If Wishes Were Curses

by Janeen Ippolito

  “Where else would I be?”

  A smile tugged on my lips as I stepped into the auditorium. “Hey there, Neil! Nice haircut. Almost hides the thinning.”

  It didn’t. Not at all. His hair was clearly on permanent hiatus. Next to me, Cendric smirked, but his eyes were cold. “I disagree, Allis. I recommend a hat.”

  “Always so image-conscious, Cendric.” Neil laughed. “I must say, I’m impressed by your foolishness in coming here. I would have thought you went through enough pain and loss. Yet here you are. Why risk more?”

  “A safe life isn’t worth living, especially when destiny has something greater.”

  His words centered me. Had he meant them for me? I didn’t dare look at him to check. I couldn’t focus on anything else except facing Halverson and acting completely chill. Never mind that my heartbeat probably alerted the entire room of bloodsuckers that I was terrified as I walked up the side aisle.

  An entire room of people filled with fears and desires and a strong hunger for blood. And apparently magisphere domination.

  Wonderful.

  I gave my best playful grin, trying to act like this was just another mission, another gig to entice the bad guy and make him spill the beans. Even though I definitely wasn’t dressed for the occasion. “So, Neil, how did you know it was me? My undefinable allure?”

  Halverson’s eyes raked over my body. Considering my casual attire, the lust in his eyes was definitely directed toward the Jinn blood in my veins. Gross. “Yes, there is that. And the magical tracking device I injected into you upon capture. It’s helped me appreciate all of your little journey.”

  “Nonsense, I would have detected it,” Cendric retorted crisply as we ascended the small stage. I had a surreal feeling like we were about to be presented with an award. More likely, we were the award. Or the reward.

  Maybe Theiya and Jack could manage something from behind the scenes. Or maybe my Jinn side would kick in. But my mind was currently on overload from the full room. So many sounds. So many expressions, needs. I sucked in a breath. Keep it together, Allis.

  “Yes, that was an issue,” Halverson admitted, scratching his head. “Especially because you two have bonded enough for him to detect any abnormalities at the blood level.” He leered at me. “But you can’t blame me for lying, Allisandra. Honestly, your undeniable Jinn allure has always caught my attention. No wonder you stirred Cendric’s loins.”

  “Attraction and love are two very different things,” Cendric shot back. “As are betrayal and loyalty. But it seems you have difficulty distinguishing concepts in general.”

  “Well, we all have our weaknesses. You have dyslexia, I have the terrible affliction of a desire for greatness, even when I have to work with a moralistic, judgmental zealot who refuses to embrace his true nature.”

  Anger flashed over Cendric’s face, then cooled to a calm that was far scarier. The same calm of the raven in the desert. “Please, Neil. Tell me how you really feel.”

  “So that Allisandra can use this chance to destroy everything here?”

  “That’s one possible plan.”

  And it was a good plan too, except my brain wasn’t even close to accessing that magic. Not with all the noise and color and the assault of feelings. I’d never been in a room this large with my magic unbound. The constant input twitched every muscle in my body in a way I hoped wasn’t blindingly obvious but feared was.

  And in the midst of all of that, instead of bursting out, my mouthy Jinn side had scurried off and lay in wait somewhere. After all this, my stubborn-ass side had finally turned tail and left. Maybe it got fed up with all the back and forth.

  Or maybe I’d never seen that magic as mine to begin with. How could I? It was Jinn. It was a gift from my father, who might have loved my mother enough to knock her up but didn’t love either of us enough to stay. Moreover, the magic was wayward, uncontrollable. If I enjoyed using it, wasn’t that a bad sign? People already wanted me locked up. Doing anything more would only make that worse.

  Good grief, I was tired of being treated like mud in a sewer!

  Cover it up. Buy some time while having an internal breakdown.

  I laughed shortly, stepping closer to Halverson. “Just what did you think you would do with a Jinn anyway? You can’t turn me. Not now when my full magic is unleashed.”

  “True. I’m waiting.” He stretched his arms out expectantly. “Where is your grand show of force? I must say, I’m disappointed with the lack of performance from you, Allisandra. Maybe it’s a good thing I never turned you. I would have gotten a pit bull with no teeth and a tail between her legs.”

  That sparked a flame of anger within me. I felt Cendric stiffen. His voice was filled with suppressed fury. “You went wrong the first time you referred to this incredible, precious woman as a dog. Now you’re just making me plan your death in agonizing detail.”

  “You mean a bitch? I suppose I could use that term too. More gender-accurate.” He grinned. “But in all seriousness, I think this particular Jinn has too much human blood in her to be useful. Rather than make her my right hand, I’ll simply make sure that chaotic blood doesn’t go to waste. After all, a few samples must have made you strong enough not to kill her, Cendric.”

  I backed closer to Cendric, fear making sweat break out on my body. “Maybe my Jinn blood is so special it’ll kill anyone else.”

  “I doubt it,” he sneered. “That human blood within your veins, that weakness, is more than enough to make your exotic flavor enticing, not deadly.”

  But I could read his fear. My words had struck home. My blood could be far more deadly than he anticipated, or it might have dangerous side effects. Cendric had survived taking my blood, but Cendric was special. We were special.

  Neil turned to the auditorium. “Rise, my friends.”

  Apparently the deaths of his followers was a sacrifice Neil was willing to make.

  They stood as one, every eye fixed on him like a bunch of mind-controlled robots. Maybe that’s exactly what they were.

  “Gather yourselves.” Neil gestured toward me. I backed up against Cendric. I would fight with everything I had to stay alive. But this wasn’t my circus, and I didn’t control those monkeys. These were vampires.

  “We need to get out of here, Cid.”

  “You don’t want to stay for a final curtain call?”

  “Nope.”

  With a dark smile, he grabbed my hand. “Get ready to teleport. Wait for my signal.”

  “Why not right now?”

  “Wait.”

  Neil was still pontificating. “If you catch her, she’s yours to drink from. But if you kill her, you and everyone you know will die in the most terrible ways possible.” He lowered his arms and gave a cheeky smile, as if on a commercial for tooth whitener. “Drink responsibly.”

  The vampires rushed the stage, their ravenous faces betraying their cravings.

  “Cid…”

  “Now!”

  I teleported us, aiming for the nearest safe place. Hopefully we’d land outside the nyctophage, maybe in the lobby area. I could get Jack and Theiya out by opening the wall from the mortal world. It would be much easier to focus on that cold, empty place from out there.

  Slam!

  Something forced me backward as quickly as if I’d pinged off a brick wall. We reappeared only a few feet away from where we’d stood, backed up against the platform.

  A horde of vampires rushed forward, ready to slaughter us.

  Then something exploded, releasing a torrent of brilliant light.

  Chapter 23

  Spots danced before my eyes. I blinked furiously, tears racing down my cheeks at the blast. The vampire attackers shrieked and recoiled.

  “I thought that would buy us a little time,” Cendric said. “But we weren’t supposed to be in the room when it went off.”

  “What was that?” I gasped, still fighting to get my bearings. Being slapped by a magical wall and beat up by a light show did that to me.
>
  “A pure light bomb,” Neil cut in. He scowled down at us from the platform. “One of Cendric’s little tricks for keeping errant vampires in line. Your light elf friend is making a heap of trouble.”

  I glanced out into the auditorium while reaching for my pistols. Sure enough, Jack and Theiya had stormed in and were doing some serious damage. Or at least causing enough of a ruckus that not everyone was looking at me like I was next on the lunch menu. Jack had shifted into one of her most muscled forms and was slashing through every vampire she could with her claws and teeth, heedless of any damage she took—which was healing swiftly. Theiya was sending out blasts of reflective light and heat through the shining blade of her sword, while occasional alternating in her shock pistol, funneling the same magic.

  I couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to have badass friends who cared as much about stopping evil people as I did. And, I had to admit, Jack and Theiya actually gave a crap about me. Even though I couldn’t get my teleporting to work properly.

  I turned back toward Neil, scowling. “What did you do to my magic?”

  Halverson tsked. “After your last escape, did you think I wouldn’t take other precautions? This nyctophage is threaded with magic from another Jinn. I had to do a lot to get a sample of his blood from the Fae courts.” Did he mean Kiran? My rage flamed higher. He might be my ex, but he didn’t deserve to have his blood filched. “Be honored, Allis. I only had a little left, and I used it all for you.”

  “I got inside!”

  “Oh yes, you can get in and out through the walls if you force your way in physically. But I’m afraid you won’t get out by teleporting. Now, now, you are making my friends wait.” He gave me a look like a starving man seeing a full buffet. “Perhaps I should sample a little myself after all.”

  Cendric sprang up on the platform, pulling me up next to him. His fangs were bared, and his eyes were raven black. “You will die.”

  “Don’t you mean, ‘die trying’? Get the phrase right, Cendric, old friend.”

  “I had it right.”

  He whipped out two pistols and shot Neil in the head. Then in the chest and in a few other areas as well. The vampire crashed backward into the podium, catching himself on it as blood seeped out of his wounds. I shot him a few more times for good measure.

  Neil Halverson dropped to the ground. Dead.

  Shock ricocheted through me. “Well. That was … sensible.”

  Cendric smirked. “I do try to learn from experience.”

  “You haven’t learned quite enough.”

  The croaks came from Neil’s blood-coated mouth. It couldn’t be. He’d taken at least seven bullets, and he wasn’t wearing a Kevlar bodysuit. Vampires weren’t invulnerable to bullets. I nudged Cendric. “I didn’t sense a magical shield or regeneration potion. Did you?”

  “No, nothing. And my ammunition was coated in light magic.”

  “So is mine.” I had switched it out before we left.

  I aimed at Neil and shot a few more times. Critical areas. He should be dead.

  He just chuckled and leaned up off the floor, wiping away the blood with the back of his hand. “You’re wasting your bullets. You see, this isn’t my body either.”

  “What?”

  Cendric shook his head in disbelief. “It’s your face. Your body.”

  “No, this is the body of a shapeshifter I killed and jumped into just recently.” He stood up, brushing off his clothes disdainfully. “One of the last, pure shapeshifters in the world, able to take the form of anyone—Fae, Unspoken, or mortal. With all abilities intact. Amazing really.” Halverson thumped his chest. “As a side benefit, their natural healing abilities are almost unlimited. Oh, there are a few ways to kill me, but they are difficult to learn.”

  I glared at him. “I’m a Jinn. I’ll figure them out.”

  “You’re half Jinn. And if you were going to do anything to hurt me, you would have done so already,” he scoffed. “Face it, Allisandra. The curse-mark did more than block your magic. It permanently damaged you, and you’ll never recover. You’re not a threat. You’re not a fighter. You’re not even a nuisance. You’re nothing more than a chaotic blip who should have been killed before you were born. A mistake that even Cendric, who prides himself on his devotion, couldn’t remember. The man who never forgets, forgot you.”

  Each word hit me like a stab to my gut, even though I knew they were lies. I knew I was meant for something. I’d surrendered myself to destiny. If I was meant for death, then death would have taken me. But it didn’t.

  That had to mean something. It had to.

  Even if I was here, alone and unable to fight like Allis and Theiya. I watched them numbly as they took on unfathomable odds against vampires who held powers over water, fire, shifters. Impossible odds. Jack kept a grin on her male face as she dodged and weaved with her knives and claws, healing, taking blows, rolling with punches, leaping to her feet. I watched Theiya fighting alongside her, mirroring the magic of her opponents with her shields, then slicing through them with her sword.

  Both of them, impossibly brave. I had to do something.

  I shunted off the hurt from Neil’s speech. I’d deal with it later, probably over a glass of wine or three and a few rounds with a punching a bag.

  I’d probably die, but I’d do something.

  Flames of deep blue gathered in my hands, ribboned with possibilities and fueled by determination and anger. But it was more than that.

  I could have died, but I didn’t.

  I might lose my life. But that would be my sacrifice. Not due to someone else’s venom and bullshit.

  “Allis! What’s happening?”

  I turned toward the sound of Cendric’s voice. He was fighting Neil again, wielding two short swords against Neil’s longsword. Because when bullets don’t work, you take off the other person’s head and burn it.

  Unless they’re a hydra. Then it’s a stupid idea.

  I hope he did take Neil’s head off. And I’d do everything I could to help him.

  “It’s like you said, Cendric.” I breathed in. Exhaled. “I would know in the moment what to do.”

  “Then do it!” His swords flashed in the air, blocking and parrying with Halverson. He delivered a solid kick that sent the other vampire crashing into the wall. Cendric whirled around to face me, fury and passion emblazed across his face. “Do whatever you need to do. I trust you!”

  A smile ghosted my lips. “I know.”

  “I love—”

  “No. Tell me the next time you meet me.”

  Hopefully by then I’d have some idea of what to say back. Other than random inappropriate jokes because I wasn’t in any place to declare my feelings. Even though I was quite sure of them, deep in a place so quiet and fragile I thought it had vanished completely.

  I shut out all else and fanned the flames of magic within me. My entire body was wreathed in a blue inferno, but not the sort that would burn me, or anyone else. It could. Oh, it could do so many things.

  I dropped my shields, allowing all the input of the room to take over every sense until all I knew was the feeling of immense infinity.

  A laugh escaped me. The glee of freedom, of the strength to turn everything against itself. To break the rules of creation, if it suited me. It had always been inside me. I couldn’t deny it any more than I could deny my own breath.

  So, what should I do?

  Kill them all.

  The thought drifted through my mind. It would be very satisfying, in a way. Crushing their minds. Breaking their bones and scattering them through the magisphere. Or making each vein and blood vessel explode. A bloody, fitting end for vampires.

  No.

  Surprised filtered through me. A new voice, challenging the initial impulse. I followed it curiously. It disappeared into the distant regions of the magisphere. Into the gray desert with the endless winds.

  My raven. My mate, speaking to me.

  Release the souls.

  The words sof
tened my capricious anger. The vampires were inhabiting the bodies of Fae. Fae who might have families or loved ones who didn’t know what had happened to them. Families who needed the closure of seeing the bodies.

  All those vampire souls who were once human, who were still ultimately mortal, even if contained within Fae bodies, would get exactly what they needed once they passed on. A higher power waited to judge them. I’d just do a little reaping. In a way, it connected nicely with Cendric’s mission. Even as vampires, these people were living on borrowed time, cursed to remain undead until they were freed. They needed a little justice.

  Release the souls.

  “You got it,” I whispered.

  Keep the bodies intact. Destroy the tie between vampire soul and borrowed body quickly so there could not be any clean sweep. That way the Fae cops would find all the evidence they needed.

  I reached through the magisphere toward Cendric’s soul. Shadow magic melded with Jinn magic.

  “Let’s do this.”

  I closed my eyes and focused on every vampire in the room, excluding Cendric. Within our shared magic surfaced the knowledge of exactly where to aim.

  The brain stem.

  In the end, it was so simple. All I had to do was break everything down to molecules and atoms. Picture the inside of all those heads.

  Snap my fingers once.

  All the body-snatching vampires seized, jolting as if in shock.

  Then they fell to the ground. Motionless.

  Elation filled me, and I giggled. That was probably not the right reaction. No, definitely not the right reaction, from how Jack and Theiya were staring at me. But I couldn’t help it. Shock didn’t even begin to cover the euphoria and exhaustion from expending that much magic. My hands shook, and my mind raced with possibilities. “Oh, wait! The nyctophage. I can blow that up!”

  I reached toward the barrier. Felt the silly thing thrashing and biting with vicious magic, almost as if it were alive.

  But it wasn’t. Not any more than a glitchy computer.

  “Time for you to crash.”

  Another snap of my fingers, and the nyctophage blasted away. This time, I siphoned the magic into myself. No way I wanted that mouthy mess infecting the local magisphere. I could take it. Totally.