Chapter 29

Haveyoueverhad a really emotional dream and when you woke up you still couldn"t quite shake whatever you were feeling in your dream? One where strong emotions followed you into the waking world? That"s exactly how it felt to come out of the fog that was boogeyman magic. It took a bit for what Elijah was saying to soak in. All I knew was that I was still slightly terrified, Bis was rubbing against the side of my leg, chirping, Niamh was rocking back and forth hugging herself, Zhong was tentatively patting his body and studying his fingers as he wiggled them around, and Hasumi was staring off into space, whispering to themselves and shuddering. I noticed all of this in the space between one breath and the next, just before a lean, inhumanly strong ball of overheated jinn slammed into me.

Aahil"s arms wrapped around my neck in a death grip, and he buried his tearstained face in my shoulder. My arms went around him instinctively, even as my sluggish brain tried to process this utter weirdness. Flames leapt up intermittently from random spots on Aahil"s skin, singeing me, but I didn"t let go. Because I heard what he was muttering in between the wracking sobs that shuddered through his beautiful body.

"Tell me I"m real," he gasped desperately. "My name. Say my name. Please!" And "I"m fire. I"m only fire. I don"t know what shape I"m supposed to be. Who am I?"

He phased out, then back in, and the feeling of him disappearing and reappearing in my arms was really fucking panic inducing. "Aahil," I whispered into his silky, disheveled hair. "You"re my snooty, arrogant Aahil. And you"re so much more than your fire. Shh…."

I looked around at the others, hoping someone could help me out here. Because I was holding the jinn while he sobbed like a wounded child, and I was pretty sure this was going to go south real fast, the second he realized what was going on and regained his dignity—and his stubborn defensive walls.

Hasumi"s turquoise eyes met mine and the water weaver flowed across the courtyard to me, kneeling at my side. I felt the cool, tranquil nudge of their magic right before Aahil snapped back into total awareness and lost his unholy shit.

The jinn shoved at me, long black claws out and teeth bared, attempting to launch himself backward out of my arms, which was an awkward maneuver since I was sitting on my ass in the dirt, and he was basically sitting in my lap. His claws tore my shirt and pierced my right shoulder—mostly on accident, I think—drawing blood. Fire flared around him as rage lit his beautiful, terrifying features. Great. He was going to go fucking supernova. Right on top of me.

I couldn"t move fast enough. It was like one of those movies where something horrific is happening on screen and they slow that shit way down so you can really appreciate all the detailed terror and gore.

Thank fuck for our water weaver. Hasumi"s water doused the jinn"s flames before they could burn us all alive, and Hasumi wrapped long arms around Aahil, drawing him back against their chest, their long white-blonde hair falling forward over Aahil"s bare shoulder in a way that seemed uncomfortably intimate. "Peace," the water weaver"s compelling, melodic voice commanded.

I felt my shoulders drop and the tension leave me as their power worked on me too. Aahil growled, but went still, his head dropping, ragged breathes sawing in and out of him, his lean chest heaving.

"It"s okay," I told him, feeling slow and stupid, darting a glance around at all of them. "It"s okay. None of it was real. We"re back in reality now."

I looked to Elijah for confirmation, since he seemed to be the one responsible for breaking the spell. Were we free of the nightmare? Or was this just the deceptive beginning of yet another hellish experience?

The ghost drifted around us, reaching out a spectral hand now and then to bat at something I couldn"t see. It took me a stupidly long time to realize that the boogeyman"s dark magic still lingered faintly in the air.

"You"re free for now," Elijah confirmed. "But the boogeyman is still here. It can move between realms. Which is how I figured out I could disrupt its magic. I can escape it by shifting from here to the space between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead."

I glared. "Where is the fucker? Can you see it?"

Bis patted my leg and chirped at me insistently. I petted his sweet skunk-striped head and scooped the rat-skunk-hedgehog into my arms as Hasumi released a grumbling and very pissy Aahil. I pushed up to my feet, Bis still tucked into one arm. Niamh and Zhong joined us.

"He"s saying he thought he lost you and turned into a normal rat," Niamh interpreted. "Everyone was trying to catch him in traps or poison him because he was just an animal." She frowned and reached out a finger to rub the spines on his back. "A cat ate him."

"I"ll murder that fucker with my bare hands," I growled, drawing up magic from the earth to reinforce my power. "I"ll feed him to the fucking cats!" How dare the monster go after Bis. That was a really, really bad move, asshole.

Elijah"s misty touch against my skin brought me back to reality. "I found the boogeyman upstairs in your workroom with Bis," he said flatly. "I"m not sure if they"ve moved since then, or what we"re going to do about them, but we"ve got all of us now. We should be able to do something."

I ran my free hand over my face. As mad as I was about Bis and the others being tortured, I had to think about this a bit more logically. Every being I had freed from the damned bestiary had come out of that book traumatized and expecting the worst, their magic instinctively lashing out. "We"ll try to talk to it first," I said flatly.

I felt the incredulous stares that were aimed at me. "Talk to it?" Aahil demanded. "Are you insane witch? Has your last tiny, shriveled brain cell finally died? Did you enjoy the nightmare you just lived so much you want to repeat it?"

I handed Bis to Niamh, then stepped right up into Aahil"s space. "Fuck you, jinn. I just lived my worst fucking fears come to life. I"m pretty sure we all did. And do you know what happened to me in that nightmare?"

He tossed his head and gave me a haughty look of disdain. "Your fat ass wouldn"t fit in those pants anymore? Maybe you broke a nail? Realized you"re an abysmal disappointment of a witch?"

I refused to let him bait me. "No," I said, keeping my voice soft, not giving into the temptation to shout at him. "I became one of them. Just like my family. I wielded the full weight of my magic. I felt it grow inside me with every little step I took into the blackness of my blood." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I killed you first, drained your magic and broke you, then discarded you like a used toy. I took what I wanted without thought for consequences as long as it made me stronger. I watched the slow death of my conscience and my soul along with every single person here."

I stepped back and headed toward the door to the house, my back to them all. "I know what my family would do right now. They"d set a black spell that would imprison or drain the fucker who just dared put us through all of that. And they wouldn"t feel one single bit of remorse for it."

I paused, my hand on the arched doorway. "But I"m not them. I"ll never be like them. So yeah, we"re gonna fucking talk to it first before we try to kill it."

I checked my glucose monitor, tucked it away, and marched toward the stairs, following the feeling of dark magic, refusing to look at the faces of the people behind me.

Sure, it was probably weak. Stupid. A naive thing to do. But I could still feel the ghost sensations of my nightmare clinging to my psyche. I could recall exactly what it felt like to be high on the power of death and domination. How I had watched from the outside as the Andy I knew disappeared. And it made me want to vomit.

I gripped the banister and drew on every last bit of determination I could muster. When I reached the top of the stairs, I turned toward my workroom. It was still in there. I could feel it, the pulsing, alluring darkness tinted with fear, growing stronger with every step I took toward it.

When I entered my workroom, I couldn"t see anything out of the ordinary. But I could sense it. Like that creepy sensation I always got when there was a ghost watching me. Elijah glided over and into me, and my vision rippled and wavered as I welcomed the ghost"s possession. I felt him shift something in my perception, maybe showing me a little hint of the strange in between world where ghosts went before they fully passed on. And I finally saw the boogeyman.

The thing hovered up in the far corner of the room, a pulsing web of black tendrils holding a shapeless, inky cloud. "I see you up there," I told the boogeyman, crossing my arms over my chest. "Not a nice trick you"ve been playing on us. And after I was nice enough to free you from that creepy damned book."

The others came to stand around me, but I could tell they couldn"t see what I was seeing.

"It"s afraid," Hasumi whispered, a slender hand coming to rest on my lower back, bringing with it a slow trickle of emotions—fear, confusion, rage, desperation….

"We won"t hurt you," I said, holding my hands up.

Aahil scoffed. Niamh rolled her eyes. But Zhong nodded along, his gentle expression earnest. "Andy"s a good witch," the gargoyle said to what must look like empty space to him without Elijah"s help. "She freed us all. She"s working on destroying the book."

I waited what seemed like an eternity, holding my breath. Please don"t make me do something awful, I begged in my mind. I felt a sense of comfort coming from both inside and outside me—Elijah and Hasumi picking up on my thoughts. It was creepy, and yet…I"d take all the comforting I could get at the moment.

I didn"t want to carry on the Lovell tradition of cruelty.

Finally, the muddled cloud of darkness pulled back, drawing inside the long, lanky form of the man who hung from my ceiling. He reminded me of a spider, the way his long limbs were arranged, angled backward so he clung to the wall and ceiling by his hands and feet, and with the help of the long, thin, black tendrils of his power. His skin and loosely curling hair were a deep, blue-black color. And his unsettling eyes had red slit pupils set against complete blackness where the iris and whites should be.

"Who are you?" A deep, misty voice that was barely a whisper issued from his black lips, and I was pretty sure even his teeth were some shade of gray, though it might just be all the shadows.

I felt Elijah pull away, de-possessing me, and realized that the others were now looking up at the boogeyman as well. He had left the camouflage of his otherworldly magic.

I waved. "Hey there dude, nice of you to join us here in reality. I"m Andy Love. Or Oleander Lovell, if you want to get on my bad side, which—oh, hey, you already did! The short version of the story is that my entire family were evil assholes, but I try my best not to be. Elijah here brought the nasty grimoire to me, and I"ve been trying to free you jerks, but everyone always comes out swinging. At least you didn"t set me on fire, I suppose."

I cut a look toward Aahil, but the asshole just grinned slyly at me, as if he was proud of almost killing the person who"d freed him. "Niamh shot you," he reminded me.

I waved a dismissive hand at him. "She apologized."

Zhong coughed behind his hand to hide a laugh and I rolled my eyes, returning my attention to the monster on my ceiling. "Wanna come down here so we can talk without me giving myself a crick in my neck?"

Those weird eyes flicked around the room, examining each of us in turn. Then he slithered down the wall like something in a superhero movie with bad CGI. When his feet lightly touched the ground, he pulled his raggedy black dress shirt straight and tilted his head at Zhong. "I remember you."

The gargoyle licked his lips and nodded. It was weird to see such a big, hulking guy look so afraid of the gangly thing in the corner. "Yeah. We were called out at the same time once or twice, I think. But I couldn"t see you."

The boogeyman paced a little closer. "Does the witch tell the truth? Are you truly free?"

Zhong rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. Then his yellow eyes lit up with an idea and he eagerly went over and pulled his shirt aside to show the boogeyman his tattoo. "She refused to mark me. But other people in the market tried to stake a claim, so she got me this. It"s my own name. I"m…my own master." He glanced around at the others. "We"re all here by choice. She let us go, but we all chose to stay with her and help her free the rest."

The boogeyman narrowed his strange eyes as he studied the gargoyle, then he spun on a heel and padded over to me, his long bare feet quiet on the polished floor. "Lady witch," he said in a surprisingly cultured, formal voice. "I apologize for my instinctive actions. Am I truly free to leave? I will not encounter snares or booby traps if I try to depart?"

Oh, that was why he was still here then.

"Um. Nothing I set up. But my family were assholes. I"ve been dismantling booby traps and nasty spells around here for years. I think I got them all, but every now and then I get a fun surprise." I lifted up my pantleg to show him the scars that not even magic could erase. "Man-eating stairs, for example."

He tilted his head again, the strange movement reminding me of a spider considering his prey. Then he turned to Elijah. "You"ll help me check for traps before I try to depart, since you can see into the beyond for hidden spells, spirit."

I could almost feel Elijah"s mental eye roll. If he had actual eyes instead of just empty glowing sockets, I"m pretty sure those suckers would be rolled back into his skull. We couldn"t free a creature that was humble. Oh, fuck no. The arrogance in this guy was growing with every second he was solid, as if he was shedding his fear and replacing it with ego. Great. Just what I needed. Another asshole.

But Elijah was clearly much nicer than me. Must be an angel thing. He just held out a ghostly hand in invitation. "Come with me. We"ll examine the front entrance."

I sighed. "You kids have fun. Let me know if you need help with anything." Then I paused, meeting the eerie red eyes of my newest acquaintance. "Just let someone know when you leave for good. I think we"ll all wait to sleep until you"re gone."

He smirked at me. Honestly. Smirked. After all the shit he"d just put us through. I wanted to slap the look right off his face. But I wasn"t too keen on taking a trip down nightmare lane again anytime soon.

Elijah poofed out of existence and, with a jaunty bow, the boogeyman did the same.

We all waited in silence until we were sure the sense of his dark magic was traveling away from us, fading as he went to wherever ghosts and boogeymen hung out when they weren"t in the world of the living.

"Well, that was fun," I said in a fake cheery voice.

Aahil didn"t look at me, even to snark, as he dematerialized and left. I went to Niamh and Zhong for hugs and warm, loving kisses. I wouldn"t admit it out loud, but I was so glad for their solid, supportive presence.

"I"m going to go check the perimeter and grounds," Niamh said when she drew away. She glanced up at Zhong, then slapped him on the back. "Come on, guardian, let"s put you to work."

He nodded agreement and followed. I frowned after them. Niamh was a hunter. She was built of for guarding and loved to know what was going on around the house at all times. But…I thought maybe this current insistence on doing security checks probably had something to do with whatever nightmare she"d experienced.

That Zhong had gone along so readily was worrying. I was going to have to talk to them all about what they"d seen, at some point. We probably all needed paranormal psychology visits…but then, we"d needed that before this.

Bis chirped at me with the cadence that indicated he was on the search for food, then trotted off, leaving me with Hasumi.

I turned to the weaver and let out a tired sigh. "Thank you for helping us. With the fear and…with Aahil."

Haumi"s beautiful turquoise eyes flitted from me to the doorway. "You should go to him."

I arched a brow at the weaver. "Who, Aahil? Right. So he can flambe me? You know he won"t tolerate me trying to coddle him. Even if he really fucking needs a hug."

Hasumi let out a faint laugh, those pretty eyes twinkling. "Which is precisely why he needs you. Us, perhaps?"

I was surprised when a little shiver of anticipation and attraction lit through me. Sure, Hasumi was beautiful. And I admit, I"d thought about what it would be like to make out with the ethereal elemental. Hey, I"m a healthy, red-blooded witch who is well acquainted with her sensual side. But this seemed sudden and poorly timed, even for me.

Hasumi moved a little closer, reaching out a graceful hand to touch my cheek and I finally caught up. Oh. Uh. Not entirely my emotions I was feeling just there. Did that mean the water weaver wanted some of this? Or…we were talking about Aahil, weren"t we? Did Hasumi just want a little taste of fiery jinn?

"Both, actually," they whispered, making me shudder. "But I wouldn"t want to be accused of influencing your feelings one way or the other." Turquoise eyes searched mine, Hasumi"s gaze intense and…yearning? "We have all been unsettled by this experience," they said evenly, fingers still caressing my cheek. "Would it be so wrong to find comfort in each other"s arms? Isn"t this what mortal bodies are for? I would hate to…take this form for granted."

And the way they paused just there…yeah, I had a feeling it had something to do with a certain nightmare. Apparently, even the water weaver had insecurities and fears.

I licked my lips, trying to think of just one rational reason to resist. I knew there were probably like, a million. But nope. Nothing. I came up blank.

Hasmi"s lips were soft, but persuasive, their kiss like a dance, communicating so much feeling that I was swept off my feet. I threaded my hands through their soft, sparkling white hair, delighted at how it was even nicer than I had imagined, slippery as silk through my fingers. Their tall, lean body brushed against mine, but the physical sensations felt almost distant. I was too wrapped up in the emotions swirling around meto go eagerly searching for touch.

When I came up for air, I stared into shimmering turquoise eyes that reminded me of pictures I"d seen of the warm oceans back in the human realm—tropical waters that I"d never actually seen in person, so bright they couldn"t possibly be real. "The jinn is lost," Hasumi whispered, still gazing into my eyes, his expression patient, waiting. "I believe we can help him find his way, using the sensuality he is so familiar with. But he needs your strength."

I just stood there for a few seconds, common sense warring with the urgent feeling in my chest. The ruby suspended from the collar Aahil had placed on me was growing warmer by the second, and I was pretty sure that wasn"t just coincidence. Aahil was still battling something that had him on edge. He was hurting. Again. Still. Fucking always, even though he"d never admit it. And I was stupid enough to want to stop that suffering.

I grabbed Hasumi"s hand and dragged them into the house and up the grand staircase to Aahil"s room. When I grabbed the doorknob, it was hot to the touch, and heat radiated off the door itself. In a weird quirk of memory, I recalled the training videos in the human world, the ones where they told you that if you were in a fire and there was a closed door with heat behind it you should never open the door. It would let oxygen in and feed the fire.

Ignoring common sense seemed to be a new pattern with me. I twisted the knob and opened the door.

The room wasn"t on fire. Yet. Aahil had been pacing the length of the room. He stopped when we entered, and Hasumi gently closed the door behind us. The room was like a sauna, the air so hot it made me start sweating almost instantly. But saunas had steam. This was uncomfortably dry. Like the desert.

Aahil"s red-brown skin was slightly flushed, but he otherwise looked comfortable in the stifling atmosphere. Well, comfortable except for the visible tension that gripped his beautiful, sculpted dancer"s body. He narrowed his eyes at me, his gaze flicking past me to take in Hasumi, then back to me. "What are you doing, pet? I didn"t call for you."

I shrugged and took off my t-shirt, tossing it aside and fanning myself. "You didn"t? The flaming necklace say otherwise. And holy fuck, Aahil why is it so hot in here?"

His eyes traveled over my unexciting black cropped camisole and the bit of muffin top caused by my jeans, and he snorted. "Well, it"s certainly not hot because of your lingerie, I assure you, witch." A sly look crossed his features, but for some reason, this time I could see it for the act it was. "Your ancestors would be appalled at your abysmal attempt at seduction."

I rolled my eyes. "You can"t hide behind your snarky comments anymore, Aahil," I informed him, walking over and staring him down. "You"re upset. We all are. But you"ve been refusing to deal with your shit, and I think that"s just made everything worse. I"m worried about you."

He flexed his fingers, claws appearing then disappearing as a little flare of magic washed over him. "I don"t know what you mean."

I sighed and reached for him. "It"s okay to need comfort when something awful happens, asshat. You already put your dick in me. I"m pretty sure a hug"s not going to kill you."

He huffed at that, but I was shocked when he didn"t flinch away from me. Aahil always avoided letting others touch him. He had to be in control of every interaction, always the initiator, thanks to the trauma my ancestors had inflicted on him.

But now…the jinn just stood there. He was rigid in my arms, but he let me wrap my arms around his waist and rest my chin on top of his head. He didn"t even bite me or anything.

"Your fears and your desires are at war," Hasumi whispered, their melodic voice like a gentle caress as they moved closer. "You risk being overwhelmed by your past if you shut out those who would help."

Aahil"s hands lifted, coming up to rest at my hips, and for a split second I thought he was actually softening to the idea of affection. But his grip quickly became possessive, his fingers digging into the soft flesh, pulling me away and shoving me behind him as he snarled at the other elemental.

"Why are you here? What do you want? You"ve offered to help me keep from losing control, but why? Why do you care how I abuse my pet? What"s in it for you?"

Hasumi didn"t react to Aahil"s defensiveness and the challenge in the jinn"s sultry, yet dangerous, voice. The water weaver simply gave the jinn a soft smile and tilted their head, causing all that pretty white hair to cascade over their shoulder, rippling against the soft pastel silk of their loose shirt, their entire being radiating gentleness and light. "Perhaps I merely hate to witness unnecessary suffering." Then the smile slid into a smirk, those turquoise eyes twinkling. "Or perhaps my motives are a bit more selfish."

I watched over Aahil"s shoulder as Hasumi glided closer. Not quite touching the jinn, but leaning down close to whisper in his ear, they added, "Perhaps I like a challenge."

I swallowed, trying to ease my suddenly dry throat. Um. What? Hasumi was so fluid and ethereal, so quiet and patient. Their soft, steady personality was the exact opposite of the cruel, oftentimes frightening dominance Aahil sometimes displayed. And yet…suddenly I could see Hasumi all too easily controlling a situation, guiding and manipulating everything just so without ever losing that deep, eerie calm.

Aahil let out a short laugh. "So you both came traipsing in here, thinking now was good time to ply me for sexual favors? When you think my guard is down and I"m vulnerable? What—have you just been dying for another taste of jinn seduction magic? I"ll gladly feast on your soul"s energy."

He turned to me and the markings on my skin flared to life with a burn that was just this side of too much. "I"m not your toy to be used whenever you need a fix," he warned, his voice going dangerous as he slipped into darkness. "You"re scared, and unsettled, and you want me to use my magic and my body to make you feel better. Is that all I am? Is that my only purpose to you disgusting fucking witches? Do you not understand the power you hold on your cursed leash? And yet this is how you choose to use it."

I shook my head, my voice coming out all breathy from the hint of pain that was pulsing out from his marks on my body. "No, Aahil. Listen to yourself. You"re not in the past. You"re here with me. Andy. Not those others. I don"t own you, idiot. You bound me. I couldn"t give a shit less about your damned power. I just…want you to be okay."

He stopped before me, our hips brushing as his eyes flashed from crimson flames to amber. "Why?"

The word was a whisper, barely audible on his sinfully beautiful demon lips. I couldn"t look away from his face, but Hasumi touched my shoulder, sharing their power with me, bringing me the flavor of the emotions Aahil kept carefully subdued. Desperation. Longing. Fear. An intense desire to be wanted. Aahil wanted to be seen and wanted, not for his jinn abilities or his elemental powers, but for himself. But he thought that was a weakness. Something to be exploited and used to subjugate him again.

I touched his cheek. He let me. "Because I"m an idiot and I"m pretty sure I love you, somehow," I said honestly. "Fuck. Maybe you"d better just kill me now. Put us both out of our misery."

An actual laugh huffed out before he could stop it. The jinn covered my hand with his own, his claws out as he squeezed my fingers. Then he opened his flame-bright eyes. "Oh, well then. That puts a different spin on things, doesn"t it?"

I looked at him, my instincts only now telling me that I should run. "Uh…why?"

He smiled, slow, sultry, and wicked. "Because that gives me all the power."

I shook my head. He would see it that way, wouldn"t he? But whatever helped, I suppose. No one ever said baring your feelings to a damaged, crazy-assed fire elemental was a good relationship move.

My heartrate kicked up a notch as Aahil pulled me closer, his free hand lifting to grip the back of my neck. "You want to make me feel better, pet? Offering yourself up for comfort?"

I licked my lips, fear and arousal coursing through me in equal parts as I made myself slip into as much submission as I could. One day, me and Aahil were going to go at this like equals. But he wasn"t quite there yet. So I murmured a breathy, "Yes."

He pulled me down into a biting, demanding kiss. His skilled lips and tongue were superheated, molten against my own, and I immediately imagined what that burning mouth would feel like against other parts of my body.

"And you?" Aahil demanded as he released me, his burning eyes darting to Hasumi. "Here to watch the show, water weaver?"

Hasumi gave him a knowing look. "I told you I"d stop you from harming our witch. Go ahead and play, little flame. I"ll control the fires when I feel it"s necessary."

Aahil narrowed his eyes at Hasumi and let out a little warning growl, but I could see right through his protests. Holy fucking shit. This was what Hasumi had meant. Aahil needed to let go of his fears, he needed me to submit to his control and show him that he could be intimate with someone without destroying them, and that I could honestly care about his welfare. But he also needed boundaries. And someone stronger than him to enforce them.

When the jinn turned his attention back to me, I felt a bit like I was free falling, having just launched myself off the tallest cliff I could find. But the water waiting below would be soft when it caught me. I didn"t have to fear the landing. Hasumi would protect us both.

Not a dynamic I ever would have imagined myself enjoying. But if it let me be with these two amazingly hot, powerful creatures, then who was I to complain?