Her Warriors' Three Wishes (Dante's Circle)

by Ryan, Carrie Ann

  “The djinns have the ability to bestow three wishes on those they love,” Ambrose began, and Balin’s heart beat in his ears.

  He bit his tongue so he wouldn’t interrupt.

  Jamie slid off his lap and put her hands on her hips. “Then tell me what do to. I’m not going to let him die.”

  Ambrose gave a small smile, and Balin stood so he could wrap his arms around her.

  “From what I know, which isn’t much, you will have to use that aura, the smoke you saw before surrounding you.” At her nod, Ambrose continued. “You’ll use that to surround the person you love and make your wish.”

  Jamie nodded and pulled from his hold. “Okay then. Let’s get started.”

  Ambrose shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”

  “Of course it isn’t,” she complained and wrapped her arms around her middle.

  “You only get three, Jamie. Just three. Then you can’t use your magic to make drastic changes. I know you don’t understand what it is you can do exactly, but we’ll find out. Djinn can use their powers to protect and harm, much like a witch’s power. You’ll be stronger, faster, and more in tune with the world around you. You’ll also be able to use your magic like a weapon once you’re trained. You’ll be able to use it for other things that don’t require your aura, but other than that, you’ll be powerless.”

  “Fine, then we use this one. I’m not letting Balin die.”

  Balin took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew Jamie would do anything for those she cared about. He’d already seen during their short time together. He couldn’t take her wish and leave her with only two for the future.

  He opened his eyes to find Jamie standing in front of him with her own narrowed. “Don’t you dare think you’re not important enough for my wish, Balin Drake.”

  “How did you know what I was thinking?”

  “Because I know you in my soul.” She pressed her palm between her breasts, over her heart. “You don’t get to sacrifice yourself for something that could happen later. I’m not losing you. I want to get out of hell so the three of us can figure out what we’re doing with our futures. Plus, I miss my friends, my job, my life. So, you don’t get to be selfish and decide whether or not I get to use my wish on you. Got it?”

  He nodded, proud, scared, and a little turned on at her tone. He looked up at Ambrose, who stood there smiling.

  “Since she explained to you what we’re doing, we can begin,” Ambrose said, and Balin wanted to flip him off, but it didn’t seem like the right time.

  “What do I need to do?” she asked.

  “You’ll need to change back and try to extend your aura to him.”

  Jamie closed her eyes and Balin watched as she focused, her body changing into her djinn form, her aura brightening.

  “Should she be holding me or something?” Balin asked. “To make it easier?”

  Ambrose tilted his head in thought then nodded. “I think the others can do it from afar as long as the person they want to bestow their wish on is in their sight, but since you’ve only been a djinn for about five minutes, I don’t think it could hurt.”

  Jamie nodded then wrapped her arms around Balin’s middle. Balin kissed the top of her head and hugged her close.

  “Now think about your djinn state, Jamie,” Ambrose whispered. “You can do this.”

  The hair on the back of Balin’s neck tickled, and power washed over him like a warm blanket as Jamie changed to her djinn state.

  “Now imagine that aura surrounding you and think about it wrapping around Balin.”

  “Are you making this up as you go along?” Jamie asked as her face scrunched. Her aura flickered but didn’t move toward Balin.

  Ambrose let out a sigh. “I’m a five-thousand-year-old angel. I think I can wing this.”

  Jamie and Balin laughed.

  “Wing it?” Jamie said. “Get it?”

  Ambrose cracked a smile then nodded as Balin felt Jamie’s aura slowly creep over him like a warm blanket.

  Jamie’s eyes widened. “You did that on purpose.”

  “You’re relaxing,” Ambrose explained. “Now, when it’s completely over him, make your wish.”

  “Will it hurt?” Balin asked. “No, not me. I don’t care if it hurts me. Will it hurt Jamie?”

  “I don’t care if it hurts me either,” Jamie said.

  “I’m not sure on either account, but Jamie, you’re there. You’re aura is where it needs to be. Now make that wish.”

  Jamie looked into Balin’s eyes, and he warmed. Her aura was hot, spicy, caring, and...her. She was pure, peaceful, and everything he’d dreamed he could find in a mate.

  And, she was his.

  No, he looked at Ambrose quickly. Theirs.

  He looked back at Jamie after Ambrose’s slight nod and met her gaze.

  “I wish for Balin to fully be healed,” she stated. “Healed in all ways, spiritually and physically. I wish him to be whole.”

  His body buckled, not in pain, but from the amount of energy that coursed through him like a heated furnace. The bonds between the three of them pulsed, the cycle he’d been begging for rushing like a river after a harsh winter snow’s melting.

  He was whole.

  Jamie’s aura pulled back as she exhaled, and he kissed her hard.

  “It worked,” he whispered as he pulled back and Ambrose snuck in to kiss them both.

  Tears made stains down Jamie’s cheeks as her body faded to its human form.

  “We’re okay. You’re okay,” she said over and over again.

  “Are either of you weak? How is your energy?” Ambrose asked the both of them.

  “I’m fine. No, better than fine,” Balin answered. “I haven’t felt this good since before I was twenty and I wasn’t yet in maturity. No, that’s not even right. I feel better than that.”

  Ambrose cupped his cheek. “Good. You have a future ahead of you, and with that, we all do.”

  Balin nodded, emotion clogging his throat.

  “Jamie, what about you? Did it hurt? Tell me.” Ambrose took her in his arms, and Balin didn’t protest. They’d all need to learn to share, but at the moment all he could think about was Ambrose’s words.

  They did have a future.

  For all his hopes and dreams, he’d never thought it’d be possible.

  They were his everything, and he owed them even more.

  Thankfully, he had an eternity to make that happen.

  “I’m fine,” Jamie said. “I promise. It didn’t hurt at all, and it didn’t even drain me. It was invigorating.”

  “Thank God,” Ambrose said as he kissed her temple. “Don’t show off your new powers, Jamie. We can’t get out of the cell using Balin’s replenished power because of the coliseum’s wards, but we will get out of here. I’d rather them be surprised by your new strength.”

  “Won’t they be able to tell right away?”

  Ambrose shook his head. “With it so new on you, I think they would be able to tell only by getting very close. And, even if they did, you’re stronger now, Jamie.”

  She closed her eyes, and Balin saw the relief spread over her face.

  “Thank God.”

  “Thank God for what?” a voice called out behind them.

  They all turned. Balin pushed Jamie behind himself and Ambrose. A guard stood in the hall.

  “I’ve been told to bring you to the games. The human gets to die tonight.”

  It seemed their time alone was over, but they wouldn’t be going down without a fight.

  No, they wouldn’t be going down at all.

  ****

  Jamie wrung her hands together as she stood in the empty cell underneath the coliseum floor. They’d taken her from her men—her men, that was a nice thing to say—and thrown her in this cell. They’d also given her an outfit to fight in.

  She rolled her eyes as she looked at what she wore. The leather corset forced her boobs almost to her chin, quite an alarming feat considering she didn�
�t have the biggest breasts in the world. The tight-fitting torture device stopped right at her belly button and the short leather skirt she wore showed about five inches of stomach and way too much leg. They’d also given her leather boots that laced up to her knees and thankfully didn’t have a heel so she could at least walk—or run, which was likely to be the case.

  She looked like a whore.

  Caring more about what she wore and how she would move in it made more sense than freaking out about the fact that she was about to die.

  Or, at least, fight to live. She just had to figure out a way to get out of the games alive so Balin could take them home.

  The thought of home with both Ambrose and Balin made her body stir in an altogether pleasant and heated way, but she pushed that back.

  She’d deal later with the whole ideas of a triad and mating, living with two men—if that’s what they did—the reality of her life being nothing like it used to be, and the fact that she was pretty sure she was falling in love with both of them.

  Jamie couldn’t deal with that right now. Now, she’d ignore it and bury the feelings until she was back in the human realm, alive and whole. Then everything could come crashing down on her because they hadn’t exactly discussed the future.

  Yeah, they’d said some vague things about it, but nothing concrete. And she needed concrete.

  Her greatest fear—beyond being eaten alive within the next hour—was that Balin would decide that he was done with them once they escaped hell and had just been using her. Then Ambrose would leave because he was still too in love with his late wife and didn’t want to deal with another loss, so he’d leave before she left him.

  As if she’d ever do that.

  She knew they’d said the words they needed to say to get her to change in a time of dire need, but that didn’t mean that when the chips fell where they may and life returned to peace that they would stay.

  No, she wouldn’t think about those fears yet.

  Or, she would at least pretend they weren’t in the back of her mind, festering and building on top of one another.

  Jamie took a deep breath, the corset digging into her sides as she did so. A man had to have designed the damn thing because surely no woman would purposely stick herself into one of these.

  She had no idea where Ambrose and Balin were, and her fear for them lodged in her throat. She told herself that Fury and Pyro didn’t want them dead right away. No, they’d rather have Jamie dead first.

  After whoever was out there raped her.

  Hence the whore outfit.

  Well, screw that. She wasn’t going to just lie down and prepare to die. She’d fight. Though she had no idea how to use these new powers of her, she could still feel the strength running through her veins. She could at least fight back.

  Jamie swallowed hard, closing her eyes.

  She wouldn’t die weak.

  That didn’t mean she wanted to die at all.

  Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet trembled, and the roof opened up above her. She shielded her eyes from the red glare of the sky as the noise from the crowed nearly deafened her.

  The floor below her rose, and she almost fell to her knees but caught herself. She would not look weak when they brought her in. With her hands fisted, ready to fight if she had to, she rose into the coliseum, dead center, surrounded by thousands of demons in the stands who screamed, roared, and called for her death.

  Her heart beat loudly in her ears and her newfound powers threatened to push through, but she held them back. Ambrose had told her to remain human for as long as possible to shield herself and take the others by surprise.

  It was her only plan.

  “Quiet!” Fury yelled into the speakers, his voice rising over the roar of the crowd.

  They hushed in an instant, the raw power of Fury’s voice sending shivers along her sides.

  “We all know why we’re here today. This human,” he spat the word like a curse, “is here to die painfully at the hands of our proudest warriors. Now, to make matters even better, we have the two men she cares about with us to watch!”

  The crowd roared, and Jamie turned to where Fury stood. Ambrose and Balin kneeled on either side of him, blood dripping down their faces and the cuts along their skin.

  Her stomach lurched, but she stood strong.

  She had to.

  “Now, who will she fight? Or at least try to fight?” He laughed as he asked, and the crowd laughed with him. “Why, our strongest competitor for sure!”

  The crowd started chanting, and it took a second for the name to register.

  “Hunter! Hunter! Hunter!”

  No, not him. Not the man she’d just met who could be her friend.

  She watched as he rose up from the cell below, chains around his arms, legs, and neck. He looked like a caged animal, but Jamie had seen the goodness in him.

  Maybe they could work together to find a way out.

  Jamie looked into Hunter’s gold eyes, and he clenched his jaw, defeat washing over his face.

  “And to make the pot more tempting, whoever wins this fight gains their freedom!”

  The crowd roared, and Jamie blanched.

  Fury had his perfect fight—two competitors who didn’t want to kill each other but wanted freedom.

  Hunter growled, attacking his chains, and Jamie shuddered.

  No, this couldn’t be happening.

  There had to be a way out.

  “Begin!” Fury yelled, and Hunter snapped his chains.

  He came at her like a freight train and, before she could take a breath, tackled her to the ground. She twisted, scratching at him with her nails, trying to free herself.

  “Keep fighting me,” Hunter said, so low she wasn’t even sure she’d heard him at first.

  “Why?” she whispered back.

  “I can feel your new powers. You’re strong, Jamie. When Fury tires of seeing me not kill you, he’ll send in more demons because he can’t help himself. Then we’ll fight them together. I promised you I’d get you out of here. As soon as we find a way to escape, we’ll get your men and go.”

  Relief hit her hard, but she still fought him off. He nudged his knee between her legs, and she shuddered.

  “I swear to you I won’t hurt you. I just have to make it look good.”

  She nodded, still twisting as tears threatened.

  “Don’t change yet,” he whispered again.

  “Enough! This wasn’t worth the price of admission, not yet,” Pyro yelled.

  “Bring in more demons!” Fury yelled, and the crowd cheered.

  “Get up and change as soon as the first demon comes at you. You’re stronger than you think, Jamie. The rules state they can only have one competitor per competitor, so they can’t bring in more than one per person.”

  She nodded as the floor shook beneath her. Hunter jumped off her with a grace that surprised her and waited for her to stand.

  Her legs shook as two thick-muscled, long-horned demons rose from the ground, scars and cuts marring their bodies from long battles.

  Hunter squeezed her hand, and she took a deep breath. She could do this. At least she could try. If they won, they’d be free; or at least she hoped.

  “I can kill them both, Jamie,” Hunter said. “You just run and stay alive. Fight if you have to.”

  Jamie nodded, not liking that Hunter would be doing the work. There had to be something she could do. She couldn’t just stand back and not help.

  The crowd chanted, each curse more vile than the next. The two demons before her threw their heads back in unison and roared, and Jamie clenched her jaw.

  With one last roar, they charged, their bodies moving with a grace that she hadn’t expected as they came at her and Hunter.

  “Now! Change!” Hunter yelled as he planted his feet, his eyes glowing.

  Jamie closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the power within her. She felt the djinn power wash over her, her body growing in strength.

  “N
o! What the fuck is this!” Pyro yelled as she opened her eyes and saw that she had changed fully.

  Like before when she’d changed in the cell, she felt empowered, stronger, like she could do anything. Her senses where heightened and she could feel other people around her like she hadn’t before. Ambrose had called it her aura. That would be something to get used to.

  Pyro screamed again and she blocked him out. She didn’t have time to worry about him. When one of the demons charged at her, she feigned left then ran right as fast as she could go, far faster than she could have as a human.

  She felt the demon behind her, giving chase. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hunter fighting the other one and winning. Blood spurted from a wound at the demon’s neck, and he went down to his knees. Hunter gripped its head and twisted, decapitating it with one movement.

  Dear Lord, Hunter was strong.

  She changed directions, sweat pouring down her back. She knew she must look like an idiot, running around with a demon chasing her. Hunter ran to her side and stopped her with one arm, wrapping it around her waist and bringing them both to their knees. The other demon lashed out, slicing Hunter down the arm.

  With his scream, Jamie wiggled free and used her new strength to push the other demon back. The demon seemed surprised she fought back, but screw him.

  She wasn’t just going to lie back and let him kill her.

  As the demon roared and charged at her, she took off again, this time to the corpse of the other demon. Her heart beat in her ears, blocking all other sounds as she threw her body down behind the corpse and picked up the horn of the dead demon. She reached up and pierced this demon’s stomach. The now bleeding demon flipped over them, and Jamie pulled the horn out then stabbed him in the head.

  Dear Lord.

  How the hell had she done that?

  Her new power coursed through her veins, strengthening her.

  She’d killed a demon on her own.

  Go her.

  Bile rose in her throat, but she pushed it down. The last thing she needed was to throw up like a loser in front of the crowd.

  “No!” Pyro yelled and shook his fists.

  Fury yelled something in a language she didn’t understand, and the floor shook again. This time at least twenty demons rose from the floor.