this is the right thing to do. That doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
Chapter 16 - Turmoil
Roman retrieved his bloody shirt from next to the man’s body and put it in the same box that had Brielle’s wig and the giant stickers. Don’t want to leave a DNA trail. It doesn’t take long for the air in the jeep to take on a distinct metallic smell that can only come from blood. Roman’s naked torso is the only thing distracting me from the smell. To say he works out would be like saying a cat kind of likes catnip. A huge understatement. I am trying not to stare, but my eyes keep darting in that direction, ignoring my inner turmoil.
Mmmm. His chiseled chest and abs are just begging my hands and lips to explore them. Heat shoots to my core every time my eyes slide in his direction. The bastard knows it, too.
I can’t believe I’m thinking about sex after leaving a brutally murdered man, who died because of me no less, in the road for someone else to find. I should be sitting here horrified that I’m not the person I thought I was. If someone had asked me last week what I would do in a situation like this, I would have scoffed at the very idea that I could be so cold and heartless.
But damn, the man looks so good shirtless. There’s a nagging voice at the back of my mind reminding me of the warning in the fog, but my hormones are ready to take it out back and kick its ass if it doesn’t shut up. I even catch Brielle peeking at him in the rearview mirror.
“Nice nips, Doc. Are you cold?” Brielle asks with a smirk. “I could turn up the heat.”
Roman is not self-conscious about his body at all. He stretches his arms up so his hands are behind his head, linking his fingers together. “I’m fine,” he says smugly. “Eventually it would be nice to buy a new shirt since I didn’t get to pack for this excursion.”
“And deprive us from the masterpiece that is your body?” Brielle teases. “What do you do, work out between patients?”
“Only the dying ones,” he says with a wink.
I’m glad they can have cheery banter back and forth. I can’t think of anything I would find funny at the moment. “Can we talk about something other than dying people? That seems disrespectful at the moment,” I say, my voice sharper than I intended.
Brielle catches my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Look, I’m not any happier than you are about leaving that guy back there. But, I’ve learned that you can’t fight the djinn playing by human rules. They are sneaky, evil bastards who would rip your heart out before saying hi to you on the street. As you’ve already seen, they’ll do anything to get what they want, including trying to make you crazy. As in totally insane. If you give in to their cruelty and let them take your mind, then they’ve already won. We need to keep moving forward. Grieve for the guy if you want, but I highly doubt they’re going to stop killing people if they want you this badly. There will most likely be many more just like him so you better get used to it. So buck up and quit being such a whiny little bitch.”
“How does it end, Brielle?” I snap. “Do we have to kill every djinn that’s come through the veil in order for me to be safe?”
“I don’t kill them, I bind them,” Brielle snaps back. “And you tell me. What did you do to piss the djinn off and what do they want from you? From where I’m sitting, the only one who can clue us in on how this is going to end is you.”
Now I’m mad. “I’ve already told you, I haven’t done anything to the djinn,” I growl.
“Funny, I’ve been hunting them for a couple of years now and I haven’t found a dead person with my name carved in him on my doorstep; so you had to have done something big.”
“It was probably something you
Chapter 16 - Turmoil
Roman retrieved his bloody shirt from next to the man’s body and put it in the same box that had Brielle’s wig and the giant stickers. Don’t want to leave a DNA trail. It doesn’t take long for the air in the jeep to take on a distinct metallic smell that can only come from blood. Roman’s naked torso is the only thing distracting me from the smell. To say he works out would be like saying a cat kind of likes catnip. A huge understatement. I am trying not to stare, but my eyes keep darting in that direction, ignoring my inner turmoil.
Mmmm. His chiseled chest and abs are just begging my hands and lips to explore them. Heat shoots to my core every time my eyes slide in his direction. The bastard knows it, too.
I can’t believe I’m thinking about sex after leaving a brutally murdered man, who died because of me no less, in the road for someone else to find. I should be sitting here horrified that I’m not the person I thought I was. If someone had asked me last week what I would do in a situation like this, I would have scoffed at the very idea that I could be so cold and heartless.
But damn, the man looks so good shirtless. There’s a nagging voice at the back of my mind reminding me of the warning in the fog, but my hormones are ready to take it out back and kick its ass if it doesn’t shut up. I even catch Brielle peeking at him in the rearview mirror.
“Nice nips, Doc. Are you cold?” Brielle asks with a smirk. “I could turn up the heat.”
Roman is not self-conscious about his body at all. He stretches his arms up so his hands are behind his head, linking his fingers together. “I’m fine,” he says smugly. “Eventually it would be nice to buy a new shirt since I didn’t get to pack for this excursion.”
“And deprive us from the masterpiece that is your body?” Brielle teases. “What do you do, work out between patients?”
“Only the dying ones,” he says with a wink.
I’m glad they can have cheery banter back and forth. I can’t think of anything I would find funny at the moment. “Can we talk about something other than dying people? That seems disrespectful at the moment,” I say, my voice sharper than I intended.
Brielle catches my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Look, I’m not any happier than you are about leaving that guy back there. But, I’ve learned that you can’t fight the djinn playing by human rules. They are sneaky, evil bastards who would rip your heart out before saying hi to you on the street. As you’ve already seen, they’ll do anything to get what they want, including trying to make you crazy. As in totally insane. If you give in to their cruelty and let them take your mind, then they’ve already won. We need to keep moving forward. Grieve for the guy if you want, but I highly doubt they’re going to stop killing people if they want you this badly. There will most likely be many more just like him so you better get used to it. So buck up and quit being such a whiny little bitch.”
“How does it end, Brielle?” I snap. “Do we have to kill every djinn that’s come through the veil in order for me to be safe?”
“I don’t kill them, I bind them,” Brielle snaps back. “And you tell me. What did you do to piss the djinn off and what do they want from you? From where I’m sitting, the only one who can clue us in on how this is going to end is you.”
Now I’m mad. “I’ve already told you, I haven’t done anything to the djinn,” I growl.
“Funny, I’ve been hunting them for a couple of years now and I haven’t found a dead person with my name carved in him on my doorstep; so you had to have done something big.”
“It was probably something you
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