“I’m sure you are, fae, but I’m not interested in your money,” I say firmly.
This is it: the moment the deal will fall apart or become reality.
Darting to Sheena’s side, I drop my head to whisper in her ear. “I want five days of your time—of my choosing—and two wishes. In exchange, I’ll share everything I can find about the movement of Lysander’s gang.”
Asking for wishes is obvious, but requesting her time is a gamble. If I can show Sheena life on the Fringes and draw attention to the struggles the enclave turns a blind eye to, maybe she can force change from within. Or at least she’ll think twice before lending her power to further the enclave’s agenda.
“Three days and one wish,” she whispers back, too quiet for anyone but me to hear.
I blink, then grin, my heart beating faster as the others lose their shit.
The fae grabs Sheena’s arm, but the bigger guy gets to me first, shoving me with the force of a small car. I go with themotion; my grin locked firmly in place. Last night, that push would have flattened me. Thank the gods for Celine and Luca.
I inhale and raise my eyebrows as I catch a whiff of the big guy’s scent. It’s mostly human, and I’m surprised I didn’t notice it sooner.
“You brought a pet, love?” I tease. “Did you think to soften me up with a snack?”
“Touch him even once and you’ll find out exactly how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine,” Sheena snarls. Her green eyes bleed to purple, and a strand of her dark hair begins to float.
Can’t she tell I was kidding?
I’m not a rabid animal foaming at the mouth. I apologize, as genuinely as I can, and dip my head to show my respect for her unconventional choices. If she wants to waste her time on a human, that’s her business, not mine.
“Do we have a deal?” I ask.
“Almost.” Sheena tosses the human a warning look. “I’ll grant your wish on one condition.”
Idris’s cold stare snaps to my face. He’s not thrilled that I asked for a wish, but there was no reality where I took this risk without attempting to secure a wish of my own. And it’s the perfect way to find out if she’s even half as powerful as the mazzikin thinks she is.
“Lies, truth—all your secretive games aside—you must agree not to tellanyone,” Sheena says. Internally, I roll my eyes. Confidentiality is a pre-understood part of the deal. She doesn’t need to negotiate to secure the core tenet of my business model.
“Deal,” I say, my heart pumping with excitement.
Don’t get your hopes up, Ali.It won’t work. There’s no way she’s strong enough. If there’s even a chance, I’ve got to try. I’ve spent so long in the dark...
“I wish to move undamaged in the sun, feel its warmth on my face, and live freely without the curse of the vampire, burdenedonly by the secret origin of this gift, which I can never reveal to anyone.”
I make the wish with more confidence than I feel. The sun curse is an immovable force... If I believed Sheena was capable, I might have asked her to break the blood circle, but if she tried and failed, everyone in this room would knowabout it.
There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to lose the connection, and—gods above!
Sheena’s feet leave the dirty floor. Her head rolls back as blinding purple light shoots from her hovering body into mine. At first, it’s uncomfortably warm, then it begins to burn—exactly like when the sun reaches me.
I fall to my knees, grunting from the pain of my boiling skin. I can’t believe it. The tiny woman with the stubborn chin is actually attempting to lift one of nature’s most ancient curses.
Please gods... if you’re listening, give her the strength.
The burning moves from my skin to my eyes, then my organs, invading my body layer by layer until I’m certain that acid has replaced my blood.
I lock my jaw to keep from screaming. Through vision blurred with tears, I see blood drip from Sheena’s nose. Ciprian tugs on her legs frantically, his black eyes panicked as her spine curves unnaturally. His mouth moves. I think he’s shouting, but I can’t hear anything over the roaring in my ears.
The three of them circle her floating body, and I blink my melting eyes rapidly, trying to get a better look at what’s happening.Is my wish killing her?That was never my intent. I open my mouth to take it back, but no words come out.
One by one they touch her. My pain gets worse each time. Ciprian’s body gives off black smoke, and Sheena breathes it in. The burning penetrates my bones. My fangs slice up the inside of my mouth, and I taste blood on my tongue.
As they collapse, fear and hope war inside me. I’m not sure ifSheena siphoned magic from the others or if I hallucinated it, but I feel lighter, freer, better?—
The burning stops so suddenly it’s as if I imagined it. If it weren’t for the lingering ache in my joints and the four crumpled supernaturals on the concrete floor, I would think I dreamed the whole thing.
