Bad Luck Genie: An Urban Fantasy Folly Read online

  Bad Luck Genie

  Smoke & Magic Book 1

  AE McKenna

  Published by Strikethrough Publications

  www.aemckenna.com

  BAD LUCK GENIE (SMOKE & MAGIC BOOK 1)

  Copyright © 2020 by AE McKenna

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Edited by Rebecca Hodgkins

  Cover by Christian Bentulan

  Proofread by Lori Diederich

  For Ben

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  My bandaged hand throbbed as I pulled into the parking space in front of my apartment building, the headlights flashing in the windows. I turned off the car and sat there, listening to the engine cool. How would I tell Reese I’d been demoted with a pay cut? Again. I peered up at our lone, dark window facing the street. At least he wasn’t home yet.

  My phone rang, and the caller ID read Mama Bear. I swallowed and closed my eyes. I love my mom, I really do, but ever since Dad passed away six weeks ago, talking to her was difficult. Hearing the sadness in her voice made his death feel fresh.

  I placed the phone to my ear and forced myself to sound cheerful. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Hi, honeybee,” she said. “I dropped by the restaurant, but Don told me you were at urgent care again.”

  I groaned, slung my purse over my shoulder, and climbed out of the car. “I dropped a whole tray of water on my customers and cut my hand picking up the glass. Only three stitches this time.” I hit the lock button and shut the door, then noticed my keys on the driver’s seat. “Damn.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I locked my keys in my car again.” That happened so often that I had a few spares: one in my apartment, one in my purse, and another with my par—my mom. I fished out my spare and rescued the keys. “It’s just been a real shitty day.”

  “Hmm.” Mom sounded a million miles away. Not unusual since Dad died. “So, I’ve been offered a new assignment in Russia.”

  Mom was still having a hard time coping with Dad’s death, so this news took me by surprise. My parents were travel journalists. They’d traveled the world taking pictures of historic sites, writing articles on local cultures and cuisines. Dad had died in a freak accident while on assignment in a Mayan temple.

  “So soon?” I climbed the stairs to the apartment. A notice was taped to the door. Probably about the annual Halloween party. That was something I could get excited about. I needed to do something fun.

  “It’s been six weeks since Frankie died.” Mom sighed softly. “This is something he’d want me to do. Get back to life.”

  My eyes grew hot, and I blinked rapidly. I fumbled the keys, my bandage making me extra clumsy. “Yeah, he would.”

  I jammed the key into the deadbolt as my eyes snagged on the note. “Eviction Notice.” My heart stalled. I yanked the paper down, hoping no one else had bothered to look too closely at the notice. “What the fuck?”

  “Lucy? What’s wrong?”

  I finished unlocking my apartment and hurried inside. I turned on the lights and shut the door. “There’s an eviction notice on my door.”

  “What?”

  “It says, ‘Notice to: Reese Lane and Lucy Avalon, tenants in possession of apartment eight thirty-six C. Take notice that… You are late in paying rent as of October fifth…’ This doesn’t make sense. I gave Reese my half of the rent last week.” I dropped my purse on the couch and rifled through it for my wallet. I wanted to make sure the check I wrote wasn’t still there. Money had a way of mysteriously disappearing on me. Other times it could be traced back to my Chuck Taylor collection.

  Mom mumbled something too low for me to hear. I rolled my eyes. She didn’t like my fiancé. Probably because we moved in together without giving my parents a heads up while they were on an assignment in Africa last year. In my defense, I was twenty-six at the time, desperately wanted my own space, and we loved each other. It was the next natural step in our relationship.

  And I was right. Reese proposed two months ago and wanted to wait to tell everyone until he could give me a ring. She still didn’t know we were engaged. No one did. One awkward conversation at a time, right?

  I flipped open my checkbook and only found the duplicate. I had given Reese my part of the rent, so why was there an eviction notice on our door?

  “It’s probably meth heads again,” I muttered.

  The part of Omaha we lived in wasn’t terrible, but crime had a way of inadvertently affecting me. A few months ago, some strung-out meth head robbed the rent drop-off box in the main office, and nearly everyone in my building had an eviction notice after that.

  “With your luck, who knows,” Mom said. “You’ve got Dad’s lucky clover, right?”

  “I never leave home without it.” I chuckled and headed into the galley kitchen, touching the resin-encased four-leafed clover hanging on a silver chain around my neck. My most prized possession. The gift from Dad for my sixteenth birthday was supposed to bring luck, but who believed in that stuff, anyway? Dad used to give me good luck charms from every country they visited. I missed him so much.

  “Good.” There was a determined edge to Mom’s voice. “I just wanted to let you know my assignment in Russia starts in a couple of days. I’ve got an early morning flight tomorrow.”

  I opened the fridge and rummaged around the plastic-wrapped balls of pizza dough, searching for my leftover mac and cheese—a labor of love. “I didn’t realize you’d leave so soon.”

  “Well, yes. This assignment is important for—” Her voice caught, and she roughly cleared her throat. “I promised I’d do it.”

  “I understand.” I really didn’t. I wanted her to stay home for once. The last month-and-a-half was the most time we’d spent together in the past two years. It shamed me to say it, but I’d enjoyed comforting her. “Dammit.”

  “What now?” Her voice was strained.

  “Reese ate my mac and cheese.” I had slaved over it and hadn’t even hurt myself while making it. When I was alone, I was a magician in the kitchen. It was only when I had witnesses that things went pear-shaped.

  “Yeah, he’s a real knight in shining armor.”

  “I heard that.”

  She snorted. “I’ve gotta pack, honeybee. I love you. Be lucky.”

  “Love you too, Mom.” I never wished them luck before a trip. Something my grandma insisted on, and it had stuck. She claimed if I did that, I was begging the universe for something to go wrong.

  I set the phone down and stared at the pizza peels hanging on the wall.
It was love at first slice with pizza, and ever since, I’d dreamed of opening a pizzeria one day. In college, I’d made it a habit to make pizza dough in advance, and if I turned the oven on now, I could have a pie in forty-five minutes. But my hand hurt too much to grate cheese, so I grabbed a packet of crackers instead.

  After I received my certificate from the Metropolitan Community College for Culinary Arts three years ago, my Grandma Mags and I debated heatedly over what I would do next with my career. She assumed it’d be easier for me to become a pastry chef because I had a “special talent” for dessert. I enjoyed baking and even acknowledged I have a knack for pastries, but that path didn’t appeal to me. Pizza was the love of my life.

  But finding a job in that business proved difficult. For some reason or another, I’d bombed every interview at bistros and pizzerias, and now only chain restaurants accepted me. I’d applied for the line cook position at Perkins, and Don gave me a chance, even after I’d accidentally tripped his wife.

  I’d broken the oven and melted the microwave. Twice. Instead of firing me, he took pity and demoted me to a server. After tonight’s fiasco, he suggested I’d be safest as a hostess. I didn’t believe I had more chances left with this job. Maybe it was a sign Mags was right, but I loved pizza too much and needed it to be bad luck. I was accustomed to it, but since Dad died, it felt like I was getting it in spades.

  I sat on the couch and noticed the TV was missing. I gasped. Had we been robbed? I scanned the living room. The sliding door was closed with the “security” stick in place, and my laptop was on the coffee table. Right as I was about to investigate further, keys rattled in the deadbolt, and Reese hurried into our apartment with Target bags.

  “Oh, hey.” He shut the door and dropped the shopping bags next to the empty TV stand. “You’re home early.”

  His blond hair was straggly, like he hadn’t washed it in a few days, and his leather jacket had new tears in the sleeves. His blue eyes darted to the stand as he hesitantly approached me on the couch.

  I lifted the eviction notice in my bandaged hand. “Did you hear anything about a meth head stealing rent checks again?”

  He froze, his gaze sliding away from mine. The notice was legit. Pressure built in my chest, squeezing my lungs. I needed to find a way to fix this. There wasn’t enough money in my bank account to cover the rent. I could get a second job, but we’d be evicted before I’d get paid.

  I ground my teeth. “What the hell, Reese? I gave you my half of the rent a week ago.”

  He smiled his easy smile. “I had a good tip and took it to Horsemen’s Park—”

  “You bet our rent money on a horse?” I growled, narrowing my eyes.

  “Take it easy.” He reached inside his jacket and flashed me a wad of cash. “I tripled it.”

  “Is that what happened to our TV?”

  He scowled. “I’ll get us a better TV tomorrow after I pay rent.” He scooped up one of the bags and gave it to me. “I know you’re excited about the Halloween party, and I had a good idea for our costumes. Here.”

  I retrieved the packet. The front had a picture of a busty girl in a purple get-up. “‘Women’s Dreamy Genie Costume.’ Really? Who’re you going as? Jafar?”

  “Major Nelson.” Reese grinned. “Try it on.”

  I chewed my lip while trying to calm my fluttering stomach. This wasn’t the first time he’d tried to distract me from his recent gambling hobby. But now he’d used rent money for bets, and I suspected he’d pawned the TV, too. “We need to discuss the rent.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got rent taken care of.”

  “But you bet it on a horse race!” My stomach turned watery like it always did before a fight, but I loved him too much to let this go. We could get through this together. “I think you’re addicted to gambling and need help.”

  “I don’t need help with gambling, I need help with money!” His face turned red, and he jabbed a finger at me. “You had to visit urgent care again tonight, and we can’t afford to pay those bills.”

  “The restaurant will pay for my visit.”

  “And what about the other times I had to take you, huh? In the last three months, you’ve nearly cut off a finger, dropped a knife on your foot, and had glass in your eye. Will Perkins pay for those visits, too?”

  I gulped and shook my head. “I wasn’t working when those happened.”

  “Lucy…” His voice softened, and he sat beside me. “It wouldn’t be a problem if you’d stop getting demoted.”

  I winced. He was right.

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple. “It’s okay, sweetness, I know you’re doing your best right now, but I had to come up with the money somehow so we could still have a place to live and food in the fridge.”

  “You ate my mac and cheese.” I pouted. I couldn’t help it.

  “I don’t know how you expect me to resist the best mac and cheese ever.”

  Ignoring the whiff of B.O., I snuggled closer to him. Reese had been and always would be my biggest supporter of becoming a savory chef. He even defended me to Mags, and no one had ever done that for me before. But still, the rent. “I can’t believe you took the money I gave you to Horsemen’s Park.”

  He frowned. “I won it back. Let’s not talk about it tonight, okay? I just wanna bask in a win and see my hot girlfriend dressed up as a genie. Please?”

  He turned the full force of those blue eyes on me with a devastating grin. What could I say? I hated confrontation. That wad of twenties he showed me had to be enough to pay the rent. So I kissed him and headed into the bedroom to change.

  The costume was ridiculous. I remembered the show I Dream of Jeannie from re-runs as a kid, so there was clearly a trademark issue going on since this ensemble was purple. I stared at myself in the mirror as I shrugged on the tiny purple vest over the cropped top. The see-through harem pants were a little too tight at the waist, but at least the purple panties kept them from being indecent. Fiddling with the fez and veil, I scowled at my reflection. I didn’t want to be a genie for Halloween; I’d wanted to be a Sim. I even had a plumb-bob headband.

  Reese entered the room and wolf-whistled. “Got you something to wear with it.” He took the hat and handed me a jewelry box. He unclasped my lucky clover necklace and kissed my neck. “Open it, sweetness.”

  I opened the box and stared at a pair of wide silvery bangles. “Bracelets?”

  “Yeah, for the genie costume. But I got them more for you to wear all the time.” Reese winked at me. “Spoils from the races.”

  I glowered at him.

  “Don’t give me that face, Lucy. Just put them on.”

  I slipped one on my wrist. It pinched. I tried to shift it around but only managed to give myself a friction burn. I shook my head. “They’re too tight.”

  “That’s how they’re supposed to be. Let me help you with the other.” He slipped the other bracelet on so fast, I hadn’t realized what he was doing.

  I guess they did complete the look.

  The skin under the bangles heated. I studied my wrists. The silver plating flaked off the bracelets before my eyes, and underneath… My heart thudded against my chest.

  “These are gold.” And I was allergic to gold.

  Reese’s smile turned cruel. “I know what you are, Lucy.”

  “What do you mean?” My heart raced triple-time. I barely spared him a glance, focusing on the bangles. My skin burned. I grabbed one. “Get them off. Get them off!”

  A metallic purple bottle with a skinny neck, a curved base, and a Moroccan design materialized before me in a puff of blue smoke. It thunked to the floor. Gold chains lashed out of the bottle like some tentacle monster and latched onto the bangles. I moaned, positive my hands were melting at the wrists. My heart stopped and I stumbled backwards. What the hell is going on? The chains tugged me forward.

  I screamed. What’s happening to me?

  A blue wind dervish kicked up around me, stinging my eyes. It r
ipped through my clothes, and hot needles stabbed every particle of my body. My belly lurched, the wind tossed me off my feet, and I screamed again as air whooshed against my ears. What did he do to me?

  Then it was calm.

  Crouched on the cold floor, trembling like a leaf, I opened my eyes. I was in a small, round room with a pole in the center surrounded by windows with a thin layer of purple paint. The chains leading from my bracelets latched to the pole, but I had some slack. I blinked, hot tears slipping down my cheeks as fast as my pounding heart. The chains rang on the floor behind me as I stumbled to one of the windows. Reese—giant, asshole Reese—was laughing.

  He’d finally gone too far.

  Chapter 2

  A spring breeze within the Fae Bureau of Investigation always found me, like it knew I was a child born in the Spring Court within the Faelands. A forest grew inside the office, the fae’s way of giving technology the finger. I glanced at the enchanted ceiling of my cubicle to check the time in the Iron Realm. Stars winked between tree branches and wisps of gray clouds passed over the dark sky. It was nearly time to pack it in and call it for the day.

  A new message alert dinged from my laptop. An email from my co-worker sitting right behind me.

  I frowned at the screen and swiveled in my chair to look at Ray. “Why can’t you get the database yourself?”

  Ray jumped in his seat and faced me. “Shit, Tanaka. I thought you’d left.”

  I stared at him. My innate blending-in powers as a djinni forced people to overlook me, even if I was sitting within ten feet and typing on a keyboard. “So, why can’t you do this?”