?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he wheezed. “Car chase. Jinn. Magic cops. Men following you around everywhere you go. Same old, same old.”

She bit her lip. “I hope Penn makes one of her special toddies for you, my friend. I think you need it.”

“Me too,” he snorted, the laughter finally dying down. “Hey, Ram-bo, you gonna pull over or is he going to chase us all the way to the house?”

Ram’s profile was grim as his hands tightened on the wheel. “All the way.”

All the way happened a few minutes later when they turned into the long private road that led to the Stewart manor. The house distracted her for a moment from their unexpected tailgater.

She’d seen pictures but they hadn’t done it justice. It was as tall as a hotel. An old, classically beautiful hotel made of stone and filled with stuffy butlers and gossiping housekeepers. She suddenly felt as if she’d fallen into a Jane Austen novel. It was surreal. Beautiful. Peaceful. And the “yard” looked like a national park.

Not home.

When the house came fully into view Ram slammed on the brakes. “Maybe you should call the police
now
, Greg,” he snarled. “The Enforcer is officially trespassing.”

Aziza opened the door and climbed out of her seat as quickly as she could to stop the upcoming confrontation. “Don’t you dare.”

“Don’t you worry.” Greg was still chuckling as he got out of the car to join her. “I’ve decided to stay out of this fight. Maybe they’ll kill each other and be done with it. Because really, how much dueling testosterone can one vacation take?”

“Once again, not the right venue for you to work on your comedic timing, babe.” She glared at him for a moment before the roaring engine of the motorcycle drowned out coherent thought. Brandon shut it off and she watched him slide off the metal machine as if he were getting off a horse, his expression determined. Angry.

Still sexy as hell.

The thought just pissed her off. Sexy did
not
excuse everything. “Do I need to get a restraining order, Mr. Nash?” she called out. “I thought you’d finally gotten this particular habit out of your system after our last experience.”

She strode up to him, conscious of Ram’s ill temper and making sure she stood between Brandon and a fight with the Jinn. She lowered her voice. “Seriously, Brandon, why are you here?”

His warm golden brown eyes studied her features. “I’ll tell you, if you tell me why you’ve been crying.”

The dead body in the hallway? Her unwelcomed and unexpected powers? Her body’s conflicted hormones? It was hard to decide. “It’s none of your business. You didn’t drive all this way just to check on me.”

“It’s reason enough,” he murmured. “But I didn’t. Not this time.”

“Then leave,” Ram interjected with obvious contempt from his defensive stance near the car. “She doesn’t need you here. Doesn’t want you here. Aziza doesn’t concern you,
kalbu
. Go chase someone else’s scent.”

Brandon growled low in his throat in reaction, and Aziza placed her hand on his chest. So warm. Hard. She remembered what it looked like in breath-stealing detail. God, she was pathetic. “Cut it out, both of you. Can I
please
just have a few more hours without something insanely horrible or weirdly unusual happening? One thing after another, and now I’m here of all places and…” she stepped back and held out her hands helplessly, glancing at Ram, Brandon and Greg in turn, “…I need a timeout.”

“Timeout from what?” Shev appeared as if she’d opened a door no one else could see in the driveway behind Brandon. From nowhere. Aziza closed her eyes and prayed for patience. How did she do that? Where did she come from?

“Never mind.”

Stop thinking. Just for a minute.
She took a deep breath.

“
You’re
what I came for.” Brandon’s threatening words had Aziza’s eyes popping open again.

“Shev? You came for
Shev
? Why?”

The female Jinn widened her high-heeled stance and placed her hands on her black-leather-encased hips, her smile a sensual temptation. “Never wrestled with one of you before. It could be fun. I am always open to trying something new.”

A spark of jealousy ignited inside her. Shev and Brandon? Never. He hated her kind. He’d told her so.

Smelling them on you didn’t stop him from tasting you. Touching you.

Ram seemed just as disturbed by the conversation as she was. “Don’t scare me, my darling. Aziza might be fooled, but I know for a fact you have better taste than that.”

“You’d be surprised,” Shev hummed.

“Don’t insult me. You know why I’m here.” Brandon’s hard tone made Aziza stop short. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Shev sensed it too, her smile disappearing. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but whatever it is, Enforcer, you’re wrong. My papers are in order and I haven’t broken any of your laws.”

Brandon raised his voice so everyone around the car could hear him. “We had no leads for the humans who were murdered the other night. I could sense your kind, but you left no trail. Today I saw
her
with a body. An older woman. Another unnatural death. Either she is protecting someone…” he looked over his shoulder at Ram, “…or she is guilty and will pay, blood for blood, at my hand according to the law.”

“Wait a second.” Aziza felt her head spinning. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Brandon had seen Shev with the old woman’s body and had come to the wrong conclusions. But it was his reaction that surprised her even more. “Blood for blood? As in, you will kill this woman right here on my family’s property? Without a trial or a chance to defend herself? Without even
asking
what happened?”

He clenched his jaw and she could see his pulse ticcing at his temple. “Jinn agree to these terms of travel. If a law is broken here, we will punish the offender. No exceptions.”