jinn 01 - ember Read Online Free Page B

trust.”
    “Harrison?”
    “Perfect.” He was the biggest, burliest teddy bear of a guardian I knew. Guardians may be pacifists, but just looking at him would give less committed enemies pause. “And we have a human we would like someone to keep an eye on, if you don’t mind,” I said. “Who is available right now?”
    He frowned. “There’s a human involved in this?”
    “Not really involved, but I think she could be in danger. Probably not, but it would make me feel better to know someone is watching her.”
    He nodded. “I’ll do it myself.”
    Holden pointed at him. “And you’ll do it unseen.”
    “Of course.”
    He nodded, his arms crossed over his chest in a way that made his muscles bulge. “Nothing supernatural should come within a thousand yards of her.”
    “Okay. Who is she?”
    “Why do you need to know that?” Holden glowered at him.
    “So I can find her,” Quintus said through clenched teeth.
    I held back a laugh. This had to be hard on Holden. He hadn’t even seen her and now he had to trust Quintus, which couldn’t have been an easy thing. “Her name is Maggie Edwards.” I gave him the address and once again he was engulfed in a ball of light.
    Holden continued to glare at the spot Quintus had been.
    “I really think you should meet her.”
    The muscle behind his jaw ticked. “It’s not a good idea. Neither is sending him. Call him back.”
    I placed a hand on Holden’s chest and made him look at me. “Quintus will take care of her. That’s his job and he’s very good at it.”
    “Not that good. You saw him.”
    I laughed. “I’m also an angel.” Holden didn’t look convinced. “I will tell him not to follow her if it makes you feel better.”
    He nodded without considering it. I couldn’t get a grasp on Holden’s feelings about Maggie. I thought he would want the living connection, but so far he had yet to treat it with anything but suspicion.
     

 

     
     

     
     
    “YOU REALLY DON’T need to tag along, kitten.”
    “I’m going to let that one slide since you nearly died, asswipe. Call me kitten again and I will stab you with a pen.”
    Nearly died? Applesauce! I grinned though my face was still sore from the beating. I couldn’t exactly tell the Sekhmet to scram, but that was exactly what I needed her to do. “I’m headed to a real ragamuffin joint. You don’t want any part of the lowlifes in there. Why don’t you skedaddle along, baby.”
    Those cat eyes glinted and her stems that seemed to go on forever moved a little faster. “Shady hole-in-the-wall, why that’s my specialty,” she purred. “I could always blow off a little steam. Supernaturals or humans?”
    This chick was the cat’s meow. It was a damn shame we weren’t an item. It would have saved me a heap of trouble, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I had another Jane I needed to see, so I had to ditch Femi. “Humans.”
    Her face fell. It was dicey whether or not humans could perceive her. Some could, some couldn’t. It depended on how sensitive they were, but it made the appeal of coming with me a lot less tempting, which was exactly what I needed.
    “However, if you wanted to knock a few heads together”—I could almost see her ears perk up—“there’s a jinn establishment just down the way.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you talking to humans?”
    “If demons are looking to make a move up here, they’re gonna need vessels.” I held my breath to see if she would buy the load of malarkey I’d laid at her feet.
    “I guess… And this bar is where they’ll find them? How can you know that?”
    “These cats are easy targets. I just want to see what’s poking around in the less reputable areas.” She nodded. “At the jinn joint”—I chuckled at my own joke—“keep your head down and your ears up. They all know who I am, so I can’t go there, but you might be okay.”
    “Fine. Where will you be?”
    “Gunthers.”
    “Be cool, Daddy-o.” Femi winked