Free jinn 03 - vestige by Liz Schulte Page B

straightened, watching him writhe and die.
    When it was over, I retrieved my knife and headed for the building once more. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
    “Wait.” The dark haired woman stepped in front of me. “You walk in there and you won’t come out. You know who is inside. You’re not ready.”
    I picked up my knife and wiped the water from my face. “Step out of the way.” I tapped the flat side of the knife against her chest.
    She frowned, but moved. I strode forward. A lightning bolt struck the ground in front of me. Then another and another and another—until the bursts of light blinded me. When my vision came back, six scorch marks circled the ground around me.
    I tried to glance over at the woman, but my head wouldn’t move. In fact, I couldn’t move any of my body except to blink. The rain had even paused midair. What in the…Uriel. So he finally decided to show up again. I fought against the hold on me, wrenching my head backward so I could face the sky. “Why now? Why are you interfering now?” I shouted. “You can take your fucking signs and shove them up your—“
    “I wouldn’t finish that thought if I were you,” Death’s calm voice came from my left, and he slowly moved into my line of sight. “Best not to draw their attention if you can help it. But by all means, do as you will.”
    “I don’t remember asking for your help.”
    “Help?” He locked his eyes on me, nodding. “I am not helping you. That would break the rules. In fact, I am not even here.” He went very still. “If I were here, I would say don’t walk into that synagogue. Give Olivia time to come to terms with her new calling. Give yourself time to learn what you can do. And those two ladies you snubbed . . . I believe they have a proposition for you. You should at least give them the courtesy of hearing what they have to say.”
    “Why do you care what I do? If Olivia takes your deal, she’ll do it regardless of whether or not I’m here. No matter what happens, you’re still going to split us in the end.”
    “Is that what this fury is about? Curious. Haven’t you already achieved that on your own?” Death stepped forward, took his gloves off, and placed his bare hand on the back of my neck. “And in any case, I have no desire to come between the two of you.”
    Before I could say anything else he was gone, and rain was splattering the soggy ground again. The two women stared at me with wide eyes. I slipped the knife back into its holder and turned around, heading toward them. “What do you want?”
    The blonde recovered first. “We have an opening.”
    The dark haired woman frowned. “Perhaps we can talk about this somewhere more…” She gestured around her.
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “Just because you claim to have known Baker, doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere with you. Who are you? And what do you want?”
    “How about the Office? You know Sy.” The blonde smiled and batted her pretty eyelashes.
    “Fine.” I transported and walked inside to get out of the damn rain. The bar was packed. Sy raised an eyebrow, but I shook my head and found a table. A few moments later he delivered a whiskey.
    “Holden,” he said, suspicion all over his face. “Is Femi okay?”
    “I assume. I’m meeting friends of yours here.”
    “Friends?”
    They entered just as I was about to describe them, and when Sy saw them, his shoulders snapped back. “Follow me.”
    He led the three of us to his apartment behind the storeroom. He didn’t say a word. Just opened the door and went back to the front.
    “What do you know about the council?” the black haired woman asked, taking off her sunglasses to reveal reptilian eyes.
    “You were Baker’s source and he’d rather die than go back to you.”
    The blonde blinked hurt from her eyes, while the dark haired assumed an air of being thoroughly annoyed and inconvenienced.
    “We were one of his sources,” the blonde said. “He seemed to know