Page 7 of Bewitched By the Djinn (The Bewitching Hour #8)

I shrug. “Happened on Superman & Lois .”

His expression remains blank.

“Oh, right. No microwaves. No television.”

“This is the first time I’ve ever left my home in Aetheria.” A muscle in his jaw tics.

Guilt stirs in my chest. The first time he ever leaves home, and he ends up trapped in a lamp, only to be released by a strange lady with a baseball bat, then tossed out into the rain?

Yeah. Rough day. But I shove the guilt aside.

My own life is a mess, and now, apparently, I have to deal with this too.

“And I am not here to harvest or dominate anyone. I came here to find my sister. She did not wish to be found. We argued and she bound me to the lamp.” His voice is even, robotic almost.

“How did she do it?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “With her magic.”

I fight the urge to smack my forehead. “No kidding. Do you remember what she did? How she did it?”

He shakes his head. “No. I was trying to convince her to return to Aetheria. The next thing I knew, I was here. And you were threatening me with your stick.”

Mimi snorts.

“It was a bat,” I correct.

He rocks back in his seat.

“I threatened you with a bat. Not a stick. It’s for baseball.”

Bennet’s brow furrows.

I groan. “Never mind.”

“We need to find her and get her to release this,” he gestures between us, “curse. Then I can return with her to Aetheria.”

Mimi fidgets in her seat. “Say we do find your sister. If she did this to you, what makes you think she’ll fix it?”

“She must. She will. Once she hears reason. If you help me find her, I will leave. I will return with her to Aetheria. In the meantime, we are bound together until this is resolved—it is in both of our best interests to locate Helen.”

“Why is your sister here? I assume your kind doesn’t cross the veil often.” If djinn were popping into our world with any kind of regularity, I would have heard about it at some point.

He shifts in his chair, leaning closer. “You are correct. We aren’t supposed to. Helen ran away from her wedding. It has been planned since birth. My family is important in Aetheria. My parents are gone.” His hand lifts, touching the center of his chest.

There’s a bulge there, under his shirt. What is it?

He continues speaking. “It was always expected that Helen would make a good match for our people. She’s known this her whole life. The wedding is set to take place next week. At least, I think so. I don’t know how long I was in the lamp.”

“The shopkeeper I bought it from just got it in yesterday.”

Bennet nods, absorbing the information.

I rub my forehead, my thoughts sluggish with exhaustion. “So let me get this straight. Your sister is somewhere in New Orleans, and you have a week or less to find her. Meanwhile, you and I are stuck together because I released you like some kind of genie?”

Bennet gives me a flat look. “That is the second time you have referred to me as ‘genie.’ What does this term mean?”

I wave a hand. “It’s a magical being stuck in a lamp. Whoever rubs the lamp releases the genie and then the genie must grant them three wishes, anything they want.” I glance at Mimi. “Do I at least get three wishes?”

She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t test it. In every story, bad things happen. Hell, sometimes something bad things happen with each wish.”

“What kind of bad things?” Bennet asks.

Mimi drums her fingers on the table. “Like the man who wished for riches and eternal youth, and then his wife won the lottery, died, and left him a fortune. He was alone for eternity. A lifetime of luxury, but it was hollow and lonely. Or the woman who wished for endless love, only to have her partner become so obsessed, he killed her. And then there’s the story of the man who wished for power, but it twisted him.

He became a tyrant, unable to stop himself.

His wish stripped him of his humanity, and he was left a monster. ”

“So he became a politician?”

She considers that. “Most likely.”

Bennet leans his elbows on the table. “I am most certainly not this ‘genie.’ If I were at my full power, or if Helen were here, there is quite a bit of we could accomplish with our magic, but it would not be something someone could compel from us. Djinn don’t pull miracles out of thin air.

We channel. Transform. Influence what’s already there. ”

“So what kind of magic do you have?” Mimi asks.

“Our power is elemental. Tied to the land. Fire, wind, stone, sea—each of us is born with an affinity, a source that shapes us. In Aetheria, that connection is strong, and so the magic is abundant. Here, it’s more distant. Muted. But it’s the same current.”

Fascinating. “So it’s the same magic just watered down?”

He inclines his head. “Essentially. Magic is not confined to one realm or the other.” Then his lips purse.

“But I suppose it is possible one of my kind came to your realm, perhaps inspired these genie stories. The kind of power you describe though, especially on this side of the veil? Nothing short of the Ring of Solomon would be powerful enough.”

“What is the Ring of Solomon?” Mimi asks.

“One of our own legends. A powerful ring given to King Solomon by the gods. With it, he was able to bind and command djinn. They were forced to obey his every command, build him temples, go to war for him, even die for him.”

“One ring to rule them all,” I intone.

Mimi rolls her eyes, then turns to Bennet. “Myths often come from twisted kernels of truth. So with the Ring of Solomon, djinn are bound and forced to do someone’s bidding, like genies in our stories are bound to lamps and forced to grant three wishes.”

I bite my lip. “So then how are we bound together?”

Mimi shrugs. “Maybe the lamp has some kind of Ring of Solomon-ish power, or Helen has possession of the real thing and when she cast her spell, it caused the binding?”

Bennet lifts his hand. “No. The ring is only a story told to scare djinn children into behaving. Even if it were true, Helen would never do that. She would never hurt or imprison someone intentionally.”

Maybe she would if it meant escaping an arranged marriage. “Okay.” I snap my fingers. “New plan. Maybe we should destroy the lamp?”

“No,” Mimi says immediately. “Not until we know more. Binding curses are tricky. If we destroy the vessel, you could be stuck like this forever.”

I turn back to Bennet. “Do you have any idea where Helen might be?”

“No.”

I slump over and suppress the urge to bang my head onto the table. “Fantastic.”

“Normally I could track her with my magic,” he says slowly. “But I’m unable to access it.” His fists tighten. “I haven’t been able to use any of my power since you expelled me from the lamp.”

I lift my head, studying him. Aha. He was trying to compel me before, when I first released him, but he couldn’t because his magic is gone.

“Do you think she’s still in New Orleans?” I ask.

His mouth firms into a thin line. “I don’t know.”

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “So you know absolutely nothing.”

His jaw tics. “I may not know much about your world, but I will find my sister. She’s the only one who can fix this. She created the curse, she can break it. Then you can move on with your life, and I shall move on with mine.”

Poor Helen. Trapped in an arranged marriage, she finds an escape route, only to be hunted down and dragged back by her brother, who apparently has little sympathy for unwilling brides.

“Have they heard of consent in Aetheria?”

Whoops.

Bennet’s mouth pops open.

I lift a hand. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.” What is my business is getting rid of this curse so I can get rid of this djinn and move on with my life, such as it is.

“Helen did consent to the marriage. She has known for years about it. It is how things are done in my world, to unite kingdoms and keep our people safe. She never told me she didn’t want to marry Lord Wallace, and if she had, I would have—” He scrubs his hand through his hair.

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we need to find her to fix this. ”

Okay, so maybe he’s not quite the long arm of Aetheria’s patriarchy. But does that change anything? I’m too exhausted to deal with any of this right now.

Mimi reaches over, squeezing my hand. “We should all get some rest. The problems will still be here in the morning.” She points at Bennet. “If you hurt anyone in this house, I will kill you.”

Bennet meets her gaze, serious. “I promise I will not harm you or your family.”

Mimi holds his stare a second longer before nodding. “He’s telling the truth, Cass.” She pushes up from the table, moving stiffly.

I move to help her, but she shoos me away. “I’ve got it. Tonight, we sleep. Tomorrow, we figure out our next move.” She glances at Bennet. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can sleep.”