One Wish Away: Djinn Empire Complete Series

by Ingrid Seymour

  “Go to the light and do away with my enemies!” Akeelah, Gallardo, Robert, and Andy’s voice echoed through the narrow streets in a rich Arabic accent.

  The demon turned, deceitfully sluggish in its physical form.

  “Something’s wrong,” Marielle said through the earpiece. “We have to get out of here. Now!” She’d barely finished saying this when, abruptly, the demon reverted to its natural shape—a mass of dark, roiling force—and charged in our direction.

  My magic flared and so did Zet’s. We slashed openings in the veil and readied ourselves for an escape. In my frantic panic, I remembered Ma’ Gee. I’d volunteered to protect her, if something went wrong. I had to get her out of here, couldn’t leave her behind. The thought made me hesitate for a split second.

  And it was all it took. One second of hesitation, and my escape became an impossibility, a broken dream.

  Lightning fast, the demon’s dark essence fell over me—a thick, immobilizing force that invaded every crevice of my being. I reached for my magic but, like before, it failed me. The demon’s essence was already at work within mine, neutralizing my power. Knowing what was coming, I fought to keep my physical shape this time. If I let the darkness dissolve my body, it would pull me underground a lot faster.

  A mammoth force worked to undo me. The pain was the worst torture I had ever endured. It felt like small knives cleaving my every molecule apart.

  My very soul screamed in agony, begging for release. A dark cloak surrounded me. My eyes went blind, my ears deaf. The world became a frightening field of shadows, and I couldn’t tell where I was anymore. My body was there, still together, if just barely. But I didn’t know if I was still on the pavement or if I’d been pulled into oblivion.

  I fought the desire to let my body fall to pieces. If I just gave in, the pain would end, and it would all be over.

  Then, through the gloom, a voice reached me. My ears were working again and my body seemed to solidify somewhat.

  “Now, I’ll make you wish you could have the human death you so artfully enacted.” It was Akeelah, her tone a mixture of contempt and satisfaction. “First, it will be you. Then, your brother and, finally, whoever else decided to help you in this useless scheme to destroy me.”

  Marielle. Marielle. Marielle.

  I didn’t care what happened to me, but she had to escape this. I tried to reach out, sense her magic—the sweetness and purity of her soul—but I felt nothing.

  I was sinking into darkness again. Akeelah had pulled me out for a moment just to have the last word. Now she’d shoved me back down.

  God, we had tried.

  At least this was one regret—among all the others—I wouldn’t take to the grave. There was a particular one, however, that would accompany for all eternity. It had to do with a promise I held close to my heart.

  That one regret, it was the greatest of all.

  55

  Marielle

  My magic flared with Faris and Zet’s almost in unison. I wasted no time slipping into the Djinn realm and appearing in the bar across the street where we’d left Ma’ Gee. I was supposed to go to some random place of my choice. I knew that was the plan. We had agreed to split up to make it difficult for Akeelah to track us, but I didn’t want to be separated from Faris.

  I found Ma’ Gee slumped on the chair, sweat streaking down her face and darkening the fabric of her headwrap. I pressed a cool hand to her face and let my magic course through her.

  She blinked, took a deep breath and sat up, color returning to her face.

  “We have to get out of here,” I said, my heightened senses waiting for Faris’s magic to flare next to me. He should have been here already. Where was he? My useless heart hammered in my chest.

  “Child?” Ma’ Gee said, taking in my panicked expression.

  Without even acknowledging her, I ran outside and stopped right in front of the bar.

  Faris!

  I turned to stone. He was lying on the pavement, immobile, a thick, dark haze coating him like a cloud of toxic fumes. Akeelah hovered over him, her back to me. She was hunched, leaning over him, seemingly unaware of my presence.

  Time slowed to a crawl. I took in my surroundings. Zet was gone to who knew where, sticking to our plan. Gallardo, Andy and Dad stood off to the side, their lips moving in concert, repeating the same words over and over again, helping Akeelah keep the demon under their command. How they’d stolen it from under our noses was clear.

  It was Gallardo’s fault. The bastard.

  My only consolation was that he’d gotten what he deserved.

  Attention darting back and forth between them and Akeelah, I tried to think of something to do. Nothing came to me.

  Chest pumping, heart racing out of control, I looked back at Faris. The dark haze covering him had grown thicker and, behind it, he seemed . . . diffused, like ice slowly melting to water or a cloud stretching apart in a windstorm.

  I didn’t know what was happening to him, but the terror in his features spurred me into action, unleashing the courage my heart needed.

  With a deep breath, I gathered every last bit of who I was—essence, magic, soul, whatever I’d become—and hurled myself against Akeelah, a comet on a collision course with fate.

  She turned immediately, sensing my presence. I expected her to unleash the brunt of her magic on me, but, instead, she froze in surprise. Her mouth hung open, not even remembering to continue with the spell. It was only for a split second, but it was all I needed.

  We collided. My essence crashed into hers, a weak plume of heat hitting an iceberg. At first, it was like breaking into a million tiny pieces made of pain. Then, I sank and sank and sank. Gasping for air, I clawed and kicked, looking for an escape out of her toxic being. For a moment, I thought this would be it. I would live trapped inside of Akeelah for an eternity, but she hurled me out, getting rid of me with as much disgust as I felt.

  Next I knew, I was on the ground, lying on my back, and she was a few yards away, looking around, trying to regain her bearings as desperately as I was.

  I blinked in a daze, struggled to my feet. Akeelah’s wandering eyes stopped, flashing with fury. Following her gaze, I saw Faris. He was crawling on his stomach, fingers turned to claws as he tried to pull away from the inky mass that was the demon. The muck only covered half of his body now while its other half had climbed the length of Akeelah’s legs instead, devouring her like some sort of flesh eating bacteria.

  She screamed in terror, red shooting from her eyes like laser beams. Leaning back, she lifted her hands and aimed them toward her legs. Her face tightened in concentration. I waited for the magic to burst from the tips of her fingers and blast into the demon.

  Nothing happened.

  She tried again and again and again.

  Still nothing.

  Magic was useless against the creature, I realized.

  A growl escaped her as she bared her throat like a lioness. She shook her head in denial. Her long, white hair whipped to the side and got caught in the black miasma that kept scaling up her legs at a steady pace.

  “Faris!” I ran to his side, my fear of Akeelah gone at the realization that her magic wasn’t working.

  I took one of his hands and pulled, but it was useless. He didn’t move, not one bit. The darkness had climbed further up his torso. He let out an involuntary moan of pain.

  “No, Marielle. Don’t touch me. Get away from here.” He moaned again, his back arching.

  I stood and uselessly shot magic at Faris’s legs, wishing him free. No effect. I’d known it was hopeless, but I had to try something.

  A few feet away Akeelah continued to wage her own battle against the demon, but it seemed as futile as mine and Faris’s.

  “Please, help me, Faris.” I took his hands again and pulled harder, using all the magical and physical strength at my disposal. My efforts were like those of a child trying to pull a tree from the ground.

  “Stop, Marielle. If it touches you—”<
br />
  “Shut up and tell me what to do!” I exclaimed, tears running down my face.

  “There’s nothing you can do.”

  “No. No. No.” I refused to believe that.

  “We don’t have control of the demon anymore,” he said in a strangled voice.

  I stopped pulling.

  No, we didn’t have control of the demon, but neither did Akeelah. She had stopped the spell, relying on her slaves to keep the creature leashed.

  I sprang to my feet, eyes flashing to my father. If he stopped too, what would happen? Would it release Akeelah and Faris? Or would it grow bolder and go after the rest of us? Could Dad even stop if he tried? Would Gallardo and Andy have to do the same?

  My head swelled with all the question. I tore at my hair, a frustrated scream lodged in my throat.

  God, I had no idea what to do.

  I looked at Faris as if he could give me the answers, but the demon had rapidly climbed as far as his chest, and he was too lost in his pain to even look me in the eye.

  “Get it off me,” Akeelah screamed at her slaves, at my father. “Send it back. Now!”

  My gaze locked with Dad’s. He frowned, looking confused, then turned to Gallardo and Andy. The three of them exchanged glances. They were still chanting, keeping control of the demon, but they were certainly not doing what Akeelah had just ordered them to do.

  That answered one of my questions. Akeelah couldn’t command them anymore. And if she couldn’t that meant—

  “Stop. Don’t do anything,” I screamed.

  They couldn’t, shouldn’t listen to her. Akeelah was a monster. Releasing her wasn’t good for anybody, especially them, unless they liked being trapped inside those bottles at the mercy of a maniac. And sending back the demon? Well, they couldn’t do that either—not while Faris was still in its clutches.

  Gallardo took a step toward Andy, gesturing to the hole in the ground. He had an imploring look on his face, as if he expected Andy to refuse, but he didn’t. Instead, he nodded slowly, a crooked grin showing his yellowed teeth. Dad grabbed his head in desperation, his eyes darting from Akeelah to Faris to me.

  “NO!” Akeelah screamed in a strangled voice. The demon’s dark muck had reached her chest, trapping one of her arms. “You must obey. Do as I say!”

  Ignoring her, Gallardo and Andy switched their chant. It was familiar, a version of the dismissing part of the spell that I had learned. Dad hesitated for an instant, then joined in, averting his eyes from mine. He had opted for the greater good. But I cared nothing for it.

  I only cared about Faris.

  “Please, no!” I begged as the demon began retreating, moving back toward the crack in the pavement. I knelt next to Faris and took his hand. He was covered up to his neck now.

  “Leave! Leave while you still can!” he implored.

  I shook my head. “I’m never leaving you.”

  Akeelah let out a horrific howl, twisting and writhing against the dark ooze. “Help me, and I’ll set you free,” she told her slaves. “You can be humans again, or live forever as Djinn. I swear.”

  My gaze shot up and found Gallardo and Andy again. For an instant, I was afraid they would take her up on her offer, but one look at their faces told me they didn’t think much of her promises. They continued chanting, and the demon moved slowly but surely back to where it’d come from.

  Faris’s eyes searched mine. They pleaded for me to leave, but I shook my head.

  “I’m not leaving you,” I repeated, fighting back the sobs that rose in my throat. I wouldn’t cry. I would go with him, and I would be as brave as he was.

  The demon inched closer to its pit, pulling Faris along. I moved with him, my gaze on the roiling darkness that had, by now, captured most of his body. I lifted a hand in its direction and imagined it covering me too, taking me along with Faris.

  “Marielle, stop!” he snapped. “You have to be brave.”

  I blinked and stared back at him.

  “Promise me you’ll be brave. Promise me.”

  Shaking my head, I said, “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Please, Marielle. You have to let go.”

  “No. No.” Tears came again. I couldn’t stop them, no matter how hard I tried.

  “You have to let me go and be brave. I want you to have a happy life. A long, normal life. Promise me, Marielle. Promise me.”

  I couldn’t deny him. I couldn’t say no. “I promise,” I said in a barely perceptible whisper.

  He smiled—a true, genuine smile in spite of the pain—then let go of my hands.

  Becoming undo from the inside, I knelt there, watching the demon gradually pull him away. Akeelah’s shouts and struggle echoed somewhere in the back of my mind. She couldn’t be banished fast enough, except—

  Except it meant Faris would be gone, too.

  I shook all over, denial gripping me, clouding my thoughts.

  How could I sit here doing nothing? I didn’t want to live without him. I didn’t want to keep the promise he’d extorted out of me.

  He hadn’t kept his, after all.

  Legs trembling, I got to my feet.

  “Marielle,” my name, a warning from Faris’s lips.

  I didn’t look at him. If I did, I would fall to my knees again, and I would keep a promise I’d rather ignore.

  The demon had dragged them halfway into the hole already. Akeelah was swearing, screaming, growling, her free hand clawing the pavement. The crack began to close with a rumbling sound that grated at my soul.

  Gathering myself, magic roiling, spiraling into itself, I set my sight on Gallardo, Andy and Dad. They stood side by side, close enough that I could easily get all three of them in one violent strike.

  There was no other choice. I wouldn’t let Faris go. Not for all of the world. If the demon got free, so would Akeelah, and we would be back to chaos. But chaos with Faris was better than a life of peace and . . . emptiness. Most likely, the creature would just snatch us all, and that was fine by me, too. I just couldn’t stand here doing nothing.

  Ready for either fate, I set my aim and, without hesitation, catapulted myself toward the three half-Djinn—a silent apology for Dad, hanging from my lips. He had chosen the world, but I would always choose Faris.

  With a blinding explosion of energy, I crashed against them.

  As I made impact, I wished for gags on their mouths and concrete down their throats. For a moment, I tumbled and tumbled, my essence mingling with theirs. Repelled by the foul natures of those I would always consider my enemies, I hurried to gather myself.

  Instinctively, I tried to morph into my physical shape, but a strange force fought against me, pulling me in different directions. With great effort, I came into my body, gasping.

  “Oh, God!” the words escaped my lips of their own accord.

  Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw before me.

  56

  Marielle

  The day had turned to night.

  Dark. Bleeding. Monstrous.

  The air before me seemed to run down like ink on a wall. A low throb vibrated through the ground, rising into my body like an earthquake. A horrible, dead smell clogged my lungs. The sun which had been bright and high in the sky was a diffused, round ball of weak light. The buildings beyond were distant mirages that might have once been real.

  Desperately, my gaze darted around, trying to find Faris and decipher my surroundings. I found Gallardo and Andy. They lay a few feet away from me, their legs completely black, trapped deep in the demon’s muck, the rest of their bodies shadowed under the cloak that covered everything else. Dad had fallen further away and was, at least, free of the demon. He lay immobile, staring blankly into the darkness. Thinking only of his wellbeing, I sent him away, wishing for his safety and inability to return here. He disappeared and, to my relief, didn’t come back.

  Gallardo fought wildly, but all he managed was to sink deeper into the demon. Andy sat strangely still, his gaze intent on his master who w
as barely more than a head and an arm, a short distance away from him. Her agonizing cries pierced through it all, so incensed they drowned out every other sound. She was a coward who had never contemplated death and now, faced with it, found it terrifying beyond anything she could have imagined.

  For a moment, I couldn’t find Faris, and I felt my heart split in two. Then I spotted him. His dark silky hair swallowed by the muck already, only his face and one arm visible anymore. He was looking at me, disappointment and deep sorrow etched in his expressive eyes. His gaze moved to my legs. A tear glimmered in the corner of his eye.

  I looked down at myself and found blackness creeping up my thighs. It was moving quickly—nothing like the slow, controlled crawl of just three seconds ago.

  In fact, the darkness and shadows that had spread like a haze over everything were quickly coalescing back toward a common center.

  My gaze lifted back to Faris’s.

  “Why?” he mouthed.

  I shrugged. Looked at Gallardo and Andy as if they could explain my actions. They wouldn’t go free now. They would die too, getting exactly what they deserved. That was a good thing. The fact that it meant I would share the same fate was a small side effect.

  Without Faris, there was little left for me to live for. Dad would understand. This wasn’t the first time I had given everything up for this fierce love that had taken over my entire heart.

  I should have regretted breaking my promise, but I didn’t. I was ready to go with him, to dissolve into this creature where at least part of me would be with Faris. I tried not to think of Akeelah, Gallardo, Andy, and the demon itself as part of the mix. They didn’t matter.

  Only this moment mattered. This last instant with his gaze locked with mine.

  His eyes softened then—no more disappointment or sorrow, just understanding. He would have done the same, if the roles were reversed. It was no tragedy. Neither one of us had to live without the other. That would have been the tragedy, the endless heartache.

  The rest of the world disappeared. There was only Faris, and his tender eyes full of love. Nothing more. Nothing less.