Burning Hearts (26 page)

“
Let him go,” Jenna
commanded through clenched teeth.

“
Okay.” He sounded
sincere.

Her jaw relaxed. “Really?”

“
No,” he replied
sarcastically.

She blew out a breath of exasperation. “Take
me to him.”

“
In time. But first I’d like
to have a little…taste…of you…before my sister. She’s very eager to
meet you too; the former and current lover of our dear half-breed
Malcolm. It should be an exciting show.”

She closed her eyes, trying
to sense Saladin’s presence. She felt a
whoosh
to her right, and without
opening her eyes, she turned, quick as a snake, and
stabbed…nothing. He wasn’t there.

He chuckled again. “You really are a terrible
Mage. I’ve seen old grannies better than you.”

Mad and hot and tired and hungry and on the
verge of tears, she began stabbing at the air around her, hoping to
make a hit. “I hate you! I hate you! Show yourself!”

“
As you wish,” he drawled in
a bass tone.

A fiery hand gripped her wrist. She managed
to hold onto her dagger as Saladin finally appeared out of a black
fog. He was tall, slender, but muscular, wearing a long-sleeved
silk black shirt; the first few buttons were open at the top,
revealing a patch of smooth black chest hair. His black pants had
that just been ironed look, and his black dress shoes were scuff
free.

But his face! Gorgeous was putting it mildly.
His eyes were fiery to be expected, but soft and inviting as were
his lips. He had the same caramel skin tone and raven black hair as
Malcolm, but Saladin’s was longer, pulled back in a short ponytail.
He was forming a five o’clock shadow that made him look even
sexier. He looked like a twenty-something corporate CEO who did
modeling on the side.

His grip was burning her
skin, but she remained frozen, paralyzed not by his demonic power,
but by his unexpected beauty. She’d been geared up for a knockdown,
drag-out fight. But he’d pulled a preemptive
strike—
striking good looks, that
is
.

He smiled, showing pearly
white teeth as he maintained his grip on her wrist, holding her to
him. “Now there’s
another
first.”

“
Wha?” she
breathed.

His fiery eyes twinkled.
“You’re
smitten
with me.”

She snapped out of her delusion and tried to
pull away from him, but he was too strong.

“
I’m
not
smitten.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a half
smile. “Oh, but you are.” He leaned down, his lips almost touching
hers. “I can taste your desire. It spills off of you in waves,
lapping into my mouth.” He wrinkled his nose, gripping her wrist
tighter. “What a pathetic, disgusting creature you are.”

Just as he was winning her over, he lost her.
“You may be gorgeous on the outside, but it’s just a façade, a
deception to cover your grotesque soul.”

“
I don’t have a
soul.”

“
That’s why you’re gonna
lose.”

He rolled his fiery eyes. “What crappy movie
did you recite that from?”

She was ready to kill him out of sheer
annoyance. “Are we gonna flirt or fight?”

He smiled, still amused by his enemy. “You’re
a horrible flirt. I’d much rather fight, but so far, you’ve
portrayed yourself as an unworthy opponent.” He sighed, melancholy.
“I was hoping for an actual duel.”

“
Lemme go and you’ll get
one.”

He laughed so hard tears
almost came to his fiery eyes. “Why should I be afraid of you if
just by
gripping
”—he tightened his hold—“your wrist, you’re
defeated?”

“
How many Magi have you
fought?” she interrogated.

He gave a proud smile.
“I’ve
killed
dozens.”

She smiled back. “Being a pureblood Jinni,
are all your bits in the right places?”

He furrowed his brow, confused for the first
time since their encounter. “Bits?”

It was now or never.

She whipped up her knee, slamming it right
into his crotch. He groaned in pain, squeezing his eyes shut as he
fell to the ground, holding himself.

Not wasting an opportunity, she raised her
dagger, ready to slay him once and for all.

“
Bet no Mage ever made
contact there, huh?”

But when she went to plunge the blade into
his heart, he opened his fiery eyes, gave her a crooked smile, and
disappeared.

“
Dammit!” she
growled.

After his departure, the chamber with all its
fake beauty, faded away, and she was standing in the dark.

BURN, BABY, BURN

Her dagger was like a golden flashlight as
she traveled in the semi-dark of a different castle with different
turns and no balls of fire, searching for the siblings, hoping
Malcolm hadn’t been harmed. She regretted knocking him out—she’d
been trying to keep him safe—and it just ended up leading Fatima
straight to him.

As she progressed, more and more paths were
blocked by sandy barriers of superior strength.

“
That damn Jinni!” she
growled.

Her exhaustion grew worse; hunger pains
followed. If Jenna wasn’t yawning, her stomach was growling. She
was getting weaker and weaker by the second, moving at a snail’s
pace, hugging the sandy walls. Just as she was about to stop and
rest, a familiar voice rang out.

“
JENNA!”

She tore herself away from the wall,
straightening her back. “MALCOLM?!”

“
HURRY!”

Her energy was boosted by his plea. She raced
all around the castle, following the echo of his voice as he
continued to call for help. She knew that she was being guided
because paths that she’d taken were now blocked and new paths were
being revealed to her.

Finally, only one passage remained, leading
into a darkened hall.

“
MALCOLM?! WHERE ARE
YOU?!”

“
HURRY!” His shout blasted
her ears.

Her fingers were curled so tight around the
hilt of her dagger that she was starting to get blisters. She took
a step forward and the ground shook. Sensing a cave in, she ran,
while the floor and walls shook terribly, sending chunks of sand
falling on her head from the ceiling.

Her dagger was a glow stick, guiding her way.
She came into another large chamber, but nowhere near as elegant as
the first. The ceiling was low, creating a sense of claustrophobia.
In the center of the room was a large fire, devoid of wood, erected
from the sandy ground below. The tips of its spitting flames
reached the hanging ceiling, lapping at it like dozens of
tongues.

As she ventured further, small rocks crunched
like glass shards under her feet.

“
Jenna?” Malcolm’s voice was
weak.

“
Where are you?”

“
In here. Come
closer.”

Something about his voice didn’t sound right;
the tone was playful, seductive, and dangerous.

She held out her dagger, poised to strike.
“Saladin, you rotten piece of shit! I know that’s you!”

“
Whoa, whoa!” He appeared
out of a black fog, looking the same: well-dressed and gorgeous.
“Language,” he scolded, but with one of those I’m-so-proud-of-you
smiles.

“
I don’t have time for this!
Where’s Malcolm?”

“
Is that her?” The voice was
distinctively female and exotic. Fatima.

“
Yes, sister,” Saladin
replied to an empty space next to him.

That void was soon filled with a black fog
that transformed into one of the most gorgeous women Jenna had ever
seen.

Fatima was wrapped in a sleeveless black silk
dress that hugged her curves; a belt made out of turquoise gems
snaked around her small waist. Her feet were bare. Her neck, wrists
and hands were without jewelry, but white pearls were weaved
through her raven black hair, braided down her back. Her eyes were
like all pureblood Jinn, fiery red, but the flames complemented her
caramel skin, and didn’t seem that evil at all.

Truly, she was the master of seduction, just
like her brother. Jenna was surprised that Malcolm had the courage
to even leave her. It seemed that no man or Jinni could resist
her.

Even Jenna was dazzled by her beauty.

Fatima walked slowly, swinging her hips as
she approached. They stood so close that Jenna could feel the fire
from Fatima’s eyes. This would’ve been the perfect opportunity to
kill the Jinniyah, but Jenna was paralyzed by her beauty as she’d
been with Saladin. What good was her destiny as a Mage if she
couldn’t resist good-looking Jinn?

“
This,” the princess began,
“is who my beloved ran away to?”

“
Unbelievable, I know,”
Saladin replied, shaking his head.

Fatima looked like she was going to vomit.
“So ugly.” She turned her back to Jenna as she addressed her
brother, unafraid that she could be attacked from behind. “How
could Malcolm fall in love with such a thing?” she pondered with
disgust.

Jenna was furious, which made her stupid,
missing an opportunity to stab Fatima in the back. “I’m not a
thing,” she spat before Saladin could give a vulgar answer to his
sister’s question. “I’m human. Malcolm’s half-human. He’s got Jinni
blood, but he’s nowhere near as perverted and malicious as
you.”

Saladin’s lips lifted in a half smile.
Obviously, he wasn’t mad at Jenna for insulting his sister.

Fatima, with her fists clenched, spun to face
Jenna; her fiery eyes were about to go supernova. “How stupid are
you to think that Malcolm’s interest in you is nothing more than a
delusion of his rotten human mind?!”

“
Delusion?” Jenna couldn’t
help laughing like a loon. “You’re the one who’s
deluded.”

Fatima’s plump lips stretched into a peculiar
shape: she smiled. Jenna was nervous, preferring her to frown. At
least then she could guess the Jinniyah’s intentions.

“
Let’s see who’s right.”
Fatima turned to face a dark corner of the room and extended her
hand. “Oh, Malcolm, my love, will you please join us.”

Jenna was tempted not to pass up this second
opportunity and stab Fatima in the heart, snuffing out her
beautiful existence, but she stayed her hand, waiting for Malcolm
to appear.

He did, stepping out of the shadows, as if
he’d always been standing there, preferring not to speak—or forced
to be quiet.

“
Malcolm?” Jenna addressed
him with a smile; he seemed unharmed. “I’m sorry about earlier,
about hitting you. I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

But Malcolm ignored her; his fiery blue eyes
were only for Fatima. He greeted her with a passionate kiss.

“
My love,” he cooed, cupping
her cheek in his hand.

Any other girl would’ve felt betrayed, but
Jenna knew better. He was half-human, which meant he was
susceptible to suggestion. There was no way he’d choose Fatima over
her.

“
Nice try,” she told Fatima.
“If you have to resort to trickery to make someone love you, then
you might as well give up.” She smiled. “Of course, there are
others out there, desperate for a connection. Who knows? Maybe the
Boogeyman has a profile on eHarmony.”

Fatima snapped her fingers. Malcolm collapsed
on the ground, unconscious.

“
NO!” Jenna rushed to him,
but Fatima slapped her away with a crushing blow to her chest,
sending her flying across the room. Her head knocked against the
hard sandy wall; the dagger was thrown from her hand, buried
beneath the sand.

Jenna felt dizzy, but managed to stand up,
and steady herself. Any other human would’ve died from such a
blow.

“
You insolent creature!”
Fatima shrieked at her. “How dare you challenge me?!” She stomped
her foot against the ground; the castle trembled and a part of the
ceiling crumbled, causing a downpour of sand to fall directly on
Jenna’s head. “How dare you challenge my right?!”

Jenna shook the golden sand from her red
hair. “I’m a Mage,” she declared. “I will challenge you. And after
I’m done watching you burn”—she pointed to Saladin, who was
relaxing with amusement against the wall—“I’ll kill your brother
too.”

“
Ooh, I’m shaking in my
Louis Vuitton’s.” He rolled his fiery eyes, unafraid of Jenna’s
threat, and then waved at Fatima in a shooing motion. “Sister, have
at her,” he halfheartedly commanded. “I have business in Cairo with
a Ghoul.”

“
NO!” Jenna yelled. “Y’all
ain’t leaving Oasis alive!”

The bronze blade of her dagger shone from the
sandy floor. Jenna snatched it up by its cedar hilt and held it in
front of her, daring Fatima or Saladin to bolt forward, hoping to
jab it in their soulless hearts.

Saladin laughed, obviously unconcerned about
his impending death. “Sister, this is by far, the most exciting
Mage we’ve come across in all our years.” He separated himself from
the wall and approached his sister, still writhing in anger. “I
think we should delay her death.”

Fatima rounded on her brother with a
disgusted look on her face. “Have you fallen under her spell
too?!”

“
Of course not,” he said
crossly, nose snarling. Then he relaxed. “I don’t care. Rip her
heart out. Wear her entrails around your neck,” he suggested
casually. “Just be quick about it. I can’t stand the sight of her
or this place anymore.”