If Wishes Were Curses

by Janeen Ippolito

  Part of me had expected it, but that didn’t erase the punch to my gut. I slumped back into the folding chair. “You can’t be serious. I told you, something was wrong with the shifter. I didn’t pick the fight!”

  Theiya sat down across from me, flipping through the folder in front of her. “Forensics didn’t reveal any disease or other malady with Genster. He was an upstanding member of his clan who was in the city to celebrate a birthday. No family history of insanity or vengeance.”

  “But it wasn’t him! It was—”

  “A vampire.” Theiya shook her head, tugging at a loose lock of black hair. “You know that’s impossible. Vampires are Unspoken. They are unnatural. Cursed outsiders.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I have no idea what that feels like.”

  Only every day of my life.

  “Granted. But you know as well as I do that shifter blood either defeats a vampire’s venom, or the shifter dies. They cannot turn into vampires. The dark magic illness only infects mortals.”

  “I know what I sensed, Theiya. His desire was for blood, not flesh, and his fear was of me.” I hadn’t hidden anything from her. I didn’t see the point of lying to someone when I needed her on my side. When I trusted that she would try to help.

  That might have been a mistake.

  “Give me anything to work with, Allis. He attacked from fear. Why was he afraid of you?”

  “I don’t know, the color of my shirt? Maybe red is to bears what it is to bulls.” I sighed. “You’re a lot older than me. You know a lot more. Why are you even asking me these questions?”

  Theiya shook her head again and pressed her lips together. Her brown skin began to glow, a sure sign she was upset. “Humans get one phone call. I recommend you call a lawyer.”

  “Lawyer?” I snorted. “I barely have enough to cover rent and food and potion ingredients.”

  “Call the public defender.”

  “Fae don’t have public defenders, and I don’t know if I want the help of a human one.”

  Theiya removed her sunglasses and leaned forward, her voice low and intense. “Allis. Fae friendships work differently. You know this. We’re not like humans, and neither is our world.”

  A cold hand squeezed my heart. “I know.”

  “I can’t stay your friend in this matter. For many reasons. I may be called to give evidence against you. The entire truth via my observations.”

  “Yes, you have to.” Elves were the only Fae who couldn’t lie, which was another reason everyone accepted that they were in charge. More or less.

  “You get one call, in terms of human rights.” Theiya set a cell phone on the table, pushing it across to me. “I don’t have to do this. I am choosing to, as your friend.”

  “You just said you weren’t my friend anymore.’

  “No, those were not my exact words. I’ve told you, precision matters.”

  “Right. The whole lot of you should be lawyers.” I sighed.

  Her skin glowed even brighter. “You have one minute. Maybe two. Be as blunt as you possibly can and tell him everything. Speak as long as you are able. Then guards will knock on the door to take you away. Do whatever the lawyer tells you, and you should be able to leave here intact. Jack is waiting for you in her car.”

  “I could just teleport home.”

  The light elf shook her head. “No teleporting. Not until you’ve been cleared of all charges. You have to give me your word.”

  “I could break it. I’m not full Fae.”

  “You could.”

  She fixed me with her blue-gray stare, silently asking me to trust her.

  I held her gaze.

  What other choice did I have?

  I picked up the phone.

  “Just dial out. The number is already loaded,” Theiya said. She put her glasses on, stood up, and headed for the door. “And for what it’s worth: I’m sorry.”

  “Whatever. You’re just doing your job.”

  She shot me a rueful look. “That’s not what I’m sorry about.”

  Before I could ask what she meant, Theiya left, shutting the door behind her.

  I stared at the phone in my hand.

  Pressed send.

  A cultured voice answered. “Hello? Who’s calling?”

  I sucked in a breath. Be as blunt as you possibly can.

  “This is Allis. Allisandra Evanenko. Detective Theiya—Iyanthei Emiror told me to call you because tonight I killed a bear shifter in self-defense because his mind felt like a vampire’s, but no one believes me, and they’re trying me according to Fae law even though I have human blood, and I can’t die, I can’t do that to my brother.” I inhaled again, my throat thick. I hadn’t realized how scared I was until that moment. “I know what I sensed. Even if you don’t believe me.”

  “I believe you.”

  I paused and glared at the phone. “How can you believe me so quickly? You don’t even know me!”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Is this a scam? What’s wrong with you?”

  A chuckle sounded over the phone. “Usually not the response I get from people I am willing to help pro bono.”

  “I’m not most people.”

  “I can tell that already. What are you?”

  “What are you?”

  He sighed. “I’ll tell you that later.”

  “Why not now?”

  “You’re not in a place to receive it well.”

  “Then why should I tell you anything?” I raised my eyebrows. “And how do you know that?”

  “A reasonable assumption. You’re being accused of a high crime and facing the death sentence. Anyone would be upset and not inclined to new stimulus. That’s understandable.” His tone softened. “You’re allowed to be irrational. You’re allowed to need help.”

  Since when did I need your permission? But I couldn’t voice the thought. Not when the man’s gentle, firm voice spoke exactly what I needed to hear. Genuine or not, I was short on allies. As always. Everyone would leave, eventually.

  “But we don’t have much time,” he continued. “When the guards knock on the door, invoke the right of the blood binder intermediary of the court.”

  I frowned. “What does that mean? What’s a blood binder?”

  “I am one. After you declare agreement with my role as intermediary, they won’t be able to incarcerate or kill you until I am satisfied that you are guilty.”

  “But that sounds like a judge. Theiya said you were a lawyer.”

  “I’m immortal. That gives me time to be many things.”

  “Show-off.” I couldn’t stop myself. There was something in the man’s voice that seemed both familiar and provoking. A part of me enjoyed the repartee. It felt natural.

  It made no sense, but nothing that had happened tonight made any sense. Really, not in my entire life. So why start now? I’d figure it out as I went. Best way, in the end. Only way, when dealing with Fae who don’t believe in doling out information in sufficient quantities.

  The voice turned urgent. “Our time is almost up. What do you tell the guards?”

  “That I declare you as intermediary.”

  “Good. Write it down, along with my name: Cendric Antalek.”

  Then he proceeded to spell out his name and have me repeat it back to him.

  “You’re bossy, you know that?” I teleported a piece of paper and a pen from my apartment and scribbled down the information. “And they’ll just let me go?”

  “Yes. With some form of tracking device to detect if you’re teleporting.”

  “What happens after that?”

  “I’ll find you.”

  There was absolute assurance in his voice. But something in my gut doubted his words. As if he were lying about finding me. As if I was absolutely sure he was lying. Along with that certainty was a sense of hopeless frustration. None of these feelings made any sense. Maybe it was a side effect of shock from killing the shifter.

  I scratched the curse-mark on my arm, tracing one of t
he silver-black vines that spanned from just below my wrist to the inside of my elbow.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “You need help. That’s enough. And you’re—”

  Someone knocked on the door. I hung up the phone and grabbed the piece of paper. It dampened under my sweaty fingertips. If this went south, I would be on my way to a short stay in prison, and an even shorter execution. Probably via my head being ripped off by an angry bear shifter.

  Two guards entered, both tree elves of some kind, wearing the scarlet of the Fae military and armed with swords and pistols. Their swords were far more deadly than their guns, mostly because any well-trained enforcer could funnel all kinds of magic through them. The guards were stone-faced and still, the way anyone who had to police the Fae would have to be. Before they could speak, I started. “I declare agreement with…”

  I read off the phrase on the paper. One of the guards, a shorter man with green hair, shook his head. “What the rot?”

  “How did Antalek get to you?” the other asked, wrinkling her nose. Her hair gleamed an unnatural yellow.

  “It doesn’t matter,” the first grunted. He sighed and grabbed me by the arm, then nodded to the female. “Come on, Brightlef. Let’s escort her to Jack. We should have known something was up by that pleased look on her face.”

  “True, Linvine. Never trust a grinning foxshifter.” Brightlef grabbed my other arm, and together they marched me down the hallway toward the main double doors of the precinct entrance. Thanks to glamour, to anyone else, they’d look like normal police officers. Well, almost anyone else. There were a few humans in the Pittsburgh police department who were clued into the Magisphere Accords and had appropriate, sanctioned magic tech to work with the Fae court. Theiya headed up the Fae side of the task force in Pittsburgh, with Linvine and Brightlef as her two main deputies. Once she’d mentioned that jurisdiction issues could be a hassle but hadn’t offered any details.

  In the lobby, Linvine paused next to the large desk in the front reception area and slapped something on my left arm. The thing looked like a silvery metallic vine. I knew better. The tattoo sank through my sleeve onto the underside of my left arm, pressing into my skin. I sighed, scuffing my shoe on the worn linoleum.

  “Another curse-mark, hmm? But it’ll clash with my other one!”

  Brightlef tsked. “Only temporary, Evanenko. Don’t teleport, and you’re free for the duration of the intermediary investigation, as long as you don’t get into trouble. If Lord Antalek finds you innocent, the curse-mark will be removed. Unlike the other one, which we have nothing to do with.”

  “Above our magical pay grade, as it were,” Linvine added.

  “Fair enough.” I frowned, staring out the clear glass door into the darkness of Pittsburgh, lit by scattered streetlights. “Who is Lord Antalek, anyway?”

  Linvine coughed. “You should know. You declared him your intermediary.”

  “I read words off a paper because I should, but I don’t remember…”

  Who had told me to do it. Or what it meant.

  Where had that paper gone, anyway?

  At that moment, Jack loped up the stairs in front of the entrance, with her easy stride, still in her true form. For some reason, my boss could look relaxed and comfortable even with lines of exhaustion on her face and her red hair disheveled. She strode across the lobby, weaving in and out of the police officers. “So, we’re all done here. Linvine. Brightlef. Good to see you.”

  Brightlef glared at her. “I cannot say the same, Momoru.”

  “Well, we all have our fickle moments.” Jack winked at her. “Let’s go, Allis. The first of your free coffees is in the car.”

  I followed her down the stairs. Each step was a leaden weight, reminding me I couldn’t—wasn’t allowed to—teleport home. Reminding me of the consequences if I didn’t toe the line. Locked up. Maybe killed, if the Fae were in the right mood. It would certainly make their lives simpler. And Fae liked simple when it wasn’t their heads on the chopping block.

  After I was seated in Jack’s sleek sports car, she revved the engine and screeched off down the street with one hand on the wheel. The other expertly manned the stick shift, with a pause to hand me a paper to-go cup. It smelled of cinnamon and heaven.

  I took a sip, then paused. “Should I be drinking this? Won’t it keep me awake?”

  Jack laughed. “Not that one.”

  Warmth and gentle pressure settled me back into the seat. “Oh. One of those drinks…”

  A Fae knockout special. Dread and resignation pushed against the sudden drowsiness that filled me.

  “Yes. Matthias mixed it up special. It was the only way they would allow me to pick you up. You had to be too drugged to escape.”

  “Fae suck.”

  “I’m not arguing that.”

  I took another sip of the coffee. No point in fighting it. The first sip had done me in. Besides, it tasted good, with undertones of pepper and caramel. Good enough to dull the ache of knowing that my Fae friend had to pull a fast one on me out of fear and control from the upper levels of the court. That magical pay grade Linvine had referred to. Not even a trickster like Jack could completely escape it.

  “Then again, you’ve mostly gotten the worst side of us, Allis.” She paused, and her tone turned serious. “Listen closely. You’re suspended from Momoru Investigations until further notice.”

  An odd numbness filled me. I had no more energy to be upset. “Yeah? Of course I am.”

  “And they’re forcing Matthias to stop carrying Gideon’s soaps and potions in the coffee shop.”

  Great. Now I was ruining my little brother’s life even more. “So Gideon isn’t allowed to make any potions?”

  “He’s allowed, but nothing magical. The tattoo beacon on your left arm will track your magic usage as well. No teleporting, no magic in the potion making.” Jack ground her teeth. “And to be safe, no contact with me or Matthias at all.”

  “Because I’m so damn dangerous.”

  “Some people think you could be. Lots of rumbles in the shifter community. You killed one of their own.”

  “He wasn’t a shifter anymore.”

  “Yeah, well, if they can’t smell it, they doubt it.”

  I thought of my brother. “But Gideon…”

  Gideon can’t cover you on this one. He might be mostly shifter, but he still sides with you instead of his shifter family. And the shifter community is in upheaval. My advice is to lay low and stay inside as much as possible.”

  A groan escaped me. “House arrest?”

  “Yeah, it sucks.” She laughed ruefully. “You’ll survive.”

  I wanted to pretend the words didn’t hurt. But even the drug seeping into my system couldn’t numb the slice to my heart. I’d known immortals often held friendships lightly. But I’d thought Jack was different.

  Now I had to suck it up and act like I wasn’t feeling like I’d been thrown off a cliff by two people I’d thought were my allies. Theiya had even mentioned she’d help me. But it had come to nothing. The phone call she promised hadn’t happened.

  My voice slurred. “Yinz really … hate me … huh?”

  I’d known it my entire life. You don’t put a curse-mark on someone you trust.

  “I don’t hate you. If I did, I’d tell you.” Jack whipped around a curve, and my coffee splashed up perilously in the cup. “I’m doing the best I can for me and mine. All of mine. And you’re in a tough spot. The Fae court hates what you can do.”

  “I do … bad … things? But I want … to do … good.”

  “Which is worse, I think.” Through blurred eyes, I saw her smirk. “Hang in there, Allis. It’s time for you to grow.”

  I groaned. “Why do all … yinz act … like that’s … a bonus?”

  I’d been a loner on and off my entire life, except for Gideon. It was really overrated. I’d finally found a place to belong, and now it was being ripped from me. All for trying to do the right thing and apparentl
y, screwing that up. Maybe I should have just let the stupid bear eat me.

  “It’s not. But give up, and they win.” The car jerked to a stop. I felt it, because by that point, I couldn’t see anymore. Everything was falling into pleasant darkness.

  Which beat the very unpleasant life I now had.

  “I’m not … tryin’ … be evil.”

  Jack caught me as I fell forward.

  “None of us are. Welcome to life.”

  “Why … bother…?”

  Her words swam together. “… Ashes … rise …”

  Then everything faded to nothing at all.

  Chapter 6

  Something small, slithery, and furry was eating my corn chips. And I was not happy about it. But stopping him would require getting off the couch, and I didn’t feel like doing that either.

  Instead, I grabbed a yellow pillow and chucked it at the offender. Hey, it was called a throw pillow. He ducked, and the pillow almost hit a cheap water feature fountain bubbling away in a corner.

  “Gideon Evanenko, lay off, okay? Eat your own dang stuff.”

  The otter glanced up at me and wrinkled his mouth in an obnoxious smile. “Make me.”

  As always, my half-brother’s voice didn’t sound in my head or from his vocal cords. Instead, it sort of flowed through the ambient magic to my ears. Of course, I could make complete sense of it because I had magic too. And while my active magic was under lockdown, the passive stuff still worked without penalty.

  I groaned. “I shouldn’t have to. I bought them. They’re mine.”

  “They were yours. They’re all mine now, sucker!”

  Gideon shoved his head deeper into the bag of chips. Irritation and worry flickered through me. “You’ll make yourself sick unless you shift back to human real fast.”

  “So what?”

  I didn’t want to care. I really didn’t. My limbs ached from cleaning two houses that day. Since I was out of the investigation business, and the potions were out of Matthias’s coffee shop, Gideon and I were having to scrape up our old gigs as house cleaners. We were able to charge higher fees because we used all-natural, homemade solutions, but it still felt like a huge step back. Plus, there was all the extra walking I had to do since I was banned from teleporting anything to me or from me. Or teleporting myself, for that matter. World’s worst exercise regimen.