“Did he do this to you?”

  The dark haired, transparent figure nodded. She was beautiful or had been, before the Glasgow smile split her face.

  “How many are you?”

  Six tiny fingers rose.

  “Are they here?”

  The hairs on her arms frosted in the chilled car. Despite the temperature, the windows froze over and she knew the answer was yes.

  “Do you want to be found?”

  A nod.

  “Do you want to be free?”

  The figured twisted to look at her sisters in death. Eyes, once blue, now burned vermillion. The smile split and curled.

  “Then I welcome you into this world to have your revenge.” Dinah opened her body to them, feeling their rage pass through her, taking tiny bits of her essence needed to make it into this plane of existence. She had no worry for herself as they went through her body. She felt their purpose. They didn’t blame her for living. No, they thanked her for the opportunity to make things right again. Demetrius wouldn’t leave this mountain the same way he came up it.

  With a new promise to keep, Dinah started up the car and drove away.

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m rich. I won.”

  “I know.” Tig sat on the edge of the bed, his face in his hands. It’d been nearly twenty-four hours since he’d seen Karlin. She’d sailed through the door in the middle of the night, waving the ticket in the air.

  This he expected.

  The dark glow and stench of evil along with it came as an unwelcome surprise. Her skin was clammy - he could see drops of perspiration from across the room and she held herself too tightly, clutching her arms and looking at him through bulging eyes. What he’d mistaken for delight was far worse. She stank of dark magic. The kind that seeped into your soul and charred it forever. Every jerky action of her body served as testimony to it.

  “What have you done?”

  “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

  “Whatever you’re messing with, you need to stop.”

  “I don’t need to be told what to do by…well…a servant. Slave. Prisoner. Pick one.”

  Let her soul rot then. What did he care? And yet, he should. Karlin was no more than a child about to stick a wet finger in a socket. “That stuff will change you. You are not born of magic. You can’t handle what you’re playing with. It’s bigger than you can manage.”

  “You care so much?”

  “One less mess I’ll have to clean up.”

  A grin crept across her sallow face, one he could read plain as day. She didn’t mean for him to be around to do anything. Had she learned how to kill a djinn? Perhaps, but if so, why was he still alive?

  Tig swallowed past the lump in his throat. Anything could be killed with dark magic. He preferred that to the other possibility that his mind started to fixate on: a half-death. Such a thing was common to the southern hemisphere, but only the darkest of workers knew of it. Half-death turned its victims into mindless slaves, present but unaware. He’d seen it first hand during the colonial wars and it was the only way he could think of to keep a djinn, and his power, forever.

  “Something scares you? Me? Did I put that look on your face?”

  “So a last wish and we’re done. Let’s hear it.”

  “Only because you tricked me out of one. That was a bad idea.”

  “Consider me less than sympathetic.”

  “The fact remains that I’m not exactly sure what that third one will be. The list of possible wishes is still in flux.”

  “Ergo?”

  “Here’s the thing. I’m rich as the devil now, so I may not need that wish for some time.”

  Tig looked up, resting his chin on his fists. “And therefore you intend to keep me.”

  “I’ve always wanted a pet.”

  How? He so badly wanted to ask, but if she didn’t know about half-deaths yet, he didn’t want to plant the seed. Only the laughing teenagers in the hall stopped him from killing her and his face must have said as much. She wisely stepped to the door. “We leave in three hours on the first flight in the morning.”

  “There’s no point to it, Karlin. You’re rich. You have everything you want and could ever want. Cash in the fucking ticket and be done with it.”

  She leaned against the door jam, one foot in the hall. “I’ve got a husband to ditch first.”

  “This being the man you love and hold so dear?”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I still do. He doesn’t understand what I am. Calls it a hobby. I can’t have him finding out the truth and blabbering about it. Besides, it’s my money. We’ll have to do something permanent.”

  Chapter Eleven

  It had been the worst few days of Dinah’s life. Her only bit of consolation came from the area newscasts. A local physician had been found in the woods, bloody, wounded and half-mad. In his ranting, he’d disclosed the locations of several missing women. He’d been booked, but died mysteriously in his cell. Not so mysterious to Dinah. Soon after, she’d had a few ghostly visitors. With her help, the six women went into their final peace.

  The trip out here was worth that alone. It’d also made her realize how short life was. Love, even chances at it, didn’t come often. If she had a shot, no matter how it came, she had an obligation to the universe to go for it.

  She was an idiot. But a free one and alive with time to fix things.

  Did she love Tig?

  She didn’t know, but she’d give herself the opportunity to try. She’d never had a relationship that lasted more than a month or two. Humans were fun, but temporary – there was no future in someone without magic in their lives. As for the magical creatures around Galveston, most were man sluts, girl sluts, undead, spoiled or boring.

  Tig was…well…her slut and spoiled, yes. Conceited too. But, still hers. If she wanted him. She still had no idea what their future would look like, but did anyone? Normal people didn’t walk around knowing what would happen. They jumped, eyes slammed shut, and hoped for the best.

  So would she.

  There was that one other, small matter to consider. Djinn lived eons. Would he watch her grow old? Or would he speed his life to age with her? The fact that he was willing to do either meant everything.

  She tried his cell for the hundredth time and came up with her hundredth excuse when he didn’t answer. It was Vegas and maybe he was drunk.

  Or at a show.

  Or wrapped up in the arms of a woman smart enough to know a good thing when it bit her in the ass.

  Please, don’t let him be biting someone else’s ass right now. She needed his shoulder to cry on for a good long while. She considered flying to Vegas, but she knew she’d never find him. If he hadn’t answered her calls, he surely wouldn’t be answering her wishes. In Galveston, though, she’d plead her case and make him listen.

  “Flip.”

  Dinah sighed and rolled over. Instead of a djinn, an old frau with questionable facial hair brutally massaged her feet. While Helga smashed her toes, Dinah picked up her phone and called the airline to confirm her overnight flight.

  “You leave soon?”

  “Tonight.”

  “Bad or good?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Make it good then.” The mustachioed Helga had a point. Dinah popped up, patted the woman’s prickly face and ran to her room. She’d get to the airport early. Maybe she’d get lucky. The universe owed her that. Packing involved little more than throwing everything together, unfolded and still dirty. Her time to and in the airport was a blur, punctuated by the shrieks and laughter of others.

  Full flights delayed her joy.

  There were no open seats and she waited it out on an uncomfortable chair, nee torture device, watching plane after plane leave without her. Soon, she was too mentally and emotionally drained to care. She only started noticing things again when the departure sign blinked her city in green lights. Dinah hobbled aboard, found her seat and let her mind wander.

  She would never be able to disassociate planes from sex again. Or Demetrius.

  Oh, Tig. If they headed in the same direction of love, what was the harm if he got there first?

  Trapped between memories sublime and horrific, sleeping wasn’t an option. She tapped her fingers on the armrests until the flight landed.

  The power of being in her city lightened her steps when she got off the plane. Or maybe that was hope. Whatever it was, it had her doggone sailing through the airport. She had a plan now and nothing could break her stride.

  Nothing except for seeing Tig waltz out of a cab with some redheaded heifer.

  The bastard! I wish you could see my face right now.

  Tig’s head whipped around in her direction.

  I wish I could give you a piece of my mind.

  ::Hamdullah! Get in the lamp.::

  “Tig? How are you—”

  ::Piece of your mind. Kinda. Listen, trouble. You. Lamp. Now!::

  Tig hadn’t stopped and his head was quickly disappearing in the crowd. In another few feet, she wouldn’t be able to see him at all. She sped up and pushed her way through, earning pissed off looks each time her luggage rolled over someone’s feet.

  ::Get in the lamp!::

  How the hell was she supposed to do that?

  ::You’d better not be asking how.::

  Right. I wish I were in the lamp.

  And so, she was.

  *****

  His theory worked. Of course his mate’s wish would send her there alone. The lamp was hers as much as his. She didn’t need him for entry at all.

  ::I need you to wish my servitude over.::

  He felt the wish, along with Dinah’s shock and the rage that accompanied it. The pull was there too, that compulsion to act, but he couldn’t break the bind between himself and a now glaring Karlin. “What did you do,” she asked.

  ::No dice. Talk later.::

  “Nothing.”

  Karlin’s eyes narrowed and she started digging around in her purse. Whatever it was that she found, slapped a lopsided grin on her face. She gave it a reassuring pat before glancing back up at him. “My crystal is getting warm.”

  “Is that a euphemism for something?”

  “You don’t want to play with me. I could wish you dead,” she said, face twisting as she spat out the words. She hadn’t been the first to threaten their kind with that, but he saw no need to tell her djinn can’t be forced to do anything to hurt themselves.

  “Or I can wish dead someone you know.”

  That, however, was a possibility to terrible to count. His breath labored under the ache in his chest and his heartbeat raced in his ears. He cracked his back and told the truth. “Ninety five percent of the people I’ve ever known are dead.”

  “What about the other five?”

  He shrugged. “People I know. Like you, sweetie.”

  “I’ve used these last few days to study up on your kind, genie. If I were you, I wouldn’t go around making threats.” Karlin nodded towards the entrance. “Let’s move.”

  Dinah was within reach, but like his lamp, too far away. It did a helluva good job of putting things into perspective. The one thing he wanted most, was to grant this bitch her wish and get back to the two things he held most dear. His own freedom lagged a distant third. So he walked.

  He stifled his surprise when she bought him a ticket to Oklahoma. Was it the first place he had in mind? No. Was he shocked? Totally, but he couldn’t let her know. He couldn’t give away anything now. The stakes were too high.

  His guts turned as Karlin’s words replayed in his mind. He didn’t buy for a second that they were heading to her home for the sole purpose of starting divorce proceedings. Those things took months and the lottery winnings would long be discovered by then.

  Unless she meant not to claim them. A definite possibility. With her carefully worded wish, she could be just as rich next month. Or next year, but he didn’t see Karlin as the type to leave money on the table. Whatever they were doing in Oklahoma, it would have horrific and immediate consequences.

  Around him, people shouted and murmured wishes he couldn’t use. He knew Dinah wanted to hear from him, and he had a shit ton to explain, but he couldn’t right now. He needed to concentrate. If there was a place Karlin was likely to screw up, this was it.

  Twice he thought he had her, but Karlin always caught herself fast enough to back down from careless words. As before, she shoved his boarding pass against his chest. On the flight, he tried coaxing her into conversation, but she either ignored him, nodded or turned away.

  The tension on his spirit grew and he tried to give a name to it. Worry? Yes, but he wasn’t hopeless. Not yet. Dinah was a hell of an ace to have in his pocket. The second Karlin asked for her third wish, he could return to his lamp and have Dinah wish them away. Or have her halt time so he could get out and break the bitch’s kneecaps.

  Out the corner of his eye, he caught Karlin nodding off to sleep. The second her breathing leveled off, he closed his eyes and reconnected.

  ::Dinah?::

  “What the hell?”

  Telling her that she was the reason his lamp was in the tightly grasped hands of a lunatic had all the markings of a conversation best saved for later. ::The woman you saw me with has my lamp.::

  “I wish I were out of this—”

  ::You don’t need me for that anymore. Plus, we’re on a plane to Oklahoma. Not the best time.::

  “Go ahead and assume I’ll need some details instead of these lame half-sentences. I’ve had a rough week.”

  Tig smiled for the first time in days. So, his Dinah got testy in all heated situations. That’s what he wanted, and fought for, time to get to know her weird intricacies. ::Later::

  “Huh?”

  ::I’ve missed you.::

  “Oh. Still angry, but that’s real good to hear.”

  ::And?::

  “Hold on a minute while I work this out. I’m stuck in a lamp because you’re being held captive, but you’ve still got time to flirt?”

  ::She’s asleep.::

  “Just so long as we’re using our time wisely.”

  He could almost feel her rolling those eyes. ::I need to see you.::

  “Go to the bathroom. I’ll wish myself there.”

  Rather than risk waking Karlin, he went through three other grumbling, sighing people in the center aisle to get out. He made it to the back of the plane, but there was no mile high clubbing when he got there.

  Dinah kissed him. Slapped him. Then kissed him again, before collapsing against his chest. He sat her on the edge of the sink and she wrapped her legs around him. Red, swollen eyes met his. “Relax, Dinah. We’ll fix this.”

  “Just hold me a little while,” she said and buried her face in his chest.

  Something wasn’t right. Something well beyond this current situation. “What’s wrong? Tell me. Tell me right now.” Heat bubbled within him as fresh tears raced down her cheeks. The heat of them burned through his shirt. “Did someone hurt you? Karlin?”

  Dinah looked up frowning, and shook her head. The laugh that passed her lips bore no joy. “Kidnapped. Brought a few spirits over. The usual. Oh, Tig.”

  “His name?” He held her rocking body and tried to push the mind-clouding rage aside with little success. “Give me his name.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We need to deal with this lamp situation.”

  “His name, shareek hayat. I’ll have it.”

  “It’s handled.”

  “Is he dead? Who is he? Where? Tell me everything and spare no detail. I will split his insides.”

  Dinah wiped her nose on her sleeve and gave him a wobbly smile. “I stunned him and trussed him up like carrion. The man, Demetrius—”

  “Demetrius. Demetrius what? Give me his last name.”

  “He’d killed before and his victims haunted the area, waiting for someone to bring them through. That was me and they destroyed him.”

  He didn’t interrupt her story and listened to every detail of the madness that had overtaken the man. She finished with a shrug. “I thought of my family and you. Demetrius never had a chance. I’m tough. I saved myself and now I’m going to save you.”

  “I love you.”

  “Tig—”

  “Shhh. You don’t have to say it.”

  “But I want—”

  “Hush, love. Tell me weeks, months, years from now, anytime but today. I want to know that you mean it. I want it said when we’re alone and quiet and safe. I won’t have it rushed. I won’t have it born out of fear or anxiety. For now, we’ve got a woman at the front of the plane to deal with.”

  The hand on his cheek dropped and her eyes sharpened to a warrior’s glare. No, this Demetrius hadn’t had a chance at all. Neither did Karlin.

  “Who is she?”

  “Karlin’s a wannabe from the hotel. She has no natural born powers, only learned from books and charlatans, I think.”

  “You’re kidding me.” But it was the last she said before quietly listening to the story of his week. Maybe quiet wasn’t the whole of it. She swore a little and smacked her lips a little more. When he finished, her mouth was twisted and her head lay back against the mirror. “So, what’s the plan?”

  “Initially? Do the three wishes and get back to you.”

  “I like it. But?”

  “She came with some pretty heavy dark marks wrapped around her. There’s a reason she needs me in her house. Long term imprisonment?”

  “Probably not. But I don’t like that she wants you in her city or anywhere near her home. Who knows what resources she has there. Does she know about me?”

  “No.”

  “Nothing at all? My name? My…” Her voice trailed off at his shaking head. “We can’t let her get out of that airport when we land.”

  “You can freeze it again.”

  “That’s a bad idea. I halted it less than fifteen seconds when we met and it left me too burned out to fight properly when I needed to. That will never happen again. More importantly, she still has wishes left. She could make me hurt you.”

  “Impossible.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9