Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  “Uh.” Lucie’s cheeks reddened as she looked at the ground, starting to mess with the gold strand of the necklace that was tucked into her shirt. “I don’t actually know.” Her voice was soft, laced with embarrassment. I felt my eyebrows go up.

  “You don’t know what you are?” My voice betrayed my attempt to hide my surprise. Her eyes were hard as they whipped from the ground to mine, her jaw ticking in irritation. I had to repress another groan. So easy to rile up.

  “Clearly I don’t, considering I just stated as such, Hudson,” she ground out, “I was raised by my mother who’s human.”

  “Your mother is a human?” Professor George asks as he scribbles away on his sheet of paper.

  “No. Well, yes but”—she sighed—“I don’t know what my biological mother is regarding supernatural type. I was adopted when I was a baby by a human,” Lucie confessed chewing on her lower lip as she increased the movements on her necklace strand. The beautifully pink lip tucked in her teeth kept drawing my attention. Fuck me, this girl is distracting. I shoved my hands into the front pockets of my jeans to give myself some space.

  “What type was your father?” Professor George questioned, eyes still on his clipboard, utterly unaware of the growing tension around Lucie.

  “I don’t know, I don’t know anything about my birth parents really.” My heart squeezed at the hopelessness that tinged her voice. What is that? Why are you getting attached? Knock it the fuck off, I reprimanded myself, shutting down whatever the hell that was.

  “Do you have any family heirlooms or objects, maybe some stories that your adopted mother told you were from your parents?” Professor George finally set down his pen to look at Lucie. She hesitated, the hand playing with her necklace stilled before clutching into a fist around the chain.

  “I had this necklace when my mother fou..adopted me, as well as a small locked box,” she stumbled over her words as she pulled on the gold chain, a half dollar sized coin was on the end.

  “Is that...?” Professor George’s pen slipped out of his hand as he stumbled over to her. “Oh my...” He looked up from the pendant, making eye contact. “You, my dear girl, are one of the only Djinn in existence.”

  Holy shit.

  Holy. Shit.

  “Professor George?” I inject into the stunned silence once I was able to compose my thoughts into something coherent. “I watched Lucie perform some pretty impressive reality manipulation in the library the other day.” I proceeded to inform him of the folding bookshelf which allowed her to put the reference book away. I don’t think Lucie really understood that reality warping is extremely rare, and the extent at which she performed it without any knowledge was extraordinary.

  I moved in close to her, far closer than I probably should have, but I was intrigued by this girl that had the twins tied in knots. The beautiful girl that had an abundance of power and absolutely no idea of it. Her face was paler than I remembered it being, making her dark circles appear more purple. Doesn’t this girl get any sleep? What caught my eye were the scars on her face. One on her left cheekbone and another one beginning at her bottom lip expanding down at an angle towards her jawline.

  Looking into some of the deepest sapphire eyes I had ever seen, my question was clear on my face. When she handed the coin to me to look at, I gripped her fingers, holding them in place while I examined it. Her skin was silky and cool under my fingers, and the gold coin held a fleur-de-lis circled by the French phrase “Meilleurs Vœux”. In my examination of the chain, I caught sight of the start of another scar sticking out under the neckline of her white shirt as well as a hint of black script on the very top of her right shoulder, mostly obscured by her jacket.

  What is it about this girl? I don’t care about people, other than my friends, so what makes her so unique? I rubbed my thumb over the front of the coin, brushing her fingers with each pass. The metal was cold despite both of us holding it, the face was slightly rough where the letters and fleur-de-lis were raised on the metal. On the third pass of my thumb, an electric tingling raced through my fingers, up my arm, and spread to cover my entire body.

  Shocked, I looked up to Lucie’s face, but instead of seeing her mesmerizing dark jeweled eyes, they had taken on a pearl-like quality. Light blues, greys, even pinks and purples swirling in a white expanse covering her entire eye. The longer Professor George and I watched Lucie, the more insubstantial she became. Iridescent smoke started at her hands and feet, creeping towards her hips and torso.

  “Best wishes, Hudson, you have invoked one wish.” Lucie’s normally quiet voice was strong, resonating with power and authority. Her upper body, heart-shaped face, and pearled eyes were some of the only parts of her that remained corporeal. Her blonde hair darkened into an inky black, the ends curled into wisps of smoke. I had absolutely no idea what to wish for. So naturally, I said the first thing that came to me.

  “I wish to take you out on a date.” Professor George chuckled and rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

  “As you wish it,” her eyes closed and she started to pulse with power. On the third pulse, I felt a tug in the middle of my chest and saw a thin pearly string connecting me to the middle of Lucie’s chest. “Once the wish has been fulfilled, the bond will be severed.” Her voice slowly transitioned back to its usual timbre, her body began to solidify. Pearl eyes shifted back to their deep blue, and blackened tresses lightened to blonde.

  “Hey, Lucie.” Professor George’s voice was soft, as though he was speaking to a frightened animal. “Do you remember what just happened?” Nodding her head, she brushed away a strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. She looked at me with a small smile and laughter in her eyes.

  “A date? Really?” She laughed as she shook her head. “You are unbelievable.” Walking over to her bag, she dug around quickly and pulled out a small black box with a fleur-de-lis in a pearled sheen on top. It almost looked like a jewelry box. “There was a letter, Adel… my birth mother wrote that I shouldn’t attempt to open this box until I came into my powers. I have absolutely no idea what’s in it or what will happen.” Her voice broke, the sadness it held made my heart feel heavy. “I don’t want to risk either of you getting hurt, so would it be alright if I did this alone in here? You can stand right outside.”

  Professor George agreed as he collected his pen and clipboard before heading to the door, but I decided to lower my mental shields just enough to feel her emotions without overwhelming myself, or possibly alerting her to my power. They were much more turbulent than I had expected. I was flooded with relief, grief, and sadness. There was something else there as well, something buried, a crippling amount of fear.

  The emotion was cold, dark. It sent a shiver down my spine while at the same time I felt sweat beading on the back of my neck. Holy fuck. It wasn’t the kind of fear from a current situation where it was in the forefront of her mind. This was the kind of fear ingrained into a psyche. I had felt something similar on Saturday, but it was so much more apparent today. Then I had thought it was caused by the confrontation, but the depths of what I was feeling has me second guessing that. Maybe the confrontation itself had brought up the memories to which these feelings originated? Does it have anything to do with her scars? The twins mentioned she was skittish. What happened to her?

  “While I appreciate your concern, Lucie, I‘d feel better staying in here with you. Plus, I can have my fae dust at the ready. In case anything happens.” I could tell she was going to protest my offer, so I cut her off before she could get a word out. “From what you’ve told us you haven’t had much experience in the way of magic. I would hate to see anything happen to you if I could prevent it.” Half truths, my mind whispered, you just want time alone with her. She hesitated, but finally gave in with a nod. The door was closed quietly after the professor exited the room and I couldn’t let the opportunity slip me by.

  “Besides, if something happens to you then I won’t get my date.” I winked at the end of my statement and g
ot the desired effect when she burst out laughing, happiness and warmth bled over her previous negative emotions. Unfortunately, that bone-deep fear was still present. Interesting, but damn do I love that musical laugh.

  She took the box, holding it in her left hand, and closed her eyes. Wanting to be prepared, I slipped my hand into the pouch hooked on my belt where my dust stores were and grabbed a small handful, ready to toss if necessary. Nothing happened after a few silent moments. Her free hand moved to fiddle with her coin, brows furrowing as she opened her eyes to look at me.

  “You activated the wish by rubbing the coin three times, right?” I nodded, unsure of where she was going with the line of questioning. She raised the coin to eye level and stroked it three times. With a small hiss and click, the fleur-de-lis started glowing. Curious, I crept forward from my spot in the corner to look into the box. Inside was a small handful of gold coins, matching the one on her necklace. Making my way to the door, I knocked to let the professor know it was alright to come in.

  “Ah yes, These are your wishing tokens, Lucie. Like with the coin on your necklace, if rubbed three times by someone it allows them access towards your wish granting. I’m assuming they’re in a locked box because these are extremely powerful and very valuable,” he said, his voice turned low and severe.

  “You must understand this, Lucie, these coins are nearly impossible to destroy and have unlimited wishes on them. If any of these were to fall into the hands of someone who didn’t have the best intentions, it could be very dangerous for you. There is a reason there are not very many known Djinn anymore. They were taken, enslaved, and used for their wish granting. Regardless of what the wish was, they were bound by magic to make it happen. If it was a physical wish, such as money, it would pull from mana stores similar to how witches and warlocks use mana to manipulate magic. If it was an actual action, like what Hudson had wished for, the bond wouldn’t be severed until the task was complete.”

  “The more bonds created by the wish token, the more physically affected the Djinn is, like stretching yourself too thin. So, even if they didn’t want to, for their own health and sanity they would continue to grant the wishes. For example, if the wish Hudson made goes unanswered for a very long stretch of time—the span of several months or a year—you may experience fatigue, nightmares, dysphoria, and chronic pain,” he trailed off as he noticed the terrified look on Lucie’s face.

  “You must keep these well guarded and hidden away from anyone you don’t inexplicably trust.” She nodded as she relocked the small heirloom and held it close to her chest.

  “I think I know the perfect location for it,” she said with a small, yet determined voice. Professor George nodded his head and looked at his watch.

  “I think that’s all we’ll do today. I would like to try and explore the reality warping next Monday to see if we can work on that, but I’m pretty sure both of you have classes in fifteen minutes so why don’t you two hurry along. Don’t want to be late on your first day!” Professor George grabbed his pen and clipboard before scurrying out of the room leaving Lucie and me alone yet again. Crazy old man, I have no idea how he handles running classes when he can barely keep his eyeglasses on his face. Lucie’s next class shouldn’t start for another 30 minutes, and I haven’t attended an afternoon class on a Monday since freshman year.

  She quickly wrapped her box up in the cream cloth she had it in initially and stashed it in her messenger bag. Moving to the corner to grab my bookbag off the floor, I slung it over my shoulder. By the time I turned back to her, she was out of the door.

  “Which way you headed?” I asked her before she could run off, my long legs easily catching up with her as we made our way through the gym.

  “The Music and Arts Building, I have Intro to Supernatural Society. What about you?” I was surprised by her quick response. I would have sworn she’d choose to ignore me, considering she hadn’t reacted to my prodding during her testing.

  “Oh, I don’t have class this afternoon, all of my classes for today are done.” I pulled open the front door of the gym for her, my eyes dropping to her ass as she passed in front of me out onto the quad.

  “How early is your first class if you’re already done?” She turned to look at me, horror etched on her face. Not a morning person, noted. Her expression quickly morphed into amusement as she followed my line of sight. My eyes slid back to her’s slowly and smirked. No shame. I moved to her left side with a shrug as we continued on.

  “I have stats at seven with a friend of mine. He’s more accustomed to being up so early since he has Kohl practice multiple days a week around that time. Trust me, I do not enjoy spending my mornings drowning in statistics and probabilities.” I laughed at how quickly she was able to forget my faux pas and resume her horrified expression at the thought of statistics.

  “That sounds fucking awful. I require at least two cups of the strongest coffee to function properly before eight in the morning.” She shuddered. We fell into a companionable silence, but I noticed her fingers fiddling with the chain of her wish token, and she was biting that delicious bottom lip again.

  “Are you alright?” I continued to watch Lucie out of the corner of my eye, she pursed her lips and took a deep breath before answering.

  “Just thinking about what Professor George said about the Djinn.” I almost couldn’t hear with how quietly she spoke, her eyes flickering around the quad at the other students.

  “That they were used for their powers?” I guessed. I must have gravitated closer to her at some point, our arms brushing lightly with every step. Her blonde ponytail bounced as she nodded.

  “Yeah,” she paused, nibbling on her lip once more before continuing, “I worry about that, being taken advantage of or bullied because of what I am or what I can do.” The admission was shaky as she whispered. She was back to studying the concrete, her long dark lashes beautifully contrasted against flushed cheeks.

  “Well,” I drew the word out a few beats, “you stood up to Justin spectacularly well on Saturday, so I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” I tried to be encouraging. I don’t do this emotional chit chat thing, that’s Dante’s field.

  “I don’t like bullies,” she murmured, her shoulder raised and dropped in a shrug. We reached the crest where the walkway split to go towards the Music and Arts building and the dorms, our steps slowing as I turned to her.

  “Me neither, I’ve dealt with enough of them in my life. Don’t worry, princess, we’ll keep you safe.” As I looked into her deep blue eyes, I hoped she saw the sincerity in mine. I tucked a loose strand of her silky blonde hair behind her ear, a tinge of pink blossomed on her cheeks as she stared back at me. My stomach flopped suddenly with nerves. Okay, that’s enough of this feeling shit for today.

  “Well, this is where we part ways my beautiful date-to-be.” I winked down at her which resulted in her laughing at my expense yet again. Worth it, that laugh is addicting. “Can I get your number? I can’t take you out if I can’t get ahold of you,” I prodded jokingly, not expecting her to actually give it to me.

  “I guess, Hudson.” She rolled her eyes, but her lips turned up on the corners to a small smile. “Give me your phone, and I’ll put it in.” I dug out my phone and unlocked it for her. After a few seconds of typing, she handed it back to me. “Here you go, one rule though”—she looked at me authoritatively—“unless I give you my permission, do not under any circumstances, give this number to anyone or tell them who it is. I know it’s weird, but I have to know you’ll do this for me,” she pleaded.

  With my mental shields up, I shouldn’t have been able to sense the panic pulsing through. It was strong enough to cut through my barrier, making my brain feel like it’s being poked by thousands of little needles. Fucking shit, what caused this? Is it tied to her fear?

  “Of course, Lucie, I swear I will never give it out or tell anyone it’s yours. As a matter of fact.” Bringing up her contact, I edited it from Lucie to Princess and showed it
to her, earning a smirk in response. I hesitated after that, unsure of how close I could handle being to her, but pushed onwards anyway. “I meant what I said Lucie, we will protect you. If you need to talk to someone or anything, you can come to me. My friends and I would be more than welcome to help any way we can,” I paused as I caught sight of two familiar faces heading straight for us. “Besides, you’ve already gotten the attention of a few of them.” I chuckle at her confused face, but before she could question my statement, I felt an arm going around my shoulder the same time Landon puts an elbow on Lucie’s.

  “Hey, lemon drop, I see you’ve met Hudson”—Landon gestured to me—“we’ve known this asshole since we were 3 years old. Ah, good times.” Logan and he both sighed with reminiscent looks on their faces.

  “Yeah, if by good you mean explaining to your parents what happened to their immaculate garden when it ended up mysteriously destroyed.” I glared at Landon across from me and slid from under Logan’s arm after patting him on the shoulder. “I’ll let you two escort this lovely lady to class. Don’t let any harm come to her though,” my voice raised as I turned to walk away. I called over my shoulder as I reached the edge of the parking lot, “she needs to be in tip top shape for our date!” I didn’t stick around to see or hear how the twins responded, a smile curled my lips at the thought of taking her out.

  Lucienne

  That asshole, I fumed to myself, he did that on purpose. I could feel my teeth grinding and my nails biting into my palm when Logan finally pulled out of his stupor. He and Landon had frozen in place after Hudson’s statement and whirled on me simultaneously.