“Baby?” Dice prompts, kneeling in front of her.
“So tired,” she mumbles around a yawn.
“Every time she uses her powers, she gets weaker,” Kimber says, frowning as she gets closer. “It’s like it’s draining her. We stopped practicing, letting her recharge, but she’s not getting stronger.”
“She is sitting right here,” Karma grumbles. “And she can be asked questions.”
Dice lifts her into his arms, cradling her against his body. “I’ll take her upstairs. What do we do with that?” he asks, motioning toward Leah with his head.
I don’t want the incubus touching her with his charm anyway. My skin felt like it was burning just to think about it. Which is an entirely new set of issues. It was all I could do not to tackle Chaz when he got too close to her.
Fucking perfect. This is the last thing I need to deal with.
“What’s got you in such deep thought?” El
la asks, snapping me out of my reverie.
I apparently missed Dice leaving, and I don’t know if his question was answered.
“Primal instincts,” I mutter, moving toward Leah’s limp body. “Do we know if she’s really human? Karma was wrong about Roslyn.”
“Roslyn had a spell separating her entities. For all intents and purposes, she was human when she thought she was,” Chaz tells me as he comes to lower himself next to me.
Again, just seeing him so close has rage clawing at my chest. Several deep breaths seem to help, but it’s barely enough.
“Step away,” I tell him calmly, hoping he listens.
He cocks an eyebrow at me, but he does as I request without hesitation. Then his look grows knowing and he groans.
“Fuck,” he snarls. “Really? Her? Of all the damn people out there, it’s her?”
“I’m missing something,” Gage says, coming closer.
“He wants to sire her. I can practically see it in his eyes,” Chaz answers, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
Gage’s eyes widen, and I bite the inside of my jaw to keep from losing my fucking cool and exploding on everyone in the room.
“It’s instinct. Not choice,” Ella says, coming to my aid.
“That’s just bloody terrific,” Dice grumbles as he returns. “Hashtag, bloodsuckers and instincts.”
I start toward him, but Ella pushes back on my chest.
“We have bigger problems. Like for one, finding out if Slade is trying to set us up for something. He left those bodies there to be—”
“They’re gone.” Roslyn’s voice is sudden as she appears next to us, and her eyes are full of… That’s not good.
“What?” Ella, Chaz, and I all ask in unison.
“The bodies, the blood… all of it is gone. It’s like it never happened. I wiped the girl’s memories, went back to clean it up myself, and everything was gone.”
That’s all the more confusing.
“That’s not all,” she goes on. “I need help in the city. The locals are losing it. I swear there must be jinn here, because there’s nothing but chaos. And that’s definitely a jinn thing. I know a spell to counteract their presence, but I need help. Everyone else can keep the locals from acting out on buried resentment that is coming out very violently.”
“Never a moment’s peace,” I mumble.
“Jinn don’t have that power,” Kimber says, stepping up. “I worked with one in the Somage. They evoke some anger when they need a distraction, but they can’t cause utter chaos.”