Chapter One
You can't beat the view from the Prestige Suite in the Sails Hotel and Casino. The sparkling Mediterranean framed by the opulence of Monaco. As I scanned the horizon, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the glass door of the balcony. A sophisticated woman in her mid-forties stared back at me, her ash blond hair pulled back in a loose chignon. Even though Evelyn Markham clearly took care of herself, I still preferred my usual human form. If nothing else, it was twenty years younger.
I took a final moment to enjoy the expanse of sunlit, turquoise water before I slipped on my red hot Jimmy Choos and prepared for the meeting with my mark, the aptly named Aladdin.
The pricey shoes were designed with petite feet in mind rather than my size nine clodhoppers, but I didn't care. They looked the part and I happened to love assignments that indulged my love of designer clothes. The Shadow Elite paid me enough to afford them, but why buy when you can summon the clothes for free?
I grabbed my Chanel bag from the sofa and headed to the Penthouse Suite. I'd been working on securing this meeting for weeks and it was finally a go. It took patience, a few public demonstrations of extravagance, and well-placed inquiries around the hotel. As a result of my efforts, word spread that Evelyn Markham was a wealthy woman of rare and refined tastes.
I didn't need to knock. Aladdin's security team was waiting for me in the hallway. Twin mountains of pure hostility. Six feet seven each with six hundred pounds between them. They sported matching orange buzz cuts, freakishly small ears and noses the size of Queens. Okay, Queens is a slight exaggeration. More like the Bronx.
"Gentlemen, what service." I flashed a smile but neither reciprocated. What did I expect? They weren't entirely human. Their auras suggested a hybrid -- maybe the offspring of an Ifrit and a human. Most djinn and human offspring result in mages, otherwise known as magicians. They can perform magic but can't shapeshift or do other neat tricks. They lack the full-blown powers of their djinni parent. The exceptions are Ifrits and Ghuls. If one of those ugly suckers mates with a human...Ugh. Let's just say some poor woman with indiscriminate taste was wearing her beer goggles that night. The mere thought of that coupling made me vomit in my mouth a little.
Thing One opened the door and Thing Two followed me inside.
The Penthouse Suite was even more impressive than mine. Twelve foot high ceilings and soundproof glass windows that covered three sides. The glittering Mediterranean stretched away from me, dotted with sailboats and luxury yachts. I bet the sunset views were incredible here. If I didn't already hate Aladdin for djinn trafficking, I'd hate him for having this spectacular suite all to himself.
The doors to the terrace were wide open and the sea breeze filtered in, tempting me with its idyllic promises. I resisted the call. Aladdin was holding djinn against their will and I was here to free them. A supernatural Moses.
"So where's your master?" I asked, pretending to survey the room. Actually, I'd surveyed the room before I'd stepped a foot inside. I knew he wasn't here.
"We need to check your ID," Thing One said and held out his hand.
Again?" I exaggerated the word for effect. "Gentlemen, we've been through the preliminaries, haven't we? I mean, we're old friends by now." I batted Evelyn's false eyelashes.
"Again," Thing One confirmed.
As expected, my charm was useless. If these guys were the sons of an Ifrit and a human, then they weren't prone to puerile thoughts, precisely the reason Aladdin hired them.
I dug through my bag and produced a black leather wallet. Also Chanel. I was hoping to hold on to it as a keepsake after the mission, but it depended on who was running inventory back at Shadow Elite HQ. Gemma was a stickler, whereas Alberto didn't have an eye for detail. Or at least you'd never know it from the number of earrings and handbags I'd managed to pilfer over the years. I considered them tokens of the Shadow Elite's appreciation.
I plucked a passport from the oversized wallet and handed it to Thing One. He grunted a thank you and turned it over to Thing Two who removed a phone from his pocket. He held the passport up to the screen and I waited. Guillermo, part of my tech team, was in charge of bonafides and he'd introduced Evelyn Markham to the Internet last week.
"I'm very keen to see your master's collection," I said. "I've heard it's the most extensive in the world." I'd also heard his 'collection' was full of female djinn, trapped in their human forms and permanently attached to objects like pendants and stones they couldn't escape. As a djinni, it's one of my worst fears -- for someone to bind me to an object and bend me to his will. A bound djinni can be forced to perform acts for the 'master' of the object. Of course, to bind me, someone would need to discover my true name and that wasn't going to happen. I'd die first.
I thought of the helpless djinn, subject to Aladdin's control, and my nostrils flared. He was scum and I couldn't wait to take him down.
A glance passed between them and my nerve endings sprang to life. I wasn't a fan of that look.
"I assume everything is in order," I said, adopting my haughtiest tone.
Thing Two stared at me and then looked back at my passport. "There's no Evelyn Markham that fits your description."
I gave a cry of indignation. I'd been Evelyn Markham for weeks and now the description didn't match?
"That's absurd. I haven't had so much as a Botox injection. What are you implying?"
Thing One read the screen. "You're not Evelyn Markham."
Shit. I sensed a Plan B coming on.
I tried one more time to salvage the mission. "There's clearly a mistake."
"Technology doesn't lie," Thing Two said. "People do."
Well, my cover was blown. No point in hiding my true self anymore.
"Good thing I'm not people then."
I focused inwardly on the molecules that formed my shape and shifted them from solid phase to liquid phase.
Thing One lunged for me, but I was already mist. A material girl to incorporeal girl in the blink of an eye. The Marida, my caste, were fast shifters and I was no exception. It was one major advantage I had over the hybrids.
I reformed at the far end of the room, near the balcony, and summoned a double-barreled rocket-propelled grenade. Not every djinni could will a weapon into existence. It was one of my more highly coveted skills.
"Good thing your ears are small," I said. "You won't need these." A pair of earplugs appeared in my ears. I'd stupidly blown out both eardrums the first time I launched one of these babies. Although they didn't take long to heal, they hurt like a sonuvabitch. Lesson learned.
The two mountains advanced and I launched the rockets. The explosive payload burst forth and twin rockets streaked toward my twin targets. Things One and Two were mirror images of shock, their dry, thin lips forming an 'o.' They blew back against the wall in tandem, leaving Thing-shaped cracks in the plaster.
Now was my chance to escape. I hurried to the balcony and looked down. Only six stories.
No sweat. I dissolved into water droplets and fell lightly to the ground below before my new friends had time to scrape themselves off the wall.
Once all the pieces of me landed safely, I shifted back to a human body -- not Evelyn's this time, but my usual human form -- so I could call for an emergency extraction. Then it hit me. My damn phone was in that beautiful Chanel bag, back on the floor of the Penthouse Suite.
I glanced up to see Thing One and Thing Two leaning over the balcony, their eyes fixed on me. I was fairly certain they couldn't jump and live to tell about it.
"A little privacy, please," I called up to them. "I'm getting dressed."
I summoned a new outfit that fit this body and willed my phone into my hand, dialing rapidly.
"Pick up," I snarled, glancing up again. The looming figures were gone and I could guess where they were headed.
I began to run, still listening to the ring of the phone. I had to get away from the hotel as quickly as possible. I couldn't do battle here. My powers would draw too much attention. They were too strong and far too messy when the other side put up a fight. Things One and Two didn't seem overly concerned with collateral damage.
I cursed myself the whole way. Not only was the mission unsuccessful but, now that our feud had gone public, there was a chance of innocent bloodshed.
I didn't know how Aladdin handled blunders, but I got called onto the carpet when a mission went sideways. That alone was incentive enough for me to contain the mess. The more times you stand on that carpet with your head dipped in shame, the more likely said carpet will get yanked out from under you one day.
No one answered my call. My mind was racing as fast as my feet, but it wasn't fast enough. Summoning my power, I bent the light and air around me and whipped down the walkway, using the light waves as my own personal superhighway. Why did no one answer the call? What could have gone wrong with Guillermo's tech? Why did Evelyn's identity not materialize? I'd already used it several times without a hitch.
Most of the time, I liked working ad hoc. I traveled the world, met new agents, never had to hear the same lame joke twice, and never had to befriend colleagues on social media. Now was not one of those times. Now I wished for a team of my own, reliable agents that liked me enough to risk themselves to get me out of a jam. Agents whose names I remembered so I didn't need to assign them personal nicknames like Freckles and Pointy Ears.
As I reached the marina, I slowed my pace so that I could be seen. Depending on their precise location, the other agents might spot me before I spotted them. Freckles had mentioned a second team in play at the marina. I had no clue what their role was nor did I care. Right now,
survival was my only concern. I hightailed it toward the bobbing boats and hoped to spot a familiar face.
The familiar face in front of me was not one I expected. The mountain had come to -- well, me. Thing One appeared directly in front of me. How did he beat me here? I spun around to see Thing Two behind me. This made no sense. They weren't as fast as full-fledged djinn. Maybe they had more magic than I gave them credit for. Or more help than I anticipated.
The boats were only about thirty feet away. My gaze settled on a sleek sailboat that looked ripe for the picking. The air was calm but that didn't matter to me. If I could make it onto that sailboat, I was home free. I'd worry about finding the team later.
Silently, I summoned the wind. The air around us immediately began to swirl in a counterclockwise direction. I intended to launch a mini tornado across the marina and escape inside it. I'd used this maneuver in Cape Town after a particularly vicious fight with a band of Ghuls in the middle of a waterfront restaurant and it had saved my hide. I figured it was foolproof. My mistake.
I started to shift when I felt the copper currents rock my entire body. They had a damn genie prod. Assholes. If I got a hold of that prod, I knew exactly where I would shove it. Fortunately for them, I didn't get the chance.
I didn't see the net coming, but I sure as hell felt it when it was thrown over me. The net was carefully constructed of copper wires. I'd seen one only once before, in a training session at the Academy. The Marid in the training exercise had died a very painful death, and the net had made no further appearances in training sessions. That lovely stroll down memory lane didn't make me feel better about my current predicament.
Helplessly, I clawed at the net. My heart rate slowed and my body crumpled in pain. Thanks to the influx of copper, I was too weak to shift. Too weak to fight. There was nothing left to do except let the darkness take me. So I did.
I opened my eyes and stared into the finely carved drawer of a Queen Anne mahogany highboy chest. It was a gorgeous piece, easily worth ten grand. I just didn't know why my face was so close to it.
I moved slightly, my body still buzzing from the intense jolt it had received, and saw I was surrounded on all sides by exquisite furniture. Was I in Aladdin's lair? No, the furniture wasn't arranged, it was piled around me. Could be a warehouse, except the floor was vibrating. Ah, now I understood. Not a warehouse but a truck. I was in the back of a furniture truck.
And it was moving.
Since graduating from the Academy, I'd woken up in my share of unfamiliar places, including a tomb in New Orleans and the top of the Eiffel Tower, but this one stumped me. Why did my captors place me in the back of a furniture truck unguarded? Unless the container was airtight, I could shift right out of it. Somebody didn't do their djinn homework.
At least I was still fully clothed, although I was disappointed to see that someone had changed me into gray sweatpants and a Mets T-shirt. Now this was just cruel and unusual punishment. The sweatpants were bad enough, but the T-shirt...I mean, did I look like a Mets fan?
I summoned a change of clothes. Nothing happened.
Okaaay. I attempted to shift to mist. That would get me out of the embarrassing clothes, not to mention out of the back of the truck. Again, nothing happened. Then I noticed the cuffs. Two copper cuffs, one on each wrist.
Fear coiled in my stomach like a serpent ready to strike.
I closed my eyes and drew a steadying breath. Maybe when I opened my eyes again, the cuffs would be gone. An illusion.
Slowly, I looked down at my wrists and my chest tightened. Not an illusion. I'd heard of djinn agents getting cuffed. It was rare, but it happened. In one swift move, they were stripped of their powers and their agency positions. It was the CIA equivalent of getting burned. That couldn't be me, though. I was an exemplary agent. I'd graduated top of my class from the PAN Academy. PAN stands for Paranormal Agency Network, the worldwide intelligence agency. That was why the Shadow Elite had recruited me in the first place. They wanted the best. There had to be another explanation. Aladdin was rich and connected. Exactly how connected? As far as I knew, only three agencies and the more powerful governments had access to high grade copper cuffs. These were the real deal, designed to trap my djinni soul, using my human body as the bottle. Regular copper weapons simply weakened me and caused mind-numbing pain. This was much, much worse.
I unleashed a string of expletives that would've made the devil's ears burn.
But if this was Aladdin's doing, why not just kill me or make me a member of his harem? Why neuter me and ship me off to...Well, I had no clue where I'd been shipped off to. Only one way to find out.
I climbed and slithered my way through the tightly packed furniture until I reached the only possible exit -- the back door. Naturally, it was locked from the outside. I raised my hands, ready to blow off the heavy metal door when I remembered the cuffs. Mothercuffer, I grumbled. How did this happen?
I began feeling along the edges of the door for any levers. Anything to get me out of here.
"You're not getting out until I let you out," a disembodied voice said.
I glanced up. In the top corner, I spotted speakers and a tiny camera.
"And when will that be, sir?" I asked, leaning casually on the mahogany buffet. Now that I knew I was being watched, I didn't want my panic to show.
"Another minute or so. I need a safe place to pull over." He cleared his throat. "I'll thank you not to get smudges on the merchandise."
I rubbed my elbow around the wood for good measure. "Nice piece. Eighteen-sixties?"
"Heck if I know. I just need to keep it in good condition."
"Then what?"
"Then someone'll buy it."
I rolled my eyes. "No, I mean you'll pull over and then what?"
"Then I'll open the door enough for you to crawl out," he said. "Those are my instructions."
I stared at the speaker. "Whose instructions?"
"Couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. When I try to think of the name, I get an image of yellow rubber duck in my head. You know the kind?"
"Yes." A djinni couldn't pull that trick. It had to be a mage or someone working with a mage. My head was spinning with the number of possibilities.
"So I'm gonna ease on over now," he said and I felt the truck slow down. "Don't dawdle because I'm gonna hit the gas and get straight back on the road before you can reach my driver's side door."
I folded my arms across my chest. "Let me guess. Those are your instructions?"
"Yes, ma'am. Have a nice day now."
The door creaked and rose about a foot. More than enough room for me to slide out without disturbing the expensive merchandise. Although I was tempted to dig my nail into the wood before I left, I couldn't bring myself to do it. These were exceptional antiques.
I dropped to the floor of the truck and rolled underneath the door. As soon as my feet touched the ground, the truck roared to life and rejoined the steady stream of traffic.
The air outside was thick with humidity and the temperature had to be pushing ninety. Dusting off my sweatpants, I stood on the side of the busy road and surveyed my surroundings.
Then I saw the sign and my heartbeat skidded to a halt.
Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love. Home sweet home.
Somebody had a sick sense of humor.
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