jinn 02 - inferno (5 page)

The car filled with light. I waited for Olivia to appear. Her familiar yet alien face formed from the light. It was both stunning and startling to witness. My skin prickled and every one of my senses screamed flee—as they always did around her now. I wasn’t afraid though. Fear got people killed. I simply waited for her to appear. Angel or not, Olivia was still somewhere in there.

“How many demons are inside?” she asked.

“You aren’t supposed to be here.” Her presence was too strong now and they could probably tell she was nearby. Last time she came to one of the scouting locations, the demons left on their own volition and didn’t come back. Since then she stayed away until it was time to fight them.

“How many?” Her voice was as expressionless as her face.

I sighed. “Best guess is six.” I wasn’t sure why she bothered asking. She could sense them inside better than I could.

“And how many have you seen there at one time?”

“Ten.”

She nodded and vanished, but less than a second later a bright light, her light, illuminated the house. I took off for the house even though this was breaking protocol and I should have probably called Holden, but crazy or not I wasn’t going to let her go in there without backup.

Inside was chaotic. There were more than six and they had been ready for her. The time she sat in the car was enough for them to start moving and collecting weapons. Her light made them crackle and sizzle like bacon, but they kept attacking until she laid them out with smooth fluid motions that impressed even me. A demon hit me from the side as I stared at Olivia annihilating them. I didn’t have one of the fancy demon killing weapons like Holden, so I was left to my own ingenuity. Rolling out of its grasp, I kept ahold of its arm and rammed my foot into the demon’s chest, knocking it back into Olivia’s light sphere. It tried to move away, but I kicked it again, deeper inside and closer to her. The demon exploded into bits of ash that drifted back to the floor.

Olivia had killed all the others. She smoothed her flowing white dress and her reddish brown hair flowed in soft waves around her. I had to hand it to her, she even looked the part of avenging angel. “Search the house and report back.”

And just like that she was gone again. I rolled my eyes, but began searching the house for any plans or locations of other demons. At least I wasn’t bored anymore. On the surface everything seemed like the other cells and camps we’d broken up, but the feeling that something was off settled into my core. The four rooms on the first floor were mostly empty except for tables made out of things that could be found in dumpsters.

Thump.

The noise came from upstairs. Maybe she wasn’t gone. I took the narrow stairs to the next level slowly and found myself on a small landing. There was only one door. I tested the knob. It was locked tight. I picked the lock and kicked the door open. A wave of feeling flooded over me and I staggered back a step, nearly losing my balance—which never happened. Something was wrong with the air up here. It was devoid of the usual energy in residences. Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the room. Maps and plans littered the walls and a table in the center of the room overflowed with scrolls and miscellaneous script-filled papers. Staged. No way would Hell be this sloppy. They just happened to leave all of this out for us to conveniently find? Yeah right.

Nevertheless, I took pictures of the walls and individual documents before I began taking everything down and collecting the evidence for Olivia. The falseness of the room ate at me, until I couldn’t stand it anymore. I texted Holden and Baker.

Holden responded first. “Bring it back.” Not one for small talk.

Baker called me. “What do you mean it feels off?”

I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “I’m standing here in this place and it feels like a set up. Like they wanted us to find it and read this stuff. You know how Uriel said that she was doing what the devil wanted even if she didn’t know she was?. Well, I think this is an example. We haven’t been to the last dozen or so places the angel’s ‘cleaned up.’ What if they’re all like this? Intentional plants, directing us to where they want us to go?”

“And using their own people as bait,” he said thoughtfully.

“Exactly. It isn’t like Hell’s real sentimental about things. Look at Holden. He’s less emotional than a rock. I think this is all a distraction.”

“Don’t touch anything else, kitten. I’m coming at ya.” Baker hung up and I headed for the kitchen.

I waited for Olivia to return. After all, Femi had called and said she was long gone. Yet she hadn’t come back. Where did she go when she wasn’t here? She was alive and well in my mind, at least her void was. Finally she walked through the door looking the same as always—or the new always anyway. She only ever wore white dresses now, nearly puritan in nature. She never wore shoes and her hair, longer than it used to be, was always down.

She moved past me and strode to her war room without so much as a glance in my direction. This had to stop. Baker and Femi were right. I took a deep breath and followed her into the room. Olivia stood at the table stewing over maps and angelic texts. The quiet between us wasn’t heavy;, it wasn’t anything. I had ceased to exist to her. I was simply a tool she had at her disposal. Baker’s advice replayed in my head. I had to shock her. Bring her back to us before she slipped away forever. Staring at her, I tried to figure it out. How could I make her come back when I couldn’t even tell if she was still there? Maybe it was too late. Maybe I’d lost her and this time there was no fixing it. I never deserved her in the first place, so it was hard to blame her for leaving.

There wasn’t an enemy to fight, nothing to unite against—she left the angel for that. Olivia gave up and abandoned me and everyone else, too. Femi thought I was the anchor, the glue that held us together. Maybe that was right. Perhaps it was only my determination that kept her here from the start.

I studied the profile of the woman I loved. Her beautiful eyes turned to me, but they were those of a stranger’s now, hollow and questioning.

“We have to leave for the demonstration,” she said as I opened my mouth to speak.

I welcomed the reprieve. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to hurt Olivia further, whether or not she was an angel. It was easier to wait for her to come back, but the price was too high. I would do it, but it didn’t have to be this moment. “Ready when you are.”

She stared at me, her expression blank. “We should arrive together to show our united front.”

I nodded and offered her my arm, which she ignored. We walked to Xavier in silence. I glanced over at her, but her face was always the same: looking forward with a slight frown. I held the door open for her and she went through, then waited for me on the other side. She allowed me to lead her to Phoenix’s office. Already the crowd collecting in the club was loud. I glanced through the doorway as we passed. Every jinn there was excitedly discussing the prospects of being free. Olivia and I walked into my former office, my eyes lingering on where Phoenix had his scuffed shoes propped on my coffee table.

“About time,” he said, hopping up. “Let’s go.”

I didn’t move and Olivia stayed next to me, her jaw clenched. Repulsion painted her face at being near so many jinn. Her arms crossed over her chest as if not sure she could keep from killing them.

“Who is she freeing?” I asked.

“Me,” he said.

I shook my head. “Can’t. Too conspicuous. Pick someone Hell won’t miss right away.”

“No. No matter what you think, Hell knows. I want to be freed before they kill her.”

Olivia turned to him with an icy glare. “It doesn’t matter who I free so long as they follow me. We’re wasting time.”

Phoenix smiled and went out the door. Olivia started after him. “Don’t do this,” I said.

She paused. “You made a bargain for your soul, yes?”

So she knew about that. “Yes.”

She nodded and left me standing in the room with only my thoughts. She wasn’t doing this for me. She couldn’t be. Despite what she implied, the angel had no real attachment to me other than nostalgia from the time she witnessed Olivia and I together. Was she goading Hell? Trying to get them to take a bigger swipe at her? Femi’s instincts said something was off in the house they’d raided without me. Why did she go in tonight without a plan? I sighed and went downstairs to watch the show.

Phoenix stood in front of the crowd as I once had with Olivia standing next to him. Only this time she didn’t look nervous—more like she was standing in front of a heap of rotting flesh infested with maggots. I stood back and observed. They didn’t seek me or my approval in any way, too entranced with the hope of what she could do for them.

When it was time, her light grew around her and brightened until most of the jinn had to look away. I was used to it. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her entire body shook and strained as she reached toward Phoenix. Her hand didn’t stop at his skin, but went into him, through him. When she pulled back light exploded from his mouth, eyes, and ears, then washed over the room in a tidal wave. One by one all the jinn dropped to the ground. Phoenix was the last to crumble. Olivia blinked a few times, then scanned the room, a small smile etched on her face until she saw me, still standing. The smiled melted away.

She looked back at the motionless jinn bodies, then back to me then back to them one more time. Her forehead furrowed. . “Why were you not affected?”

I raised an eyebrow. “What did you do to them?”

“Returned his soul as I promised, but…”

But it knocked jinn out and she knew it. It had knocked them all out when she freed me too, but this time I withstood it. “Perhaps I’m immune because I’ve been through it before.”

She stepped over the bodies and walked out of the club. Once outside she transported to the warehouse, but I chose to walk. I needed to think about what I was going to say to her. I texted Baker and Femi to make sure neither of them came back right away. At the warehouse, I poured myself a drink and went to the very back cell where we kept all of our, mostly her, belongings. My eyes scanned the room until I found it, untouched since we moved here. I felt the weight of the camera bag more in my chest than I did in my hand as I carried it back out to the makeshift living room that did nothing to make this place feel like home.

I sat on the couch with the bag at my feet, the camera on the coffee table, hoping she would see it and connect, and then I took a long satisfying drink of whiskey.

“Why did it not affect you?” she asked from behind me.

I didn’t respond, letting her come to me. When she stood in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest I finally looked up. “I can’t keep doing this, Liv.”

She didn’t blink, merely stared.

Somewhere in there she had to understand what I was talking about, but there wasn’t even a flicker. “Baby, if you’re in there, you’ve got to let me know.” I went to her. She didn’t move nor did her expression change. I brushed the back of my fingers against her soft cheek and something flickered in her eyes before she took a step back. “I would’ve followed you anywhere, but—” My words failed as she looked up at me. I held my breath hoping to see another sign of recognition, or anything in her beautiful eyes, but she was still alien, sealing my resolve. “I won’t do this anymore.” I clenched my fingers into a fist as if I could hold on to the feel of her skin. I hadn’t planned on saying it but it slipped out. “I can’t stay and watch you go down this path without me, but I can’t follow you when I can barely recognize you.”

I waited, holding my breath, for her to say something, to acknowledge me in some familiar way. Anything at all would have kept me by her side. The seconds ticked into minutes and my heart broke. She was really gone.

I pressed my lips to her forehead. She flinched away. “Good-bye.” I forced one foot in front of the other toward the door.

“Why?” the angel asked. “Nothing has changed. I fulfilled your promise. I freed the jinni. We are eliminating the threat. Why leave now? I have only helped you.” I turned back toward her. “I do not look different. I am more powerful than ever before. You claim to love us yet you choose to abandon us. Why should I let you leave?”