Chasing Steel: Capturing Magic Books 1-3

by Jessica Sorensen

  Chasing Steel: Capturing Magic: Books 1-3

  Jessica Sorensen

  Capturing Magic: Books 1-3

  Jessica Sorensen

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2017 by Jessica Sorensen

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Any trademarks, service marks, product names or names featured are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms.

  For information: jessicasorensen.com

  Cover Design by MaeIDesign

  Created with Vellum

  Chasing Wishes (Capturing Magic, Book 1)

  Chasing Wishes

  Jessica Sorensen

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2017 by Jessica Sorensen

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Any trademarks, service marks, product names or names featured are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if we use one of these terms.

  For information: jessicasorensen.com

  Cover Design by MaeIDesign

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Eight Years Ago…

  2. Present…

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chasing Magic (Capturing Magic, Book 2)

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  28. Asher

  Chasing Promises (Capturing Magic, Book 3)

  East

  Harlynn

  Asher

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Harlynn

  Asher

  About the Author

  Also by Jessica Sorensen

  Eight Years Ago…

  My parents are fighting. They rarely fight. But tonight is different. The air is toxic with anger and fear. I should go to bed and give them some privacy. Instead, I hunker down near the outside of the doorway and spy on them. Maybe I’m a terrible kid for doing so, but I’m curious. Not about the fight, but about what’s perched on the cracked kitchen table.

  “What have you done? This is what you’ve been looking for, for the past month? This is what you’ve been doing while I’ve been working fourteen hour shifts at the club? Going off and playing treasure hunter?” my mom yells at my dad as she paces the length of the small kitchen.

  They’ve been arguing since my dad came home this afternoon from a month-long trip, bringing home a silver, emerald-trimmed genie lamp. I can’t quite figure out why my mom’s so mad. My dad didn’t steal the lamp. Plus, it’s so pretty, all sparkly and covered with jewels, carrying the power to grant wishes. I’ve never seen anything so powerful in my life.

  My dad lowers his head into his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But I couldn’t think of any other way to get out of this magical-damned world.”

  “Using magic to survive isn’t the way to fix this world,” my mom seethes. “We aren’t any better than them if we use magic to put this broken world back together. And if the legends are true, then we’ll still be more damned if we use that stupid thing.” She thrusts a finger in the direction of the cracked table where the lamp is perched.

  “We don’t know if the legends are true.” My dad carefully picks up the lamp. “Legends rarely are.”

  “Tell that to all the humans who were around when the paranormals took over our world,” my mom spats. “They all thought the stories and rumors of paranormals wanting to take over were just legends. Now look where we are.” She gestures around the narrow, cramped space of the kitchen.

  The walls are cracked, the floor is browned and rotting with age, and the ceiling leaks every time a rainstorm passes through the city. But, at least we have a roof over our heads, which is more than most kids my age can say.

  My mom also has a job, another rarity in this world known now as Endlessland. Here, humans struggle to live from day to day, starving, poverty-stricken, and homeless. Or the really unlucky ones are forced to be prisoners and servants to the magical creatures.

  Life hasn’t always been this way. A long, long time ago, paranormals coexisted harmoniously with humans until a group known as the Five Smoke Magic corrupted that disorder and overthrew the human ruler, taking over our world. Then they put the idea into the rest of the paranormals’ minds that they were better than humans because they were more powerful. And so began the downfall of human life in this world and the uprising of magical creatures.

  We’re trapped here, the only species not allowed to world travel. We’re also at the bottom of the food chain and are forced by laws to rely on paranormals for almost everything, including jobs. And they don’t let humans obtain those very often, at least not the good, decent paying, moral jobs.

  My mom has had a job for a while, but I don’t know much about what she does, other than she works for paranormals and hates her job. I’ve heard her crying at night to my dad about how disgusting and ashamed she feels inside. I wish I could help her, but there’s hardly any jobs available for human adults in the city, let alone an eleven-year-old human girl.

  I do know how to read and write, though, which is another rarity. And, according to my father, the skill will come in handy when I’m old enough to start job searching.

  His ability to read is what landed him a job at the Rare Magic Books City Library. Unfortunately, after working there for over a decade, he was accused of stealing a book. Since there was no proof of the alleged thievery, simply accusations, he was only fired and sentenced to one month in the electric cells, instead of being executed.

  I know he stole the book. I once found it hidden underneath the floorboards beneath his bed when I was snooping around. That’s a secret I’ll take to my grave.

  “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this,” my mom chants, her eyes manically wide. “We need to get rid of it. Right now. Throw it in a lake or something.”

  “Look, I know you’re upset, but … but throwing something this valuable away … som
ething that could possibly change our lives and the entire world’s …” He shakes his head as he stares at the lamp. “Imagine if I made a wish to return the world to its rightful place. Imagine how many humans I could save from starvation, poverty, and executions. And you wouldn’t have to work for them anymore. You could be free. You wouldn’t have to … sell yourself anymore. Can you imagine that?”

  Sell herself? What exactly does my mom do? When I asked her once, she told me she was a dancer.

  One of my friends once told me about how their older sister sometimes made money by doing things for paranormals. Dirty birds and bees sorts of things. Is that what my mom does?

  “And think about what this could do for Harlynn,” my dad adds. “She could have a real future. One where she won’t have to sell herself someday.”

  “Harlynn knows how to read. She’s a smart girl. She can do better without us using that damn thing to make a wish.”

  “We don’t know that for sure. And even if she does manage to land a decent job, anything can happen. This world is too unstable. All she has to do is smart off to the wrong paranormal or get accused of stealing something and her life will be ruined.”

  “I know that,” my mom whispers with confliction. “But if we make a wish and choose the wrong wording, we could end up being even worse off than we are now. Plus, there’s always a price in exchange for every wish, and the genie gets to decide that price.” She eyes the lamp warily. “There’s a reason no human has been able to wish the world back to what it was before. No such wish exists. The genie will twist whatever we say into something else, and then make us pay by cursing us double.” She slumps into a chair across from my dad. “I hate that you even brought it into this house. It feels like we’re cursed already.”

  “I know you’re worried, but I went through a lot of trouble to get this.” My dad rubs his thumb alongside the lamp. “It was sheer luck I was even able to find it without getting myself killed. Some of the men who were with me were less fortunate.” He swallows hard. “They didn’t make it back.”

  A beat of silence ticks by.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m still not happy you found it.” Her anger is softening, her gaze fixed on the lamp.

  “The fact is that I did find it, and it’d be a waste not to try to wish the world back.” He clasps his hand over my mom’s. “Let me try, please. I won’t ever be able to forgive myself if I don’t at least try.” He grips the lamp with his free hand. “Please, dear, let me wish away the corruption in this world and replace it with good.”

  Poof!

  A cloud of purple, hazy smoke funnels from the floor and swirls around the kitchen, shaping into the figure of a tall man with heavily tattooed arms and raven black hair. He’s dressed in all black, metal cuffs wrapped around his wrists, and thick, buckled boots cover his feet. His eyes are what’s most frightening, like a bluish-purple tint, mirroring the bottom of a flame.

  I know what he is immediately. A genie.

  My heart slams against my chest as I crouch down lower to better hide myself.

  At the sight of his smoky presence, my mom gasps and my dad jumps to his feet, toppling the chair over. He reaches for my mom, but the genie snaps his fingers and both my parents freeze, hands outstretched, worried features carved into their faces.

  “So, you’re the human who stole my lamp?” The genie steps from the smoke and assesses my parents with his head tilted to the side. “I have to say, I expected you to look a bit more … What’s the human word I’m looking for …?” He drums his fingers against his silvery lips. “Stronger, perhaps.” The genie smacks my dad in the forehead then stares at the lamp in his hand. “And maybe a bit brighter than to utter the word wish while holding my lamp.” Magic sizzles from his fingertips. “Then again, if you were brighter, then I wouldn’t get to play now, would I?”

  Fear lashes through me as he raises his sparking finger toward my dad’s forehead. I’ve heard the stories of genies. How they curse and break humans whenever they get a chance. Heard tales of their cruelty, even against their own kind. I may be terrified out of my mind, but I won’t let some wish-granting creature hurt my parents.

  “Leave them alone!” I shout as I jump to my feet and storm into the kitchen.

  A grin curls across the genie’s face. “I was wondering if you were going to be brave enough to come in here. Well, brave might not be the correct word. More like stupid.”

  “I’m not stupid for saving my parents.” I cross my arms and raise my chin, although my legs shake.

  He keeps his sparking finger aimed at my dad as he turns his head toward me. “You think you can save them?” He laughs. “Then you must be stupid.”

  “I’m not stupid. I know he didn’t make the wish, so you can’t do anything to him.”

  “Oh, but he did. Maybe not intentionally, but he used the correct wording.”

  I gulp as I recall what my dad said right before the genie appeared in the kitchen.

  “Please, dear, let me wish away the corruption in this world and replace it with good.”

  “He said dear,” I point out in desperation. “Not genie.”

  He lifts a shoulder. “He could’ve easily been calling me dear.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “You know that’s not true.”

  “What I know and what I want are two entirely different things.” As if to prove his point, his fingertip showers sparks across my dad’s face.

  “You can’t just do whatever you want,” I snap. “That’s not how things work.”

  “You don’t think so, huh?” He nods toward the window, where outside, the street is lined with collapsing homes and shacks. “Take a look around you, little girl. That’s exactly how things work for paranormals.”

  My pulse quickens as I realize how right he is. “But you can’t just steal a wish from someone.”

  “It’s not stealing. He made the wish. Now it’s time for you to be quiet.” With a grin, he snaps his fingers.

  I open my mouth, but no words come out. I stomp my foot and soundlessly scream. He only laughs.

  “Time to grant a wish.” He cracks his knuckles and adjusts the cuffs on his wrists before facing my father. “I think your exact words were ‘let me wish away the corruption in this world and replace it with good.’ You weren’t very specific about what sort of corruption you wanted to replace or what you wanted to replace it with, other than something good, so I’ll have to go by my standards.” Fizzling magic crackles from his fingertips. “There’s nothing more corrupt than a human who steals from a paranormal … twice, if the records are correct. So, since you committed two corrupt violations of the law, I’ll be removing you and your wife from this world and replacing both of you with something I deem good.”

  A wave of maddening anger thrashes through my veins as I rush forward, slamming my fist into his side. He tenses, his jaw ticking. Then, with a flick of his wrist, I’m flying backward into the wall.

  “Stay put. You’ll get your turn.” He places a sparking palm on each of my parents’ foreheads and shuts his eyes, his lips moving as he whispers words in a foreign language.

  No. No. No!

  Tears spill from my eyes as I stagger to my feet. But every time I get my feet under me, a spout of dizziness overcomes me and sends me right back to the floor. I keep fighting, though, refusing to let him just take my parents. Refusing to let a paranormal take something else away from this world. In the end, it doesn’t matter.

  As hard as I fight, as much as I silently beg, my parents still fade into grains of sand that blow away with his whispering exhale.

  I open my mouth and silently scream until my lungs ache, until I can’t breathe, until I almost die. If I had my way, I would. My body, however, reacts on pure instinct, forcing oxygen into my lungs.

  I gasp for air, my rage flaring potently as the genie turns toward me.

  “Now, what to do with you.” He crouches down in front of me, and I kick at him. He captures my ankle, his eyes flaming and
his fingers digging into my skin. “I was going to let you get off easy and send you away with your parents, but I’ve changed my mind.” He tugs hard on my leg, dragging me toward him.

  I lift my hand to smack him, but he snags my wrist, too, and grips tightly enough to nearly crack my bones. The cruelest smirk possesses his face.

  “You should know better than to try to harm a genie. And now, I’m about to take everything from you.”

  Tears spill from my eyes. You already have.

  Holding my wrist, he leans into my face. “The first time you fall in love, and I mean, really and truly fall in love with someone, they’re going to be taken from this world, just like your parents. And you will fall in love; I promise you.” An eerie grin consumes his face. “With someone you hate at first. That way, you won’t even know you’re falling in love with them until it’s too late.” He places his electrically charged hand against my forehead.

  A cry rips from my lips, my voice returning, as heat violently scorches my brain and rips at my insides. Then, just as swiftly, the pain abruptly stops.

  “Fuck, what did you do!” the genie growls as he jerks back, his skin igniting in flames.

  I cower back against the wall as flakes of his singed flesh float to the floor, screaming, “I didn’t do anything!”