Wish You Weren't Here

by Janeen Ippolito

  Typical Kiran. Although it was hard to argue with the results, which was why I wasn’t gonna.

  I glared at him. “Do that again and I’ll break your arms.”

  “You wouldn’t. You’re not a violent person.”

  “Anything is possible.” Was that a hint of fear in his eyes? It had better be. I folded my arms. “And there’s always a catch. Especially with wish granters. Especially with Jinn.”

  “You forget that you’re a wish granter.”

  “No, that’s just my magic. I don’t offer or grant wishes.”

  He shrugged. “A pity. There’s actually a bit of a rush in doing so.”

  “Yes, because that’s definitely why I would want to do it. A rush.” I sighed. “And I’m part human anyway, as you reminded me.”

  He smirked. “I never held anything against you. Unless you wanted me to.”

  “Don’t remind me of that.” I grabbed a handful of beans and flung them at him. He merely made a waving gesture, and they disappeared. Effortless control. It just wasn’t fair. “Kiran, why are you suddenly interested in helping me train now, when the curse-mark was broken almost two months ago? Where the crap have you been?” I gave him another glare. “And why were you in my private Dreamscape trying to screw with my magic?”

  “So I’m the man of your dreams?”

  “No, you’re the man who made my dream a nightmare.”

  “Nightmare?” He winced. “Ouch. You think so little of me, Sandy.” Then his lips twitched. “Although you are thinking of me, at least.”

  “You didn’t answer my questions.” I stalked over to the closet to get a broom and dustpan. I might as well get started cleaning up this mess. Normally, I didn’t have a problem pulling in people to help me, but not Kiran. He’d already done too much.

  As my hand touched the doorknob, I saw him make another tiny wave out of the corner of my eye. The next instant, the beans were gone. All of them. Kiran looked way too pleased with himself.

  I almost thanked him, then stopped myself. Gratitude was a dangerous thing, even though it was only considered binding around elves. Still, I didn’t want Kir acting like he had done me any favors. He generally only did those when they suited him—it had been a key sign that he liked me and a trait he tended toward when we were together. Sarcastic yet doting, but only when he felt like it, and only for me. Just like a stupid cat.

  I turned around, and suddenly there he was again, back in close proximity. His orange flames teased at mine, drawing forth the deep blue fire that sizzled through me. The entangling left me breathless, and I looked up into his eyes. At his mouth.

  I swallowed. “You are aware that I’m married, Kiran.”

  His eyes turned even deeper, richer, beckoning with need and desire. “Oh yes, I’m very aware. How absurd of you, Allis.”

  “Absurd? People make commitments every day.”

  “Not you. Not me.” He traced my jawline with a finger, even while his words were cool and blunt. “And not after only knowing someone a handful of days.”

  I swallowed, catching his hand in mine before he could reach my lips. “And meeting each other over the course of five years.”

  He amended, “A handful of days and then how many ‘first moments with little depth’? Tell me, what would you say to a client who was claiming true love from such a thin premise?” He tilted his head. “At least you and I knew each other for eight years as friends. What did you get yourself into, vowing your significant lifespan to someone so quickly? I believe you once said, yourself, that if you settled so quickly, I should be afraid that you had been possessed or—what were your words?” He frowned. “Body-snatched.”

  “That was after how many drinks?”

  Kiran chuckled. “It depended on the night, didn’t it.”

  “…true.”

  Focus, Allis!

  And not on him.

  My brain whirred. Something was wrong. I’d broken up with Kiran. I had a lot of good arguments why Kiran and I should not be joined including his mother’s utter hatred of me and a hefty amount of irritation and grief at being his illicit squeeze in the shadows. It had been a clean breakup, more or less, which was why this sudden, edgy, gooey-eyed lover was super weird.

  And then there was the odd answer rising within me. Like Kiran had got inside my head and weakened my will. Awakened things I’d chosen to put to rest with prayer, ice cream, stiff drinks, and a few sleepless nights here and there. I cared about him as a person, yeah, but not like this. Not anymore. I couldn’t. Besides, him getting to me should be impossible. Linus, Cendric’s leprechaun friend, had stated that no one could bend my will—I had to surrender it myself. I hadn’t done so.

  So what the crap was going on? Did it have something to do with the Dreamscape? In any case, it was not cool of him to bring up the past. Especially since a part of it sounded right. I had said those things.

  Being with Cendric was nuts, true. But we’d chosen that crazy, and I was sticking with it. Even if I’d have to talk through more things with Cid about the whole ‘keeping things from Allis when he said he wouldn’t’ nonsense. Openly voicing those topics would probably not be good at the moment. He was already concerned about losing me.

  But I could yell at Kiran.

  I opened my mouth to start, then thought better of parting my lips so close to his. For a lot of reasons. No point wasting my breath. Instead, I sidled around him, desperate for a cold shower or something sharp to throw.

  “You can leave, Kiran. Now.”

  “I need you.”

  That stopped me halfway to the front door, which I was graciously going to open for him and slam behind him. “What?”

  He coughed. “I mean, I need your time and assistance.”

  I stepped toward him, my distaste forgotten in the sheer fascination that Kiran was admitting to needing anyone. It was a rare and wonderful occurrence. “Go on.”

  His face darkened in frustration, as if he hadn’t meant to say the words he’d just spoken. Huh. This I definitely had to figure out. “What’s wrong, Kir? You about to puke from all the humility?”

  “As eloquent as ever.”

  “Oh, I have eloquence coming out my ass.” I grinned. “What help do you need?”

  He sighed and ran a hand through his curls. “There is a rumor of tainted potions in Steel City. I inquired about it at first because I thought Gideon would want to know.”

  I nodded. My brother and Kiran still sort of kept in touch. Not intentionally, but Gideon sometimes took part in the classical quartets that Kiran would hire for his gallery events. “Go on.”

  “After more research, I discovered something even more disturbing. Love potions. The kind that really screw around with people. I thought you’d want to know, and maybe help out.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Thanks for the tip, but what does this have to do with you?”

  He opened his mouth, then shut it tightly as if he were forcing the words into a hidden place. Finally, he said, “She’s hurting people with them.”

  “Hurting people? Who is?” Malda? I shrugged off the thought. The Jinn Lady was terrible, but what use would she have for love potions?

  “Great question.” The voice came from the kitchen area behind Kiran. I leaned to the side to see Gideon standing in the kitchen doorway with a to-go cup of coffee piled high with whipped cream, and a disgusted look on his face. “Al, what’s he doing here? And what happened to the beans?”

  Kiran spoke up, “I’m here to hire your sister for romantic investigation help regarding the illegal use of love potions. In return, I will train her in Jinn magic. She certainly needs it.”

  Gideon sniffed. “You know where the cops and the Fae court are. Tell them.”

  “I lack evidence,” Kiran bit out. “And the prime suspect is known for twisting situations.”

  Gideon and I exchanged a look. Mine begged him not to give in to this until we had more information—and in return, his was oddly guarded. Even touched with r
egret and a hint of fear.

  “You have a point,” Gideon said to Kiran.

  “He does?” He couldn’t.

  My brother sighed. “Josie, can you tell the other shops we won’t need clean-up help after all? Then meet us back here.”

  “Sure,” she said with a curious look as she walked toward the door.

  Gideon caught my gaze again. “We need to talk.”

  We both turned and fixed Kiran with a stare. He smiled thinly. “I’ll wait outside.”

  “Promise you won’t come back in,” I said. “Wait until we get you.”

  He met my eyes, his expression painfully sincere and shadowed at the same time. “As you wish, Sandy. I promise.”

  He pivoted and walked out the front door. I blinked. I could count on one hand the times Kiran had promised me anything so easily and with such certainty.

  “Something’s going on with him,” I muttered.”

  Gideon sighed. “Agreed. But right now we have a bigger mess to deal with.”

  Dread filled me. I siphoned off a pile of whipped cream and coffee, then got the courage to ask. “We do? How?”

  “I’ll tell you while you help me throw away every single potion we’ve made this year.”

  I swallowed another mouthful of coffee.

  This was definitely going to be a multi-cup day.

  Chapter 6

  I followed him back to the kitchen area. A long metal counter covered with potions in various states of creation bisected the room. Potion ingredients crowded the cupboards along the back wall as well as the front wall on either side of the entry to the front room. There was a six-burner stove, a large metal fridge, and plenty of extra shelving. In one corner was a large walk-in closet, and in another was a large inflated wading pool with a water pump, because even otter alchemists get stressed out. Water was to Gideon what coffee was to me: an instant pick-me-up.

  From the look on his face, I was surprised he didn’t immediately shift into otter form and slip into the pool as soon as we entered the kitchen. His fear of losing everything and his desire to dive into one of the three rivers came through loud and clear.

  Instead, he pulled a large, round trash can away from the wall, lined it with a bright yellow magical hazmat bag that radiated with protective wards, and picked up the nearest potion.

  Crash! The glass broke and a bit of magic flared as the wards in the bag contained any side effects of the combustion.

  I was dumbfounded. “Gideon, what happened? That was one of our most valuable sleeping potions!”

  “Doesn’t matter. Can’t use it.” He flung another vial into the can. “Can’t use any of these. All my work—all our work—wasted.”

  Crash!

  I rushed forward and grabbed his wrist before he could send another potion into the Place of No Return. “No. Start talking.”

  He scowled, his eyes wet. “I really wanted this place to work, Al!” He swiped at his eyes. “We planned it all out, and when Cid came along and helped with the paperwork and everything, I thought it had a good chance. But now? We’re doomed.”

  “No. No doom.” I turned his wrist over, revealing the tiny tattoo of a half-filled glass of water on the underside his wrist, identical to the one I had on mine. “Remember what this means?”

  “That we’d both been really sad after losing Mom, and we believe in staying hydrated?”

  I rolled my eyes. “No. There’s always a way out. There’s always an answer. You don’t give up on me, and I don’t give up on you. Ever. And we never give up on our dreams. We might get new ones, but we do not give up. Got it?”

  “Got it.” He pressed his lips together and gave himself a quick shake. “All right. The news hit this morning—the squirrels in the bookshop told me. The place I source our essential oils and mixers from was invaded by dark magic. Tainted everything, used a curse that attacks every single potion made with those ingredients. Twists them into harmful and ugly things.”

  My heart sank. “All those people who’ve bought from us—please tell me you used the self-destruct chemical sequence I asked for—”

  “Oh yeah, as soon as I got back here.” He snorted. “And here I thought you were being pessimistic, wanting me to work in a chemical that neutralizes our potions when I trigger it. Glad I did.” He sighed. “Now we just have to eliminate all of our potions. Orders came down from the alchemist’s guild this morning. If we want to maintain good standing, then everything gets destroyed using proper disposal techniques. They’ll come and collect later on today.”

  I pounded my fist on the counter. “Damn it.”

  Gideon’s eyes turned sad. “So, the issue with love potions that Kiran’s going on about might be legitimate. Depending on where the ingredients came from, there are a lot of people who could be hurting from the potions. I’m not sure if all alchemists build in self-destruct sequences, and sometimes potions can take on a mind of their own.”

  “And even not, looking into tainted love potions is right up our alley.” I downed another large gulp of coffee, then grabbed a vial and threw it in the trash. “Love potions are deemed illegal by the guild, right?”

  He nodded. “Oh yeah. They should have dealt with this right away by working with the Fae cops. If the guild was doing their job, there shouldn’t have been anything for Kiran to discover.”

  “Which means they aren’t.”

  “Corruption happens.”

  Man, he really was in a bad place. I walked around the table. “Come on, let’s hug it out.”

  He made a chirruping sound and buried his head in my shoulder. For a moment, he was just my younger brother who tagged along after me, demanding that we teleport to crazy places all over the world, even though I didn’t have the magical power. The one who’d chosen our family over his dad’s otter family once he realized they’d been passive-aggressively bullying me as a threat to their lodge. The one who’d welcomed Cendric in after a careful vetting, even though my marriage had happened super-fast.

  At least Gideon was cool with it. That had to matter more than Kiran, since Gideon had known me way longer. Although Gideon was a shifter—did Kiran know something about Jinn I didn’t?

  Cendric. Should we tell him about this? He was the third partner in the business, even though he had his other job and responsibilities.

  Gideon and I parted and returned to the task of throwing away our dead potions. At least they made a satisfying crashing sound. After everything I’d dealt with this morning, it felt good to break something.

  “So, one of us should tell Cid,” Gideon said. “I think he’d take it better from you.”

  “Eh, he’ll still be upset. But not at us.” I frowned. “How much of a set-back is this financially?”

  The otter shifter pursed his lips. “Conservatively? Ten thousand dollars.”

  “Ouch.” Neither of us had ever had that much in our lives.

  He clutched a small bottle in his hand. “I made a lot of extra things, hoping to sell them as our business grew. And with the grand opening in a month …”

  “Yeah, I remember.” I sighed. “Well, better to rip off the bandaid now.”

  I tapped the space behind my ear that activated my earvine, the magical tech that allowed me to contact anyone else with an earvine, just by thinking about them. It didn’t mean they had to receive the message, but this was Cid. He’d know it was me.

  A cultured tone answered. “Allis, this isn’t a good time. I’m dealing with quite a difficult situation.”

  Yelling and screaming sounded from around him.

  I winced. “Yikes, sorry. Just a sec, please? The potion crisis just hit us, and we have to ditch most of our product.”

  Cendric muttered a few choice curses in Hungarian. “I’m sorry, Allis. How is Gideon handling the news?”

  “As well as you’d expect. We’re also out at least 10K in the business.”

  “Not a problem.”

  I paused. “Not a problem?”

  Cendric had never h
idden his wealth—he was the main investor in the business—but ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat?

  “No, not at all.” His tone gentled. “All of the money I have is yours—ours now, as I told you. We can discuss details later.”

  Wow, marrying Cendric really had put me in a different world.

  More loud voices. His voice sharpened. “I understand the problems caused by potions all too well.”

  Which meant whatever was making him so harried also concerned the potion crisis. Got it. And speaking of potions. “I have a lead on an investigation that has to do with love potions.”

  “That would be a good idea. I highly recommend further study on this case.”

  His careful words told me others were around who could overhear. “You recommend, huh? Because this morning you said no cases—”

  In the vicinity around him, I heard shouting. He sighed. “Allis, I trust you as my partner and my wife. Do what you feel is necessary and investigate, and we will share notes as soon as possible.”

  A slight pop of magic indicated the line was dead. I rubbed my forehead. “Well …”

  “Well what?” Gideon asked, throwing another three bottles away. “Can he get us the money?”

  “Not a problem,” I quoted.

  Gideon grinned. “First good news I’ve had all day. I have to say, sis, you got a solid mate.”

  “I’ll let him know you approve of his deep pockets when I see him next.” I tossed a bottle in the trash.

  “What did he say about looking into the love potions?”

  “To do what I felt was necessary.”

  Gideon eyed me. “But you never mentioned Kiran was your lead.”

  “I didn’t have a chance! He hung up on me. Some big issue going on over there.” I shook my head. “After all this, Gideon, I think taking up Kiran on his offer of training in exchange for help is a good idea.”

  He paused and leaned back against the wall. “Without Cendric knowing?”

  “He said he trusted me as his partner and his wife.” Which was different from his talk this morning about me needing to become official and get more control before we worked together. Maybe this was finally a turning point.