Burning Hearts (19 page)

“
Jenna, baby—”

“
Don’t you
baby
me!”

They were in her bedroom, having kept deadly
silent (her insistence) ever since Malcolm had driven her home
(she’d threatened to walk and he’d threatened to follow), but once
she’d passed the threshold of her room, she’d let him have it.
Fortunately, her parents were out, but sadly, it was to arrange
Holster Black’s funeral.

Jenna and Malcolm were standing on opposite
ends of her room. Her arms were folded over her chest. His were
hanging limp by his sides. He looked worried, wondering how badly
their relationship had been damaged.

She sighed and turned, facing her window with
rosy curtains separated down the middle. She heard him take two
cautious steps forward.

“
I never feared telling you
about my past, but I didn’t want to tell you about her. I want to
forget Fatima. She was a bad influence on me…made me think and feel
such hateful things.”

The sorrow in his voice made her turn around
and meet him, but only halfway, with a small distance she wasn’t
yet ready to cross.

“
Has she come to get you
back? Because she still loves you?”

“
Fatima’s incapable of love,
only jealously and possession. She feels that she owns me.” He
hesitated, nervous, and then said, “I have another confession: the
Jinn who came here after my arrival…they came under orders. They’re
trackers, sent to find and drag me back to her. I kept that from
you because that would mean telling you about Fatima. Jenna, I’m so
sorry.”

She wanted to hit him, but she forgave him.
Love was a crazy thing.

“
I understand,
Malcolm.”

He seemed relieved, tense muscles relaxing,
and took another step toward her.

“
Jenna—”

“
So,” she cut him off, still
wanting answers, “when I started killing off her retrieval squad,
she came to do the job herself?”

He simply nodded. And then he smiled. “She
could’ve never guessed that a powerful Mage would oppose her plans
so much.” Softly, he added, “And that I’d fall deeply in love with
a demon slayer. My true soul mate.”

Confession.

Flattery.

Declaration of an unbreakable love.

He was really trying to win Jenna back. But
he’d never really lost her to begin with.

She gave him a warm smile, but kept her
distance, still in interrogation mode. “If she’s so bad, then why
were you with her?”

“
She was always by my side.
When I was younger, having just lost my mother, she took care of
me. And when the others would look at me as an abomination for
being half-human, she defended me. I was grateful to her, but she
had an evil side as all pureblood Jinn do. She’d try to get me to
do things, hurt people. I never did. Her brother, Saladin, was
equally evil, but he never pushed me, never paid much attention to
me, really. To him, I was a ‘
half-breed
’ and he hates those as
much as he hates humans. He tolerated me because of his sister.
Being with her protected me…but not now. If he’s here, in Oasis,
it’s not to bring me back to Egypt. Fatima wants that. Saladin
wants to rip my heart out.”

She finally bridged the gap between them and
locked her arms around his waist, resting her head against his
chest. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

He kissed the top of her
head and stroked her arms. “Don’t apologize. I held that part of my
life back because I didn’t want to relive it. I never loved Fatima.
I thought I did…until I met you. Then I realized what
true
love is.”

She looked up into his fiery blue eyes. “How
can you love someone who was born to kill you?”

He lifted his lips in a half smile. “How can
you love someone who’s part evil?”

“
Even humans are capable of
evil.” She smiled. “At least you have an excuse.”

“
Hmm. The sins of the
father.”

“
What do you
mean?”

“
My father, Ishmael, was
half-Jinni. My mother told me only good things about him, but he
was still part evil, and that Jinni blood transferred to me in my
mother’s womb.”

“
We’re back to this again,
aren’t we? That you’re gonna turn or switch or let go and revel in
your dark side.” She tugged on his T-shirt. “I won’t let that
happen.”

“
I hope not. If I ever
become that way, I want you to kill me.”

“
No, no!” She held onto his
shirt, pulling it down, anguished. “That’s not what I
meant.”

He furrowed his brow. “What did you
mean?”

She relaxed her hold. “You
said that Fatima tried to influence you into doing bad things,
right? Well, I’m not gonna let her or any other Jinn sway you. I
hate what they’ve done to Oasis. The destruction was one thing, but
persuading Holster Black to kill himself is another; it’s horrible.
And I’m not a fan of the Stuck-Ups, but what they were compelled to
do at the river today was outrageous.” She shook her head, appalled
and saddened. “They could’ve killed each other.” Then she squared
her shoulders, determined. “Well, I’m gonna kill all the Jinn in
Oasis. That includes Fatima and Saladin.”
Especially Fatima
, she emphasized
mentally. “I suspect Saladin’s some great big badass, right? That’s
why he’s their master?”

“
Not exactly; although, he’s
more powerful than your average Jinni. Fatima and Saladin are
royalty to the Jinn. Saladin inherited the throne after his father
died, more than a century ago. Saladin’s their king, and Fatima’s a
princess.”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “Great. I have to
compete with a princess.”

He pulled her close, shaking his head.
“There’s no competition between you two. You supersede her in
everything. She tried to capture my humanity and destroy it, but
failed. You’ve made my humanity, my love, stronger than I’d ever
thought possible.”

Pools of water formed around her eyes, making
Malcolm look blurry. She fought the flood, regaining the clarity of
his features, but was forced to wipe a rogue tear away from her
cheek. “You have a way with words. Much better than Riddick,” she
judged.

“
What do you
mean?”

“
He writes poetry. It’s not
bad, but his poems about me are depressing.”

“
Because he can’t have you.”
It was a statement, rather than a question.

“
There’s no competition, you
know? I’m with you.” She smiled. “I’ll always be with
you.”

His face fell like he didn’t believe her.

She furrowed her brow, her smile fading.
“What’s wrong?”

“
Come.” He guided her to the
bed, where they laid down, facing each other; she snuggled against
him. “Jinn live for many, many years,” he reminded, stroking her
arm. “Not forever, but longer than humans.” He smiled and tapped
her nose. “That’s until a Mage comes along, all
stab-happy.”

She chuckled. “I can’t help it. It’s a
destiny thing.”

He smiled again and kissed the tip of her
nose. “I’m half-Jinni. I’ll live a long time, but I’m restricted by
my human side.” A veil of sadness covered his face. “I fear that
you’ll die before me.” He allowed himself another smile. “Of old
age, of course.”

She didn’t want to have this conversation.
She didn’t want to think about her mortality.

“
Do we have to talk about
the future now?” She smiled, gently tugging on his earlobe. “I just
need to get to tomorrow.”

He held her hand, caressing it. “The future
is all I ever think about. I try to forget my past. My life, now in
the present, is with you, and even though I’m beyond happy, I also
worry about what’ll happen to us.”

“
Then don’t.”

“
I can’t live without you,
Jenna. I’ve already decided that if you were to die, then I’d kill
myself.”

She was speechless.

He continued talking about his planned
suicide. “I could go any of the human ways: overdose, gunshot,
jumping off the Empire State Building…that would be a slow death.
Or I could do something that would guarantee my immediate death:
ripping my heart out.”

Her face contorted in anguish at the image
playing out in her mind of Malcolm’s bloody heart on display in his
clenched hand. “No, baby!” She cupped his cheek. “No, you can’t do
that. I won’t let you.”

He smiled, despite the morbid topic of
conversation. “How can you stop me? You’ll be dead.”

She forced a smile too. “It’s simple. I’ll
never die.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Oh, really?” He
rolled on top of her, putting his weight on his arms against the
mattress. “And how do you plan on accomplishing this amazing
feat?”

“
It’s a secret.”

She had no clue how she was going to prevent
her certain death, but she wanted to make him feel better. As he
was lying on top of her, smiling, it seemed to work.

“
Oh, keeping secrets from
me?” He kissed her lips. “Naughty Mage.”

As she wrapped her legs around his waist, his
fiery blue eyes exploded in delight. He began kissing her lips,
then her neck, exploring south as his lips traveled across her
exposed chest (she was still wearing her bathing suit under her
jean dress, the top two buttons undone). His featherweight warm
kisses were gentle against her burned skin.

“
Wait,” she
breathed.

He stopped. “What is it? Do you think we’re
moving too fast?”

“
Did you…did you have sex
with Fatima?”

He shook his head vigorously. “No, I
didn’t.”

“
So you’re
a…virgin?”

He smiled. “Yes, like you.”

She smiled back. “Well, for a virgin, you
seem to know exactly how to push”—she pressed him closer with her
legs—“my buttons.”

His eyelids hung low. “And you,” he said in a
deep voice, “seem to know how to push mine.”

She shrugged, smiling. “Beginner’s luck.”

“
We’re made for each other,
Jenna Love. It’s Kismet.”

“
Aren’t Luck and Kismet the
same thing?”

“
Luck
is a word thrown around, but has lost all meaning. True luck,
what was meant to be, and what can never be undone, is
Kismet
, like your path to
be a Mage.”

She ran her fingers through his shiny black
hair. “But what’s our purpose?”

“
I don’t know, but whatever
it is, it’s good.” He kissed her lips, softly, gently, and then
passionately. “You’re so good.” With puckered lips, he lightly
swept his mouth across the freckled skin of her collarbone, while
his hand slid up the inside of her thigh. “You feel so good,” he
moaned against her pink sun-burned chest.

She threw her head back, immersing in his
pleasure. “Are we really doing this?” she panted, staring up at the
ceiling.

He slid the tip of his fiery tongue up her
neck, to her lips. “Yes,” he breathed into her mouth, sending a
flaming trail of desire all the way to her toes.

But for the second time that day as he was
lowering her bathing suit strap, they were interrupted by a noise,
coming from outside.

Pop.

Pop.

She jumped in his arms. “Was that
gunshots?”

He nodded. “Do you have that often, out in
the country?”

“
Yeah, but with the Jinn in
town, I suspect foul play. And just when I was about to get some!”
she fumed.

Malcolm got off the bed, went to Jenna’s
backpack, and tossed it to her. “Duty calls,” he encouraged with a
smile.

She caught the bag, frowning. “Can I call in
sick?”

He lifted up her chin and kissed her lips.
“Work first. Play later.”

She buttoned up the length of her jean dress
that Malcolm had somehow deftly opened without her realizing it,
and then ran outside with him. But Jenna was forced to hide her
dagger. The police, sirens blaring, were flying down the road; they
came to a screeching halt at a house across the street. Jenna could
only assume that they’d been en route, already alerted to a
disturbance. All the neighbors rushed out, curious to know what had
happened. The police, guns ready, busted down the door of Jenna’s
neighbors, Alan and Alana Jennings. They’d just celebrated their
thirtieth wedding anniversary. She only remembered that because her
parents were invited to the celebratory bash. They were nice,
well-respected people. She hoped that they were safe, but with the
Jinn lurking about, screwing with everyone’s minds, there was no
telling what horror awaited those cops.

The ambulance soon arrived, with the coroner
right behind, as more neighbors crowded about.

Jenna scanned the area for pairs of fiery red
eyes. “I don’t see them,” she told Malcolm.

“
And I don’t sense them
either.”

“
Dammit! Why are they doing
this?”

He sighed. “Because they can.”

“
Well, not for long.” She
made sure her blade was well hidden as a few cops started fanning
out, interviewing neighbors. “I just wish I knew where their
hideout was, and then”—she clenched her jaw—“I’d burn ‘em
all.”

“
It’s my fault.”

Her face muscles relaxed. “What? No, don’t
say that.”

He sighed again. “It’s true, Jenna. If I
hadn’t come here, the Jinn would’ve never stepped foot in Oasis.”
He gestured at the two stretchers being brought out; the bodies
were each covered with a black bag; the sign of death. “None of
this would be happening,” he determined.