Wish in One Hand (Once Upon a Djinn Book 1), page 25
Way to go, Grasshopper! His hand jerked. The flask sailed across the room. It clanged against one wall, hitting the floor in front of Michael’s trembling form.
“Grab it!” I shouted at the re-djinn. As Amun let out a hellacious scream, the would-be lawyer reached for his sanctuary. Zeke had pooled enough energy to light up Lambeau Field, but through the spots in my vision, I saw Michael’s fingers close around his home.
“You cannot take my servant!” The Efreet’s shriek shook the walls, jiggling several of Michael’s tiny pewter figures onto the floor. “The Rules forbid it.”
“Lookie who’s paying attention to the Rules now.” Rubbing it in probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do, but I’ve never been famous for doing the wise thing. “Sorry, bud, but you’ve been away so long you forgot how things work topside. He can’t take his sanctuary from you by force, but he sure as hell can claim it while it’s laying on the ground.” Amun began to power up again, even as Zeke’s wish wrapped around him.
“Michael,” I said through gritted teeth, “get your sanctuary out of here already.”
His hesitation almost screwed us both as the Efreet’s energy glowed like the Times Square ball going nuclear. I caught the lawyer’s eye. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll catch up later.”
Before the word ‘later’ got out of my mouth, he disappeared. If all the lawyerly stuff he shoved into his brain indicated his smarts, he’d stake out a quiet spot in the Himalayas. If he’d learned anything from me, he’d find help before he hid. As strong as Zeke was, the past few days had to have him drained. Holding off Amun now couldn’t help matters.
“A little assistance, Josie?”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him the last of my juice went to summoning him. Besides, the Efreet didn’t need to know.
Except he already did.
“You should choose your battles more carefully, Ezekiel, lest you find yourself fighting for a damsel who can’t aid in her own rescue.” Amun’s laugh grated along my last nerve. “Such a pathetic little thing you gave your heart to. You used to be a better judge of character and of power. She has no more energy left to give and no way to gain more. So sad.”
A second later, Zeke had confirmed the truth. I never want to see that defeated expression on his face again.
“Got it,” he said. Innocuous enough words, but they shouted his disappointment louder than any bullhorn. “I guess we’d better leave, eh, Babydoll?”
Amun’s laughter made me regret every particle of energy I’d ever wasted. If I could’ve generated a piece of glitter’s worth, I’d knock the smirk off his face. Hell, I would’ve broken every Rule to watch those pearly whites fly across the room. As it was, though, I could only manage a cold, hard stare.
Take that.
“Run away, little Miss Mayweather.”
“He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day,” I quipped, borrowing a phrase from my long dead father. The words drew a crease down Amun’s forehead but it disappeared so quickly, I might’ve imagined it.
And then Zeke teleported us through space at such a velocity I could be fairly certain I’d hurl up every lunch I’d had for the past decade. When we landed on some dusty, windswept plain seconds later, I lived up to my expectations and then some. Well, not ten years worth, but it felt like it.
Once my stomach stopped trying to kill me, I finally spoke. “Where are we?”
“Western China. If you’re up to it, we have to leave again. Unless I miss my guess, Amun isn’t far behind us.” I barely finished nodding before we were hurdling into the wind again. Good thing I remembered to close my eyes, because the next stop had us up to our asses in alligators. Literally.
“Actually, they’re crocodiles,” Zeke said. I could’ve hit him for reading my mind, but he’d only deny it again. “Don’t worry about them. We won’t be here long enough for a spot on their menu.”
For the next few hours, or maybe days, we skipped from one remote locale to the next. With all the course changes we’d made, I hoped we’d left Amun eating our dust somewhere outside Tulsa.
“He’s always been a tricky bastard,” my ex said as we took a breather on the side of some snowy mountain. Judging from the cold in what was mid-summer back home, we had to be south of the equator. The Andes, maybe. It didn’t matter. As long as we kept Amun guessing, maybe we’d give the others some time to get settled.
“You’re sure everyone is safe at your place?”
“For the dozenth time, yes.” As much energy as he’d put out, I half-expected him to fall over, but the exertion barely winded him. Where he got all his power from stymied the hell out of me. “I called in some favors. They’re safer than in their own mother’s arms.”
I didn’t want to know what kind of favors he meant or what beings owed him favors. At least I didn’t want to know while teleporting all over hell and creation. Time enough for an information download later.
“Ready?” he said, breaking into my thoughts.
“The only thing I’m ready for is a trip home.” My teeth started to chatter as a strong wind blew ice down my tank top. Summer in the Rockies isn’t balmy, but it sure as hell wasn’t this cold. “Are we there yet?”
A wide smile finally broke the stern set his face had taken. “Amun’s probably lost interest by now.” He didn’t bother saying what we were both trying not to think about. If the Efreet lost interest, he had dozens of other genies he could play with. The largest concentration of which sat in a mansion in Colorado.
“For all we know, he’s there waiting for us.” I didn’t want to think about it, let alone say it, but it needed saying.
“No time like the present to pop in then, Babydoll.” He looped my hand over his arm and whispered in my ear. “Now close your eyes for a big surprise.”
I didn’t think it would surprise anyone, but I closed my eyes anyway. I didn’t want to risk tossing my cookies on his front lawn. Except we didn’t land on his front lawn. When I opened my eyes, I stood in the same room he’d hijacked me to before. The fire licked along several newly placed logs.
“Your Fortress of Solitude?”
“Indeed,” he said, with a wink. “Nice to know you think I’m Superman.”
I stifled the heat rising to my cheeks. “I didn’t mean…” Change the subject. Change the subject. “Why here? Shouldn’t we be where the action is?”
“We could both use a breather before we approach the masses downstairs.”
He deftly ignored my stammering. It was a kindness I would’ve appreciated if he wasn’t stalling. To prove my point, he strolled over to the liquor cart and poured two snifters of the brandy.
“There’s no battle going on, is there?”
He shook his head. “Amun hasn’t arrived from what I can tell.”
I thought back to my last words to Mena. Surely by now they must have been mobilizing the fifth army. “How long were we gone?”
“Less than a day, but long enough to be nearly dusk again. Don’t worry. I sent word you were perfectly fine.”
“When?”
“By a little pond in Malaysia.”
“Did you also request a stoked fire and brandy?”
“I have very devoted employees.” He held the snifter of golden liquid out to me.
This time around, I accepted the offering. I longed to gulp it down it, but made myself sip at its smoothness. Thank Evangeline for hammering the rules of polite society into me. At least my mother had been good for something. Not that societal rules are often handy in my line of work. Socializing was Basil’s bag.
Basil. With everything happening, I hadn’t given his disappearance a third thought. He was out there somewhere under the control of a sadistic freak. While I stood in a hoity-toity library sipping Napoleon brandy.
“Guilt never does anyone any good, you know,” Zeke said.
“How did you—?”
“It’s all over your face, Josie. You feel guilt because you’re taking a moment for yourself while your friends are in danger, missing, or generally demoralized. Am I right?”
“Not even close.” Maybe the fib would put distance between us.
“Liar. Let me guess. You were thinking about Baz. If not him, then Michael or Mena or Omar and the damnable dog.” He put a finger under my chin, tipping my face until we were eye to eye. “I asked after them, too. The latter three are resting comfortably. Mena said they were treating themselves to my private stash of Godivas. She indicated the Sheik had never been introduced to the pleasure of good chocolate. Major is abstaining until he knows whether they’re as poisonous to former dogs as to current ones.”
“Wait’ll Omar finds your hidden cache of Belgian seashells.” Zeke gasped. I wasn’t quite sure if he was joking or truly concerned. Gotta love a man who loves his chocolate—even if it meant sometimes fighting over the last piece.
“The others you were concerned about?” he said. “We can’t help them at the moment. I have my best men tracking Michael’s movements, but like us, he decided not to stick to one place too long. They lost him somewhere between Moscow and Minsk. When he turns up again, we’ll send him our coordinates. Until then, he’s on his own.”
“And Basil?”
“Until the Efreet decides to utilize him, he’s off the radar. Don’t worry, Josie. We’ll find him.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s entirely possible he’s gone over to the dark side, you know. Hell, Baz must’ve been the one who ratted me out to the Moor.”
Zeke lifted one shoulder. “Entirely possible. However, I don’t think he’s your enemy. I’d say the only fault poor old Baz rightfully owns in this mess is wishing for someone else to shoulder the burden of thinking for him. Well, and not hiding his sanctuary well enough. As for the rest, I say hold judgment until you talk to him. You might find out the real blame falls on Amun and—”
“And whoever might actually be helping Amun?”
“I think he may have attained more slaves than Basil, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what to think.” I ran a hand through my ratty locks. Hours of whipping around the world left me feeling like a Rastafarian. When this was all over, I would treat myself to a spa day. And a short haircut. “I know I locked the company down personally. I changed all the codes Baz could’ve known. How did Amun still manage to get to Michael?”
“Could Basil have guessed the new codes?”
I shook my head. Leaning against the mantel, I look a long draught of Zeke’s booze. Screw Miss Manners. As I relished the burn, I considered the possibilities. “There has to be someone else on the inside. Someone who isn’t a slave. Basil tried to warn me. Michael would’ve done the same if I hadn’t interrupted Amun. I think the Efreet’s helper is doing it willingly.”
Zeke snapped his fingers. Both his snifter and mine disappeared. “Well, what are you doing standing around drinking, Babydoll?” he said like this interlude had been my idea. “I think you might’ve dropped a traitor into my home.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
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Zeke strode out the door and disappeared into his maze-like home before I could shout for him to slow down. With nothing else left to go on, I followed the heavenly odor of his Clive Christian cologne. Either his magic or his security business kept him in a style I couldn’t quite merge with my memories. This new Ezekiel couldn’t be the same guy I walked barefoot down the Champs Elyse with. Sure, the old Zeke liked the finer things. In the old days, he hadn’t quite reached this degree of opulence. He sure as hell never owned a Rodin like the one I passed as I headed down the stairs.
Led by the odor of decadence, I pushed through a pair of mahogany doors near the back of the property. I fought to keep my jaw from dropping to my toes. The place seemed spacious before. This room could fit my entire operation inside with space for a pack of pachyderms.
Being djinn means never having to deal with claustrophobia.
“Jo!” cried Mena from off to one side. “What happened to you?”
“You don’t want to know,” I said. “How’s life on the ‘refugee from evil’ front?”
“Controlled chaos. Zeke’s staff have been excellent at making everyone comfortable. Until they shuttled us into this room and locked it down. No one’s been allowed out for hours.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Hours? I thought you only just—”
“What can I say, Josie? I’m a paranoid clairvoyant. I can sense ahead of time when people are thinking about screwing me over.”
“Still. Hours?” Free genies don’t necessarily appreciate boundaries, no matter the whys. I turned back to Mena. “How are they taking it?”
“A few of them are irritated, but they were waiting to speak to you anyway.” She inclined her head toward a clique glaring daggers in our direction. “And others until they could shout at you.”
“Let me guess. No one was thrilled when the wish wore off Tryg and Omar.”
“Could be. Or maybe they’re upset about Zeke.” She shot him a glance. “He laid some kind of wish down. No one can use their power.”
“Security measures,” Zeke said in clipped syllables.
“And several of our guests don’t appreciate being trapped in his home.” The way her words dripped, their venom would’ve killed any other man.
“With you being among the unappreciative?” He stepped toward my best friend as his power began to build.
I grabbed his arm. “She’s not the one you’re looking for. Leave her be.”
He gently laid his hand on mine. One finger brushed a delicate line along my ring finger. “For you. But only for now.”
“What in the name of Tammuz?” she asked. “And why is he touching you that way?”
“A traitor has been allowed into my home.” He stopped petting my hand. Power crackled in the space between his skin and mine. “For now, you’ll have to live with being ‘trapped’, as you called it, until I uncover the turncoat. In fact—”
He closed his eyes as his power became a tangible thing. After all the tricks he’d accomplished in the past day, I expected his head to explode. Instead, a shimmering veil fell over the room. “Everyone will remain exactly where they are until I release them.”
Mena scoffed and stormed away. Before she went more than a yard, she blinked out, reappearing right where she’d been when the wish went into effect.
“What in the seven hells do you think you’re doing?” She shook one shiny fingernail inches from Zeke’s nose.
“You are in my home by my invitation. With the liberty such an invitation allows you’ll understand if I protect what’s mine. The wish guarantees everyone plays nice until I can verify their intent. As such, each of you stays where you can do the least damage.” He ditched his relaxed demeanor in favor of ‘severely pissed-off genie’. “The nicer you all play, the sooner you’ll be free to partake of my hospitality.”
He nodded to those within hearing distance. “Pass it along to your friends. I won’t bother to explain myself again.”
A murmur went through the crowd, then most of them quieted down. A few became indignant. Some of the djinn tried to storm from the room. Like Mena, they ended up right where they started. Their efforts to counteract Zeke’s wish would’ve been funny if this hadn’t taken on a surreal quality.
“If you’re all finished playing, we can proceed.”
A petite djinn of Japanese origin tapped her cane on the floor to draw Zeke’s attention. “I did not agree to Ms. Mayweather’s idea of freedom only to be held like some common criminal.”
“Lady Mei.” Thinking back to our previous encounters, I wouldn’t put it past the diminutive bitch to be the traitor. “If you feel slighted, I suggest you go first.”
“I’ll do no such thing.” She shook a jewelry-bedecked fist. “And don’t think the Council won’t hear of this.”
“They probably already have. If not, I’m sure you’ll be the first to tell them. In fact, maybe you could explain the absolute necessity of our actions tonight.” I amplified my voice so the rest of the djinn could hear me. “Yesterday evening, after I reset all the security at Mayweather, an Efreet ambushed me in Michael’s room. Inside guest quarters for those of you who haven’t been paying attention.” Dozens of lungs inhaled at once. “Not only that, but he used Michael’s sanctuary to turn him djinn again.” On some of the gathered faces, I could see the implications dawning. Several of the brethren got the point. I hammered it home anyway. “Which means someone who lives there invited the Efreet past security.”
“Are you accusing someone of treason?” blurted a younger genie.
“She’s not accusing anyone of anything.” Zeke’s voice came out a little above a growl but amplified so all could hear. “I am. If no conspirator is found among you, I’ll admit I’m wrong. In fact, you’ll all receive my most profound apologies. However, I’m not wrong. For the person hiding inside my walls, no amount of power will save you.”
Mena shrank back. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her to my side. “He’s harmless,” I whispered. Let Zeke have his suspicions. He wouldn’t find any evidence among my friends.
Methinks you protest too much, said a little voice at the back of my head. I stuffed it farther back and told it to shut the hell up.
Slowly, we walked through the refugee camp. I had Mena’s hand through my arm for a few steps. When she disappeared and showed up in her original spot, I smacked Zeke’s arm. “Let her loose,” I hissed. He didn’t look happy, but he complied. The next time we moved forward, she kept pace.
Zeke shook his head at the both of us and went strolling through the crowd. From all appearances, he could’ve been browsing the inventory before a big sale. Every once in a while, he’d stop to gaze into the eyes of one individual or another, only to nod and move on. I knew what he was looking for. I didn’t have the foggiest notion how he’d spot it from something in their eyes.
In front of a teenage girl, he did something I never saw him do before. He flinched. “How long have you been with Jo?”
