Wish For Me (The Djinn Order #1) (9 page)

I blinked. “Eliminate them?”

“Yes.”

“As in,
kill
them?”

Irving’s jaw clenched. “I will not let harm come to any Djinn if I can help it. I will destroy any threat to them without a second thought. And I may have to, Glory. I hope you understand that.”

I snorted. “And you told me you weren’t an assassin.”

“I’m not. Senselessly killing for no reason is not the same as killing to defend my kind. And I
will
defend my kingdom until death, Glory. I am sorry if this disturbs you, but I make no apologies for those that I will put down to protect my realm.”

I sat back in my chair, taking it all in. I stared across the table at Irving, trying to get a read on him. It wasn’t hard. He was serious and meant every word he said. The hunters would die miserable deaths at his hands if they became more of a threat than to just him. I sympathized in a way. If hunters had shot
me
with a poisoned arrow, I wouldn’t be feeling so up to preserving lives either.

Eventually, I nodded. “I understand.” And I did. Irving and I weren’t so different. He’d kill for his family and I would for mine. If this is what he felt he had to do, then I respected that. Besides, who was I to question his methods when I’d only just been introduced to his ways? I’d only just learned that Djinn existed while Irving and his kind had been battling hunters for centuries. I needed to trust that he knew what he was doing and not get all in my feelings because he was considering taking out a bunch of humans. They’d signed their own death warrants by attacking him first, so I couldn’t really feel
too
bad for them.

The conversation had become too heavy for me, so I changed the subject. I’d planned on securing our truce that night, not arguing, and so it was time to make that happen.

“I think we should at least pretend to be friends, you know, at least until the hunters are taken care of.”

Irving cocked his head. “We are not friends, Glory?”

I shrugged and drank down the last of my iced tea. “I just know that you’re not the biggest fan of humans and that I don’t make it any easier sometimes.”

Irving sighed. “Again, my quarrel with the human race has nothing to do with you,” he said. “I feel guilty because I am to blame for making you feel as though I want us to be enemies. I do not want that at all. I harbor no confusion about what I feel for you and I
do
want us to be friends.”

I swallowed hard. His wording threw me for a loop. “So you actually like me then?”

His eyes sparkled at me. “I think my letting you put your tongue in my mouth last night proves that I like you, Glory.”

“What? You were the one tonguing
me
down!”

He grinned. “If you say so.”

I just shook my head at him. “So what’s with the get-up, Djinn boy?”

“What get-up?” he replied, smiling at the server who had been overly attentive the entire meal. It was for Irving’s benefit only, though, I was sure of that. He had captured the attention of most of the women in the restaurant, not that he noticed.

“The clothes,” I said. “You’re not in your usual gear today.”

Irving smiled. “Look closer, Glory. I am wearing what I always wear.”

I frowned, but stared at him anyway. For a moment, nothing happened. Then his silhouette flickered, fading out, then back in. I saw the leather duster framing his magnificent body and the goggles sitting atop his head, ready to be slid into place at any moment. I imagined he was wearing his leather pants and boots too, but they were hidden beneath the table.

“That’s too cool,” I breathed. “It’s a glamour.”

Irving nodded. “I’m a bit of a sloth. Would rather glamour myself than actually change my attire.”

I laughed. “In that case, I wish
I
had the ability to glamour myself.”

Irving’s head snapped in my direction. His eyes glowed a violent purple, almost as though he was in a trance. His entire body stiffened and his head slowly bowed to me.

“Irving…what the—” I thought about what I’d said and realized what I had just done.
Oh shit…

“
Your wish is my command,
” he said, his voice sounding a million miles away.

“Irving, no. I didn’t mean—”

Remembering the rules for wishing, I knew it was too late. I felt something warm slip over my body, like a ray of sunlight, making me tingle all over and break out in a light sweat.

I gasped a breath and waited for something else crazy to happen. But nothing did and after a few moments, Irving’s eyes returned to normal. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed our little exchange, but no one was paying us any attention.

“What have you done, Glory St. Pierre?” Irving growled, clutching the sides of the table.

My mouth flapped open, but I had no words. No explanation.

“You have done a very bad thing.”

“It—It was an accident!”

Irving leaned forward. “You have just made yourself a target!”

“A target?”

“Yes. For the League of the Black Cloud.”

The hunters?
“I don’t understand.”

“We must leave.” Irving looked up and gestured to our server who hurried over and practically bowed at Irving’s feet. I wanted to kick the bitch in the head, but I was still a bit too stunned to move.

Irving paid the bill and then grabbed my arm to escort me from the restaurant. I barely had time to grab my bag, which held his Chronolier. Irving hailed a cab, since that was how we had traveled to the restaurant, and practically pushed me inside.

“Where are we going?” I asked. I tossed a smile at the cab driver, but I didn’t mean it. Irving gave the driver our destination. It was my college campus.

“Why are we going there?”

Irving ignored me. I didn’t ask again.

When we arrived at campus, Irving paid the cabbie and tipped him extra to erase his navigation system. The driver hesitated but couldn’t resist a one hundred dollar tip that I swore Irving made appear out of nowhere.

The campus was dark and abandoned, of course, except for the weekend security, but we easily avoided them. Irving practically dragged me to a secluded part of campus between the Arts & Sciences and Music buildings. He came to a stop and forced me to turn and face him.

“Use it,” he demanded, dropping his glamour and revealing the Djinn I was used to seeing.

“Use what?” My voice shook a little bit.

Irving grunted. “Your glamour, Glory. Make me see what is not really there.”

“How the hell do I do that?”

Irving didn’t respond and I realized he wanted me to figure it out.

So I just imagined it. I imagined myself as Queen Elizabeth I. The fiery red wig, white makeup, and elaborate frock. I willed it to be real, and so it was. It was just that easy.

Glamour was a strange sensation that kind of freaked me out a bit, though. It felt so unnatural, like being inside a bubble, and through the murky walls of the practically transparent membrane, I could see Irving on the other side, gaping at me in horror.

I felt my glamour fade away, knowing that I’d fucked up really bad this time.

Irving grabbed my arms. “You’re an illusionist now.”

“A
what?
”

“An
illusionist.
A human with magic. The League of the Black Cloud will want you now. They will want to use you, Glory. Against us. Against
me.
They will make you their weapon. I cannot stop them from coming for you.” He let me go and backed up. “You need to make your last two wishes now and release me back to my kingdom. They will use you to get to me and I cannot let that happen.”

My heart dropped into my shoes. Irving was trying to get rid of me. He didn’t want me to be his master anymore. “Irving,” I said. “Think about what you’re saying.”

“I have made up my mind, Glory. You must release me and hide the Chronolier. I cannot take it back to Shrinelyn with me, but if you wish to protect me and my kind, then please,
please,
do this for me. Hide it where no one will find it, where they would never think to look. If they ever locate it—” He dragged his hands through his hair, knocking his goggles to the ground. “They must not claim possession of my Chronolier. It will be the end of my kind.”

My mind raced. Irving was desperate and I knew I had to do something to fix this. But I didn’t know what to wish for. I could have wished for anything, but I wanted to help Irving. It was the only way I could express what I was feeling without saying the actual words. If Irving and I never saw one another again, at least I wouldn’t be remembered as a burden and that I’d done everything in my power to help his people.

I thought some more and after a moment, something came to me. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but if it did then it might protect Irving
and
make it possible for us to see each other again.

I reached into my bag and pulled out Irving’s Chronolier.
Here goes nothing.
“I wish—”

“Glory! Watch out!” I barely had time to brace myself as Irving tackled me to the ground and rolled us away.

An explosion went off right where we had been standing, leaving a crater-sized hole in the grass.

“What the fuck is
that
?” I shouted. I glanced at Irving to find that the utter terror I felt was splashed all across Irving’s face.

“It cannot be!” he exclaimed. He scrambled to his feet, pulling me with him.

Even standing at full height, which was incredibly tall, Irving was practically dwarfed by the three plus tons of steel robot that had just tried to obliterate us.

“Oh, fuck me!” I cursed. Irving shot me a look before tossing me aside as the hollow-eyed automaton leapt through the air at us. It swung a massive arm at Irving, intent on crushing him, but the Djinn thwarted the attempt by thrusting his hands up in front of him and conjuring up some sort of invisible shield. The automaton’s steel fist slammed into the shield and bounced off, throwing the bot onto its back. I was sure the impact could be felt all the way to the Earth’s core.

“This way, Glory!” Before I could even wrap my mind around what was happening, Irving was pulling me to my feet, and then we were running, only stopping for Irving to scoop up his goggles.

Irving dragged us behind the nearest dumpster in the small expanse behind the Music building. We fell into crouches and Irving slid his goggles onto his head and over his eyes. Using a tiny lever on the side, he switched out the lenses for the ones that were behind them. I was pretty sure I knew why.
Night vision.

“What the fuck
is
that thing?” I hissed. I was knocked on my ass as the ground shook from the automaton stomping toward us.

“It is something that should not exist,” Irving said, searching his pockets for something. He pulled out a leather glove with a brass gadget attached to it. The gadget hooked over his thumb, index and middle fingers as he slid it onto his right hand. He flipped a few switches and the gadget tightened around his palm and fingers. With that, he was back on his feet.

“Stay here,” he growled down at me.

“Not gonna be a problem,” I said. The area around the dumpster was putrid and gross, but nothing would be more disgusting than getting stomped out by the automaton and ending up as nothing but a sack of skin and crushed bones.

Irving disappeared and reappeared in the path of the robot, intercepting its deadly march. I knew because I stood up to watch. Sure, I was scared, but there was no way I was going to miss this fight and if Irving ever needed my help, I wanted to be ready to do whatever I could.

The automaton was outfitted in antique steel plates and brass bolts that covered its entire frame, from its wide shoulders down to its solid steel feet. Other than the hollow eyes, the steel mask that was its face only had a brass grate where its mouth should have been. It didn’t appear to need a nose and I wasn’t quite how its auditory capabilities worked, only that they did. A steel pack was attached to his back and steam was rising through the brass capped pipe that rose out of the top of it. It was like an engine. Or a battery pack. If it was, I thought it was stupid for the bot’s source of power to be strapped to its back. It was vulnerable that way, though I didn’t underestimate its power and ability to kick major ass.

The automaton attacked first, flying at Irving with a speed that should have been impossible for something that big. With two steel fists extended, it power punched Irving and the two of them went skidding across the grassy commons, ripping up sod and demolishing several tables and benches as though they were made of sand instead of concrete. I screamed because damn, how could anyone survive some shit like that? But they were up and back at it a moment later when Irving lifted the bot above his head and tossed it teddy bear-style, arms and legs spinning like a pinwheel through the air.

The bot crashed into the Art and Sciences building, clearing out an entire classroom and probably a lot more than that. I heard the bot whir as it emerged from the rubble and stomped back out to meet its opponent. Irving was waiting and as soon as the bot appeared, he raised his gloved hand—his thumb, middle and index fingers outstretched—and blasted the steel beast with whatever magic mojo the glove possessed. The bot must have seen it coming because it threw up a steel shield that extended from a plate on its left arm and blocked the blast. With a sharp slice through the air, a three-foot long blade shot out of the wrist guard on its right arm. My eyes widened to the size of baseballs. The bot was about to attempt to gut Irving.

The automaton bent its steel-plated knees, then pushed off, soaring through the air and landing right in front of Irving. Its shield immediately slammed into the Djinn and he flew across the commons. His hard landing left a crater in the ground, but that didn’t even seem to phase Irving. In a puff of smoke, he materialized on the shoulders of the bot and started beating it over the head with his gloved hand. Sparks flew off the bot’s steel helmet as it stumbled about, trying to knock Irving off or skewer him with its blade.

Irving threw a right hook that had the bot reeling sideways. The sudden jolt made Irving lose his balance and he pitched forward, landing halfway over the bot’s shoulder. The bot took advantage of that and grabbed Irving by his duster. It yanked and Irving slammed into the ground. Without pausing, it retracted its blade and rammed its fist into Irving’s body. I heard the bones crunch from across the commons and that’s when I knew I couldn’t watch anymore without doing something.