Page 2 of Jinn

What the hell?

Three hundred and forty years of life. All of them spent completely alone. He solidified next to his truck and looked up at the stars. A cool, late spring breeze brushed over his arms, neck, and face. It felt good. Grounded him somehow. He stayed alone on purpose, had never needed anyone, having had his heart broken too many times as a child. He’d never had a true home until he’d come here to be a part of Protective Solutions, and he’d made real friends there. So he supposed he wasn’t truly alone.

But from the depth of these crazy new feelings, he knew it was definitely time to find someone just for him. Probably not a soulmate, because they were rare, but he could definitely let himself come to care for someone. Another preternatural perhaps. Someone to share his long life with—someone who understood what it was like to face too many years alone.

Someone who could love him, broken pieces and all.

Chapter Two

Finn

“Hey, Daniel.” Finn walked into the tech room at Protective Solutions and pulled up one of the rolling chairs to the banshee’s desk. His friend had a sweet setup in here, with three massive monitors connected to a desktop Daniel had built and tricked out himself. He’d even built a kick-ass computer for Finn which ran games like a dream. “You up for some Raft tonight?”

Daniel continued typing on his computer, his black eyes and claws not hampering him in the least. “You bet. I’m guessing the next story island is gonna be a bitch.” He glanced at Finn and cocked his head. “Why don’t you look more rested? Thought you told me you had special plans for your days off.”

“I did.”

“Plans beyond gaming. We do that every week.”

Finn shrugged. He’d spent most of his weekend tossing and turning, his mind whirling around all these strange new feelings. And he’d paced a lot, growing more and more frustrated. With himself.

He’d never thought himself lonely, but that’s what he was feeling. Hell, he was feeling lonely now, sitting right next to hisfriend and making social plans. His skin suddenly prickled with magic, and he turned toward the door.

Xavier walked into the room, elegant in fitted black slacks and a burgundy button-down. Finn really liked his boss, though he knew little about him. Xavier pretty much kept to himself and wasn’t one to share a lot about his life. All Finn knew was that the sorcerer was older than all of them—possibly put together. Oh, and that he held more power than anyone Finn had ever encountered. At one of their last jobs, the sorcerer had stripped a powerful warper wizard of his powers. Finn hadn’t even known that was possible.

So now, he was a little wary of the man. Didn’t plan to ever get on his bad side.

Xavier stopped next to him and caught his eye. “Finn, just the man I was looking for. Your next job is ready. It’s a long one—six months.”

Finn lifted his eyebrows. “Six months? Is it here or away?”

“Here. The client’s a musician from New York. He’s taking a sabbatical to work on a solo project, renting a gated house outside of the city. You’ll be changing out with Ivor, who will take the weekends to give you plenty of time off. This man is rather famous, so I expect you’ll be dealing with overzealous fans mostly.”

“If he’s such a celebrity, why doesn’t he already have protection?”

Xavier shrugged. “Apparently his latest bodyguard has decided to get out of the game. The client has decided to wait until he returns to New York to find his permanent replacement. We’ll take good care of him in the interim.”

“Who’s the client?” Daniel swung his chair around.

“Ajax Craig,” Xavier answered.

“Holy fucking shit!” Daniel jumped out of his chair. “He’s the frontman for Back to Chaos. I’m a huge BTC fan! Can I do this job instead? Pretty please?”

The corner of Xavier’s mouth lifted. “I need you here doing what you do best, Daniel.”

“Damn. I hope I get to meet him at least once. He’s here for six months, so it could happen. And solo project, you said? I hope he isn’t leaving the band. They’re my favorite.”

“I’m not familiar with BTC,” Finn admitted.

Daniel blinked at him for several moments before he chuckled and plopped back into his seat. “Watch this.” He pulled up a video.

Finn expected Xavier to leave the room, but he stayed, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

It was a live video. A hard, heavy riff blasted out of the speakers, pulling Finn’s gaze to the screen. Then the lead singer strolled onto the stage slowly, and the crowd went wild. Wavy brown hair hit his collar in back, and he wore a skin-tight pair of leather pants that wrapped every lean, sinewy muscle in his legs. His billowing black shirt had been left unbuttoned, revealing a ripped, lean torso.

He wrapped long fingers around the microphone and began singing into it with complete and utter focus as his hips subtly pumped with the drums. Somehow, with him barely moving, and that incredible voice front and center, it was the sexiest fucking thing Finn had ever seen. He couldn’t take his gaze off that man on the screen. And as he heard more of the lyrics, Finn realized the man was singing about monsters, of all things. Using them as metaphors for deep feelings. As if this human somehow understood the deeper truths of preternaturals.

The performance, the lyrics… It was altogether raw and visceral.

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