Burning Hearts (16 page)

He let out a loud slow exhale.

Then his lips formed into a
deadly smile. “
Mage
,” he drawled.

Well, it was now or never.

She raised her dagger, eyeing the position of
his heart, imagining it to be soft as butter. At the same time,
they each lunged; but Jenna struck first, plunging the knife with
absolute precision in the middle of his demon heart, right down to
the hilt. Before she even pulled the bloody blade out, he screamed
in pain; and just like her waking nightmares, the Jinni caught
fire, burning from the inside out and disintegrated, settling into
a pile of ashes on the ground.

It was too
easy
, she thought.
Too easy. How could killing someone be so easy? Is there such
a thing as a natural born killer?

A growl was cast behind her, interrupting her
inner one-sided conversation about morality. She turned to see
another brown-haired Jinni, casually dressed in jeans and a
T-shirt, looking like a normal member of society but with fiery
eyes. She didn’t know if he could see her, but he sensed she was
nearby.

And the pile of his friend’s ashes near her
feet was probably a dead giveaway.

As he reached for her, suddenly, she was
pushed from behind by the second Jinni. She fell to the ground,
smashing her face against the charred dirt. The encompassing wall
of fire threatened to consume her, but she remained low, wiping the
overcooked soil from her face, as her back ached from the collision
of his steel hand.

Her attacker took a step forward, locking
eyes with hers.

“
Show yourself, Mage,” he
commanded. “I want to see your face when I choke you to death.” His
mouth and tongue moved in a perceptible Arabic accent, similar to
the sound of the first one she’d killed; this Jinni’s tone was
hard, yet soft in pitch; a confusion of simultaneously-executed
opposites.

The other one, similar in looks and dress,
laughed, obviously enjoying himself. She stood up, not bothering to
brush the dirt from her jeans; her back was almost healed, but she
wasn’t going to strain her muscles with unnecessary grooming. She
was flanked on both sides by the Jinn with the raging fire rounding
out the rest of the demonic army.

She could hear the sirens of Fire Rescue in
the distance.

She had to act fast.

But how was she to take on two demons? And
escape before being burned to death?

She turned to her left, deciding to deal with
the one who wanted to strangle her first.

But he wasn’t looking at her.

“
TRAITOR!” he
bellowed.

She followed his fiery eyes to see Malcolm,
punching his hand through the other Jinni’s chest. The pureblood
screamed in pain as Malcolm pulled out his red still beating heart
and threw it into the fire, charring it down to black powder. The
heartless Jinni’s knees buckled, but before he could crash to the
ground, Malcolm swiftly hoisted him up by his shirt and with a
fierce, demonic growl, threw his body into the fire; the Jinni’s
mouth was agape, silently screaming; the fire consumed him
entirely; his ashes rained down, mingling with the flames.

“
Behind you!” Malcolm warned
her, and then transformed into a black fog before vanishing
completely.

She whipped around to witness Malcolm’s
return in solid form as he stood behind the last remaining Jinni,
ensnaring her opponent in a tight unfriendly hug.

“
Now! Now, Jenna, now! I
can’t hold him much longer!”

The Jinni was struggling in Malcolm’s trap,
about to free himself.

“
TRAITOR!” he barked at
Malcolm again, spitting on the ground like a junkyard dog who hated
everyone but his master.

“
JENNA!” Malcolm
pleaded.

“
Right!” She pierced the
Jinni’s heart, withdrew her weapon, and watched as he burned,
garbling the judgment of “
TRAITOR!
” one last time before
turning into a pile of ashes.

But she didn’t have time to enjoy her victory
as the fire spread near her feet, challenging her as the last
formidable opponent in this protracted battle. Malcolm rushed to
her and extended his hand in a sweeping motion. The fire around her
began to die down, and then as he swept his hand at the trees, it
died out entirely. Gray smoke rose like elongated fingers, reaching
toward the blue sky.

“
How’d you—?”

“
I can control the
elements.” He lowered his hand, still stained from the blood of the
Jinni’s heart he’d ripped out. “I’m just glad the fire was small.
I’m not powerful enough for an inferno,” he confided. When he saw
her staring at his hand, he wiped it against his other, and the
blood was magically gone.

The Fire Rescue sirens were coming
closer.

“
We need to get outta here,”
she told him.

“
Take off your amulet and
take my hand.”

She did as he asked and sheathed her dagger
that was curiously free of blood, saving her from a messy cleanup.
She took it out and gave it another look before securing it again
in her pocket.

“
It burns off and
disappears,” he explained before she could ask.

She smiled. “Oh, neat, so—”

He surprised her with a passionate kiss, full
of fire, like he’d never done before. She was sure that if he’d
been a pureblood Jinni, he would’ve charred her insides.

He held her cheek in his free hand that was
hot to the touch. “I love you.” His tone was gentle, but adamant as
if he were daring the world to refute his feelings.

“
I love you too,” she
breathed, feeling exhausted from his loving assault.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her
waist. “Hang on.”

She held him close, hugging him for dear
life. “Can we really do this?”

“
Don’t worry.” He kissed her
forehead. “You won’t feel a thing.”

As they disappeared, her body fell limp, and
her mind swirled. When they reappeared inside her bedroom, she
collapsed onto her bed, dragging Malcolm down with her.

“
Won’t feel a thing my ass,”
she muttered before passing out.

EXPOSURE

The people of Oasis were worried. Earthquake.
Twister. Wildfire. Some connected the dots: they all had happened
either around the school or the students. Others thought it was
just a coincidence. A couple thought it was the end of the
world.

A few parents took their children out of
school, opting to teach them at home. School, they said, had become
a dangerous place to be.

There had been a town hall meeting with Mayor
Goode in attendance. He’d assured everyone that Oasis was safe and
that the earth from time to time “likes to remind us of its natural
forces.”

Jenna knew better. It wasn’t Mother Nature to
blame. It was the Jinn.

But how do you tell a community that demons
are lurking about?

Even in a town full of believers, some things
are just nonsense. If they can’t see it, they don’t believe it.
Well, Jenna could see the Jinn, all right. Their fiery eyes created
waking nightmares during the day and invaded her dreams at
night.

It was a Friday when she woke with a start,
sweat beads trailing down her face and neck. Her night shirt was
soaked, clinging to her chest and back. She turned to view the
clock; it was just before midnight. She’d only been asleep a few
minutes. Throwing off the sheets, she jumped out of bed, and went
into the bathroom, relaxing in the shower. The ice cold water
soothed her body. When she shut off the tap, there was a knock on
the door.

“
Jenna, are you all right?”
asked her mom.

She wringed the water from her hair, stepped
out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around her body. “Yeah, I’m
fine. Just…felt like taking a shower, is all.”

“
Oh, okay. Well, if you’re
feeling bad, there’s Advil in the kitchen cabinet.”

“
Okay, thanks.”

After securing her damp hair up in a towel
and drying the rest of her body, Jenna went to the door and
listened.

“
She said she’s all right.”
Mom

“
Did she sound all right?”
Dad

“
Yeah. I guess there’s
nothing to worry about.”

Jenna could hear them walking down the hall,
back to their rooms. Their voices were faint, but she caught their
conversation.

“
All this stuff happening
has probably got her a little shook up,” her dad
guessed.

“
Well, I won’t pressure her
to talk,” her mom decided. “If she opens up, then we’ll
listen.”

“
I’m not prone to paranoia,
but I think something’s going on in this town.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
Holster Black wouldn’t just
commit suicide,” her dad stated with certainty. “I’ve known that
old man all my life. I was best friends with his son in high
school, Weston. Holster was excited for Weston’s wedding in
Phoenix. He was already talking about grandchildren. No, Rachel,
no. He would’ve never killed himself.”

“
I’m so sorry,
Jacob.”

“
And now it’s up to me to
lay him to rest. When I took over my dad’s business, I didn’t
realize I’d be burying friends.”

Jenna heard them take a few more steps and
shut their bedroom door. She wiped away a tear. She knew Mr. Black.
He used to come to the house when she was little and give her lemon
candy. As she thought about him and his smile, missing a few teeth,
she actually smelled lemons.

She couldn’t tell her dad that he was right.
That Mr. Black wouldn’t have killed himself…without help. For some
reason, a Jinni had persuaded that kind old man to commit
suicide.

The earthquake. The twister. The wildfire.
Those were bad. But ending Holster Black’s life was the final
straw. Jenna was determined to kill every single Jinni or Jinniyah
who were lurking around Oasis—even Arizona, America, and the
world.

As much as she wanted to deal out justice
tonight, she was exhausted. Mentally and physically. How could she
fight evil when she was tormented by them in her mind while
sleeping? While the most vulnerable?

When she reentered her room and closed the
door, she heard someone behind her, and then a warm hand gently
clamped down on her mouth, muffling her yelp.

“
Shh…please,” Malcolm
urged.

He removed his hand and went to stand in
front of her. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans like he’d been up
all night.

She held onto her towel that was threatening
to come undone. “What’re you doing here?” she whispered.

He tried not to look at her adjustments,
staring into her eyes. “I came to see you. I was at home and
felt…worried.”

The towel seemed to stay put as she went to
sit on her bed, patting the seat next to her in an invitation. He
accepted, relaxing beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist.
Already, she was warm, verging on hot, and felt feverish from her
sudden rise in temperature at having previously been under a cold
waterfall.

“
I had a nightmare,” she
informed him. “About the Jinn. About killing. I woke up all sweaty
and went to take a cold shower.”

“
Are you better?”

She smiled and rested her head, still wrapped
in a towel, against his shoulder. “I am now.”

He kissed her forehead. “I heard about your
father’s friend.”

She didn’t move, feeling comforted by his
side. “It was a Jinni, wasn’t it?”

“
I don’t know for sure, but
I’d bet on it.”

“
Why? Why would the Jinn
wanna harm a nice old man?”

“
They prey on the good ones.
They hate their kindness and love toward others.”

“
Does that mean they let the
bad ones go?”

“
No, but they’ll use them to
further their own agenda.”

“
And what’s
that?”

“
The destruction of
mankind.”

“
Why do they hate us so
much?”

“
For them, there’s no chance
at redemption. They can’t be saved. Humans can. They hate that
humans, for all their weaknesses, are elevated above them.
Superior.”

“
Do they wanna be
saved?”

“
No. But they know their
time on this earth is short and they’re doing everything they can
to wreak havoc. Pitting neighbor against neighbor. Firing the first
shot in a clash of civilizations. Brewing wars with weapons of mass
destruction. They relish in all that is evil and the suffering of
mankind.”

She lifted her head and looked into his fiery
blue eyes. “Have you ever felt such…hate?”

He hesitated before replying, “A few times,
when I was with my fellow Jinn, I did feel anger toward the humans.
But I never harmed them. You must believe me in this.” He gave her
a pleading look. “I never harmed anyone.”

She held his hand between hers. “I know,
Malcolm, I know. But the Jinn you were around…they harmed others,
didn’t they?”

He placed his other hand on hers, caressing
her skin with his thumb. “Yes. I didn’t like it. My human side
was…is…stronger than my demonic side. I’d spent twelve years with
humans, in England, living with my mother. So I just knew that the
Jinn were wrong in their way of thinking and everything they did.
I’d contemplated leaving before, but I was…afraid.” He paused, and
then said in a soft voice, “Afraid of starting a new life. Afraid
of being alone.” He swallowed as if the fear was still there, and
he needed to push it down into a dark place, where it couldn’t find
its way out and resurface.