Magical Redemption

by Nicola E. Sheridan

  Jinx held her breath.

  “I…wish…you...”

  “No,” Jinx shrieked. She didn’t want him to wish her free, now! She didn’t want them both to die. Was he giving up? After all they’d been through? Surely, they could find a way?

  “No,” she screamed, but Lucian didn’t stop.

  “I wish…you…could…could…kill these sons of bitches.”

  There was an almighty explosion of magic. Inestimable power filled Jinx with a rush of magic.

  Devika suddenly appeared. “Hasss he taken the wisssh?” she hissed. Her eyes widened as she saw Jinx.

  Jinx did not wait for an invitation as the fates were finally on her side. She swathed them in a cloak of cloying magic, protecting Lucian from any further damage. The Pater Rex didn’t seem to notice and was contorting like a dying spider. Devika remained strong, almost impervious to the crushing pressure of her magic.

  Then, Jinx knew what she had to do. She couldn’t do it alone. Even with the power of the wish behind her, this was going to be a two-man or two-woman job.

  Jinx took a deep breath. Allowing the power of the wish to rise again, she summoned the one person who might be able to help.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Antigone appeared with a terrified shriek in a maelstrom of magic.

  Dressed in a flowing dress and rainbow scarf wrapped around her hair, she looked like an angel, albeit a rather alarmed one.

  “What’s going on?” she squeaked. Her sandal-clad feet slipped on the copious blood. She stared in horror at the captured Pater Rex and Devika and instantly narrowed her eyes.

  There was no time for idle chit-chat. Jinx didn’t know how long the power of the wish would linger.

  “Take her soul and push it into the gnome’s body, Antigone. Please,” she cried.

  Antigone spun and stared at Jinx.

  “Jinx?” She suddenly saw the bloody hunk of meat that was Lucian. “Oh, my God!” She clutched her swollen belly.

  “Please!” Jinx’s tears ran fast and thick.

  Antigone turned back to face the gnome and naga. Devika hissed and bared her blackened mouth.

  “Don’t you dare, Nephilim,” she hissed, lashing her massive tail.

  “Oh, I dare, bitch,” Antigone snarled back.

  It was clear to Jinx that Antigone and Devika had unfinished business. “I’ll hold her still while you take her soul,” Jinx grunted, struggling to magically hold Devika immobile.

  “Jussst try!” From within the confines of Jinx’s smoky magic, Devika lashed and squirmed like the angry snake she was.

  Jinx doubled her efforts, forcing her magic to constrict and bind. She felt the wish’s magic as an extension of her own body but inestimably stronger. She always knew the power of a genie’s wish was strong but never truly felt it until now. Yet, as strong as her magic was, Devika fought it bitterly with the magic stolen from her husband. Jinx threw a glance at the Pater Rex. The poison lines were now crawling up his neck and onto his face. He groaned and frothed at the mouth. A small jolt of sympathy spiked through her, but she crushed it with a furious glance toward Lucian and tried, again. Antigone hesitated on the very edges of her magic and tried to reach forward. Having never seen a Nephilim take a soul, Jinx wasn’t sure what to expect.

  Lucian groaned behind her. Jinx squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remove the image of his injuries from her mind. He coughed. It sounded dreadful, but she heard him reiterate the words of the wish. Her power increased instantly. She imagined the magic as an extension of her own hands and gripped Devika by the shoulders to still her mad swishing. Miraculously, Devika remained still. She hissed wildly and flicked her fangs downward. Enormous drips of venom beaded at their sharp tips.

  “Go, Antigone,” Jinx grunted, battling to control the naga. Devika screamed and thrashed her head wildly in a tangle of russet hair.

  “No,” Devika hissed. Standing a little away from the dangerously twisting naga, Antigone gingerly reached forward. She curled her beautifully manicured fingers and firmly tugged something backward. Instantly, Devika slumped, and Jinx released the spell.

  “You’ve got it?” Jinx said, trying to quell the hysterical beat of her heart.

  “Yes, it’s a good thing you can’t see the hideous, slimy thing,” Antigone said. She walked a few steps toward Jinx, her fist still tightly clenched. “You really want me to put her into the Pater Rex?” Antigone was unsure. “He’s dying.”

  Jinx nodded firmly.

  “Lucian has wished her dead. It’s a fitting end, don’t you think?”

  Antigone stared at her and then at the lump that was Lucian. Pity creased her pretty face.

  “Okay,” Antigone said, her eyes widening as Jinx laid her hand gently over her clenched fist

  “We’ll do it together,” Jinx murmured and allowed Antigone to guide their hands to the body of the Pater Rex.

  “No,” the Pater Rex babbled through foamy lips. “No!”

  “Ignore him,” Jinx whispered and urged Antigone’s hand further.

  After a second, with a gasp and a jerk, Antigone released her grip and then sagged.

  The Pater Rex began crying, mumbling, and flailing wildly. His little leather-shod foot smacked into Antigone’s knee. She cried out and scooted backward on her backside through the mess of Lucian’s blood.

  It was unfortunate that at that exact moment Omar appeared, shaking with fury.

  * * * *

  “Antigone,” Omar bellowed, his voice reverberating so loudly that a confused human below the box looked startled and hurried away.

  “Omar, it’s all right,” Antigone said and as gracefully as she could manage, stood up and clasped his hand. Omar looked around the box. He widened his eyes at the sight of Devika’s motionless body and the twitching, wretched Pater Rex, who was now streaked completely with naga venom.

  “What’s going on?” His voice faltered as he saw Lucian. “Is…that…” He paused. Jinx watched him roam his black-eyed gaze over Lucian’s mutilated body and settle on the dull, ruby horns that were now blistered and blackened. “Is that Lucian?”

  Jinx felt her throat constrict. She sunk down next to him

  “Come on, Antigone.” Omar’s voice was brusque but soft. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The Pater Rex’s body was now in its death throes, just like the pelesit’s earlier. Within a moment, the little body’s jerks softened, then gave a few remnant twitches before stilling.

  It was over…almost. Jinx found Lucian’s remaining hand and gripped it tightly. He was still warm, but his breath was shallow and rattling. His opaque eyes were glazed and distant. She didn’t know if anything of him lingered behind them.

  “Omar, I can’t leave her,” Antigone said. Jinx didn’t care. She focused and urged her magic into Lucian’s ruined body, but her power was so weakened now, she only managed to heal one cut on his leg. After all, he was no longer her master.

  “She dragged you and my child here and put you both in mortal peril. You owe her nothing,” Omar rebuked.

  “If she feels for him like I feel for you, I can’t leave her. Remember what I did for you?”

  Omar didn’t respond for a moment.

  “What do you want to do, then?” he finally asked.

  “Take them back to the Free Zone and help them. I can free Jinx from the lamp.”

  Jinx jerked her head up and looked at them, confused.

  “You could?”

  “With your true lamp, I know I can.” Antigone smiled.

  “But…Lucian…” Jinx felt her voice fade. How could she ever heal this much damage on her own? She couldn’t leave him like this.

  Although it looked like it hurt to say it, Omar spoke. “I can help you heal him, if Antigone wants me to.”

 
; “Of course I do.” Antigone looked up him. “Can you get us all out of here?”

  “Of course I can,” Omar replied, clearly affronted by the question.

  “Well?” Antigone put her hands on her hips but the effect was lost somewhere in the bloody dress and pregnant belly.

  Omar gave a reluctant smile and moved over toward Lucian. He gently laid a hand on his horn and ushered Jinx over. Weary as she was, Jinx shuffled closer, keeping one hand on Lucian and the other on her lamp. Then after one deep breath, she allowed the tickling of Omar’s motus spell to whisk them away from the horrid box forever.

  * * * *

  Antigone was true to her word. Over a series of hours that turned into days, she slowly extricated Jinx’s soul from the lamp.

  “I’m nearly there.” She gritted her teeth as Jinx waited numbly. Apparently, freeing Omar from the genie curse was remarkably easy; Jinx was proving somewhat more difficult.

  If Antigone didn’t manage to free the portion of soul trapped in the lamp and place it back within her, she’d end up being Antigone’s genie completely. The moment Antigone touched the lamp to begin the extraction, Jinx felt the genie-master bond explode into existence. Despite the fact that with her own magician husband, Antigone had no need for any wishes, she demanded two.

  As Jinx waited for Antigone to continue, she remembered the moment.

  * * * *

  Antigone’s first wish surprised everyone. She wished to heal Lucian.

  He was a mess, and even with Omar’s assistance, all they managed to heal were his sight and a few of the more minor lacerations. His face was a bubbled mess of burns, and the stump of his arm was still bloody and raw. He could barely speak for the pain.

  “I wish you could heal him completely,” Antigone muttered casually as she walked into the room where Omar and Jinx spent the hours nursing him. Jinx had instantly stiffened, and Omar let out a loud laugh. Within an instant, Jinx felt filled with magic and poured it into Lucian’s stricken body. Miraculously, his body knitted and healed, sewing itself together with perfect precision.

  A little over an hour later, he lay healed but tired on the bed. His ruby horns retracted, and his eyes returned to their steady brown. His complexion was once again a gorgeous honey-maple.

  “Oh, Antigone,” Jinx cried. “Thank you.” She threw herself into Lucian’s arms. He caught her and squeezed her so tightly, she thought she might pass out with the sheer joy of feeling his arms around her, again. He smiled, revealing his wolfish teeth.

  “Thank you.” He looked up and caught the gaze of Omar and Antigone. “I mean it.”

  “Yes, well.” Antigone began twiddling the diamond ring on her finger. She looked at them with compassion. “I’ve decided I rather like this wish-taking business, and have another I would like to take.”

  Omar frowned and looked at her, clearly unsure of what she was up to.

  Antigone ignored his looks of concern and stared down at Lucian, who still lay in the bed, albeit with Jinx wrapped firmly in his arms.

  Antigone twisted her lips into a smile as the gold flecks in her blue eyes twinkled. “Well, Lucian. As I well know, being intimate with you has some pretty serious side effects.”

  Omar gritted his teeth audibly. Lucian tightened his arms around Jinx.

  Antigone looked suddenly sober. “My second wish therefore is that I am no longer affected by Lucian’s incubi powers.” She smiled a cheesy grin at her husband.

  Jinx’s breath left her body in a whoosh of surprise as the room exploded in magic.

  For a second, Antigone slumped and looked winded.

  There was a moment of nothing.

  Lucian took his hands away from Jinx’s waist, and she suddenly felt cold. She saw him look at Antigone. A breath hitched in the broad expanse of his chest. Jinx suddenly felt left out. “I think it worked,” he said softly and rubbed his cheeks in disbelief. Dare she think it? Disappointment?

  “Say something, and let’s try it,” Antigone whispered. She looked as uncomfortable Jinx felt. She stood and turned to face Lucian.

  For a second, amusement and something suggestive flashed over his face. “I could ask you to crawl.” He smirked.

  There was a low, threatening growl from the door. Omar glared in at them.

  “Or you could sing me a song,” Lucian said dryly.

  Antigone looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

  A long, languid moment ticked by.

  Antigone waited and then laughed. “I don’t think so.”

  Lucian looked puzzled for a moment and then quietly bemused. He arched a handsome eyebrow at Jinx.

  “It worked!” Antigone jumped up delightedly. Ignoring the both of them, she rushed toward Omar as fast as her body would allow and hugged him.

  Jinx couldn’t help a sad, bitter sensation from rising deep within her.

  * * * *

  “Do you mind, Lucian?” Antigone hissed several days later as he hovered nervously behind them.

  Sweat beaded on Antigone’s brow. Jinx’s lamp trembled in her exhausted hand. Removing her curse was nearly complete.

  Jinx turned and faced Lucian. His face was guarded. A lock of brown hair fell down, obscuring one of his eyes. He looked so sexy, so handsome, so…everything. Her body ached.

  Lucian sensed it and gently shook his head.

  He hadn’t touched her since Antigone wished herself free of his powers. He denied Jinx his body, because he didn’t want her any more tied to him than she already was. He made it abundantly clear he would never sleep with her again, or even so much as share a touch.

  “Lucian,” Jinx whispered and reached a hand out to him. He instinctively reached forward to grasp it, but when he got close enough to touch, he let it fall.

  “Yasmina,” he murmured, his eyes deep and soulful. “I don’t want to control you, anymore. What we have is no foundation for a normal relationship.”

  “I don’t care. I love you,” Jinx said, feeling raw. “You control my heart whether you control my body or not. I want to be with you…desperately.”

  “Whoa,” Antigone murmured. She scratched her head, her concentration lost.

  “I know that, Jinx. I feel it,” Lucian replied.

  “Let me say again…whoa,” Antigone said. A faint blush dusted her cheeks.

  Jinx glanced at her. “I know. Sorry. I sound like a broken record. I get it.” She looked past Lucian. “I just wish…” She knew how ridiculous it sounded. A genie wishing for something was positively insane. Then again, after what they’d been through in the past few weeks, maybe she had gone mad. Hell, she probably even deserved to.

  Lucian’s brow creased. He held her gaze steadily. Emotion burned in his eyes as he walked on the cusp of turning demonic–Jinx knew it. The knowledge he could never have her in equitable, honest love was killing him more than he wanted to admit. The red facet flashed in his eyes as he deepened his frown.

  Jinx longed to touch him. She reached out her hand to him, again.

  “I just wish I could be with you, as we should be,” Jinx whispered for him. She knew it was what he wanted, because she wanted it even more. Lucian looked at her hand and reluctantly wrapped his fingers around it, cocooning it in a way he’d refused to cocoon her body, again.

  Antigone growled in frustration. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she muttered, her British accent clipped. “I bloody wish you could, too. I’ve had enough of seeing Lucian skulk around the house, avoiding your advances like an absurd parody of himself.”

  Lucian and Jinx had stopped listening.

  The last wish.

  Jinx’s magic filled the room like a rainbow-hued tornado. She cried out in surprise. She felt full, impossibly full. Magic filled her pores and stuffed its way down her nose and throat. She gasped, unable to get enough air.
Through her wide, terrified eyes, she saw Lucian sink to the ground and clutching the region of his heart. He took his hand from hers.

  For an endless moment, Jinx drowned in the suffocating surges of magic.

  When the magic settled, Antigone laughed in amazement. Jinx’s lamp fell from her hand. “If I’m not mistaken, Jinx, I think you’re free.” Antigone shook her head in wonder.

  As Jinx’s breath returned, tears stung her eyes. Antigone’s last, seemingly flippant wish had given her freedom and Lucian the ability to love her without demonic impediment.

  “Oh, my God.” Jinx stared down at her lamp. No magic, no soul lingered there. “Lucian!”

  Lucian stood shakily. His eyes were wide, and it was clear he felt the change as acutely as she did.

  Jinx flew into his arms with a wild squeal, practically crawling up his torso to kiss his lips.

  When their lips met, there was no pulse of demonic power, nothing but the raw need and love they felt for one another.

  There was a cough behind them, and then another. They both ignored it.

  “Well,” Antigone murmured as she moved to exit the room. She coughed, again. “Don’t mind me.”

  They didn’t.

  Epilogue

  Yasmina looked up at the tall, handsome man, whose hand gripped hers so tightly. He looked good enough to eat. In fact, later this evening, she might even treat him–but for now, they were shopping.

  “Do you think Hakim would like this?” she asked, fondling the latest whizz-bang computer-whatzit as the rest of the shop buzzed around them.

  Lucian accepted the gadget with his strong hands. Yasmina found herself riveted to it. It was a miracle the hand still existed at all. “I’m sure he would,” Lucian said smoothly, his smoky brown eyes lingering on her. An inscrutable smile played on his lips.

  As they made their way through the heaving throngs of people toward the exit, Lucian stopped and kissed Yasmina on her long, beaked nose.