Page 24 of A Bloodline Redeemed

“Hasumi,” I said softly to the empty air around me.“Wherever you’ve gone in whatever afterlife awaits us, I hope you can hear me.You owe me for this.I expect some sort of divine cosmic miracle as a reward for my sacrifice.”

I could almost hear the water weaver’s musical laughter as I headed up the stairs.

The waves of delicious darkness lured me up to the third floor.The only room that was really in use up here was River’s bedroom, but the energy wasn’t coming from there.I let some of the despair sink into my aura, sipping at it like a fine wine as I slowly made my way down the hallway.I could dematerialize and arrive in an instant, but if we were being honest, I was putting off the inevitable.

Or savoring it.Yes.Let’s go with that.I was simply taking my time to savor the richness of my meal.That was all it was.

I studied the beautiful but cold faces in the family portraits I passed, probably lesser witches or relatives the Lovells weren’t particularly fond of, since they were hidden all the way up here on the third floor.

Strange, how witches and other humanoid creatures put so much stock in lineages and such.I had no idea how I came into being.Did I have a mother?A father?Or had I simply spawned from the shadows, the way elementals arose from their elements?I had no memory of ever being anything other than what I was now—fully grown and complete.

It hardly mattered.Now that I understood all the fuss about having a family, I was certain the one I had found here was far superior to any my birth might have shackled me with.

Which was why I needed to hurry up and get on with it.“Stop dawdling, Ambrose,” I muttered to myself.“How have you suddenly become such a coward?”

“And why the fuck are you lurking in the shadows talking to yourself?”A smooth voice added, somehow managing to sound both sensualandunimpressed.

I sighed and turned toward the mostly closed door on the opposite side of the hallway.“Oh, there you are!”I said with as much fake enthusiasm as I could muster.“Just who I was looking for.”

Pushing the door open, I leaned against the doorframe to regard the tiny jinn who was currently sitting on the floor in the corner of the room.I knew he was petite.But he seemed so much smaller now, lacking the fire and force of personality that usually made him seem much bigger.His posture looked casual, with one knee drawn up and an arm resting loosely on top.But I could sense emotions—at least some of them.And he was positivelyleakingthings I wanted to lap up like a cat presented with a nice warm saucer of milk.I knew my eyes were probably glowing.I couldn’t help it.Aahil was old and powerful to begin with, and the hardship and trauma he had endured had made him into a veritable feast for a creature like myself.

“What do you want?”he demanded, lifting his chin a notch to glare at me with those dark-lashed, honey-gold eyes.

I slowly started to walk toward him, drawn that way without even thinking about it.Flames sparked to life along the fingers of the hand that dangled over his knee, and I paused.Oh, right.This was Aahil we were talking about here, not my dinner.

I crossed my arms and looked down at the beautiful terror.He was all bundled up in oversized “peasant” clothes, as he called the sweatshirt and joggers he currently wore.But it didn’t do much to detract from his looks.Fire jinn were a literal incarnation of seductive fire energy, of sex and passion, after all.I didn’t think there was anything that would ever make Aahil look less than delicious.But even though it did nothing to hide his nature, I knew the outfit was a form of armor for him.He’d worn nothing but that for a long time after we retrieved him from the fucking O’Leary coven.They had nearly destroyed the man.The fucking bastards.

Ignoring the implied threat of his fire, I walked over to him and sank down to hold up the wall on the other side of him, crossing my legs, my elbows on my knees so I could rest my face in my hands.“What are you doing all the way up here?”I asked casually.As if we were just… hanging out.I glanced meaningfully around the dark, dusty room, then back at the jinn.“Doesn’t seem nearly shiny or luxurious enough for a bratty prince like you.”

He scoffed.The flames on his hand formed into a small ball, and he rolled it over his graceful fingers and back like a performer doing magic tricks.“A prince, now am I?Good to see you acknowledge my general superiority, boogeyman.You may be just a touch less dull than I thought.”

I chuckled and straightened to put a hand to my chest.“Compliments!From the Brat Prince of Snide?I feel so honored by your faint praises, your majesty.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, and the corners of his sensuous lips tensed, either with displeasure or because he was fighting the urge to do the unspeakable and laugh at my absurdity.“Go away,” he said flatly.

I sighed.“Aahil.I know you’re suffering.I could sense it all the way on the other side of this nightmare-filled monstrosity of a house.”

He flicked his fingers, launching the little ball of fire at the far wall, where it burst into a shower of sparks and disappeared.“And?”he drawled, as if I was the most uninteresting bug to ever crawl across his path.

“Why?”I muttered to myself.“Why do they all find this so damned attractive?”

“What are you nattering on about now, abomination?”Aahil demanded.“I didn’t come up here to listen to shadows yammer nonsense.”

I shook my head.“I was just wondering why everyone puts up with your bratty attitude.I mean, don’t get me wrong, you’re beautiful and all.I can be a bit of a pill myself.And I like a little brat taming now and then.But you make me want to wring your little neck in far less pleasant ways.”

He stared at me blankly for a beat, then his lips quirked up into a sly smile thatmighthave been wickedly teasing… if it wasn’t so venomous.“Try it.”

I let out a surprised bark of laughter.“No thank you,” I managed, wiping at the tears in the corners of my eyes before gesturing at myself.“I might be all dark and spooky, but I’m not a masochist.Being set on fire doesn’t really appeal.”

He didn’t even so much as crack a smile.“Then why.Are.You.Here?”he said between clenched teeth, showing me his cute little fangs.

I shrugged.“I could feel the darkness in you.It’s been a while since I had a filling snack.”

He rolled his eyes at me.“You’ve been feeding off all the other saps in this damned house for days.You’re hardly starving.”

I leaned my head back against the wall and rested my hands in my lap as I stared at the intricately detailed ceiling.“You’re right.I’m not in any danger of starvation,” I admitted.“But I think you might be in danger of snuffing out the last bit of your own spark, little flame.”

He tensed at my use of Hasumi’s nickname for him.“Fuck you.”

---