Family

by Emily Thompson

  Idris pursed his white lips, clearly appreciating Jonas’s point of view, whether he liked the idea of it or not. “Then what do you want?”

  “First, answer me this,” Jonas answered. “Can you rescue Kima’s real son?”

  Kima gasped, looking from Jonas to Idris with startled hope. Idris, however, grimaced, looking back at her with quite honest sorrow. Kima’s hope melted away in an instant.

  “I’m afraid that is beyond my power,” he said gently. “Thanks to my sentence, I’m incapable of using my magic against the very creatures who stole him away.”

  “I see,” Kima said, her voice soft and heavy, her expression dismal.

  “I can, however, tell you that he is most likely still alive,” Idris added hopefully. “He’s probably still being kept by the creatures that took him. They never harm children, unless the child is carrying a particularly valuable Sight. They might try to change him into one of them, but they wouldn’t hurt him.”

  “Then he can be saved,” she concluded, her voice now as strong and supple as a rapier.

  Twist marveled at Kima as her posture and expression bloomed with sudden determination. Sitting beside her, Jonas placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing her gaze dangerously close to his own. He glanced off of her eyes only an instant before they met.

  “You’ll get him back, Kima,” Jonas said with calm certainty.

  Kima smiled back at him, his confidence fanning the flame of her brand-new hope. She nodded silently, suddenly free of all doubt. Twist refrained from adding his own encouraging remarks, seeing that they weren’t at all needed.

  “Well,” Jonas said, looking back to Idris, “I was thinking this through all night. Right now, except for that, everything is basically all right. Sure, I’m not filthy rich, and I’m not captain of my own pirate ship or anything, but I’m comfortable, my friends are well, and I’m not currently about to be killed by anything I know of. Whatever I could wish for now could prove to be a waste. But I also don’t want you moping around until I actually need your help.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Idris asked him hesitantly.

  “I want one wish, after I let you go,” Jonas answered. “I’ll set you free right now, if you promise me one, unconditional wish, which you will grant whenever I ask for it, regardless of whether or not you’re in the mood. No rules, no refusing if you think it’s boring. If it’s within your power to grant, you grant it. And you won’t jump the gun and grant me some frivolous passing fancy just because it sounds like a wish and you want out of the deal.”

  “I see…” Idris murmured thoughtfully. “What if you die before you use it?”

  “Then it’s gone,” Jonas said with a wave of his hand. “This is just between you and me.”

  “And will you continue to list the reasons I owe you, whenever you want other things?”

  Jonas shook his head, smiling slightly. “If you give me this, and I trust you and set you free, then you and I can consider ourselves even.”

  “I see…” Idris said again. He paused for another long moment, thinking over the idea. Then he looked back to Jonas with a stoic expression. “All right. I agree.”

  Jonas smiled back. “Agreed. Idris, I wish you were free.”

  Idris took in a breath and let out a long, relieved exhale as a wide smile bloomed on his face. He stretched his hands and curled his fingers, as if enjoying the sensation of doing so.

  “Jeffery,” he said to the monkey. “Wish for something.”

  “I wish for a banana crepe with cinnamon and fresh cream,” Jeffery said without hesitation.

  Idris snapped his fingers with a smile, and a new plate appeared in front of the baboon, replacing the breakfast he had been picking at with mild disinterest. On the plate was exactly what Jeffery had asked for, complete with a fan of cut strawberries and a thin drizzle of dark, sticky syrup. Jeffery gasped in delight at the sight of the new meal and snatched up his knife and fork, which both looked comically overlarge in his tiny, hand-like paws.

  “Oh, that looks divine,” he said, cutting into it carefully and extracting a bite on his fork. He ate it and gave a deeply pleased tone. “Thank you, Idris! It tastes just like the ones in Martinique.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” Idris said with another happy sigh. He then looked to Jonas. “Thank you, Jonas. You never cease to fool me into believing less of you, and I am forever surprised to see what a good man you truly are.”

  Myra and Jeffery smiled at Jonas approvingly, while Twist kept his pride in his friend hidden. He could feel Jonas’s emotions blush uncomfortably against the compliment, in the soft buzzing at his own neck.

  “Don’t go getting all emotional on me,” Jonas grumbled, appearing angry at the djinn. “You still owe me that wish.”

  “I won’t forget,” Idris said, smiling at him knowingly. “And Twist?”

  Twist gave a questioning tone in reply.

  “I’m going to grant you the same as Jonas,” Idris said. “You can also have one unconditional wish as well.”

  Myra gasped, looking at Twist happily. Jeffery paused from cutting another bite out of his crepe to look at Idris in surprise. Twist stared back at the djinn in stunned amazement.

  “Why does he get a wish without even asking for one?” Jonas asked, sounding somehow hurt. “I had to argue you into it!”

  “Because I owe him the same debt that I owe you,” Idris answered somberly. “Thanks to my rash actions, you have both been made to suffer. You’re mortal men. Your lives are short and precious, but they have both been scarred by my mistake. You never asked for any of this, any more than this honorable lady asked for her son to be stolen away,” he added with a gesture to Kima. “I can’t undo what I did to you. This is all I can do to make amends.”

  Twist watched the powerful, ancient, magical creature give a quiet sigh. It didn’t matter that Twist didn’t blame Idris for all the wrong in his life. Idris felt responsible. Even if Twist didn’t feel that he deserved it, refusing his gift would only bring Idris pain. Twist could only marvel at the life that had become his.

  “Thank you, Idris,” Twist said with a polite smile.

  “Just don’t waste it on something silly, all right?” Idris said warningly.

  “I promise you, I won’t waste it,” Twist said, raising a hand for good measure.

  “Good,” Idris said, appearing pleased with this. “Because Jonas is sure to waste his.”

  “Steady on!” Jonas snapped, angrily.

  “You’re very impulsive, you know,” Idris said knowingly.

  “I’ll show you impulsive!” Jonas growled, brandishing a fist.

  Jeffery smiled as he chewed. Myra giggled softly into her hand, while Twist smiled at his friend’s predictable response. Idris grinned as well, clearly seeing no danger in his threat. Jonas smoldered, glaring at Idris.

  “Are you trying to be funny?” Kima asked Jonas, her tone flat and hard for Twist to read.

  Twist looked to her to find a smirk on her face. Jonas froze, his eyes flashing to a bright, pale blue and the buzzing at Twist’s neck rippling with surprise. Jonas glanced toward her out of the corner of his eye.

  “I’m not being funny?” he asked, his tone soft and hesitant.

  Kima chuckled and patted his arm. “I didn’t say that. But be careful. If you make a magical man angry, he might turn you into a toad.”

  “Say, Kima?” Idris asked brightly, a wicked smile on his face. “No one else will wish Jonas into anything slimy because they are simply no fun at all. Would you wish it for me?”

  Terror flashed across Jonas’s face, and he looked to Kima as the others did. Even Jeffery put his knife and fork down to watch Kima’s response. Kima frowned back at Idris in alarm.

  “Why in the hell would I wish for something like that?” she asked back.

  “Damn,” Idris grumbled.

  Jeffery chuckled and returned his attention to his crepe.

  Jonas gave a great sigh of relief. “Thank you, Kima. I k
new I could count on you. This bloody djinn in obsessed with changing me into something nasty, and I don’t know why.”

  “Maybe he’s jealous of your good looks,” Kima offered, her tone so flat and unemotional that Twist couldn’t be sure if she said it in jest or in honesty.

  A strange mixture of anxious heat and heady delight tingled in the buzzing at Twist’s neck, while Jonas’s eyes turned to a deep, cobalt blue in Twist’s Sight. Jonas’s cheeks went slightly pink as he froze once again.

  “Hardly!” Idris balked, glaring at her. He pointed at his own face with a finger. “This is a face that’s seduced princesses and queens across the ages. That,” he said, pointing at Jonas, “is nothing but a man.”

  Kima looked back at Idris thoughtfully for a moment and then leaned closer to Jonas. “I think I hit a nerve.”

  This time, Idris seemed honestly startled by her while Twist, Myra, and Jeffery all found themselves staring at her with shock. Jonas’s delight boiled out of him on a laugh that he simply couldn’t contain, no matter how he tried. Kima smiled at Jonas, clearly pleased with herself.

  “I’m really glad you’re on my side right now,” Jonas declared as soon as he caught a breath.

  Kima took his hand, her expression turning warmer. “Why wouldn’t I be? You’re always on my side.”

  The buzzing at Twist’s neck warmed over in an instant, going smooth and calm.

  Idris shook his head, staring at Kima. “You’ve really got to watch the quiet ones.”

  “Well,” Myra said brightly. “It looks like we’re headed off on another new adventure.”

  “Back to a dead city, you mean,” Idris said unhappily. “There’s nothing there, you know.”

  “But it looked so fantastic and alien,” Myra countered, not about to let him dim her joy.

  As the two continued to weigh the merits of visiting Atlantis with the Rooks, Twist had trouble focusing on anything they said. Kima fell silent again, clearly having nothing to add to the others’ conversation, but her expression remained mildly pleased as she listened. Jonas also failed to join in for a long while, and he made no attempt to free his hand from Kima’s gentle grasp. After focusing, Twist found a subtle, tingling energy, buried deep in the buzzing at his neck, that tasted like pure delight. And after a little while, that soft, quiet joy seeped into Twist’s own heart.

  As Twist eased into another full day, he did so gladly. Myra remained at his side, bringing color and joy into every moment. Jonas’s subtle emotions remained a comfortable presence in the back of Twist’s mind, strengthening his certainty and soothing his concerns. They had survived, yet again, unharmed and free. With both his friend and his bride once again happy and forever beside him, Twist watched every new trial of that day wither under his will.

  Congratulations!

  Another adventure has come to an end, but a new one is right on the horizon. Will Twist's second trip to the empty old city of Atlantis be less traumatic than the first? Find out for yourself in Clockwork Twist: Depth, coming in 2018...

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  The Clockwork Twist Series thus far:

  Book One: Waking

  Book Two: Trick

  Book Three: Dreamer

  Book Four: Missing

  Book Five: Inquest

  Book Six: Blood

  Book Seven: Family