The Better Part of Darkness

“Maybe,” he echoed.

After a long moment, he said, “I ran into the chief inside. He’s putting an undercover officer on Bryn’s place, just in case the Charbydon idea of street justice gets out of hand. It’s not hard to track you to her or to Emma.”

I hated bringing my family into this! I hated that someone was going to great lengths to use me as a scapegoat. And I had a pretty good idea who was behind it. The bastard’s black aura would never spread to my family. I’d die before I let Mynogan infect them the way he had infected me. And I sure as hell would take him down with me, if it came to that.

I caught Hank looking in the rearview mirror again. He’d taken the most roundabout way to the station, and now we were headed back toward the interstate when we were just there minutes ago.

“We’re being tailed,” he said softly.

My stomach flipped as I caught sight of a dark blue SUV in the passenger side mirror. “Mmm. Probably Len from the deli.”

“Who?”

“A jinn at the Subshop Deli. How long has he been following us?”

“Since the station for sure.”

I turned in the seat to stare directly at the car behind us. “You know we’re going to have to talk to Grigori Tennin. Get the jinn off our backs for a while.”

A snort issued from Hank’s mouth. “Yeah, good luck with that.” Then he glanced over and saw I wasn’t laughing. “Charlie—”

“What? It’s not your ass being hunted. And the way I see it, I don’t really have a choice. They’re all trying to find me and bring me into the summons anyway. No, I need to fix this now, under my terms.”

“You mean we,” Hank corrected. “We need to fix this.” He glanced in the rearview mirror, his profile going hard and grim. “Time to walk the line, kiddo. You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Anticipation fired my blood, and, despite my better judgment, I was still itching for that fight. “Absolutely.”

Hank navigated the car away from the interstate and down a small side street lined with warehouses that eventually dipped under the highway overpass. It was the perfect place for a trap. I turned in the seat, withdrew my Nitro-gun, and set the weapon to a hard freeze.

Once we cleared the overpass, the Mercedes accelerated fast, drawing away from the SUV. But no sooner than Hank had gunned it, he slammed on the brakes and did a one-eighty, turning to face the SUV, which braked hard, skidding head-on, straight toward us.

We were out of the car, weapons drawn just before the SUV’s locked-up tires came to a smoking halt inches from Hank’s fender. Before the driver had a chance to reverse, I ran to the window, aimed the gun, and ordered him out. Hank went to the passenger’s side. “All clear!” he called.

I opened the driver’s side door and stood back. “Out of the vehicle. Hands where I can see them.”

Len’s dark fingers flexed around the leather steering wheel, and his violet irises burned with rage. He wasn’t moving. Apprehending an irate jinn was like trying to put a collar on a rabid hyena. No one ever came out unscathed.

Hank came around the SUV, his weapon trained on Len. His steps were careful as he scanned the area under the overpass. “I thought you guys traveled in packs,” he said, coming to stand at my side.

Len’s answer was to spit at our feet. I cocked an eyebrow at his show of contempt. Like I hadn’t seen that one before. “Whatever.” I grabbed a handful of his hoodie and jerked him from the vehicle, holding the Nitro-gun at his back as I shoved him against the SUV’s hood and kicked out his feet with my borrowed pumps.

I pulled two knives, a set of brass knuckles, and two spell vials from his person. Hank took each one from me, examined it, and then pocketed the items. “So how much am I worth to the one who brings me in?” I asked as I patted down the insides of his thighs. “Must be a lot if you came alone.” Len must have seen an opportunity and taken it. Too bad for him.

“I don’t need help with one little female.”

Hank’s mouth dropped a fraction, obviously offended at being left out of the danger factor. “Uh, hello? Siren here … She does have a partner.”

I straightened and exchanged a wry smile with Hank, ignoring his remark. “It’s got to be the outfit.” I had to admit I did look all soft and girly in this getup. “Need I remind you,” I said to Len, “who’s got who pinned against the side of the car?”

It was never a good idea in any situation to goad a jinn, but I couldn’t help it. I had a reputation to uphold.

His muscles tensed right before he twisted around and grabbed my wrist, jerking it aside just as I squeezed the trigger. The blast skipped across the hood of the vehicle. He grappled with my arm, trying to use his force to spin me around and hold my back against his front. His beefy arm encircled my waist as his other hand still worked on trying to relieve me of my gun. I nailed him in the nose with my elbow, using every ounce of strength I had, and heard a sickening crunch for my effort.

“Any time now!” I barked at my partner, jamming the heel of my pump into Len’s shin and then dragging it down. He growled, grabbed my hair, and then jerked my head up. Pain flashed across my entire scalp, making my eyes water.

“These are second-rate, man,” Hank said to Len, examining one of the spell vials.

“Hank!” It was one thing to know your partner had complete confidence in your fighting abilities … But after I got through with Len, I was going to beat Hank senseless with one of my sister’s black pumps.

He shook one of the vials and then said, “Duck.”

The small glass tube came hurtling toward us. I barely had time to relax my body and drop through Len’s arms, despite the fact that he still had a nice chunk of my hair clenched in his fist. As I dropped, I grabbed the chunk to alleviate some of the pain even as hair began to pull from my scalp.

He let go as the vial broke against the side of his smooth, gray head, engulfing us in a cloud of muddy green stench.

Immediately, I held my breath, glad my arms were over my head, shielding me somewhat from the chain reaction above me. If I didn’t breathe it in, I was okay. Len stiffened for a count of three, then tipped over like a dead tree in the forest. Coughing from the thick scent of something acrid and tangy, I crawled out from under the small mushroom cloud. Whatever it was, it burned the insides of my nose and throat raw.

I grabbed on to Hank’s leg and pulled up, my fingers digging as hard as they could into his knee, thigh, and then arm.

He was laughing. Not out loud, but with his eyes. And to me, that was the same thing.

When I straightened and regained my balance, I shoved him hard. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I coughed again, hacking loudly and trying to get the taste out of my mouth. “Idiot! You could have shot him!”

“Yeah, I know,” Hank sighed, chuckling softly.

“I know you’re Mister Invincible and everything, but could you try to take things seriously once in a while?” I eyed him with a glare of disbelief. “You’re so annoying. Don’t even talk to me. You almost hit me with that friggin’ vial. You have no idea how lucky you are right now.”

Blue eyes glittered back at me. He tried to put on a serious face. What the hell was so damn funny? I turned to study Len, and didn’t see anything amusing about his unconscious form. I whirled back to Hank. “What the hell was in that potion?”

“It was an attraction spell. To lure a jinn female.” He rubbed his chin, studying Len. “Don’t think you’re supposed to use the entire bottle though.”

“Ya think?”

I massaged my closed eyelids, trying to ease the stinging aftereffects of the spell shower. “Come on, let’s get him into the back or else we’re gonna have the entire female jinn population sniffing him out in no time.”

“That guy’s not going anywhere near my car.” Hank made an offended face. “Neither one of you.”

I bent down and grabbed one of Len’s ankles, but not before shooting Hank a dark look. “Payback will come, my friend. When you least expect it.”