Bad Luck Genie: An Urban Fantasy Folly Read online

  “Mama!” I reached for her, but Orpheus pressed the tip to her neck. Why wasn’t he whipping out djinni shackles and kidnapping me?

  Mom’s eyes rounded, and she clawed at his wrist.

  Mal stiffened, raising his hands. “There’s no cause for this, Orpheus. Lucy politely declined your favor. You can’t force her.”

  “She has declined nothing yet,” he said. “I’ll kill your mother if you don’t accept.”

  “What the fuck!” I exploded. “What could you possibly need a lucky djinni for?”

  “A lucky djinni will assist me in carefully removing my sister. She’s the scion of our ménage. She needs to be out of the way before my father takes the great sleep. I can’t look suspicious. Think of the history you’ll help make among the fae. Don’t you want to be part of the greatest performance in the Summer Court?”

  “Yeah, well. You’re already a great actor. You don’t need me. So good luck.” I shivered, my teeth chattering. “Break a leg, whatever. I won’t be bottled again.”

  Orpheus gaped at me.

  Mal’s features blanked. “Release Penny. By law, you cannot harm a djinni unless they harm you first.”

  The Summer fae glared at me as he pushed my mother away. “Did you just curse me?”

  “No.” But I thought I had. I backed away.

  Mom stumbled to her feet, blocking me with her arms. “That’s the end of it, fae. She refused your favor. You have to let us go.”

  “She cursed me.” His expression turned deadly, and he gripped the hilt of his sword. “That means your lives are forfeit!”

  He tried to unsheathe his sword. The belt twisted, and the sheath smacked his leg. Orpheus sidestepped it, yanking harder, and the belt tore. The sword dipped between his moving feet and tripped him. He attempted to right himself by leaning on his sword, but that only made his leg twist farther under him.

  Snap!

  Orpheus bellowed, and I flinched.

  Mal gawked. “Shift now!”

  Adrenaline coursed through me and I shifted to smoke, racing west along Realty Lane with Mom and Mal. He’d said fae couldn’t harm me unless I hurt them first, and I’d just broken Orpheus’s leg. I had to flee. We had to zip out of there before he called for help, or magically grew a new limb. I wasn’t sure what fae could do.

  We flew off Oahu and raced across the Pacific Ocean. There weren’t any realty signs, but the road hadn’t disappeared like it had when Gamblers’ Road dead-ended. I forced all my concentration on staying smoke and keeping up with Mom and Mal.

  We passed a lone realty sign, and I wanted to stop. Mal tugged on the silk between us, and we kept going. I could do this. I had to do this. We would be safe in Japan, probably. My arm hurt, my breathing grew labored, and I was burning up.

  The road and picket fence blurred and my speed slowed, but I continued to billow. Mom slowed to match my pace, and she and Mal flanked me, keeping me in a straight line. I zoned out. If I didn’t think, I wouldn’t feel, and if I didn’t feel, then my bad luck would stay at bay. We had a chance.

  Time passed in ocean breezes and rolling clouds. I stayed in this state for hours, gradually flagging, slowly bringing Mom and Mal down with me. Every blink lasted seconds longer than the previous one. My teeth chattered, and the burn in my arm spread to my chest and side. We passed islands, but no realty signs, no way off Realty Lane. Then ahead, as the sun dipped below the horizon, I saw a sign.

  I sobbed, pushed myself harder, and stumbled onto the asphalt, inches from the sign. I tried to regain my feet, but my arms wobbled and buckled under me.

  Strong hands gently lifted me from the road and held me against a solid chest. I inhaled Mal’s sunbaked sand scent and relaxed. I didn’t have to go any farther.

  Chapter 20

  The hush from Lucy was unexpected, like a loud blowing fan suddenly stopping. I hadn’t realized her white noise had grown so loud. I wore her backpack so I could hold her, and the pack was far heavier than it had a right to be. I relaxed in the quiet of my mind while I traveled as smoke. Luce was a hot, limp, awkward mass in my arms, and the only thing allowing me to help her was our djinni silk bond. If she hadn’t accidentally bonded us together the first day we’d met, I wouldn’t have been able to carry her while I was smoke.

  I followed Penny from Realty Lane onto Chiba Prefecture’s southern tip of Japan. We both broke away from our smoke.

  “If we go any farther on Realty Lane, we’ll encounter Yakuza,” Penny said.

  We left the Lantern through a realty sign and entered the Iron Realm. I worked my jaw to pop my ears.

  Penny crowded me, checking Lucy’s forehead. “Is she…?”

  “She’s sleeping.” Aside from the occasional flash of terror across the silk, I finally had a moment to myself without Lucy’s chatter. It was easier to think now. “There’s a motorcycle racetrack nearby. We’ll take Gamblers’ Road to Manila from there.”

  Japan only recently legalized gambling, so we weren’t surrounded by vice dens. We hailed a cab, and twenty minutes later, Penny and I walked our “drunk friend” through the racetrack to the door leading to the Lantern. We crossed onto the neon highway of Gamblers’ Road. I half expected it to flash red, but the Pit Boss’s reach didn’t extend this far. I cradled Lucy and shifted to smoke.

  I trailed after Penny’s money-green smoke, contemplating the last few days now that I didn’t have the whirlwind of Luce’s emotions impacting my decisions. Maybe I wasn’t as upset about this unexpected adventure as I’d let her believe. I wanted to help djinnis. It was the sole reason I’d joined the CADD in the bureau. Sigvald Strause was an out-of-reach threat. As far as I knew, this was the closest anyone had ever gotten to him—and it was me. If he had unlimited power, not only would the Iron Realm and the Lantern be at risk, but the Faelands, too. He had to be stopped. I hoped he hadn’t already found Rasputin’s bone.

  I rolled my shoulders. How could I stop Sigvald saddled with one inexperienced djinni and another used to good luck doing all the heavy lifting? Smoke and mirrors, Luce had nearly exchanged her freedom with Orpheus to break our bond, and she’d felt immeasurably guilty for being too afraid to go into a bottle to free me. I was against her trading favors with a fae, and in the lasting quiet of my mind, I was relieved she hadn’t gone through with Orpheus. The bond limited us to how far we could be from one another, and yes, I experienced everything she felt and heard her every thought, but it was better than her enslaving herself to free me. Anything was better than being bottled.

  Less than an hour later, Penny veered toward a Manila hotel and casino, and we left Gamblers’ Road. I roused Lucy enough for her to lean on Penny as we left the casino and headed into the lobby. It was dark outside. I checked my watch. Local time had it after eight. Since demons weren’t raining from the sky and the humans were moving on in blissful ignorance, I assumed Sigvald hadn’t found the bone yet. Only one night left before he became bottled.

  Penny guided Lucy onto the couch. “I’ll get us a room.”

  I sat beside Lucy and draped my arm across the sofa back. We were rather lucky to have a fortune djinni on this adventure. I hadn’t had to worry about funds once. Lucy leaned into my side. I reached across and laid her head on my shoulder. She just needed to hang in there until I could get that bullet out of her, then she’d have the night to recover.

  Penny returned and helped me walk Lucy to the elevator, then to our room. Once we were inside, I placed Lucy on the king-sized bed and dropped the backpack next to the desk. There was a couch, an armchair, and a large TV, but no extra bed.

  “We’re all sharing the bed?” I asked.

  “I figured you’d retreat to your bottle again.” Penny checked her phone. “I need to pick up the rental car. Will you two be okay here alone?”

  “I hadn’t planned on it. The djinni silk gets strained when I’m in my bottle. Lucy needs to heal without the stress of a stretched bond.” I sighed. “I’ll crash on the couch.”

  “Oh…” Pen
ny frowned. “I’m sure the couch folds out.”

  Shrugging, I summoned my bottle and retrieved a field kit. “I need your help to remove the gold bullet from her arm.”

  “What?” Penny tucked her phone away. “She’s had a gold bullet in her this whole time?”

  “Yeah, that’s how she caught gold fever. What did you think was the problem?” I ensured Luce wore a T-shirt under her sweatshirt before I gently pulled it off her. She groaned, struggling against me. “Help me with her.”

  “I don’t know. The road across the ocean was taxing.” Penny assisted with folding Lucy’s arms from the sleeves.

  “She was shot,” I snapped. “Maybe if you weren’t so focused on breaking her curse to get your good luck charm back, you’d’ve noticed she was worse off than just normal exertion.”

  “How dare you!” Penny’s eyes flashed, and she turned toward me. “I’ve devoted all my time to finding something to break her curse. We did everything for her.”

  “You left her alone with Magdalena.” I shook my head and maneuvered Lucy onto her stomach. I slipped her ruined sweatshirt under her arm to minimize the mess we were making. “One of us will have to hold her down while the bullet’s removed.”

  She sat on the bed. “I don’t—I’ve never had to deal with removing gold bullets before.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.” I opened the field kit, pulled on latex gloves, and retrieved my heavy-duty forceps.

  “What’re you implying?” Penny glared.

  “You relied so heavily on good luck that you don’t know how to work without it.” I gestured at Lucy’s arm. “Hold her firm. She’s gonna fight me.”

  Penny did as I instructed and sighed. “Frankie’s good luck had a way of taking over everything. We couldn’t not work with it. I didn’t care. Not when we devoted all our free time to searching for the right good luck charm to help our daughter. And what was so wrong about leaving her with family?”

  “Magdalena is a bully.”

  “What do you know? You’ve only just met Lucy. You barely know her.”

  “Seriously?” I paused and met her eyes. “When I met her, she’d just found out she wasn’t human. Your daughter didn’t know how her magic worked and accidentally created a djinni silk bond between us. I know Luce better than anyone I’ve ever known in my life. Right now, she thinks you’re only working so hard to break her curse so you can have your good luck back.”

  Penny’s lower lip trembled, and she averted her face.

  I eased the forceps into the bullet hole. Fresh blood seeped from the wound and soaked her sweatshirt. The bullet had moved since I’d last checked on it, but I could still reach it. Lucy cried out and writhed. I hooked my leg over hers and pressed against her back while Penny used both hands to hold her arm in place.

  My arm ached, and I broke out into a sweat as pain lanced through our bond. I wanted to stop digging for the bullet, but if we didn’t get it out, she’d die. With one last tug, the bullet popped free. I puffed out a sigh of relief and dropped it into a glass jar. I’d dispose of that later.

  Penny stepped from the bed and scrolled through her phone. I rolled off Lucy and rummaged through my field kit for moist towelettes and djinni glue. The glue helped unconscious djinni temporarily repair any damage until they could recuperate in their bottles later. The problem would be convincing Lucy to accept her bottle. I didn’t think that’d happen any time soon.

  “Why don’t you just take her into your bottle?” Penny checked her phone again.

  Cleaning Luce’s arm, I clenched my jaw. “What’s so damned important on your phone?”

  Her brows slanted over her nose. “I’ve been trying to find a rental car. I had one reserved, but they rented it out. We need to stay ahead of Sigvald.”

  Some of my resentment toward Penny disappeared. I focused on pinching the bullet hole together with the djinni glue. “Sigvald’s status?”

  “I don’t freaking know. But since he isn’t teleporting into the room and killing us, I’m guessing he hasn’t found the bone yet.”

  I expelled a gust of air and tore off the latex gloves. “Then we still have a chance.”

  “It’d be easier if Lucy was fully healed tomorrow.” Penny pursed her lips. “I’d take her into my bottle, but her bond is with you.”

  “It’s only half-formed.” I removed gauze from my field kit and wrapped Luce’s arm.

  “Why don’t you just…” She waved her hands a little and shrugged.

  My shoulders grew tense, and I shook my head. “Did you and Frankie have a djinni silk bond while you were married?”

  “No, we didn’t want the restrictions.” Penny rolled Lucy onto her back.

  “So you’re asking me to complete the bond with Luce so she can heal a non-life-threatening injury?” I packed up my field kit and replaced it inside my bottle.

  “You two were all over each other last night.”

  The back of my neck heated. I had been in the throes of Lucy’s emotions, not mine. I gazed at Luce. Some color had returned to her face. I didn’t know how much I cared for her, if beyond a friend. “Lucy thinks I’m cute. Sometimes… it’s hard to tell the difference between her and me.”

  “You better figure it out before you lead her on any more than you already have.” Penny’s phone chimed, and she checked the screen. “Oh good, I found another car. Will she be okay?”

  “Yeah. She’s resting now.”

  “I’ll be back soon.” She jabbed a finger at me. “No funny business.”

  I sat beside Luce and pushed her sweat-damp hair from her face. I knew exactly what she felt, and I worried about her, yet how did I feel? I couldn’t pinpoint any emotions, and I knew once she woke, she’d ask because she wanted to know. She was confident with her emotions even if she didn’t understand them fully.

  And I knew nothing. I was used to having time figuring out if I wanted to date someone. It was always me who initiated relationships. Luce couldn’t hide her thoughts and emotions, and they were too strong not to feel like my own sometimes. But I doubted them later. I wished I knew.

  Rubbing my hands over my face, I clenched my eyes closed. Someone tell me how I should feel!

  Resting my hand on her forehead, I checked her fever. It seemed to have broken already, but she still slept. She didn’t need me right now.

  I headed into the bathroom, washed up, and splashed water on my face. In the past hour or two, I’d felt more like myself without the jumble of thoughts about my ass, Penny, and a bad luck curse. I worried about my job. I huffed, raking my hands through my hair. I’d get demoted, and it’d be difficult to regain my obscurity. I might never infiltrate the djinni trafficking ring again. If the bureau didn’t fire me after this fuck-up, they’d definitely transfer me from the CADD.

  A thin thread of confusion rippled across the djinni silk. Where am I?

  Lucy was awake. It was a good sign the djinni glue was working well. Muffled thoughts about bandages, pain, and blood played behind my own like listening to two simultaneous conversations. I turned off the faucet, dried my hands, and opened the door. She offered me a wobbly smile and sat up.

  I leaned against the doorjamb, suddenly nervous. “We’re in a hotel in Manila.”

  “I feel like I’ve just recovered from a nasty flu.” Her voice was rough, and she cleared her throat.

  “Gold fever.” I moved to the mini-fridge and retrieved a bottled water. “Drink this.”

  She twisted the cap off and took a gulp. I grabbed Pringles from the snack bar. Penny could afford it. We hadn’t had a proper meal at all today, and I was starving. So was Lucy. I read over the room service menu.

  She stood and set the water on the dresser next to me. “Is that the bullet?”

  “Yep.” I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I also wanted to pull her close and comfort her. She was far too stressed out, and it leaked into me.

  She picked the jar up and turned it in her hands, the b
ullet clinking against the side. I survived chains, I survived being shot, and I’ll survive tomorrow, too. “Can I keep this?”

  I stared at her, her thoughts leaving me stunned. I might not know how I felt about her, but I was glad I met her. “Yeah, if you can store it in your bottle.”

  She sucked her lip in, forehead creasing. Doubt began spreading through the silk.

  “You don’t have to enter your bottle to store things. Just convince it or order it to take the jar.” I grabbed the backpack and opened it, offering the bottle to her. “Now that you’re free, you’re the boss when it comes to your bottle. Act like it.”

  “So talk to my bottle like it’s in trouble?” Luce lifted her bottle.

  I smiled. “If you think it’ll help.”

  His dimples are so cute. “Right.” She glared at the bottle. “I’ve had it with your laziness. You’re gonna take this jar and like it.”

  The bottle swallowed the jar from her hand so quickly it startled us both. I covered my mouth, smothering my laugh. She hadn’t sounded like an irritated boss to me, but I wouldn’t tell her.

  “That was easy!” Some of her stress dissipated.

  “Yeah. I think it’s becoming easier since you’re not rejecting your nature as much. And you learn fast.”

  She nodded and stowed the bottle back in the backpack, setting it aside. “Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s getting us a rental car for tomorrow.”

  “That’ll be useful.” She closed the distance between us.

  My heart picked up speed, or maybe it was the giddiness wafting from her. She licked her lips and gave me another smile. Her front teeth were slightly crooked, and I thought it made her cute. But I was more focused on her thoughts about getting some lip-lock from me.

  “Thank you, Mal,” she shyly whispered. For not being a dick. For taking care of me when Mom wouldn’t.

  “Your mom helped.”

  Lucy blinked and shook her head. “I… It’s weird when you reply to things I don’t say out loud. So, we have some time to ourselves then?”

  I nodded. A thrill slid up my spine and my stomach fluttered. “How are you feeling?”