Wish You Weren't Here

by Janeen Ippolito

  “Calm down! Who?”

  She gulped. “The dragons are psychotic. The ones in the rivers. They’re tearing each other apart—and they’re gonna start on the humans next.”

  Chapter 22

  I shook my head. This wasn’t be possible. I mean, sure, there were water dragons in the rivers. What mortals described as “Monongy” was one of a family of giant, serpentine river monsters that had camped out in the Monongahela River for centuries, taking bites out of the local Native American tribes and then deciding they liked the taste of British soldiers as well. Nowadays, mortals knew that setting foot in the Monongahela on cloudy days was a bad idea— it was polluted anyway, so why would you want to? But the family of monsters also fell under the Magisphere Accords, and as long as they were regularly fed raw meat, they didn’t bother anyone and kept away from the mortal dimension. Gideon had even made friends with one of them because my otter-brother had that kind of knack.

  “Josie, we have a treaty with Monongys.”

  A roar sounded behind her. “They don’t seem aware of any treaty, Al!”

  Crap on a cracker. “Ok, hang on. Trying to figure this out.”

  “What’s to figure out? Teleport here to Point Park and fix it!”

  Cendric gave a tiny shake of his head. I got his drift. Not the best idea for me to go running in there to help when I was trying to kick out the Jinn Lady. Stupid politics.

  I sighed. “Jack, are you free?”

  “Just zap me over!”

  I closed my eyes for a second. I couldn’t see Jack, but I knew she was in the shifter section of the gala, and I knew where Point Park was. I zeroed in on her location, sensing the rush of her blood, made a tiny gesture, and was rewarded with a long string of Jack cursing in Japanese and English with a side of fox yelps.

  “I’m here!”

  Good. She was an experienced monster-hunter. She could handle a few cranky water dragons for a few minutes, right?

  I glanced around the room and spied Malda Nazari wearing a tiny smile on her thin lips. Anger spiraled through me.

  “You.” I stepped away from Kiran and charged toward her, stopping a few feet away. “What did you do?”

  “Careful, Allisandra,” she said, just a touch mockingly. Always under control. “You’ll break the Accords if you threaten a lady of the court.”

  “I’ll do more than threaten.” Chunks sprang up from the marble beneath me, one turning into a throwing knife and the other forming an axe. I’d slice apart her face and take the rest of her down as well. I’d rip her limb from limb and scatter her pieces across the galaxy. Let Raith choke on her rotting carcass. My fingers twitched, flames curling around them.

  A line of plants suddenly grew around me. Snapping, hissing Venus flytraps with mouths as large as beachballs. Plenty big, and vicious enough to take off my head.

  “Control yourself, Lady Allisandra.”

  The order came from Queen Epriana. My eyes snapped to her, more surprised by her use of a title than the botanical punishment, which I could have destroyed. She stared down at me, her green eyes firm. And deeply concerned.

  “As you see, my queen, she is utterly without suitable boundaries.” Malda’s voice was smooth as silk. “The Blood Lord’s dubious claims are without evidence and the Blood Binder Alliance has clearly been tricked into approving her. Turning her over to me for full reprogramming is the only solution.”

  By now, other members of the court had gathered around. Shifters, dwarves, elves, so many more. My skin flushed.

  The queen studied me sharply. “She did speak out of turn. But I’m quite aware, Lady Malda, that you were seen speaking to the announcer before the party, the same one who so incorrectly introduced Lady Allisandra.”

  She gave a tiny shrug. “I can hardly be blamed for his carelessness.” She leveled a stare at Cendric. “And even if I were, I’m well aware of how to break a harbinger.”

  Damn it. So she wouldn’t lose a decade.

  Cendric opened his mouth, but Theiya spoke first. “My queen, I have been informed that the water dragons in the Monongahela are endangering each other and threatening the humans and in doing so, breaking the accords.”

  “Fascinating, considering I did not detect this disturbance through the groundswell.” The groundswell being what the tree elves called magic of place. Queen Epriana’s speculative expression never wavered, except for a twitch of her lips. “That, at least, cannot be blamed on Lady Allisandra, for I’m well aware that she has only taken the place magic of Kiran Singh—and has immediately and generously shared it with others.”

  Malda lifted her chin. “Jinn are wily creatures, my queen.”

  “Yes. They are indeed.”

  After a moment, the Jinn Lady was forced to turn away. I smirked. One point for my side! Although I wasn’t out of the woods yet. Neither were the mortals of this city—or the immortals for that matter. Monongy and his crew didn’t care who they ate. The immortals just had more resources to fight back.

  I bent my head and paused, as if listening. “My queen, Josie Framer, a Sensitive, has declared the right of blood binder response.”

  “I have?” Josie spoke in my earvine.

  “Yes, you have!” shouted Jack. “Al, my death eyeballs aren’t working so great. I can only stun them for a few minutes at time, and they’re all over the water—seven of them!”

  I groaned.

  Cendric cleared his throat. “My queen, my mate and I must attend to this situation.”

  “Your wife has not been approved by this court. We are not in agreement, no matter what the BBA says.” That was Grand Vizier Mutamo, who’d responded right after he’d gotten a look from Lady Malda. “The Blood Lord must go alone with any other resources he has.”

  “The hell he does!”

  I took a tiny step forward, but the giant flytraps hissed at me and one took a snap at my arm, leaving only faint bite marks. Thank God for Jinn durability.

  Queen Epriana held up a hand. “This is my court.”

  “You are subject to the will of the courtiers,” Mutamo retorted. “My queen.”

  She glanced between him and Lady Malda. “As, it seems, are you, Grand Vizier.”

  Disdain dripped from her words. Lady Malda only blinked innocently.

  More screams and shouts sounded over my earvine. I clenched my fists. My team was getting slaughtered, although hopefully not literally. As usual, Kiran had nothing to say. He simply retreated to the shadows. He never spoke up when it counted. Too much trying to outthink others to act.

  “My queen, I suggest a wager.” My gaze snapped to my mate. His voice was smooth, his face calm, but I could sense the fear choking him over this deal.

  And his willingness to make it anyway.

  Cid, what are you doing?

  Queen Epriana inclined her head. “Proceed, Blood Lord.”

  “There is treachery in your court.”

  She smiled thinly. “As there is in every court.”

  “Yes, but this undermines the very power and heritage you carry, not only in your own right, but also on behalf of your august lineage.” Her expression sobered, probably remembering her fallen family. Cendric continued, “If Lady Allisandra and I bring the Monongahela water dragons to heel and provide conclusive proof of the traitor in your midst, that traitor must be exiled or executed, by your leave.”

  “Hmm. And if you fail?”

  His voice never faltered. “Then I will cease lobbying for my wife, who is a blood binder by right, to be acknowledged by this court.”

  “Insufficient,” Lady Malda’s voice rang out. “I demand that if they fail, Allisandra be turned over to me for appropriate retraining however I see fit.”

  Cid would never—

  “I agree to these terms,” he answered. “If the queen allows it.”

  Shock ricocheted through me, even as Queen Epriana nodded her head. “It is done. General Emiror will observe the proceedings and step in to ensure no humans are harmed further.�
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  Pittsburgh’s city mayor stepped forward. “Any further? They should never have been harmed to begin with!”

  “I will not argue the past.”

  Theiya nodded. “In my stead, Commander Dizandra of the Midnight Corps will ensure that this gala remains safe.”

  Dizandra stepped forward, giving her serving dish to Lady Malda. “Hold this.”

  “Ah, Commander. How nice of you to join us again.” The queen turned to me. “Lady Allisandra, you may free yourself.” Her eyes narrowed. “While I appreciate your deference in this instance, now is not the time to hide your true power.”

  Magic flared within me. As much as she could, the queen was giving me a chance—and so was Cendric. It balanced on the blade of a knife, but I could handle that. Especially since I had no other choice.

  “As you say.” I snapped my fingers, and the giant flytraps turned inside out and crumbled to piles of pulpy wreckage and plant slime. “Ready to go, Cid?”

  “Always.”

  With another snap of my fingers, Theiya, Cid, and I teleported to Point Park. One more snap, and I changed Cid and me into battle garb: boots, layers of fitted black clothing webbed with spinstra, an Unspoken spidersilk as strong a steel. Cid with his duster, me with a hooded vest that cinched up like a corset and allowed freedom of movement.

  “Here!” I threw him an extra hair tie. “Did you really just promise me to the evil Jinn Lady if we failed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  His raven-black eyes met mine. “Because you wanted me to trust you. We won’t fail.” Cendric grabbed me and pulled me against him, pressing a hard, brief kiss to my lips, filled with desperation and urgency. “We can’t fail.”

  I stared up at him, dazed. Then saw a thick tail, twenty feet long, whip through the air toward us. I yanked him close and teleported a few feet away.

  “Yeah,” I breathed. “No failing. No getting killed either.”

  He smiled, flashing fangs. “Always the killers, never the killed.”

  “This is why I married you.” I focused on my earvine, motioning Theiya over. “Josie, where are you?”

  “The fountain!” Her voice cut off with a shriek.

  We ran toward the fountain at the front of the park as more huge tails and teeth thrashed around us. A few of them crushed trees between them. The magic in the air told me we were still inside the magisphere, but the stupid dragons were dipping into the mortal side. That was going to be fun to try and cover up.

  I stopped short. The fountain was frozen solid, and an ice dragon the size of a two-story house coiled around it, sending icy blasts at the serpentine water dragon who had climbed out of the water and clung to the side of the cement sidewalk.

  The ice dragon was Rafe. I’d recognize those black and silver scales anywhere. Fear struck my heart. “Josie, I don’t see you!”

  “Apparently that’s the point!” Her voice was scratchy. “I’m on the platform in the middle of the fountain. We were just taking a walk, and then the Monongys suddenly attacked and Rafe was obsessed with keeping me safe!”

  Cendric shook his head. “A shifter defending his mate.”

  “We’re not mated!”

  “That’s the only explanation for this level of behavior!”

  Suddenly, both Rafe and the Monongy turned toward us. My muscles tightened at the look of territorial rage on their faces. I’d figured on the Monongy, but Rafe? He was the calmest dragon I’d ever met.

  I swallowed hard. “Josie, talk!”

  “I swear I didn’t give him any potion! I thought he just up and realized he really wanted me. But then it got weird … he got all paranoid and aggressive.”

  Augh. The love potion.

  Just before I could teleport, both dragons stopped still. Right in place.

  A reddish pile of fur bounded into view, shifting into Jack. Her eyes were dark from using her skoffin magic. Magic that didn’t affect me. Next to me, Cid kept his eyes on the ground.

  “It gets worse,” she said. “I think it’s in the Monongahela. The water tastes all sickly-sweet and gross.”

  “The guild determined that dragons don’t feel the effects of the love part. They only feel the obsession and fury.” Gideon’s voice screeched in my ear. “Al, if Malda ditched the potion in the Mon—”

  “Then we’ve got a river full of dragons ready to slaughter everyone.”

  “And still no proof that ties this to Malda.”

  No wonder the Jinn Lady had looked so freaking smug.

  Chapter 23

  The dragons were blinking. This was insane. They shouldn’t have been able to overcome Jack’s stun-gaze that fast. Unless … adrenaline. The potion spiked adrenaline levels through the roof.

  I gave the foxshifter another look. I hadn’t noticed that her eyes were wild because that was just Jack in fighter mode. “How much water did you drink, Jack?”

  “Only a little.” She waved dismissively. “I’m good, Al. I’ve been a lot crazier in my time.”

  “What about obsessiveness? Any fixating over your true love?”

  She shrugged. “Love is complicated for me. Trust me, you’ve got bigger problems.”

  I sighed. She was right. “Let me know if you get the sudden urge to rip off someone’s head, okay?”

  “Who here doesn’t have that urge on a regular basis?”

  “Fair point.” I exchanged a glance with Cendric. I needed to think. He could do the talking.

  “Jack, where are the rest of the dragons?” The vampire asked.

  “Oh, I stunned them all again a few minutes ago, so—”

  Great screams of agony and anger ripped through the air like a million squealing tires and scraping metal. The bridges on either side of the point—which had fortunately been cleared of traffic—curled in on themselves under the jaws of four dragons fighting off the attacks of their own siblings. I winced. So much for not affecting the human dimension.

  Time for action. “Gideon, if I get you a water sample, can you extrapolate the potion from it?”

  “With the proper equipment, yeah. But it’ll take me a while.”

  “I can assist,” Casimir replied over the earvine link. “I’m proficient in soul alchemy.”

  Gideon made a raspy, doubting sound. “Can you literally make molecules move faster?”

  “On occasion, yes.”

  Good enough for me. “Get ready to teleport, both of you.”

  “Finally, a task worthy of my skill.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Congratulations, Flashlight. Don’t move.”

  Once again, I focused on their blood, leaning in to the magic I shared with Cendric. A second later, they were both safely in Gideon’s private kitchen laboratory.

  Cendric tugged at my arm. “They awaken.”

  “Oh no.” Rafe and the nearest Monongy were both stirring, madness gleaming in their eyes. “Jack, fix your eyes!”

  “Got it!”

  She glared at both dragons. Swaths of foul, dark magic swirled from her eyes and twined the great beasts with deadly cords. I raced down to the water, teleported in a cup, scooped up a sample, and teleported it to Casimir and Gideon.

  “Received,” Casimir said.

  “We’ll do our best, Al,” Gideon added. “But this stuff is adaptive, as I said before. It’s chaotic—seems to change whenever the guild throws something new at it.”

  Chaotic. Something clicked in my head. “Chaotic like Jinn magic.”

  “What’s that, sis?”

  “Test the sample for the presence of Jinn blood.”

  He made a sound of disbelief. “The penalties for using Jinn blood in potions are sky-high. I don’t even know how to detect that.”

  “Get Allis’s blood,” Casimir cut in. “She still has a bond with Kiran Singh, and he has a bond with his mother. We can use those bonds to pull a soul-sample of Lady Malda’s blood through your magisphere.”

  “Does that even work?”

  “I can do it.”
Casimir’s voice was absolute confidence.

  A shadow covered the moonlight. I stared up into the eyes of a Monongy, looming over me from its perch on the edge of the water. Large, gnashing teeth gleamed in the nearest streetlights as it snapped at me.

  I flung my arms up, raising the earth around me and turning it into rock. The beast howled in rage as it hit against the sudden stone structure. The walls around me shook, and I knew they wouldn’t hold long. Add to the list: learn how to create an indestructible shelter.

  “Al? The blood?”

  “Getting it!” I teleported a knife to my hand and tried to cut into my skin. But despite the sharpness of the blade, I only managed a papercut. Dang it! Normal knives didn’t work on Jinn—not even knives made from my own magic. I’d learned that as a teenager when I’d tried to cut for far sadder reasons.

  I shoved the past away as another crash of angry water dragon crumbled my structure. I teleported to where I sensed Cendric was. A small copse of trees, with Jack and Theiya. “So, we’re hiding from them now?”

  “I don’t speak water dragon,” Jack shot back.

  “Nor I. And they are choosing not to use their magic to communicate with us,” Theiya said, her brown skin damp with sweat and her hands outstretched, pouring out nearly-invisible light magic. “I’m maintaining an illusion to fool the mortals, but it won’t hold forever. We need to stop them.”

  “Working on it.” I turned to Cendric. “Can you hold down the fort here for a second? I need to ask a favor of Kiran. Be right back!”

  The raging storm around me was instantly replaced with the shadows of a secluded part of the great hall. Kiran was here with a large drink and a paint kit. Ah, the old “get drunk and paint graffiti in the dark corners of a forbidden building” move. One of his favorites.

  “Kiran, I need you cut me.”

  He glanced up. “Why?”

  “Because you’re a Jinn, and one of the few things that can easily hurt a Jinn is another Jinn.”

  “Truer words were never spoken.” He took a long swallow. “Why should I?”