The bitter tones of Akeelah’s magic flared and made themselves known. Her rage—the very thing that she was—became nearly tangible. In my reduced state, I vaguely sensed her confusion and dared believe I had done it. But then she drew nearer, her force unmistakable like the sun’s touch on cold skin.
Feeling defeated, I almost gave myself away. But then she moved on, taking her scorching rage and confusion with her.
Had it worked? Had I actually managed to fool her?
I waited, a lonely speckle in the vast nothingness of The Blink. There were other Djinn here, but their numbers were small compared to the immensity of this realm. I rarely sensed any of them.
Worried Akeelah might come back to the church, I stayed put for as long as I could. The last portal she’d created was closing, however. I had to use it to cross realms with another whim. If I didn’t, I would need a full-fledged wish to tear the veil again which would give me away. With seconds to spare, I floated back into the physical world, the portal zipping closed behind me.
Head bowed, I materialized right below Saint Peter. After a moment of respectful silence, I blew the candles out, one by one. When I was satisfied everything was as it should be, I found my way out of the church and procured an old, abandoned truck to take me back home.
26
Marielle
I woke up with a splitting headache after a whopping two hours of sleep. Fuming, I stared at Zet’s stone and managed to blame him for my lack of rest, too.
My watch read 5:37 AM. It was still dark outside, and there would be no daylight for another hour and a half. The house was as silent as it had been in the dead of the night.
Drowsily, I reached for my backpack and looked for a pick-me-up. I found a bar of dark chocolate in one of the pockets and decided to make it my pre-breakfast.
After a few bites, the sweetness and bitterness of the chocolate seemed to break through my mental fog and my eyelids miraculously opened higher than half-mast. I sighed. With no one up yet, there was no reason to be perky, but fully awake was better than zombie-like.
Smoothing my hair down with one hand, I put the stone tablet and the Spanish copy of The Little Prince back in the backpack. When I was done, one corner of the stone seemed to peer at me past the open zipper. It almost felt as if it was mocking me, but I knew it was all in my mind.
“I wish I could at least know if Dad and Faris are fine,” I said in a mild tone. I was too tired to feel angry, too fed up with all the bad feelings and hatred that seemed to always come my way in one shape or another. First, it had been my anger at Mom’s cancer, then my rancor toward Dad for abandoning me. That nastiness was followed by Grandma Eloise’s death, not to mention Jeremy, my scumbag ex-boyfriend, and Zet. And now, to top it all off, Akeelah.
It was too much, too many years of uncertainty and emotional pain. When would it end? Would life also take Dad and Faris away from me?
I began to cry.
Silent tears spilled on my chilled cheeks. I felt their warmth as they slid down my face, cutting a path toward my jaw.
“I’m tired.” I wiped the back of my hand across my face. “I want this to end, but I’m afraid of what that could mean. If I lose them, there’ll be no more reason to keep going.”
If something happened to Faris, no one would be able to keep going for much longer. But I didn’t care about the goddamn world. When had it ever cared about me?
Suddenly, the sound of wheels crunching gravel outside my window brought me back to the moment. A beam of headlights shone on the peeling floral wallpaper on one side of the room.
Heart hammering, I jumped to my feet and ran to the window. Images of crazy fanatics carrying guns flashed in front of my eyes. Had they found us? Had Akeelah’s marked disciples found their way here?
What looked like a large, old truck was parked next to the Porsche Faris had left for our dumpster escape. The headlights were still on, so it was hard to see how many people were inside the car.
The driver’s side door opened. Someone got out. I held my breath. The door slammed shut with a heavy metallic thud. The figure took two steps, and that was all it took for me to recognize him.
I turned on my heel, tore out of the room and ran downstairs. Tears spilled out of my eyes, blurring my vision. I jerked the front door open, jumped off the porch and crashed into Faris’s opened arms.
27
Faris
Marielle ran into my arms, her face wet with tears. I wrapped my arms around her, and held her as if I would never let her go. We stayed tangled like that for a long moment. Her sweet scent filled me. I let it permeate my essence, take me away for a moment, to a place where only she and I existed.
I was lost in her, the feeling of her body against mine, her hot tears seeping through my shirt, wetting my chest when, suddenly, she pulled away and, punched me so hard in the stomach that she left me gasping for air.
“You threw me in a dumpster,” she shouted at me as I stood bent over, holding my middle and taking deep breaths in a very human reflex.
“You threw me on top of a pile of garbage and left me with a grumbling witch I barely know!”
“I know.” I paused to inhale. “I’m sorry.”
“You gave me no warning.”
“I know.”
“You broke your promise.”
“I know.”
She stopped, fists clenched at her sides. I offered her no excuses. I had broken my promise. I deserved any insults she wanted to throw my way. So I just stood there, meeting her intense gaze. We’d been through a lot together, but I had never seen her this angry, this fiery—not even in the beginning, when I’d been nothing but the sly Djinn her grandfather had warned her not to ever trust.
Awakened by Marielle’s angry shouts, one by one, everybody started filing out of the house. She didn’t notice them, though, and continued to regard me with those fierce green eyes which, at the moment, were all pupil.
“Never,” she finally said in a low, deliberate tone, “never,” she repeated, “make me any more promises.”
I wanted to speak, to explain, but I had no right. An honorable man didn’t make promises he didn’t intend to keep. I should have never told her I wouldn’t let anything tear us apart again—not when I’d do anything in my power to keep her from Akeelah’s clutches, when there was nothing, nothing, that I would put above her safety, above her life.
Yet her words broke my heart, because there was another promise I carried for her, three words I held close to my heart and had to fight every day to keep from my lips. More than anything, I wanted to remind her of it, wanted to tell her that I intended to keep that one pledge.
But no. I would not make any more promises, and I would not remind her of the first. Though one thing was certain, I would fight to redeem myself in her eyes. I would, one day, tell her of my feelings for her, even if I had to do it with my last breath.
28
Marielle
“Marielle, please. I have to talk to you,” Faris said as I turned toward the house, anger bubbling like an effervescent tablet inside of my chest.
I ignored him.
“It’s about your father.”
I froze, the fizz in my chest turning to ice.
Abby gave me a worried glance, then started herding everyone into the house. “Um, why don’t we go inside and see what we can whip together for breakfast. I’m starving.”
They all shuffled inside, throwing tense glances over their shoulders. When the front door closed behind them, I finally faced Faris.
His features were full of concern, and he looked so anxious for me that my heart seemed to shrink.
“He’s alive,” he said in a rush of breath.
I exhaled in relief, but, for some reason, my heart continued to shrivel. “She has him, doesn’t she?”
Faris nodded. “I tried to rescue him, but . . .” Shame filled his eyes.
Anger and disappointment mixed in a hostile feeling against Faris. It wasn’t fair. I was sure he’d tried to
save Dad, but I couldn’t help it. I’d just gone through one of the worst nights of my life because of him.
“We’ll rescue him, Marielle. We’ll defeat Akeelah and get him back.”
“Is that a promise?” I asked before I could stop myself.
His mouth opened and closed. He gave me a frown that seemed to say “C’mon, you know I’m on your side. Don’t be like that.”
“Is he okay?” I asked, wishing I could find a way to shortcut my anger, but it just had to simmer down on its own.
“He’s not injured or hurting. As terrible as it sounds, Robert’s worth more to Akeelah alive. It’s you and me that she wants. She’s ordered all her half-djinn to look for us and bring us in. She banishes them to their bottles if they don’t do as she says. So your dad is just . . .”
“Bait,” I said, my hatred for the evil Djinn growing even more. “Well, I guess we’d better get to work. I want my father back.”
I whirled and headed into the house. That demon wasn’t going to conjure itself. Ma’ Gee had better be worth all the trouble we went through to get her here.
***
I was trying not to be mad at Faris, but it wasn’t going very well. It was irrational to have been so scared for him, to have longed for him so fiercely and now, to be so irrationally mad at him.
Damn you, Faris!
He winced, as if he’d been able to read my thoughts. We were back in the front yard with the rest of the group. I sat on the porch steps, and he stood in front of us, next to a grouchy-looking Ma’ Gee. We’d been exchanging charged glances every few moments since we came out here shortly after an awkward breakfast.
“This don’t feel right,” Ma’ Gee said once more. “There’s some very bad joojoo in all of this.”
“And you don’t think Akeelah’s bad joojoo?” Samuel asked mockingly.
Ma’ Gee shot him what could only be qualified as a deadly look. “Children shouldn’t talk about things they don’t understand.”
Samuel’s mouth opened, but only a small cloud of breath came out into the chilly morning. Ma’ Gee’s gaze held his so intensely that the connection was almost tangible. The expression on his face suggested he wanted to run into the house and hide inside his sleeping bag, but he remained nailed to the porch.
When Ma’ Gee broke eye contact. Samuel pressed a hand to one of the porch columns and swayed a little. He blinked several times and shook his head.
“Earth to Sammy.” Abby snickered.
Samuel frowned at her, but said nothing.
“Wow!” Abby exclaimed and nodded appreciatively at Ma’ Gee. “Wicked superpower.”
Faris retook our hopeless conversation. “It’s the only thing we’ve got, Ma’ Gee. Unless you’re in possession of other ideas, we have to try this.” Faris had a copy of the picture from Gallardo’s book in his hand. He held it up in a demonstrative fashion, looking sheepish, adorable, and too committed for me not to forgive his broken promise.
Ma’ Gee made a sound in the back of her throat that made me think of a growling lioness. She looked rather unhappy with the prospect of conjuring a demon, though she also looked conflicted, like she understood clearly there was but one choice available.
“Bondye must want it this way if he brought me here, but that don’t mean I have to like it.”
“I understand,” Faris said.
The old voodoo witch nodded. Her flower-print headwrap bobbed up and down.
“¿Y, la diabla genia no podrá detectar esta magia?” Anita asked, pressing closer to Javier as she realized what was about to happen.
Javier and Benito looked at me as if I held the answers, but Faris had already explained that the magic necessary for the banishing spell was different from that of a Djinn. A portal to The Blink wasn’t required. Conjuring a demon was something even humans were able to do on their own, if they possessed a certain kind of will. Djinn, apparently, had the skill as a result of their magical natures, and Ma’ Gee seemed to be one of those people who had gotten a few more doses than the regular person. I just hoped it was enough.
“No, Anita,” Faris responded, “La diabla genia,” the genie devil, which she had appropriately dubbed Akeelah, “no se dará cuenta.” He then reassured everyone else. “I watched Akeelah conjured a couple of demons, and there was no Djinn magic involved. I would have sensed it. Unmistakably.”
“Whatever,” Abby said with a shrug. “It has to be done regardless, and I would say practice is indispensable. It’s not like you can show up at Akeelah’s doorstep without first making sure this spell will work. So . . .”
“True, true,” Ma’ Gee said with a sigh. “Let’s get this show on the road, eh? Y’all go inside the house and stay there—unless you want to end up being demon snack.”
“Now, there’s no need to scare the little boy.” Abby ruffled Benito’s hair.
I elbowed her. “Admit it. You’re the one who’s scared. Benito doesn’t even understand half of what we’re saying.”
“Oh, he understands more than he lets on,” Abby said.
Benito smirked.
Abby pointed at the boy. “See!”
Slowly, we filed inside the house, taking positions behind the old windows to peer at the yard and witness the unimaginable: a demon being summoned from the depths of the earth.
And I’d thought I’d already seen it all.
29
Faris
In perfect unison, as it was required, Ma’ Gee and I began the conjuration, each word slow and deliberate.
“Sorem Azah Heshh.”
She read from a piece of paper where, in her neat handwriting, Marielle had phonetically written each word. Immediately, the ground under our feet rumbled. Ma’ Gee definitely had what it took.
I cast a glance in her direction. Her features were schooled into an unreadable mask. If she was scared by the small earthquake, she hid it well.
I had warned everyone not to panic and explained the way demons—especially powerful ones like the one we were attempting to summon—manifest into the physical world, making horrid spectacles worthy of nightmares.
As the earth began to crack open, splitting with a deafening rumble, I was grateful for the bright morning light that shone directly above us. The demon wouldn’t be intimidated by it, not at all, but it would save us from despair. Inviting a monster to join us was bad enough. Inviting it into a dark place would have been idiotic. The sun was a welcome ally.
Ma’ Gee held herself with aplomb. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed as she pronounced the words with meticulous care. She had practically memorized the spell after a few reads. The paper was merely a backup. Her power flowed around us, something unlike any type of magic I’d ever felt. It was gentle and had a surgical quality devoid of the raw, explosive emotions that fueled Djinn magic.
Our voices intertwined. Each word increased the energy around us. The wind picked up. Leaves whispered on the trees and on the ground as they tumbled in circles.
For a moment, I caught sight of Marielle’s pale face at the window. I forced my attention to the widening fissure. The earth loosened, falling into the crack as it opened, then shot upward in a spray of lashing pebbles. Ma’ Gee attempted to protect her face with a raised forearm. Muck stroke her mouth, but she didn’t stop her chant.
Dirt began to . . . bubble—I had no other word for what was happening—from the crack. It rose up in mounds that exploded into more showers of dirt. Ma’ Gee took a step back. I stood my ground and shouted the incantation into the deafening roar of the wind while a tornado began to lash at our faces.
I peered at Ma’ Gee through half-shut eyes. She didn’t look as steady as she had a moment ago. I took a step in her direction, leaning into a force that seemed intent on keeping me where I was. I pushed harder, hands reaching for her. But she was so engaged in the effort that she didn’t notice me.
Her lips moved with the spell, mirroring my own, shaping the words, but I could barely sense her energy anymore. It all seemed
lost in the swirl of debris and strong smell of sulfur that permeated the air.
I was almost to her when, suddenly, the hole in the ground doubled in size, erupting in massive columns of earth. I stumbled to one side, fighting to keep my balance. I swiped at my face and managed to clear some of the grit. Desperately, I searched for Ma’ Gee and caught a glimpse of her long, bright-colored skirt. She had fallen and was on all fours, her fingers digging into the loosened earth as if drawing strength from it.
To my surprise, her lips still worked on the spell, though it felt like I was the only one carrying the weight of the conjuration. That’s when I realized we weren’t strong enough to pull this off.
The demon was too powerful for us.
As I closed the gap between us, I forced myself to continue the spell, even though I wanted to call her name. Our uninterrupted words were the only thing keeping us from completely losing control of the demon.
Ma’ Gee blinked at me, her eyes fighting to focus. Streaks of dirt smeared her sweaty face. Her white teeth flashed through the black earth as she uttered each word. Locking eyes with her, I helped her to her feet. She clasped my forearms, digging sharp fingernails into my skin. I gave her a slight nod as we synced our words, like two children singing an old nursery rhyme, marrying their voices to form one.
We had to take the spell almost to the end, omitting only the part where we ordered the demon to take Akeelah. Drawing on each other’s strength, we closed in on the final words.
The first glimpse of the demon burst from the writhing hole: a thick, rooty tentacle that shot upward and tasted the outside world with the small, wet filaments covering its entire surface. Two more tentacles erupted from the earth. They lashed through the air like whips.
I pulled Ma’ Gee further away from the pit, out of reach of the demon. She was trembling, sagging, upright only because of my help.
Six tentacles were out now. Slowly, they bent toward the edge of the hole and pushed down against it. Something stirred in the middle of the crater, pulling itself up.
One Wish Away: Djinn Empire Complete Series Page 64
