Bad Luck Genie: An Urban Fantasy Folly Page 8

  I stepped close to her and picked up the pendant. “Is this a lucky clover?”

  It was perfectly preserved in resin. If I was a betting man, and after today I certainly shouldn’t be, I’d say this was a genuine Frankie Avalon lucky charm. It was worth a small fortune. The full force of her grief and missing her father hit me through the bond.

  “Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “It figures I’d be too upset to even want to take advantage of the hot guy in my bedroom, but at least he’s being nice for now.”

  While her mouth hadn’t moved enough for everything she said, I’d heard her loud and clear. I dropped the pendant and retreated to the doorway. “What the hell is wrong with you, Avalon?”

  She lurched as if I’d slapped her. “What?”

  “I don’t get it. You talk about how hot I am at the weirdest times. Do you think being that out-of-the-blue is gonna make me come on to you or something?”

  Her black brows crinkled together, and embarrassed anger slid along the djinni silk. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Yes, you did. You said something like being too upset to take advantage of me in your bedroom.” I folded my arms.

  “Are you reading my thoughts?” Her mouth popped opened. “You can read minds?”

  How had I not noticed this before? Pain throbbed behind my eyes and in my forehead. Half the time I thought she’d been talking out loud, she’d been thinking. This binding she’d placed on us was stronger than I’d originally believed. “Can you—” I cleared the gunk from my throat. “Can you hear my thoughts?”

  Please don’t mention my ass.

  She cocked an ear toward me and scrunched her face, yet spikes of horror knifed across our link. “I-I don’t think so. Oh my god!” She covered her mouth. “You can hear my thoughts?”

  “So you haven’t been talking about my ass as much as I’d thought.”

  She flushed bright red and shook her head. “I’m going to be sick.” I’ll never look at another man again.

  Now I could tell the difference when I listened for it. Her internal voice echoed, and she didn’t mumble as much.

  I clenched my fists. She’d lied to me. “I’m having a really fucking hard time believing you’re new to this. No one fresh to a bottle can create a complex link like this.” My nails bit into my palms. “With nearly a mile of djinni silk!”

  Her face reddened and her eye twitched. “I didn’t do anything!”

  I curled my lip. “At least you can’t hear my thoughts. So there’s that.”

  “I don’t need to.” She glared. “You don’t shut up.”

  “Real cute, Avalon. What’s the Wi-Fi password here? I need to check in and find someone who can break your curse.”

  “Oh, relax. It’s not a curse.”

  I shook my head and opened my laptop on her dresser. “First you make me a master, then you create a djinni silk bond and force me to listen to your thoughts. I don’t need to be told to relax.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes. “You’re acting like I killed your dog, or worse, made you fall in love with me.”

  I gasped and jerked my eyes to hers. “Don’t you dare say shit like that, Avalon.”

  She held up a finger and propped her other hand on her hip. “One thing I learned in my short time as a slave is that djinnis can’t tinker with people’s emotions.”

  “Yeah, with your track record, I wouldn’t be too sure.”

  “That’s not fair!”

  “Yes, it is. You’re a bad luck genie!” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

  She recoiled from me, her hands covering her cropped top and midriff. I swallowed. She only knew genie was an insult because I’d told her, and I used it on her the same day.

  Flat tires… Bad luck… The urgent care trips… Bad luck… Eviction notices… Reese… Bad luck! Her thoughts spun too fast to catch everything that went through her mind. She bared her teeth at me in a gruesome grimace. You can’t cry if you’re smiling.

  “I’m going to shower.” Her voice was hoarse. “You should wait downstairs.”

  I should’ve apologized, but I wasn’t sure whether it should be for her hurt feelings ripping through our bond or because I shouldn’t have called her a genie to start with. “Lucy…”

  “It’s fine. Here.” She jotted something down and shoved the paper and my laptop in my hands. “The Wi-Fi password.”

  I backed out of her bedroom and she quietly shut the door. I couldn’t read her emotions, there were too many coming across the silk, but I didn’t need them to know I’d crossed the line.

  Chapter 11

  The strained silence in the dining room pressed on my shoulders as I tried my best to ignore Malware and focus on the lamb stew before me. The shower, while hot and soothing to my sore tailbone, hadn’t helped me relax. But at least I was wearing sweats and my phone was charging. After the meal, I’d try texting Mom. I figured Mags had already messaged her, but what else could I do? All I had was bad luck. I really was powerless.

  Malware’s spoon clanked against the bowl. “I doubt that’s the case.”

  Oh, I’m pretty sure it was. I gave this man access to the deepest parts of me, and I got the short end of the stick. My mind was my safe place where no one but me knew the crazy shit that went on in my head unless I opened my mouth. Now he was privy to every embarrassing little thought I had, and I heard nothing from him, felt nothing from him. He really wasn’t kidding about me having bad luck. What was worse, I didn’t know how I’d done it, and it was destroying all my attempts at the silent treatment. I narrowed my eyes at him, then checked the charge on my phone. It still wouldn’t power on.

  The front door opened and closed. “Maggie, I’m home. What’s the emergency?”

  My mother’s voice. My heart leaped at the sound. I shoved away from the table and ran into the entryway. Mom was hanging her jacket up.

  “Mama!”

  She spun around, her dark eyes widened, and a huge smile broke across her face. “Lucy, baby, is that you?” She opened her arms.

  I ran into them and we hugged each other tightly. Her familiar rosy scent engulfed me, and I cried. I was home. I was finally safe. She’d make everything all right again. Already, her gentle rocking and petting my hair made me feel better.

  “Oh, honeybee,” Mom murmured. “I was so worried about you.”

  “She knows, Penny,” Mags said in a grave voice.

  I eased away from Mom and met Mags’s gaze. Pressure squeezed my lungs, and the room felt like it’d grown smaller. I sucked in a small stream of air and some of the tightness eased in my chest. So, Malware had been right all along. He rose from his chair and inclined his head to me, but I wasn’t in the best of moods to acknowledge him more than I already had.

  Mags leaned against the entryway, wiping her hands on a towel. “She needs to hear all of it from you.”

  Mom studied my face and wiped her palms on her jeans. Nodding, she wrapped an arm around my waist and pointed me to the living area. “Let’s sit and chat.”

  We sat on the floral printed sofa, and Mom, looking bone-weary and happy at the same time, clutched my hands. I didn’t know what to say. “Reese sold me” didn’t seem like the best opener for any conversation. Malware sat in a matching armchair, and I finally noticed what was off about the whole house since I’d returned. The plastic covers on the furniture were missing, the good china was on display, and a variety of bouquets stuffed in delicate vases covered every surface. All the baby-proofing had been removed. I’d never seen the house like this before.

  Mom squeezed my fingers. “Tell me what happened.”

  “Reese tricked me into a bottle,” I blurted. So much for easing into the topic.

  “I’ll murder him,” she growled.

  Malware’s mouth twitched into a smirk. He wasn’t rushing me to tell the story.

  “Mama Bear!” I told her about how Reese spent the rent at the racetracks and lost, and that he learned what I was. I gave her a mean sid
e-eye, too. Our next subject of conversation would be why she and Dad had kept me in the dark. “Then some djinni said if Reese gave up mastery over my bottle, they’d wipe his debts clean.”

  Mags swept into the room and cleared away the vase of roses closest to me. “I thought his accident was ironic. We thought you’d been in the car with him.”

  “You thought I was dead?” I blinked from Mags to Mom. “Is that why you didn’t look for me?”

  Mom’s face crumpled, and she stroked my cheek. “At first, I couldn’t rule it out. You could’ve been tossed from the car, or… worse. But there was no body.”

  “Turns out it was worse.” Mags sat in the other armchair and folded her hands on her lap.

  I pulled from Mom’s grasp and couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze. “What could be worse than finding out you’re a djinni when your boyfriend traps you in a bottle?”

  Mags’s forehead wrinkled. “Nothing is worse than that, Lucy.”

  “Why did this happen to me?” I slowly shook my head, but every time I tried to make sense of what happened, what I really was, I whipped my head back and forth faster. “How could you not tell me?”

  Mom lifted a hand. “Wait, let me explain first.”

  Mags nodded, her lips compressing into a tight line.

  “Your dad was a lightlighter in his youth—basically a cop.”

  “The best,” Mags said.

  “And one of his most famous cases involved a Winter Court fae—”

  “Unseelie filth,” Mags snarled.

  “—who was attempting a coup in the Winter Court. Your father caught him, and he cursed your father.” Mom’s brows crinkled together.

  “Tarnished the Avalons is what that boggart did.”

  I gaped at Mags. I’d never heard her speak like that before, or interrupt anyone as much, either. I glanced at Malware and caught the muscle in his jaw pulsing. What was he thinking? The djinni silk really was a one-way link.

  Mom gently tapped my four-leaf clover pendant. “You see, honeybee, your dad was one of the luckiest djinnis known to the Faelands. That good luck of his brought Dyth down, and he cursed Frankie to have a child who was the exact opposite of him.”

  I jerked back, my gaze swinging from Mom, to Malware, to Mags, and back to Mom, my ears ringing. “So, I’m a curse?”

  “No!” Mom scooted closer, and wrapped her arm around me, hugging me to her side. “Not in the least.”

  “When he was young,” Mags said, “your father suffered from hubris, and since his good luck was still strong, he didn’t think more about it. It shames me to say this, but he forgot about the curse. It’d happened long before he met Penny.”

  “It wasn’t until I was already expecting that your grandmother reminded him of the curse.” Mom and Mags exchanged a look I couldn’t figure out. “Your dad hoped his good luck would win out in the end. It always had. I kept faith, even though I was having a rough pregnancy. Anyway, you were born, and when we tried to name you, the nurse misspelled your name.”

  “How do you misspell Lucy?” I asked.

  Mom gave me a sad smile. “We wanted to name you Lucky.”

  Malware quirked a brow at me. I imagined that brow meant I would’ve had a similar experience to his. At least Lucky would’ve been semi-normal.

  “When we tried to correct it later, it still came back as Lucy. Then your father broke his leg tripping over one of your toys, black mold broke out in the kitchen when you had thrush, a house fire erupted one night when you were teething…” Mom sighed. “We couldn’t deny it any longer, and your dad wanted to protect you and everyone around you, so… he bound your powers while we searched for a way to break your curse. We were going to tell you, but then your dad died, the binding broke, and I had to find a way to help you myself.”

  My luck really had worsened after Dad had passed. I had the urgent care bills to prove it.

  “That’s why you didn’t inform the bureau you had a child,” Malware said. “You didn’t want them to confine her.”

  Mom jumped. “Where the hell did you come from?”

  “Mama.” I elbowed her. “He’s been here the whole time.”

  Mags’s hand flew to her chest. “He really blends in. I keep forgetting he’s here.”

  Malware shot me an “I told you so” look. I couldn’t believe people didn’t notice him. He sat there, large and a little ridiculous in a floral chair, with rolled-up sleeves and two buttons undone on his crisp white shirt. I stared at the hollow of his throat and the tantalizing glimpse of more tanned skin. I bet he was ripped.

  “Focus, Avalon.” Malware glowered.

  “You’re a lightlighter.” Mom’s shoulders slumped. “Oh no, Lucy. What happened?”

  Malware stood and paced the living room. “Your daughter blew my cover, made me her master, and got my car shot at within an hour of me laying eyes on her.”

  Mom’s lip curled. She tugged my sleeves back and gasped at my wrists. “Oh, honeybee.” A tear slipped down her cheek as she rubbed the scarring on my skin. “Where are the bracelets?”

  Malware’s face darkened. “I wished for her freewill.”

  Mom rose and approached him. “Thank you… what’s your name?”

  “Malware Tanaka.”

  I snorted in a chuckle, waiting to laugh with Mom, but she merely nodded as if she should’ve known. How? That was the silliest name of all names.

  “Thank you for using all your wishes to save my daughter.” Mom embraced him. “I owe you everything.”

  “You were terribly lucky, Lucy,” Mags said.

  My chin wobbled, and I took a steadying breath. “I think it’s mostly because Malware was terribly unlucky that I’m free. I… forced him.” I lifted my eyes and met his. “I’m so sorry.”

  At Mom and Mags’s confused expression, Malware and I explained what happened in the speakeasy.

  “That’s why your father bound your powers.” Mags firmly nodded. “I told Frankie something like this would happen. It’s why I insist you wear that charm all the time. At least it counters some of your bad luck.” She faced Mom. “We should find someone who will discreetly bind her powers until we can break the curse.”

  I ducked my head, fiddling with the lucky clover pendant. I wasn’t sure how to process all this information. It changed who I thought I was and what I should do with myself from then on. How could I go through life and hurt people just by being around them? In six short weeks, I’d paralyzed Reese, destroyed Malware’s career, and my family felt the need to hide me.

  Malware placed a hand on my shoulder. “Reese deserved what he got, and my career will bounce back.”

  Mags snorted, and Mom resumed her seat beside me.

  “I just found a lead on breaking the curse.” She grinned and grasped my hand. “I know where one of Rasputin’s bones is, and it’s not that far from here.”

  I furrowed my brows. “Rasputin? As in the spiritual advisor to Czarina Alexandra?”

  Mom smiled. “That’s the one.”

  Malware blinked at me. I had the feeling he hadn’t expected me to know who Rasputin was.

  “You can’t be serious, Av—Mrs. Avalon,” Malware said. “There’s a reason why his followers stole his body and scattered his bones across the seven continents.”

  “No, that’s not right.” I stood and took a few steps to get away from Mom to clear my head. “They exhumed Rasputin’s body a few months after he was buried and burned it to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine.”

  Malware tilted his head, regarding me silently. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

  He quirked a brow, then shook his head. “That’s the story the bureau gave the human public to explain why he was exhumed. Rasputin was a dark djinni. What really happened was zealots of Rasputin’s cult dug him up and scattered his bones. To this day, the bureau doesn’t know where all his bones are.”

  “It’s always cultists,” Mags muttered.

  “Okay…” That explained a lot of his mystery a
nd why the Czarina was so protective of Rasputin, but it didn’t explain his bones.

  “For a djinni to have limitless power, it means you’re chained to a bottle without freewill,” Mom said. “To have freewill and limitless power without a bottle was unheard of… until Rasputin.”

  “Rasputin is the only known djinni to break free from his bottle and keep that power.” Malware folded his arms. “One bone of his has the power to grant an impossible wish: resurrection, love, or even limitless power. That’s why his cultists stole his body before the bureau could destroy it. They scattered his bones and never divulged where they were.”

  “What happened to the cultists?” I asked.

  Malware shrugged.

  “Probably killed each other over the bones,” Mags said.

  Mom nodded, her face brightening. “One of his bones could break your curse, honeybee. We could be a team. I bet with time, you and I could resume working for the bureau just like your dad and I were.”

  Malware’s jaw flexed and a vein throbbed in his temple. I resisted the urge to fan myself.

  “It’s dangerous.” Mags straightened her sweater and shook her head. “Frankie died searching for those bones. Go to the Summer Court. Ask them to help.”

  “Their favors always have a wicked price. What if they take Lucy from me?” Mom frowned at me, her dark eyes glistening. “She’s all I have left.”

  “I agree, favors from the fae have a tall price,” Malware said slowly, his brows gathering together. “But how do you know where one of Rasputin’s bones is?”

  Mom squirmed on the sofa. “I… sort of was working with Sigvald Strause and he found it. When Maggie texted me there was an emergency here, I took a copy of the map and came straight away.”

  Mags clutched the armrests. “Penny!”

  “Smoke and mirrors.” Malware’s scowl made my throat dry up.

  I glanced away and bumped into a side table, knocking a vase over. It broke and water soaked into the carpet. Lilac petals scattered everywhere.

  “My vase!” Mags dropped to the floor and fumbled with the pieces. “Clumsy child.”