“You didn’t think about talking with me. We could have gone anywhere! Hidden from all of this.” I gestured widely.
Doren exhaled. “It’s not that simple. You need to be training with Glupin until you’re comfortable again with your magic. You need his help. They would have caught on and come after you again, and I couldn’t . . . I couldn’t let that happen.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I could have just wished for some sort of protection.”
He went to answer, but I put up my hand.
“No. You know what? It doesn’t matter. None of it does. Because it’s done, and we can’t change it, can we?” I pushed past him and opened the closet with the washer and dryer. I began dumping the clothes into the washer before I realized Doren wasn’t there.
I fully expected him to follow me, even wanted him to. My fit was just a cover for how much I missed seeing him, how much I longed to put my arms around him and hug him and beg him to tell me how to get him back. But when I closed the closet door and returned to the living room, Doren was nowhere to be found.
My stomach tied in knots, and I wished I hadn’t been so rude.
Doren didn’t need to protect me. It wasn’t part of his contract—he’d told me that much before. Yet he had some moral obligation because I was his long-lost lover. Still, he really was trying to help me. And I hadn’t even bothered to thank him.
I hurried back up the stairs to my apartment, ready to apologize, but Doren was gone.
I bit my lip and sunk onto the couch, placing my hands between my knees. I let out a sigh and my shoulders slumped.
Seymour trotted in through the back door, a mud-covered bone in his mouth, and he came right over to me and dropped it at my feet. “What happened?”
“Doren came by,” I whispered.
He let out a whimper and hopped up onto the couch.
I didn’t even care he was filthy. I pulled Seymour onto my lap and held him close.
Doren didn’t show up the next day.
Or the next.
For two weeks, he didn’t show a single sign of himself, and with each day that passed, my stomach sunk lower and lower. I practiced every day, just like he had wanted, because quite frankly, he was right. I needed to understand how to control my magic, but I had decided that if I could conquer the spells, I could use that magic to help him.
Someone before had bound him to a painting, and surely I could find that spell and lock him onto a different item. I’d tried when I first met him, but he was no help. If I could do it now, I could wish him free.
One afternoon, I stood with Glupin in his zen garden positioned on the top of the house. One side of the green garden had a sheer cliff of granite to the peak, the opposite side dropped to the valley below. A pristine bonsai tree grew in the center of—what looked to me to be—a sandbox.
The first time he’d taken me to this space, weeks ago, I’d dared a glance over the edge of the cliff and lost my lunch as a result. Although the view of Cache Valley was stunning, the billion-mile drop to the bottom made me keep my distance.
He directed me to stand in the sand at the edge of the garden. He had raked swirls around carefully positioned rocks, and my footsteps were the only sign of disruption to the perfectly spaced little ridges of sand.
“I want to try something different today,” Glupin said, his long arms dangling at his sides.
“And what is that?” I asked.
He walked to the edge of the zen garden. “I know that you’ve had to rely on yourself the last eight years.”
“And?” I snapped.
A gentle smile spread on Glupin’s lips, brightening his eyes. “I think it’s time you learn a vital lesson. There are two components to this lesson.” He reached his hand out toward the sand, which began to ripple like he had dropped a stone into a pond.
Suddenly, my feet felt like they’d been trapped in cement, and something was pulling me down. I gasped. “What are you doing?”
He watched me. “The worst thing to do in quicksand is panic. But this isn’t quicksand.”
Glupin and his non-riddles.
“I don’t . . . I don’t know the spell to undo this!” I said, writhing and trying to yank my feet out of the sand, but I sunk ever deeper. When the sand reached my waist, I foolishly tried to push against it, but my hands sunk into the sand and I finally had to raise them over my head.
Still, Glupin didn’t move.
“Well, help me!” I shouted at him, growing more desperate.
He tilted his head.
“Glupin, please! I don’t know what to do. How do I get out of this?”
He glanced up at the sky, then at his watch-less wrist.
I was stuck up to my chest now, and the sand stopped pulling me in. “How do I get out of this?”
“We aren’t supposed to get rain until tomorrow night.” He put his hands behind his back and slowly walked past me.
“What! You can’t just leave me here! Glupin!” I begged. “You have to at least tell me what to do to get out of this.”
He turned his head to look at me. “There comes a point in everyone’s life when they realize they’ve been missing something terribly important. Something about themselves. And when you realize that, you will understand the second lesson.”
“What is it I’m missing?”
“I can’t tell you. You need to discover it for yourself.” He shrugged his massive shoulders.
“So you’re just going to leave me out here? In the sand? Alone?” I was more than aware of how desperate I sounded, but this wasn’t Glupin’s typical teaching style.
“You’ve always done things alone,” he replied. “Haven’t you?”
That was the last thing he said before he walked through the heavy door, leaving me behind.
I shouted in anger and frustration after him and clawed again at the sand, which only resulted in me getting it down my shirt, and in my hair, nose, mouth, and eyes. I realized my stupidity and turned my head to cough, then dusted at my face.
Was this a riddle? Some method to torture me into using a certain kind of magic?
I didn’t think that’s how Glupin worked.
I licked my lips, licking sand into my mouth, and the grittiness against my teeth made me spit.
“You’ve always done things alone. Haven’t you?” Glupin had said.
What was this deep lesson he wanted me to learn?
That I had to put trust in myself? That because I’d been alone for so long I could do anything I set my mind to? Or maybe I needed to trust someone else?
I ran through the few spells I had memorized and thought maybe a gust of wind could help disperse the sand particles. I pressed my thumbs together to get started, only to realize I would need more than a little bit of wind to blow away the sand in the garden. Maybe I could muster something that big, but how could I concentrate it on the zen garden alone?
With my inexperience, I’d likely wipe out all the trees, bushes, and rare plants in Glupin’s garden on the mountain, and if I truly lost control, I might even cause damage to the city below.
I lowered my hands onto the sand and tried desperately to wiggle around, hoping to relieve the pressure around my legs. I hadn’t been there long, and they already started to ache.
What was this “important” thing missing in my life?
My family was the most important thing, but no manner of wishing or spells could bring them back from the dead. Unless I could somehow reincarnate them too, but I didn’t think that’s what Glupin was getting at with this whole sand routine.
What else?
The sun overhead blazed down, heating the sand and making it uncomfortably hot. The sun rolled overhead, finally reaching the western horizon. I let out a frustrated shout and slapped my hands against the sand. The sharp, hot particles embedded in my palms. I glared at the door.
Glupin was going to get an earful when he got back.
It was t
he first time in weeks I’d been forced to just stop and be alone with my thoughts. I’d intentionally kept myself busy with doing homework, spending time studying, even going out with Julene, Collin, and Niera. I’d also started back at work and earned an earful for my long absence.
All because I didn’t want to think about Doren.
His betrayal. Or rather, my perception of betrayal.
What were they making him do? The last time I’d seen him, he said the mafia guys were making him investigate something. I’d been so upset I hadn’t even asked him what it was he was investigating. Or why. Or how I could help.
Guilt sat in my chest like a stone.
He’d manipulated his master’s wishes so he could come see me, and I yelled at him for it. Because I was selfishly angry he’d left me too.
That was why I was alone again.
That was why I was so angry with him.
Because Doren knew he had left me, just like my family. Only, he had done so by choice, knowing I’d been alone all these years, that I’d finally opened myself to him. He’d just walked away like I was some . . . worthless human girl.
I rolled my eyes, telling myself how pathetic I was.
But as I looked out over the gleaming valley, the windows of houses and buildings reflected the sunlight as it sunk into the horizon.
My throat tightened with regret.
“I miss you, Doren,” I whispered. I looked down at my predicament. “I think I know what you want!” I called to Glupin. “You want me to not be alone, right? I can’t exactly change that here in the sand, buried up to my chest.”
Silence.
Chapter 20
Gwen
“Glupin, please. Let me out of here? I want to practice.”
I heard footsteps, too light to be Glupin’s, and . . . too many.
The wooden door exploded, shards of wooden planks splintering in my direction. I managed to put my arm over my head, protecting my face as my arm was pelted with slivers. When the wood settled, I lowered my arm.
“Found her!” someone shouted.
The oncoming darkness somehow helped shroud the individual, and I couldn’t make out his features, other than he was shorter than me, thin, and . . . really, looked like more of a shadow than anything else.
Three more creatures the same size scurried through the door, and my heart quickened its pace. I had a sinking feeling this wasn’t part of Glupin’s plans.
I pushed aside all my brooding thoughts and raised my hands out in front of me. I locked and turned my fingers, sending a ball of light in their direction. It went right through them.
The creature on the left squealed with laughter, and the four of them bounded quickly toward me. The one furthest to the right held his fingers out toward the darkness and pulled it to him, creating a rope from the shadows.
I tried a different spell, a fireball, but only succeeded in scorching the mountainside. Even the momentary burst of light didn’t help me to see the details of the creatures now skipping across the sand.
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on me,” I ordered.
They all squealed with laughter, the same high-pitched noise that grated on my teeth while they wrapped the rope of shadows around my shoulders. It was tangible, and I knew the instant it touched my arms, that it had been created from strong magic. They bound the rope so tight it squeezed my shoulders at my sides. The four of them gathered in front of me to argue how to pull me out of the sand.
One suggested they pull until I came out. Another said they should dig me out. The third told the others they were stupid and all they needed to do was fill up the sandpit with water and wiggle me out like a worm from a hole. The fourth offered his own solution that launched the four of them into a bickering fit.
I needed someone to help me. I couldn’t get out of this on my own.
“Doren, where are you?” I whispered to myself, twisting against the darkness.
An idea came to me.
When Glupin had triggered the sand to gobble me up, there must have been a platform under the ground. I didn’t want to think about him only having used magic because the idea of a platform gave me the opportunity to find a better way out.
I just needed to reverse the platform’s direction to have it push me upward.
I tried not to draw attention by turning my gaze away from the creatures of darkness to where Glupin had stood. I replayed the scene in my head.
When Glupin had been standing there, he moved his foot. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but somewhere near the rock, or on a stone in the path Glupin had triggered a mechanism.
If I asked the creatures to look for it, it would keep them distracted, but I’d still be stuck until the sand freed me.
I licked my lips again, my mouth growing drier the longer time passed.
I cleared my throat. “I think I know what to do,” I suggested.
They all turned and looked at me.
I nudged my head toward the opposite end of the garden. “Somewhere over there is a button or lever. All you have to do is go step on it and the platform will rise.”
They exchanged glances at one another, then looked back at me.
“It’s really that simple,” I responded to their unasked question.
One skipped merrily across the sand to the stone pathway, not leaving a footprint behind. He immediately began stomping all around. What if the lever only shifted under Glupin’s massive weight? I’d be stuck for good!
I heard a click, and the creature must have too because he stopped bouncing up and down and looked at me. He grinned, and I realized he had a mouth full of sharp white teeth.
The sand trembled, and the platform began to rise, lifting me out.
What spell could work against darkness? I’d tried fire, I’d tried light—which would seem to make the most amount of sense, considering light was supposed to push away darkness. Starlight? Moonlight?
Were those even types of magic?
I didn’t have much time to decide on one spell. I wondered if I could outrun the creatures, make it through the door and down the stairs to try and find Glupin. The most terrifying exit was the cliff and the empty drop beyond. I could summon winds to keep me aloft. Maybe I could create vines or use the rock face itself to create a ladder or slide to get me down safely.
If only Doren were there to help. But I couldn’t wish for his assistance.
Seymour was likely snuggled up in front of the fire downstairs.
Glupin? Maybe I could yell for his help.
I swallowed hard, mind set on the one and only choice I could foresee not ending in my death. The instant I could move my legs from the sand, I sprinted for the open doorway. I touched my fingertips to each other, then threw my right hand behind me without looking. I cupped my hand, grasped, and pulled the shards of wood forward, slamming them back into the shape of the door as soon as I crossed the threshold.
I stumbled down the steps. “Glupin, I could really use your help!” I shouted as loudly as I could. “This is the worst way to get me to trust you!”
Giggling echoed off the walls down the corridor behind me. I hadn’t heard the door break. How had the creatures gotten through?
I leapt the last ten steps. The shock jarred my teeth when I landed hard, and then I sprinted down the hallway. “Glupin, where are you!” I begged. “I need help!”
I hit the rug, using my momentum to slide it across the wooden floor so I could face the next hall and get a good start down the next flight of stairs. Only, the instant my foot left the ground, something wrapped around it.
I was caught, mid-air, by my ankle. With no balance, I fell down the stairs, tumbling and slamming my shoulders, head, knees, hips, and seemingly every other part of my body until I landed in a heap at the bottom of the long staircase.
I groaned, trying to blink the stars out of my vision and get back to my feet.
Seymour ran toward me, barking as
loud as he could muster, fur on his body bristled. “Get away from my human!”
“Don’t try and fight them!” I shouted when he tried to get around me. “They have magic and they’ll eat you. Come on!”
This game wasn’t funny anymore. Whatever Glupin was trying to do, I was done with it. And this was why I relied only on myself. Others were too unreliable.
I crawled on my hands and knees into the sitting room with a glowing fireplace, and my heart froze. All I saw was Glupin’s hand, and I knew he was dead. The couch hid his body, but I knew Glupin wasn’t the type of person for this kind of game. He wasn’t waiting to jump out and scare me.
I turned to kick the door closed and had just enough time to see one of the demons breech the landing right behind Seymour.
“Run!” I screamed to him. I held out my right hand to release a ball of light, but missed.
The demon grabbed Seymour, who let out a yelp and disappeared into darkness.
“No!” I put my hand over my mouth, eyes frozen in horror.
The other demons drew near, and I knew I was in trouble. I slammed the door shut and forced myself to my feet. A sharp pain exploded up the left side of my calf, and I bit my lip to stifle a cry of pain. Something was broken. Or sprained. Or torn. I didn’t want to think about it, couldn’t think about my own injuries, not with Glupin’s body right behind me and Seymour now in the grips of those demons.
I heard toenails clicking beyond the door and locked it with trembling fingers.
And then I stood there, chest heaving as I tried to control my breathing. I needed Glupin. I needed his knowledge. I needed him to teach me how to protect myself from these things! They had Seymour now. I was so weak I couldn’t even protect Seymour!
I knew how to make a shield and did the motion to barricade the door, trying to give myself a little more time to breathe.
To think.
To wish.
I closed my eyes. “Doren, if you can hear me . . . please.” I heard my voice crack. “Please, help me! I need you! I can’t do this on my own!”
The ground under my feet trembled as a wave of energy radiated through the wooden floor. I heard cracking, and I knew the creatures were breaking down the door, likely with their magic.
Curse of a Djinn Page 14
