Bad Luck Genie: An Urban Fantasy Folly Page 13

  A chill swept through me and my teeth chattered. I hoped Malware would warm up soon.

  “Aw, shit,” he muttered.

  I glanced at him, but the genie lamp I’d tossed at Sigvald caught my attention. Namely, because a flame guttered to life at the spout and caught on the oil that had leaked all the way to the wooden support frame. I held my breath, praying the fire wouldn’t spread.

  The wood caught fire, and my hopes went up in smoke.

  Chapter 16

  “For the love of crystals, Lucy!” Penny growled. “Now’s not the time for your sarcasm.”

  The freezing cold that gripped me had somewhat subsided, thanks to the furnace known as Lucy. The cold melting away from me this easily was surprising. I should’ve been frozen solid. An ice cube. I should’ve died. Instead, only my fingers and toes had frostbite.

  A thought bounced around in my skull about that, but the fire was more important. We had to escape. I grabbed the end of the zip tie securing my wrists with my teeth and yanked on it, tightening the binds. In my training days for the bureau in the CADD, I’d practiced escaping many types of restraints, and these were one of them.

  Clenching my jaw to still the chattering, I raised my arms over my head, then slammed them against my stomach. My elbow knocked Lucy, yet the binds held.

  “What’re you doing?” Lucy asked. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

  “He’s trying to break them,” Penny mumbled.

  “Malware.” Lucy shifted toward me. “Why don’t you shift to smoke to get out of the zip ties?”

  “How your body is right now is your true self. Clothes don’t fall off when you turn to smoke. Whatever you’re wearing, jewelry, clothing, even handcuffs stay on. His true self is shackled, so shifting to smoke won’t change anything,” Penny said. “Hold still. Practice not talking, too.”

  “Whatever, Mom.” Lucy’s voice was as sharp as the hurt spreading through the djinni silk. Her bottle appeared in her lap in a cloud of blue smoke. “Oh my god, I don’t have time to deal with this.”

  The fire flared, and smoke curled through the small room while the support beams burned.

  I scooted farther from them and tightened the binds more with my teeth, the plastic digging into my skin. The heat from the fire bled through my chill and it felt so good yet hurt at the same time to be warm. But we had to hurry. I raised my arms over my head again, sucked in a deep breath, and slammed them down, flicking my elbows out wide like chicken wings.

  The zip ties snapped apart.

  I winced, rubbing my wrists. The skin was broken and bleeding, but at least my hands were free. I dug in my pocket and grabbed my Swiss army knife and flicked it open. Horror clutched my spine. It was dull. How the hell had it gone dull? It wouldn’t be sharp enough to saw through the sturdy plastic, but I had other options. Plucking the toothpick free, I leaned over the zip ties around my ankles. A small tab acted like a locking mechanism, I wedged the toothpick under it and pulled the length of the zip tie free.

  “Woohoo!” Lucy grinned, throwing her arms up and almost smacking Penny in the face. “Way to go, Malware.”

  I scurried over to them, passing Penny my knife so she could work on her ankles while I freed Lucy.

  “Holy shit, your hands are bleeding,” she whispered.

  I angled the toothpick into her binds. “I’ll live.”

  “You know, only a spy would know how to do that,” Lucy said. “I guess I have to believe you now.”

  The humor in her voice belied the fright and worry sliding from her through our bond. I peeked at her, making sure she wasn’t going into shock, then yanked the zip ties from her hands. I moved to her ankles. She set her bottle aside.

  “Did you see how he did that?” Penny asked.

  “I do pay attention, Mother.”

  “Good. Free my hands so we can get out of here.”

  I glanced up. Lucy hunched over Penny’s hands with my pocket knife. Wood groaned behind me. I didn’t have a moment to waste, so I quickly freed Lucy’s ankles. The thick smoke stung my eyes by the time Lucy removed Penny’s bindings and gave back my knife.

  The fire licked at the frame to the Philippines carving, and my lungs itched from all the smoke.

  “I’ll search this.” Penny rushed to the sarcophagus. “Then we need to shift to smoke and run.”

  “I can’t do that.” Lucy pulled her sweatshirt over her mouth and nose, coughing.

  “You almost did last night,” I said.

  Lucy shook her head. “And I blacked out!”

  “Just will it,” Penny snapped. “It should be second nature to you since you’ve been in a bottle.”

  “Sorry, mine didn’t come with a manual.” Lucy jogged to the platform. “How the hell did they climb up there so easily?”

  Now was the worst time to refuse a djinni’s instinct for shifting to smoke, but there wasn’t time to argue with her. Forcing myself to remain patient, I formed a cup with my hands. “I’ll boost you. Let’s hurry.”

  Penny rummaged inside the sarcophagus, and a wave of anger across the djinni silk nearly bowled me over.

  Figures she’s looking for another bone to cure me like I’m broken.

  “Lucy.” I gripped her shoulder to snap her out of her resentment. “Step into my hands.”

  I linked my hands together again, and she stepped in. I lifted with my knees and she grabbed the landing, scrambling up.

  She dropped to her stomach and held her hand out to me. “Jump! I’ll catch you.”

  How could I resist when she was so earnest? I jumped, caught her wrist with one hand, and the ledge with my other. She helped pull me up.

  “Penny,” I called. “We gotta go.”

  “There’s probably another clue in here to where the next bone is.” Penny coughed. The smoke nearly camouflaged her. “I can’t leave without finding it.”

  The flames spread to the platform and the wood smoked.

  “Mom!” Lucy stomped her foot. “The cave is seriously on fire.”

  Penny swore and shifted to smoke, flowing up to the platform. She materialized, whipped out her flashlight, and raced ahead, Lucy right on her heels. I glanced over my shoulder. Wood supported the entire tunnel, and the flames chased us.

  “You gotta shift, Lucy! You have to!” Penny shifted to smoke again, the color of money, and slid through the crack I had to previously coax Lucy through.

  “Come on!” Penny called.

  I couldn’t believe she left like that. Maybe she thought if Lucy saw it, she’d know how to shift to smoke. Maybe she was right, but it was piss-poor timing. The stringent black smoke flowed through the tunnel and the crack, too.

  Lucy sidestepped halfway into the crack and coughed. “I can’t do this.”

  “You did it before.” I stepped close to her. “I’m one step behind you.”

  “Shift to smoke!” Penny yelled.

  Lucy looked at me with tears in her eyes. She sucked in her lower lip and scooted a little farther through the crack. She coughed again and sobbed. “I’m scared.”

  “You can do this,” I said softly, hoping to calm her, wondering how I’d follow her. The idea of stepping through the crevice made my breath short.

  Despite the fear and the sensation the stone walls were closing around us, she took another step farther in. I placed my back to the wall and inched after her, the smoke making it difficult to breathe. The fire was fast approaching, and the tunnel grew hotter. If she didn’t hurry, the stone columns would expand, causing the crack to contract to the point she’d really become trapped. And so would I.

  “I’m so scared.”

  My knees shook, and I could hardly catch a whisper of air. Everyone had their limits, and Lucy had pushed past hers. I couldn’t let her down, not when she needed me to be strong for her. Clapping my cheeks, I took a deep breath and reassessed the situation.

  Last night, Lucy had almost shifted to smoke, and Penny had attempted to carry her to help force a change but failed. L
ucy and I had a djinni silk bond. Maybe if she held on to me while I shifted to smoke, I could carry her. Even if it only half-worked, I should be able to force a shift on her. I grabbed her hand and tugged her from the crevice.

  “You going first?” Her voice held a hysterical edge—only a glimmer of what came through the silk.

  “Do you trust me?”

  “What?”

  “We’re friends, right?” I suppressed a cough. I wanted to rush her, but it wouldn’t do us any good.

  “Really?” Sweat rolled down her temple. “So, I can call you Mal now?”

  “Definitely.” I reached for her shoulders. “I’ll shift to smoke and carry you.”

  Her eyes widened, and she stepped back.

  “Trust me, Luce.” I held a hand out to her. “I’m gonna need you to hang on.”

  The fire roared behind her. I swore it melted my jeans to my skin. Lucy crashed against me, hooking her arms under mine. I shifted to smoke, but something held me back. It resisted, like it didn’t believe it could be smoke. Something hit my leg with a curl of blue smoke. Her bottle.

  I gazed into her eyes, the fire licking the support beams above us. “Trust me, Luce. I won’t let you get hurt.”

  Her lips trembled.

  “Shifting to smoke won’t hurt you.” I cradled her face in my palms. “Please believe me when I say I’ll keep you safe.”

  The tension knotting the djinni silk eased and Lucy nodded.

  I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and dropped my chin on the crown of her head. “Thank you.”

  We shifted to smoke, a twist of blue mingling with my tan and green smoke. I carried her through the crack past Penny, who shifted to smoke, too. We flew through the tunnel, our shape conforming to fit, her arms tight around my true form. An explosion thundered behind us, vibrating through our smoke. In a blur, the electric lights slipped from their holdings and crashed to the ground, the sparks igniting the wooden stairs leading out of the Big Room.

  People ahead of us screamed. Penny’s smoke dissipated away from her, and I took her cue, blowing the smoke free from us. Lucy’s head remained tucked under my chin, and I patted her back. Her fear was becoming contagious.

  “It’s okay, honeybee,” Penny whispered, rubbing her shoulder. “We’ll make it out.”

  Lucy pulled from me, wiping her soot-smeared face, and her bottle materialized in her arms. She dropped it and grabbed my hand. We ran for the stairs to catch up with the last group, but the smoke from the fire beat us. The sprinklers overhead kicked on. I didn’t think they’d be enough to extinguish the fire.

  “Remain calm!” a guide yelled. “Don’t push.”

  We jogged by. I could see the whites all around his eyes. “We’re the last ones.”

  “Thank god,” the guide said.

  Smoke crowded the ceiling, and people were pushing. An older woman fell to the ground. People stumbled around her, trying not to trample her. Lucy rushed forward and helped the woman to her feet. Penny hurried to them, and they assisted the woman until we reached the exit.

  I pushed them toward a door to Thrill Street. We needed to get out of here and catch Sigvald before he escaped. A djinni with rust-colored hair wearing the lower half of a statue costume stepped in front of me.

  “The street’s closed,” he snarled.

  “Did anyone else go through?” I asked.

  “Yeah, but I’m prepared this time,” the djinni said. “I’ve got gold. Get the hell out of my park.”

  “Come on,” Penny murmured.

  My lungs hurt, my throat burned, and I desperately wanted to retreat inside my bottle and heal. But I couldn’t do it here, not in a crowd this size despite the smoke billowing from the cave holding everyone’s attention. It was too damned risky.

  Firetruck sirens preceded the engines screaming into the parking lot. People stayed out of the way as men carrying hoses ran toward the fire. I leaned over my knees and sucked in gulps of fresh air. Lucy stopped at my side and rubbed my back, and I found it comforting. I guessed we really were friends.

  “Do you think Sigvald’s out here?” she whispered.

  “He took Thrill Street as soon as he left the cave.” With a contrite expression, Penny wrapped an arm around Lucy’s waist. “I’m sorry I yelled at you back there. I get like that when I’m tense.” She licked her lips. “Tanaka? Thanks for holding it together back there.”

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Lucy said. “But I could use a drink.”

  I straightened and raked my hand through my hair. “Yeah. Me too.”

  “Let’s get a motel first and clean up.” Penny headed for the parking lot. “Then we’ll think about our plan over those drinks, okay?”

  It was a good idea to leave the park before we set fire to everything else. But the next move? I wasn’t sure where to begin searching for clues for the resting places of Rasputin’s bones. One thing was certain: Sigvald Strause’s quest for unlimited power had to be stopped at all costs.

  Chapter 17

  Mom found a motel with only one room available, but it had two double beds. The cramped room barely had space for the dresser, a nightstand, two lamps with stained lampshades, and a bathroom. I eyed the questionable floral bedspread and the tacky carpet. I didn’t want to touch anything.

  “I’m gonna take a hot shower, if that’s okay.” Mal turned on a light. The bathroom was two-toned beige and rust, with a full-sized shower.

  “Take as long as you need to warm up,” I said.

  An old wine bottle appeared in Mom’s hands. Her arm tapered sharply like it was being sucked into the opening, and her hand disappeared. She rummaged around and retrieved a first aid kit.

  “Oh, is that all it takes?” I almost sat on the bed but changed my mind. I wasn’t sure how I’d sleep in it later. “You just reach in and grab your stuff?”

  “I didn’t physically reach in, but essentially, yes.” Mom gingerly touched the side of her head.

  “My phone just appeared in my hand when we were walking to the gas station.”

  “That’s normal.”

  I frowned at her. I wasn’t sure why it was so hard to ask her for help with my bottle and magic. Maybe because she’d had my powers bound to keep everyone around me safe, or that she didn’t seem to notice I was drowning.

  The shower made a knocking noise, then screamed on. After a moment, it quieted down. An image of Mal peeling his clothes off teased my imagination, and I did my best to push it away. Now wasn’t the time to daydream about how hot he looked in a steamy shower, with water sluicing down his chest. It didn’t help distract me from my mother and bottle problems, or that I needed support with it. Mal hadn’t been helpful with my bottle—it wasn’t his job to teach me this stuff—but he understood I was lost.

  “How often do you stay in your bottle?” I tilted my head.

  “I usually sleep in it.”

  “What happens if someone finds my bottle and rubs it?”

  She dabbed antiseptic on her cut from the pistol-whipping. “You’ll feel compelled to reveal yourself, but unless you’re wearing djinni shackles, the bottle won’t force you.”

  My bottle appeared in my hands in a puff of blue smoke. I was too worn out to react. Despite its lovely curves and the curling design on the purple glass, I hated the thing. I noticed three chain links on the neck; the third one was broken.

  “Oh, honeybee.” Mom covered one of my hands, bowing her head. “I’m sorry we never prepared you for this. We never thought it’d take this long to break your curse.”

  My shoulders sagged. “I guess.”

  “When you become more familiar with your powers, you’ll be able to change how your bottle looks.” Mom patted my hand and poked through the medical kit.

  That hadn’t been what was bothering me. Every time she mentioned the curse, it only reminded me I was bad luck to everyone I’ve ever known. But Mom and I didn’t have the djinni silk bond, either. I glanced at the bathroom door, the shower was still running. I hadn’t
realized how difficult I found it to talk with someone before now. Mal had a direct link to me, and he just knew how to help. And I had trapped him with it.

  I cleared my throat and set my bottle on the dresser next to the tiny tube TV. “I don’t see the appeal of sleeping in the bottle. It’s just a tall pole with chains attached to it. With windows—”

  She spun me around and wrapped me in a tight hug. She rocked me in her arms and rubbed my back. It stunned me. Why was she acting like this? Then I heard the small puffs of breath and felt her tears on my shoulder. I returned her embrace.

  “I’m so sorry, Lucy,” she whispered. “I wish you’d never felt the pains of a master, and I don’t know what it was like for you. I’m not sure how t-to help.”

  She leaned back and mopped her face. Some of my marinating resentment seeped from me. I gave her my best smile—not sure if it worked—and grasped her hands. “Help me learn and be patient with me?”

  “Yeah. I can do that.” She squeezed my hand and sniffled. “And we’ll break this curse. It should help things get easier for you… for everything.”

  “Right.”

  “Might even help you fix your bottle.”

  I pursed my lips. “I doubt it.”

  “I recently redecorated the inside of my bottle to look French-country-chic after watching a marathon of Fixer Upper.” Mom busied herself in tidying up the kit and passed me a bandage. “Would you mind helping me with this?”

  “How often can you change the inside of your bottle?” I opened the bandage and covered the gash on her cheek.

  The corners of her eyes crinkled. “As much as you want.”

  “Oh.” Hearing that helped me feel a little better about being “shackled” to that genie bottle for the rest of my life, but I wasn’t ready to go in there with paint samples.

  She checked her watch. “Well, I promised you and Tanaka drinks, so I’d better go hit up the gas station before it gets too late. Do you want to come with?”

  I gestured at the djinni silk. “Kinda have to stay here.”