“I think the half-Jinn thing has you beat on the whole shock factor.”
“Fair enough. I hope you…” Juliet’s words faltered to a halt as she lifted her head and studied Laylah with wide, startled eyes. “Bloody hell.”
“What is it?” Laylah raised a hand and brushed at her cheek. “Do I have something on my face?”
Juliet shook her head. “Do you have relatives in London?”
Laylah’s heart slammed against her ribs. So this wasn’t just a wild goose chase.
“That’s what I’m here to discover. Levet said that he ran into a Jinn in London. Oh.” Laylah grimaced, belatedly realizing she hadn’t given the poor little demon a thought since she’d awoken. “Where is the gargoyle?”
“Hunting.” Juliet shuddered. “Don’t ask.”
Reassured Levet was safe, Laylah returned her attention to the reason she’d traveled to London.
“So, do you know about the Jinn?”
Juliet cleared her throat, abruptly turning to pace across the room in obvious discomfort.
“I’m afraid I do.”
Laylah frowned. “How?”
“I suppose it must have been two hundred years ago, maybe a bit more,” Juliet said, keeping her back to Laylah. “It was before I was mated to Victor, although he was already making a pest of himself.”
“Obviously a vampire trait,” Laylah muttered, ignoring the pang that tugged at her heart.
She was doing her best not to think of the wild, frenzied sex she’d shared with Tane. After all, what was there to think about?
He’d rocked her world. Hell, he’d sent her into orbit.
And now he was back to being her enemy.
End of story.
“Yes,” Juliet readily agreed. “Anyway, Levet had become a squatter of my current master and one of my few friends. So when he was kidnapped I went to rescue him. I had no idea that he’d managed to piss off a Jinn or I might have reconsidered.”
“You actually met the Jinn?”
“Not precisely.” With a sigh, Juliet turned, her expression rueful. “He wasn’t in a chatty mood. In fact, when we crossed paths he was doing his best to kill me.”
“It was a male?” Laylah stepped forward, unable to believe she could actually find the truth of her past. Not after waiting for so long. “You’re certain of that?”
“Absolutely certain.”
So. Her Jinn blood must come from her father’s side. It was a beginning.
“But you don’t know why he was in London?”
“No.” Juliet spread her hands. “All I really know is that he was beautiful and terrifying and so powerful I truly thought he was going to kill me, not to mention Victor and Levet.”
Laylah heaved a sigh of disappointment. She’d hoped that Levet’s mention of running into a Jinn had included more than a brief moment of violence.
“Damn.”
“Laylah.”
“Hmmm?”