Ashley hurried across the room, yanked the cabinet door open, and with one sweep of her arm, knocked out the adjustable shelves and the few books stacked inside. She slipped in and slammed the door shut behind her, then pulled on the door’s handle with all of her weight and might.
“I, Ashley Laurent, wish to—”
Dae appeared at the cabinet’s door and yanked on the handle. “Ashley, stop, please,” he said, his face muddled through the old, bubbled glass.
“—wish to invoke my third wish—"
“Ashley!” His hand pounded at the glass. The door rattled on its hinges.
“—My wish is that I want to trade places with Red Blackwell.”
Dae’s fist beat at the glass. “No! Ashley. You are my caeli!”
Ashley gasped.
She was his...his soul mate?
She could see his magic. That must have been the sign, the definitive proof.
That’s why Dae had been shocked she could see it.
Ashley was Dae’s Fated.
But it was too late.
And knowing it did not change the choice she’d made.
She’d make the same all over again.
The magic took hold. Dae’s eyes fired red. The magic seeped through the cracks in the cabinet doors and took hold of Ashley. She felt the heat of it first at her toes, curling fingers gripping her flesh and bones. The magic filled her senses with cloves and cinnamon reminding her of so many things. Of winter and traditions. Of a kitchen warm from the oven, baked goods cooling on the counter. Of Dae and his bed.
Of love and risk and sacrifice.
Love was about more than comfort and safety. It was messy and electric. It was all-encompassing. It was fire in the veins and chills in the spine. When you found someone you loved with your entire soul—Nothing. Else. Mattered.
If you loved someone, every fiber of your being should want to protect them and to take some of the burden of their pain off their shoulders and onto yours.
Warmth ran through her entire body. Ashley closed her eyes, her spine loose and her knees liquid.
As the beating of her heart slowed in her ears, she knew she had made the right decision.
Dae yanked the door open and caught her in his arms.
“Ashley,” he said, pain etching fine lines between his eyes. “Bloody hell, love.”
She felt weak and warm, her veins filled with honey. Dae slumped to the floor, taking her with him. As soon as she was prone in his lap, she felt so much better. Her eyes grew heavy, her vision fuzzy and dark on the edges.
“Dae,” she whispered.
“Yes?”
“I don’t regret any of it.”
He laughed, but there was no humor in his voice. His red eyes glittered with tears. “Goddamn it.” His grip on her tightened and he tugged her closer, pressing her chest to his. She could feel the distant, rapid beat of his heart.
“You are the most brilliant, beautiful, compassionate woman I have ever met,” he said, and planted a kiss on her lips.
She smiled against his mouth.
And you are the sharpest, handsomest man I have ever met.
Ashley could barely keep her eyes open. She was so damn tired. She could barely feel her legs now. Her heart was a distant beat in her ears.
“I love you, my caeli. My air,” Dae said against her ear. “Please don’t leave me.”
She wanted to tell him that she loved him too.
But the darkness swept in around her, tugging her down deep.
Chapter 43
DAE
Dae stared at the bed, at the prone figures lying on it.
On the left, closest to Dae, was Red. When Ashley collapsed, Red had collapsed too. He had no pulse. No breath in his lungs. Dae was worried that Death knew they’d tried to cheat her and decided to take Red early, but when djinn died, they became ash. They did not leave behind the mortal shells that humans did.
So why was Red still here?
Ashley lay beside him in a similar state. To anyone, she looked dead. The color had left her cheeks and her lips. Her face had slackened, her muscles and tendons soft without life. Dae had covered her with a quilt.
It had been two hours since the wish, since the magic had left Dae with a pop. It was one of the worst crashes he had ever experienced. Like a drug addict coming down from the high, achy and hollow, a gnawing hunger that had nothing to do with food. There was this pressing feeling to chase the magic, to make another deal, to feel the power running through his veins again and numb the pain. But he couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Ashley.
He wanted to live with this feeling forever like it was some kind of punishment.
Mad came in and took the chair beside Dae. Mad spread out his long legs and slouched in the chair. He’d been the one fighting to save Red, but Dae knew he was feeling the loss just as much as Dae was.
Mad had always been the stoic one, but he felt the most. He just internalized it better.
“Any change?” he asked.
Dae shook his head. He kept staring at Ashley and Red, his eyes burning. He worried that if he looked away, he might miss some kind of sign.
“She’s your caeli?” Mad said carefully.
“Apparently so.”
“It’s an easy thing to miss. If she didn’t know the significance of seeing your magic...”
“I should have known.”
Dae kept asking himself why he hadn’t. Everything about his deal with Ashley had been different. He should have known.
A few hours before, he thought that things couldn’t possibly get worse. And now look.
He finally looked away from her then, his eyes watery. “I fucked it all up, Mad.”
Mad leaned forward and put his hand gently on Dae’s back. “I can’t imagine Fate would bring you two together only to tear her away. Maybe she really is the key, Dae. Don’t give up hope yet.”
Dae turned his gaze back to the bed.
Wake up. Wake up, love and I will worship you for the rest of your life.
Chapter 44
ASHLEY
Ashley was awake.
Or...no...that wasn’t quite the right description.
One moment she was unconscious and blind and the next she was awake and seeing.
But she didn’t know where she was and her limbs felt very far away.
She was in what looked like a warehouse. The floor was white concrete. The walls white brick. The windows were large leaded glass windows that were hazy and impossible to see through.
The sprawling room was void of anything other than the walls and the floor and the windows and Ashley.
Even sound had left the building.
Ashley licked her lips.
How had she gotten here?
And then she remembered.
The wish.
She’d wished to trade places with Red. Was this some kind of djinn purgatory?
“No, not purgatory.”
The voice, cool and indifferent, sounded behind Ashley, causing her to jump. When she whirled around, she found Red standing behind her.
“And I’m not quite sure how the magic will interpret that wish.”
“Can you read my mind?” she asked.
Red looked around, his arms crossed over his chest, his biceps bulging in his plain white t-shirt.
“Djinn do not read minds,” Red answered and then set his green eyes squarely on her. “But apparently in this place, we do.”
Where the bloody hell are we?
Ashley heard his voice loud and clear in her mind, though she’d been looking right at him and his mouth never moved.
“Apparently I can read your mind too,” she said.
Red furrowed his brow. “Truly?”
“Truly,” she said. “Where are we?”
“This is Death’s domain.” He went to the window closest to them and looked out. “I may not be able to see beyond this glass, but I can feel her.”
“Her? Death is a woman?”
“She is many things. I see her as a woman, so that is what she is. You may see her differently.”
As if their conversation conjured her, a woman appeared beside Red. He did not startle. She was easily a foot shorter than him, but somehow larger in presence. Dark hair cascaded down her shoulders. Pale hands were clasped in front of her. When she smiled, her violet eyes sparkled.
“Lady Death,” Red said. “So nice to see you.”
She sighed. “Don’t lie to me, Fredrick.”
Ashley blinked.
Was she dreaming? Did Death really just sigh?
“I wish I could say it was nice to see you too,” Death said, “but this is limbo and you are supposed to be dead.”
“But I’m not?” he asked.
Death turned away, her black dress swishing across the concrete floor. “Not quite.”
Ashley stepped forward. “Does that mean my wish worked?”
Death looked at Ashley over her shoulder like Ashley was a cockroach that had decided to speak. “It wasn’t just your wish. It’s also who you are.”
“What does that mean?”
“You are caeli,” Red said. “Which means your destiny is dictated specifically by the Fates.”
“You think I can’t override the Fates?” Death said, but she didn’t sound so sure.
Red disappeared from Ashley’s line of sight and reappeared in front of Death three seconds later. “Forget the girl. You owe me.” His voice was so low and muffled that Ashley wasn’t sure if she’d really heard him.
How did you earn a favor from Death? Did she even want to know?
The Lady huffed. “Death asks for no favors.”
“You didn’t need to ask. I gave you something you could not take for yourself.”
Ashley really, really wanted to know what they were talking about, but was far too afraid to ask about it.
Death’s eyes turned black. “I owe you nothing, Blackwell.”
I don’t think this is working, Ashley thought and she caught the flicker of recognition in Red’s eyes when he heard her. He changed tactics and managed to look bored as he leaned into the brick wall behind him. “The girl wished to switch places with me. Is that where the Fates want her to be?”
Death paced. Ashley tried to focus on her, to sear her face to memory, but the harder Ashley stared, the fuzzier she became.
After several long minutes, Death turned to them. “So am I just to ignore the rules then? Let you both go?”
“There are no rules where Death is concerned.”
“Yes there are, but only one. That which should die, dies.”
Red stared at her like her decision on this did not matter to him one way or the other. But Ashley could hear his thoughts in this strange place and she knew his truth.
I do not want to die. There is more to my life beyond this.
Death sighed. “Fine. But I suspect that perhaps one day you will regret going back and when that day comes, I will be there.”
Red offered a formal bow. “I would expect nothing less.”
Ashley scurried to his side and offered a bow that did not at all rival his in formality and perfection.
Death turned, her dress flowing around her thin frame like ink spilling from a well. She made her way to an arched door that had not been there a minute before. “Death hereby extends the life of Fredrick Blackwell as per the wish of Ashley Laurent (who, side note, clearly does not understand what she’s wished for). Fredrick Blackwell is hereby made human as Ashley once was and Ashley Laurent’s human life is hereby forfeit. Good luck to the both of you. I think you’re going to need it.”
“Wait,” Ashley said. “What does that mean?” But Death ignored her and Red stopped her with a hand on her wrist.
Her life was forfeit?
What did that mean? What came after this?
Fire and brimstone?
Eternal pain?
Red tightened his hold on Ashley as the white room grew darker, smoke curling in its corners. It will be all right, maus, Red thought to her.
Ashley braced herself for heat and pain.
But it did not come.
She felt only the surety of Red’s hand on her and a far-off tugging, as if something were pulling her back in.
Chapter 45
DAE
Djinn did not sleep like mortals did. They could go days, weeks without sleeping, especially when invoked. But right now, Dae was exhausted. His legs felt weighted with lead, his eyes heavier than they’d ever been. He just wanted to retreat to his bedroom and sleep for months and forget this day ever happened. But he couldn’t.
All four of the brothers were now in the room.
Waiting.
Mad sat in the chair beside Dae. Poe was sprawled across the Victorian settee in front of the fireplace and Thorin was in the chair across from him, his eyes glassy and distant.
It had been sixteen hours since Ashley’s wish.
Dae was starting to lose hope and though his brothers said nothing, he could tell they were too.
But Red was still here. And Ashley, while pale and cold, did not appear to be withering away as mortals do.
Dae leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes. Just for a minute he told himself. He was so damnably tired.
And then…
A slight breeze wound through the room, though none of the windows were open and the AC had been quiet for some time as the sun set and the heat of the day receded.
The hair on Dae’s neck stood up and gooseflesh ran down his arms.
He opened his eyes.
Ashley and Red both sat upright in unison, gulping for air.
All four brothers shot to their feet.
The wish had worked.
I want to trade places with Red Blackwell.
And so she had.
When Ashley turned her gaze on Dae, her eyes were glowing blue with djinn magic.
Chapter 46
ASHLEY
Ashley sat upright. It took her a minute to orient herself, for her vision to clear, and when it did, the world came into sharp, glittering focus.
She looked around the room. Thorin and Poe were near the fireplace, brows furrowed. Mad sat at the foot of the bed, his breathing heavy and his expression worried.
And beside her was Dae. His eyes were rimmed in red like he’d been crying and when she examined his face for more clues, she saw the markers of several emotions run through him in quick succession.
Relief. Happiness. Regret. Hope. Fear.
“What is it?” she said. She lifted her hands, examined her skin and bones and fingernails. She was whole as far as she could tell. But she did feel…well, different. She felt…lighter and somehow stronger.
“What is happening?” she asked.
“You traded places with me,” Red said. His voice was hoarse and unsure, like he hadn’t used it in a long while. “I am human and you are djinn.”
“But…how…” She stretched her hands out in front of her and there, faintly swirling around her fingers, was the magic of djinn.
The wish had worked.
Red was alive.
Ashley was alive.
Transformed, but alive.
She shouldn’t be surprised that there were consequences to it. But whatever they were, it was worth it.
Dae crushed her in a hug, nearly squeezing the new air from her lungs.
She didn’t care about any of it. She didn’t care about the consequences.
She was alive.
Chapter 47
DAE
Dae did not know what to do with himself. He wanted to shout from the rooftop. He wanted to celebrate by throwing a party, but then steal away with Ashley to his rooms and have her body beneath him for weeks on end.
He wanted to run or sit or fucking fly.
Red was alive.
Ashley was alive.
And she was his caeli.
But something very important needed to be taken care of and that was to know, without doubts, wh
at had actually happened with Ashley’s wish. To do that, the brothers needed their Wish Counter.
Wish Counters were a rare type of psychic found and then later assigned through the Conclave. The Blackwells’ wish counter was named Yasmina. She was well into her fifties now but she did not look a day over thirty. Her dark skin was smooth and unblemished by time. Her black hair had not a touch of gray to it.
Dae had met a lot of formidable people in all his years, but Yasmina was one of the only people he’d met who gave him the chills.
It was that knowing look in her eyes. Like she could read Dae’s secrets as if they were written across pages in a book.
When they sat down in the conservatory, Yasmina took Red’s hand in hers. She frowned. “Well. That is interesting.”
Red smirked at her. “Is it now?”
Yasmina pushed her dark hair off her shoulder. “Human now. I find a great many delights in this. If I cut you, you will bleed. If you jump from a cliff, you will die. Shall I push you from a cliff?”
“I would rather you not.”
She arched a brow. “Fine then. Perhaps another day.” She flicked a finger at Ashley. “Come.”
Ashley hurried over.
“What an enigma,” Yasmina said. “A human past but a djinn future. But…” She closed her eyes, brow furrowed. When she opened them again, she looked surprised. “Your new djinn magic does not exist without Red and Red’s life does not exist without yours.” And then her eyes narrowed at the space between Red and Ashley, as if she could see something they could not. “Only three wishes to your name, but your caeli at your feet. Lucky girl.”
Dae cut off the Wish Counter as she moved to leave. She never lingered at the Blackwell House. She did not get along well with Red.
“Wait. If Ashley only has one deal, and we perform the caeli bond, will she suffer as Red did? As all djinn do as they near their death? Or will she have access to her magic as we do under a caeli bond?”
Yasmina looked back at Ashley over her shoulder. “Red was dying because he’d spent his life. Ashley has not. She will have one deal to her name. She will live as long as she wants, lifted by the magic of djinn and the power of the caeli bond should you perform it.” She looked at Red by the fireplace. “But from the moment Red came back, he began to age. He will live the life of a mortal. As many years as Ashley had. Only Fate knows that number.” She turned for the door once again and was gone.
Midlife Wish (Blackwell Djinn Book 1) Page 18