His eyes glinted. “And you said you gave that freely.”
I felt Gideon’s stare drill into the back of my head. “Was the cut his fault?”
“Nope. He helped fix it. More details later, bro.” I applied the potion to Cendric’s wrists and neck with deft gestures, then handed it back to Gideon. Worry filled his expression, and I flashed him a smile. “It’ll be all right.”
Everyone exited the sports car, which was parked right next to Theiya’s. We were one block away from the country club, tucked right next to a few dumpsters locked behind a chain-link cage. Above the dumpster, a raven circled, then landed.
I glanced at Cendric. “Edgar?”
The vampire sighed. “He does enjoy sifting through refuse.”
Jack’s nose wrinkled. “Blood, feces, terror, week-old tiramisu—great location.”
“Yeah, but the evil smells are on purpose. It should block everything from our cars. A lot of the vampires around here have shifter senses,” Gideon said.
“I wasn’t being sarcastic. I was just thinking about making you soak my entire car in one of your special cleaning liquids after this is over.”
“I also request this.” Theiya walked over from her car to join us, the disgust clear on her face.
“Right now, all I have is this.” Gideon handed her the potion bottle and went over the instructions briefly. After applying it, Theiya shared a glance with Jack, who nodded shortly. Theiya stepped toward me, holding out her right hand. “I have a few essential items as well.”
In her palm lay two shiny silver seeds with tiny vines emerging from one end.
I blinked. “Earvines?”
“We need to be able to stay in contact with you and Gideon. Cendric already has one, I believe.” He nodded. “This is the most efficient way.”
“Yeah, but they never come out, and with my curse-mark—” I paused. There was no more curse-mark. There were only the tattoos from Cendric’s intervention. Tattoos that told the story of breaking both of my curses, at great personal cost, and somehow binding us in a way that Gideon could detect. Tattoos of community, not of separation.
And now, after so long, I was being invited into the magical world. My chest swelled, and I swallowed hard. No getting sappy now.
Focus on the earvines, Allis. I reached out and took one from Theiya’s hand, and Gideon took the other. We shared a look, understanding each other without words, the way we’d learned to do over years of only relying on each other. We’d made it.
I closed my hand around the earvine. “When this goes in, it never comes out, right?”
Jack laughed. “Who told you that?”
“You did.”
“Oh.” She scratched her head. “I was messing with you. Didn’t want you to feel like you were missing out.” Jack turned to show hers, curled up almost imperceptibly behind her ear. “It hurts a little if you take it out. Or it could hurt a lot. But it’s fine.”
I looked at the earvine and smiled. “Let’s do this.”
A quick press behind my ear, a tickling sensation as it magically tied into my auditory canal, and I was locked in to the standard magical communication device. I glanced at Gideon, and he gave me the okay sign.
Time to test it. I tapped it and sent my magic out to Matthias.
“Allis? Is this really you? I sensed your magic, but I didn’t think you had an earvine.”
“Yup, it’s me. Just checking out my new tech. Everything good?”
“Yeah. Just sharpening a few throwing knives and testing out a new scone recipe. And there’s a television special on about how to find a better elementary school.”
I paused for a second, putting all that together. “Okay then. Sounds like you have everything under control.”
Another tap and the area around me came back into focus. Jack was smirking. “Is he sharpening knives again?”
“And looking into elementary schools.”
She scowled. “I already told him I wanted the one on Eartsten Street. They have the best liability clause if your kids shift during classes.”
Theiya shook her head. “I still think you should keep them at home—”
“No dice. There are two of them. They need fresh air, and I need to feel a little less outnumbered.”
“But Matthias—”
“Helps when he can. I don’t ask anything of him except as a friend.”
And he was completely into her and hiding it. But that was still not my business.
Gideon gestured in the general direction of the country club. “If you’re done, there is a deadly mission.”
My heart sank. I was hoping to stall a little longer. I still had no idea how my magic was going to stop Neil. And Cendric’s belief in the intuitive aspects of Jinn magic made me feel zero percent better.
I hoped zero percent was a percent.
“Right.” I squared my shoulders and headed down the street. “Come on, Cid.”
Maybe if I walked fast enough, everything would be over a lot quicker.
Even now, I could sense him behind me, somehow tied to me, and I to him, at an essential level. His blood rushed through my veins, and a piece of me was tied to the gray desert of his soul.
Warmth filled me, but I shoved it away. After the evil vampire was gone, I could focus on the not-evil one. I glanced over at Cendric keeping pace beside me, striding confidently, his expression focused and his duster hanging just right around his tall form.
The evil vampire couldn’t be gone soon enough.
Chapter 21
The country club was completely empty. From the expansive, floral arrangement-intensive lobby to the cutesy café area with brown and gold booths to the neatly-organized supply cabinets, the place was a tomb of perfection. Even the cream-colored bathrooms were spotless, and white does not clean that easily.
This was ridiculous. Not a scent or trace of anyone, anywhere.
I rubbed my forehead and leaned back against the front desk that spanned the left side of the main lobby. Cendric stood next to me, rolling his shoulders back, while Jack paced the floor and Theiya pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
I looked up at Cendric. “Cid, are you sure your intel was right?”
“Yes. I trust Ventner.” He sighed. “It should be here somewhere. The traces of Halverson’s blood magic clearly indicated this area of space. No other.”
“Hmph.” Jack turned and kept pacing. I was tempted to join her, but I felt like I needed to be near Cendric. Moreover, I flat-out wanted to be near him. Now I understood Jack’s devotion to her guy, a bit.
“We’ve already checked the basement and the attic,” I muttered.
“Yes, Allis, we have.” Theiya’s voice was terse, and her head moved sharply as she turned to glare at me. “Cease being redundant.”
I shrugged. “Just trying to get all the facts out there.”
“Please do so more quietly.”
“Whatever.”
My mind spun with thoughts. Halverson outside of Rivermont park with his henchmen, laughing after I’d shot him. Halverson in the nyctophage, strutting around proclaiming I would bow before him and do his bidding.
Hmmm, nyctophage.
“Do you think he could have moved the entire meeting into the magisphere?” I directed the idea toward Cendric to avoid another cranky outburst from Theiya. “Fae do that occasionally.”
“It’s possible. Although we should have been able to detect it.”
“You can do that?”
He nodded. “You’ve never been inside the magisphere, have you? I remember you telling me that.”
“Nope. Absolutely forbidden to enter it, lest I taint it with my Jinn blood.”
“Closer to the point, the Jinn Lady Malda would throw a fit at a rival in the magical dimension,” Theiya put in.
“Good to know.” Hmm, maybe there was more to Kiran dating me to piss off his mother than I realized. Another thought to consider later. I turned back to the problem. “What about a nyctoph
age?”
“What about it? It’s used to quell magic use.”
“Yes, but it could be used for other things, right?” My mind began to spin. “What about if they are meeting inside a room inside the nyctophage?”
He frowned. “Who would agree to that? No one would be able to use their magic. Corrupt people prefer to keep their power when around other corrupt people.”
“Agreed,” Theiya said.
“Yes, but what if the actual meeting room blocked the effects of the nyctophage? It’s possible to do that, right?”
The detective nodded slowly. “Highly improbable, but there are magical objects that could be used to do such a thing.”
“Okay then…”
“But they’re only in the hands of the Fae court and the light elves.”
“Maybe some of them are in league with Neil. Maybe he managed to grab some of their bodies for his vampires.”
She narrowed her eyes. “If that is the case, it is a much higher conspiracy than we thought. Halverson would be killed on sight for such actions, as would any vampire who collaborated with him.”
“Well, we’d already acknowledged that death would likely be the answer for these crimes.”
“Indeed. I’ll make a note to investigate the usual suspects for betrayal among the court.”
Cendric touched my arm lightly, just enough to get my attention, yet it still sent heat through me. “Allis, how would we be able to sense the nyctophage? It’s designed to exist invisibly within the magisphere.”
“I can do it. I got us out of it before. I think I could get us inside this one.” I pressed my lips together. “I just need to drop my shields and let my Jinn magic see what’s really out there.”
Jack paused her pacing long enough to clap her hands excitedly. “Let’s do this!”
Cendric’s face turned sober, and understanding flickered in his eyes. Probably remembering our conversation in the car. The beginning, where I mentioned being overwhelmed by too much stimulus. The country club wasn’t too bad. But diving into my magic would be worse. “Just do it quickly.”
“No, I was thinking about dragging my feet.”
He muttered some words. I didn’t know the language—and yet I did. He was asking me to be safe.
I smiled a little. “I will.”
Dropping my shields was all too easy. They were paper-thin as it was, nearly insubstantial against the torrent of sensory information from my surroundings. The sight, sound, smell, and texture of each object assaulted my mind as soon as I looked at it, filling me with endless ways to alter and manipulate it.
I could do anything. No one could stop me.
I could bring this entire building down and send it blowing away into the wind.
With just a little extra push, I could do the same for every person. Every living thing. Even my teammates.
My stomach roiled, and I shoved the thought away. I was using this for good. No destroying.
Not right now.
Cendric’s voice whispered to me, “Center yourself. Go slowly. Carefully.”
“Got it.”
I cleared my vision, trying to see past the layers of information. Peeling off one layer, then another. Clearing away the molecules, the feel of Jack’s foxshifter magic and Theiya’s brilliant light magic. However, Cendric’s blood magic remained, coiled around me, as if were part of my own soul.
One layer clear. One more.
Soon all that remained was the gaping black hole of the nyctophage. It loomed in my vision, a wall of stark nothingness coming from the left side of the country club where the auditorium was.
“Follow me.”
I ran toward the magical force, down the white-paneled hallway, my sneakers squeaking on the floor. The others kept pace easily. Of course they did. I was in decent shape, but I definitely didn’t keep up with Theiya’s relentless martial arts training or Jack’s frenetic running. Why bother when I could just teleport?
A thick mire of nyctophage loomed ahead, covering the wall from top to bottom. I slowed to a stop and stepped toward it. Stretching out my right arm, I flung it through the field. It was much thicker than the one that had entrapped Cendric and me. The nothingness magic coiled around my forearm like a snake, trying to constrict the life out of me. My Jinn magic rose up, flickering around my arm in blue, glowing flames. If this thing thought it was gonna push me around, it had another thing coming.
“What’s up, Allis?” Jack asked.
“All good. It’s just a little feisty.” I shoved another pulse of magic against the nyctophage, teasing it like a bull I was avoiding in a field. “Okay, I’m going to push it back and open a portal inside. Run in, all of you. I’ll be the last to go through.”
“Got it.”
Theiya’s voice broke in. “Have you ever opened a portal?”
“Nope.”
“Can you replicate it and allow me to leave when I need to?”
“I have no idea.”
Cendric’s voice broke in. “Just listen to your Jinn magic. It makes impossible things possible.”
As long as destiny didn’t kick back. But that was a risk I’d have to take. I channeled a flood of magic into the area around my forearm. My skin prickled with the pressure of chaos and release, death and life, and the whirling eddies of the universe.
“Get ready in one.”
If a wall could snarl, the nyctophage definitely would. The dark nothingness turned into teeth around my arm, tearing into the accumulated magic. I bared my teeth and shoved back.
“Two.”
Another jolt of magic into the field. I held my breath and stared at the wall, picturing a square hole carved into the middle of it, one large enough for four people to get through.
“Three!”
I pushed out with my hands into the nyctophage and created the square, holding the vicious magic at bay. “Go!”
Theiya and Jack ran through, but Cendric remained behind, shaking his head. “Cid, destroying things is easy, but keeping them at bay? Way harder. Get through.”
“I’ll go through with you.”
“Why is that necessary?”
He grabbed my left hand and traced a finger over the scar on my arm with blood roses and flames. “Because this matters.”
“Still not arguing with you.” I couldn’t. My body was shaking from the effort of maintaining the line between destruction and creation.
“Good. Come on!”
The vampire pulled me through the door. The nyctophage closed behind me like a slurping animal eager to eat up more space. I was pretty sure that thing was pissed at me. I sighed. The feeling was completely mutual.
Cendric studied me, still clutching my hand. I sensed his concern.
“I’m always fine, Cid.” I flashed him a smile.
“Liar.”
“Birdbrain.”
He mock-glared at me, then his face turned businesslike. We strode down the hallway, which was covered with vines and creepy winking lights. Up ahead, Theiya and Jack were peering into the auditorium, keeping tucked into the shadows of the hallway. Their faces were drawn and wary.
Once I peeked inside, I knew why.
The auditorium was packed with Fae. Every race, from dwarves to light elves to iron elves to water elves to every kind of shifter. All styles of clothing, all walks of life, from sigils that marked them as high-level Fae to the rough-hewn clothing of slaves.
I glanced over at Cendric. “All vampires?”
“Every last one of them,” he whispered, expression grave.
The chairs in the auditorium grew out of the wooden floor in single pieces. Green, deep purple, and dark red vines dangled from the rafters, glowing with inset lights. At the front of the room, Neil Halverson stood on a raised dais, leaning over a wooden podium. He still rocked the khakis and polo shirt fashion, this one royal blue, with those same loafers.
“—make sure that everyone is blending in. Use the blood magic blocking drugs, and if you are ever caught, make
sure to activate your clean sweep energy so there will be no vampiric traces on the body.” He sighed deeply, as if giving them terrible news. “I know, it’s terrible to have to hide our magnificence, but it will only be for a little while longer. Once enough of us are in positions of power, we will succeed. Keep that in mind when you have to face a difficult situation, or if you have to kill and hide someone who knew your host too intimately to trick.”
A freaking empowerment session for body-snatching, deadwalker vampires? Great.
Theiya tapped her ear once, recording more of Neil’s pep talk. As a high-level light elf, she could use her earvine to record what she heard when she chose.
She tapped her ear again, muttering a string of curses. “I got enough.”
“I’ll open the portal,” I replied.
Just then, Neil’s voice took on a triumphant tone.
“And now, it seems that our final guests have arrived. Allisandra Evanenko Mahdi Al-Maram, please come up to the stage.”
Chapter 22
I needed to run.
Forever.
Neil grinned another too-white smile, his fangs gleaming in the light. His desires were clear: me on a platter, served up for whatever sordid plan he had in mind. “Come now, Allisandra. I’m assuming Cendric is here as well, since you two are attached at the hip. I doubt he would leave your side. Can’t lose another mate, now, can he?”
I could hear Cendric’s teeth grinding. I couldn’t blame him. My brain was still repeating the “m” word. It was real. Reassuring. But still weird. I swallowed hard, trying ignore the butterflies and machine gun bullets in my stomach. I couldn’t take any of that right now.
I needed to run.
Yet, I couldn’t. Halverson had only mentioned me and Cendric. He hadn’t noticed Theiya and Jack, hopefully thanks to Gideon’s perfume. I couldn’t get them out, not without touching the nyctophage wall. But I could create a distraction so they would be safe.
It was the least I could do.
I didn’t dare look at them, lest it draw the attention of others. “Keep Gideon safe. No matter what. Cid, you’re with me.
If Wishes Were Curses Page 20