by E. M. Moore
“So do we.”
“I’m with Norah,” Travis said after thinking for a moment. “They’re going to find out sooner or later and if we tell him now that Norah went into their house to try to help Liam and for no other reason, it will sound better coming from us. Plus, I hear that Dean is easier to deal with than Mr. Reid.”
“So I heard too. Owen, the guard, said he was pretty cool. I only talked to him briefly, but I have to believe that he can connect with us. We’re all the same age, so…”
“Fine,” Randy grumbled. “But somebody stays with Norah the whole time.”
Travis shook his head. Like I could ever get away from any of them even if I wanted to, and I didn’t. I was fine being all up on any one of them at any given time of day. Travis punched at his phone and soon another text came through to mine and Randy’s—Travis’s response to Liam’s text. We were all coming in.
“Where’s Gabe?”
The moment I said it, I already knew the answer. I could tell he was close by the tug in my gut that was quintessentially Gabe. Competitive, athletic, funny, soothing. He was like chocolate pudding on a stormy night.
“Forget it. He’s there,” I told them, even though they could probably feel him in their bonds too. We were a coven after all. It came with the package.
Randy turned into the estate, bypassing the open metal gate and rolling up to the house. There was a sleek red Corvette in the driveway. Randy sneered at it, but Travis gazed at it in awe before snapping his jaw shut as if he couldn't care less, carefully avoiding the bright red as we got out of the car and sauntered up to the door.
When we walked in, I felt my guys there. Their bonds were like elastic tethering me, pulling me in even tighter, but there was something else there, too. It must have been Dean Reid’s magic. It wasn’t a stain, or a bad tinge. He definitely had witch powers that much was evident. His line went back centuries, or so I’d heard. His family was not only the richest in this area, but it was one of the most powerful. Interesting that Dean hadn’t been called to be an Enforcer. He was from here though that wasn’t a prerequisite considering I’d been called all the way from New Orleans. I wondered why the magic called who it did. Was it something inside the witch? Was it who would work well with the others? Was there ever an Order that didn’t get along? Travis, Gabe, Randy, Liam, and I got along well. Very well. Was it like that for the other Orders?
We walked in and Gabe and Liam stood from the couches first, followed slowly by Dean Reid. His dark blond hair was gelled to perfection, and he wore a crisp polo shirt with khakis, much like the first time I’d seen him. He eyed me as we walked in and I immediately went up to him. I held my hand out. “Norah Darbonne,” I said.
He gave me a quizzical look.
“I know that’s not the name I gave you the first time we met, but I wasn’t sure I could trust you and I was trying to help my friend.”
His lips thinned as he regarded me. “I think my guard and I are going to have to have a talk.”
“Owen?” I asked, suddenly feeling reluctant about this. “He was harmless, and I didn’t get anything I wanted, anyway. He was just, you know, thinking with his little head. That happens to some of you.”
Gabe chuckled. “You mean to most of us?”
Dean’s lips worked into a smile. It was just the icebreaker we needed.
“There’s a lot of truth to that,” I told him. “Please don’t get Owen in trouble. I used magic on him and as I’m sure you know by now, I’m much stronger than him.”
“So, you’re a member of the Order… Norah?”
I nodded.
“And here I thought you were just a pretty girl?”
Randy made a noise in the back of his throat that drew Dean’s attention. My spine went rigid. Randy was losing his temper at an intense speed, which seemed a little out of place. A little. From what I’d seen, I didn’t know why Randy was getting so pissed off so easily.
“You must be Randy Lacone,” Dean said.
He held out his hand and Randy took it. Their handshake lasted way longer than necessary, and I could see Randy’s knuckles turning white with the effort. I wanted to roll my eyes at the dick measuring contest, but men were going to be men. Finally, they pulled away, each of them trying not to act like whatever firm grip they had on the other hadn’t hurt.
Travis came forward next. “Travis Shaw. We’ve heard a lot about your family.”
“Evidently,” Dean said, eyeing me. “Enough to find your way into my house to get something.”
“That was all me,” I said as I moved to sit next to Gabe. He was the only one who looked inviting at the time. He slid his arm around me and pulled me close. At least Randy wouldn’t have to worry about me not being next to someone at all times. “My friend had a—”
Dean held up his hand. “I know all about it. Ren told me.” He turned to Liam. “I’m glad to see that you’re fine.”
Liam only nodded, his gaze narrowing. My heart rate picked up a notch as I saw them eye one another. For whatever reason, it made me uneasy. Liam didn’t look pleased at all, and he was usually one of the most easygoing out of all of them that my Spidey sense tingled.
Gabe’s hot breath caressed my ear. “It’s okay.”
I tried to relax in his arms but having someone else in this house was more difficult than I liked to admit. It was a sanctuary for us. It was the place we’d retreated to when we didn’t have anywhere else to go, and it was also the place where we deepened our bonds with one another. Doing magic, strengthening and exploring the others, and of course, there was the physical aspect too. Having someone else come in just felt wrong.
“We’re all here,” Liam said. “Tell the Order what you need help with.”
Dean Reid glanced at me. I tried to look open and nonchalant, but I was curious as fuck. What the hell could Dean Reid want our help for? We hadn’t felt anything lately. Did the superiors actually take our ability to seek out bad magic? Or maybe Dean wasn’t here for that reason at all.
He took a deep breath. He was everything I thought someone would look like when I thought about a kid who was brought up rich. He had confidence, strength, and just a “look”. But there was a hint of vulnerability in his eyes, especially when he started talking. “I come here at risk of exposing a secret my family has had for centuries.”
Centuries. Okay. That got my attention.
“Not only that, I come here at risk of exposing something…unseemly…to the people who could do something about it. But please take into account that I come here on my own volition. You were not drawn to me or called to me as your powers are rumored to do.”
I looked around the room, first noticing Liam. He leaned forward ever so slightly, his eyes merely slits behind his glasses. I could tell he didn’t trust Dean at all, but that he was very interested in what he had to say. Randy was a motionless statue. I wasn’t going to get anything out of him until the threat was gone. He’d open up as soon as Dean left and could relax. Travis, as well, looked nonchalant, but that was basically him. He gave off the “I don’t give a fuck” attitude when it was to your face, but internally, he was processing everything. Gabe and I were the ones that just merely listened, not caring if we portrayed the fact that we were curious because hell, who wouldn’t be? A centuries old secret from one of the oldest families in the area? Was this going to explain how they had books in their possession that dealt with black magic, like the one we were able to get the spell from to take the familiar off Liam? Who just had those kinds of things lying around?
Dean sat up straighter. “There have always been rumors about my family. None that I’ve heard have ever gotten it exactly right. But there are a few things that from the outside seem odd.”
“Like how your family makes so much money.” I said. When he turned to look at me, I shrugged. “Owen said something similar when we met.”
Dean smiled. “Yes, the guards are kept completely in the dark as to what we have. Again, if it was truly bad, you would’ve been cal
led to our house many times.”
That much was true. No one was immune to the Order magic even if they did have a shit ton of money at their disposal. You couldn’t buy your way out of the pull.
“Go on,” Travis said. “We’re aware that if our magic wanted us to come to you, it would’ve already happened.”
Dean nodded. “For over a century now, my family has had a djinn at our disposal.”
I craned my neck back, surprised. I wasn’t exactly sure what a djinn was, but as the surprise ricocheted around the room from the rest of them, I figured out that it was a novelty.
Before I could open my mouth to ask, Travis said, “A genie. You called a genie to you?” Disbelief colored his features.
“Not me,” Dean said, wringing his hands in front of him. “One of my ancestors. He tethered the djinn to us, so that it works exclusively for my family, bringing to us whatever we desire.”
“Like money?” Gabe asked.
Dean nodded once.
“And power?” Liam asked.
Dean wavered. “It’s a little more difficult than that, but yes, essentially, it works that way, too. Through him we were able to enhance the powers we were born with.”
While they all asked questions, I was still stuck on the djinn part. There were real life genies to summon that would do our bidding? And if it wasn’t negative why wasn’t every witch calling a djinn to their side? I’d call one right now and get the second car we desperately needed, so we wouldn’t have to share Travis’s.
Liam noticed the look on my face and held up a finger. He stood from his position on the couch and disappeared up the stairs. Dean looked around, wrinkles marring his forehead, but the rest of us just waited because we knew what he was doing. Well, there were one of two things he was doing. One, getting his laptop, or two, getting one of the Order books.
I turned when I heard his footsteps on the stairs. Sure enough, he held one of the Order volumes in his hands. He sat on the arm rest next to Gabe and thumbed through the index of a book before opening it to the page I needed. On the top was a picture of a djinn. He was a tan figure who looked like an Indian god, but his face was monster-like. Large, razor-like teeth that came to sharp points just over his bottom gums. The eyes were large with small irises, and the hair was just a plume on top. I made a face. “Is that what your djinn looks like?”
Liam tilted the book so Dean could lean over to see it. He smirked. “That might be his true appearance, but he comes to us in human form when we call him. He’s dark-skinned, darker than you, Norah. He almost never wears a shirt. He has large arms, a bald head, and an earring. Picture The Rock, kind of.”
Well, that was easy. I could do that.
“This is their true form,” Liam explained, pointing at the picture. “They come as humans to us because that is what we desire to see.”
I looked up at Dean wondering why his family hadn’t chosen some sexy girl instead of The Rock. That didn’t matter though. “And he’s a genie? Who grants wishes like in Aladdin?”
Dean cracked a smile, but Liam answered my question for what it was, a genuine need for information. “Yes. Except the folklore surrounding genies-slash-djinn now is all wrong. The people who were lucky enough to find a djinn aren’t limited to three wishes. They get a lifetime of wishes.”
“Even over centuries,” Dean admitted. “Our djinn has been with us for that long. We were able to amass massive amounts of riches and power and get everything we desired.”
“How come this kind of magic hasn’t called us to them?” I asked, looking at my coven one-by-one.
Travis spoke up. “They must not be doing anything bad. You know yourself, witchcraft isn’t bad. You can use it for good. Even if it’s self-serving, you’re not going to call attention to yourself. It’s if they start using the djinn for nefarious reasons that we would be called, and then we would have to deal with a nasty genie.”
“But is it really the djinn’s fault if there’s someone or a whole family controlling it?”
Travis pierced Dean with a glare. “That’s a fine line I hope we won’t have to deal with.”
“Me either,” Dean said.
Getting back to the point, Liam shut the book. “So, your family has a djinn. We know why the Reid’s are so big and powerful now, but what’s the reason for you’re coming here?” he asked. “What help do you need from us?”
“It’s the djinn,” Dean explained, the nervousness taking over again. “Last week he disappeared for a while. My father nearly had a heart attack.” He gazed straight into Liam’s eyes. “He’s obsessed with the thing. He’s become so reliant on this thing that he doesn’t think he can do anything on his own. He uses the genie for the smallest of things. Over the years, it’s only gotten worse, and I’m getting scared for him. Scared that he’s descending down a road he can’t come back from. Imagine your life if you had everything handed to you and you didn’t have to do anything for yourself. You would revert back to a child with child-like behavior and wants.”
“Are you here about your dad then?” I asked.
“Both my dad and the djinn. The djinn is pulling away and we can’t figure out why and my dad is—” He broke off, struggling against a surge of emotion, his calm facade cracked. He cleared his throat. “My dad is deteriorating.”
“But he’s not doing anything bad?” Travis asked.
Dean shook his head. “Not yet.”
Liam tapped the book against his thigh. “I don’t know what you want us to do then. We haven’t dealt with djinn before and we don’t deal with people who haven’t done anything bad. If we don’t get the call, we can’t do anything.”
Not to mention that we couldn’t do anything right now anyway because we were forbidden from doing anything with the Order. Dean didn’t need to know that though.
“But you help people,” Dean insisted. “And my family needs help.”
“Yet, you’ve come here alone,” Gabe said, his voice soft. “Would your father disagree that your family needs help?”
“Of course, he would. He doesn’t see his slow degradation into wanting nothing but whatever whim he comes up with next. What happens when he gets the fleeting thought of wanting to hurt someone just because they cut him off on the road or—?” He stopped short. “Or something worse. You already know about our library of black magic books and other things that could be seen as negative. My father has been spending a lot of time down there, especially when the djinn left us. I think he got afraid he wouldn’t be able to do everything he wanted, so he went searching for other solutions. He’s so used to calling on the djinn to do his bidding that he doesn’t even have faith in his given magic anymore.”
“Not to be harsh,” Randy said.
Oh, Jesus. When he started out things like that, it was meant to be harsh.
“But it sounds like your dad needs a therapist, not us.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, there really aren’t magical therapists around and since the problem is strictly magical related, I came to the people who are supposed to keep the balance between good and bad.”
He had a point there.
“What about meetings with a spiritualist?” I asked. What I really meant was meeting with someone like my Granny. She was all about using your innate talents even if the person wasn’t born with an ounce of magical power. I could hear her words now: ‘People have in them whatever they need. They just need to be able to tap into it.’ “Someone like that might be able to help him.”
“The thing is, he doesn’t think he needs any help.”
“Magic is like a drug…” I said, thinking about the poor people from Ren’s magical crack den. They would’ve done anything for just the slightest touch of magic, including giving up their bodies. It made my heart sick…and sad for them. What if I couldn’t use my own magic? I’d like to think I wouldn’t go that low, but the truth was, I’d be devastated. Magic was a part of me, always had been. To miss a big chunk like that…I would suffer.
<
br /> “More than you know,” Dean said. “It’s made worse by the djinn because Dad doesn’t even do the magic for himself anymore. The djinn does it all. I don’t even know if he’d be able to pull on his own magic right now.”
“So, do you want us to get rid of the djinn for you?” Liam asked. “I guess I’m just still trying to decipher what it is that you want from us.”
Dean’s face paled. “I don’t really know either. When the djinn left, my dad started a downward spiral. I’d thought he finally lost it and he’s recovered some since the djinn came back, but there’s a hint of malice there now, as if he wants the genie to suffer for what he put him through. The djinn won’t even tell him where he went.”
“That’s odd,” Travis said. “If it’s your family’s wish to know, wouldn’t he have to tell him?”
Dean nodded. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I came to you guys because it doesn’t seem right. I don’t care that you haven’t gotten the call yet, but something’s not right. My dad has changed, and so has the djinn.” He shivered. “I don’t even like being at home anymore. There’s a veil of shadow everywhere.”
The guys and I all looked at one another. They were like me, so I knew they all wanted to help, but we were also stuck. We weren’t supposed to be getting involved in any Order business, but that was the least of our worries when it came to this case. What were we supposed to do to help when we didn’t even know what was wrong? Mr. Reid certainly didn’t feel like anything was wrong, so where would we even start?
Travis stood. “We’re going to need some time to talk about all this, Dean.”
He stood now too. He shook hands with Travis, holding his hard gaze. “I understand. I’ll wait for your call.”
The rest of us all stood up now while Travis walked him toward the door. They hadn’t even gotten two paces when Dean turned. “Remember who helped you guys out when you needed it. It wasn’t Ren who had the spell for the familiar, it was me. I’m merely only asking for a little something in return.” Without another glance, he walked away. Travis turned, shrugging at us as he showed Dean out.