If you’re in that bottle, how is she controlling your body? I asked Zev. I did it in my head, hoping that he still could hear my thoughts. My speech was at warp speed, time was running out fast.
She can project herself into my brain. She only needs my hardwiring and a small amount of my power.
He had been in so much pain when I felt him earlier through the mark. There had to be more to it than simply projecting her mind into his.
“You were in pain,” I insisted. “Earlier. I could feel it.”
“She must extract some of my essence to run my body. When she shoves it inside, I am in control for a moment until she throws me out. The process is unbearably painful.”
So, she basically uses you as a power supply before she takes over your personality?”
“Partially. She’s a powerful supernatural being.”
“And I’m not. I can’t take control of your body.”
“Nope,” he agreed. “Take the deal. She will keep her word.
“You both know I can hear you, right?” Lamia said. “I am connected to Zev’s spirit through his body.”
I met her gaze with raised brows. “I did not know that,” I said out loud.
“I knew it,” Zev said. “But I don’t care. Let me go. I don’t belong to you, Lamia. I never did.”
She pressed the tip of the knife deeper into Zev’s neck. “Zev is right. I’ll keep my word, if you take the bargain. Leave, and you will live.”
“I’m not leaving without Zev or his body. Also, keep your fricking hands off his body. And his essence.”
Lamia’s brows rose. “Arrogant, aren’t you? I always get what I want.”
“Is that what you call trapping Zev?” I took a step forward. “You knew he wouldn’t willingly choose you. So, you forced him.”
“Irrelevant,” Lamia hissed. She smiled, but the curve of her lips was sharp, like the blade she held against Zev’s throat. “Perhaps it is enough for me that you never have him.” The snake woman had hijacked Zev’s brain, and the only thing keeping him from taking it back was his essence being trapped in the vessel I held.
“Marigold…” Zev warned.
Why that … that scaly tart! I’d had enough of her threats. I lifted my palm and aimed it at her. Fire shot out of my hand like a flame thrower.
Lamia’s eyes widened, and then she began to laugh as she walked into my blaze. “Your fire can’t harm me. I am a desert creature. Fire gives me power.”
I closed my fist and shook out the residual flames. “That wasn’t for you,” I told her.
She peered at me suspiciously. “Then who was it for?”
“Me,” Zev said from behind her, surprising her as he snatched her knife.
The snake woman screamed as he shoved the blade deep into the back of her skull. She dropped to the ground and began writhing. “This won’t kill her,” he said. “But it will buy you time to escape while she molts and reforms.”
“How in the world did that work?” Carver asked.
If Lamia could jumpstart his body with his essence, I hoped I could do the same. “I have a piece of Zev’s soul inside me. I just tried to give it back.”
“Marigold.” Zev held his arms out to me.
I closed the distance between us and hung my arm over his shoulder, clinging to his bottle with the other. “I’m not leaving without you. I said it, and I mean it.”
He stroked my hair and caressed my cheek. “I can already feel my essence leaving this body,” he said. “The three of you will never make it out of here with me.”
Ryker spoke up. “It looks like we need to find a loophole then.”
Zev pivoted his gaze to her. “And who are you?”
“I am Neetra Wijawa, also known as Ryker, daughter of Ratna Wijawa and Rakistu Sha'a.” She put her hand on her hip. “I believe you know my father.”
“Rakistu Sha'a,” he said with wonder.
“You found a loophole.” She nodded. “And we’ll find another.”
I recited the spell Lamia had used. “She said, I bind thee, bathed in fire, birthed in ash, enter this bottle that can't be smashed, flame makes it stronger, you are free no longer, mine for eternity, as it always has been, as it will always be.”
“Wow, that’s a powerful incantation,” Carver said.
“Hello, Carver,” Zev addressed. “It is good to see you.”
“You as well.”
Lamia’s human body started to split, and I could see a massive snake trying to wiggle its way out.
“We need to get this show on the road,” I said, making a wrap-it-up gesture. “No stupid ideas here. Just hit me with what comes to mind.”
“Ice,” Carver said. “Heat makes it stronger. What will cold do to it?”
“Good, good.” I dragged Zev to the door. “We should try to get you out of here. We can figure it out.” My words trailed off as I watched the life drain from his eyes again. The small spark I’d given him had faded. I held the bottle. “Zev?”
“I’m still here,” he said.
I was so tired—too tired to think. It felt like every synapsis in my brain was misfiring. “Ice, ice, baby,” I hummed. “Ice blocks, ice baths, liquid nitrogen, warts. No, not warts.” My connections were going awry. “Back to ice baths. The diamond glass gets stronger with heat. Glass blowers use heat.” I’d binge-watched three seasons of Blown Away, and an idea struck me. I set the vase on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Zev asked, but I didn’t have time to answer. The floor was giving birth to a giant snake. “Carver, I’m going to need you.” I hit the bottle with my flames, throwing all my love, my anger, my pain, my feelings of betrayal and loss into the fire that poured from me. I took all of it, and I focused the energy onto Zev’s vessel.
“Fire makes it stronger,” the eclectic witch said. “Isn’t this making it worse?”
The clear glass turned cherry red as it reached temperatures that would melt most glass. I stopped the flames. “I don’t need ice,” I told him. I only need it hot enough that any water will feel like freezing. Hot glass in cold water, go snap, crackle, pop.” I pointed to Zev’s vessel. “If you wouldn’t mind. Hit it.”
Carver closed his eyes and began to chant softly, his voice weaving a spell of ancient power. As he spoke, a shimmering aura enveloped him, and when he opened his eyes again, they had transformed into pools of pure liquid H2O, reflecting the magical energy swirling around us.
With a flourish of his hands, Carver conjured a ball of water, its surface sparkling with arcane energy. He spun it gracefully, each movement imbued with the fluidity of his newfound power, until it became a swirling vortex of mystical water.
With a focused gaze, he directed the watery sphere towards Zev’s vessel, the liquid shimmering and pulsating with magical potency. With a swift motion, he released the ball of water, and it struck the decanter with a resounding splash, sending ripples of magical energy cascading through the air.
I held my breath, anticipation coiling in the pit of my stomach as the water made contact with the vessel.
I held my breath and felt soul-crushing disappointment when nothing happened.
A light snap sounded, then a crackle sounded as the glass weakened, and I held my breath for the satisfying pop. Pop! The magic of science. The bottle cracked and split into three pieces, releasing a torrent of smoke that spiraled upwards and entered Zev’s body the same way it left, through the holes in his face.
“Hot glass in cold water, go snap, crackle, pop,” Ryker repeated my words with a smile.
“It sure does,” I said, launching myself at Zev when his body animated. “You’re back.”
“I’m weak, but yes, thanks to you, I am back.” He embraced me back. “We must leave. Lamia will awaken, and in a few days, she will recover her memories; that is when she will seek her revenge.”
That sounded really awful. “What if we cut her head off?”
“Then she will grow back two,” he replied.
“So no head chopping.”
“No,” he agreed. “No head chopping.”
Ryker had a watch on that beeped. “Hey, we have to go. Now. We have two hours to get down to the Brownie docks. We need to get back to Martel’s place. He is our ride to the docks. If we don’t make it, the boat won’t wait for us.”
“Can you poof us out of here?” I asked Zev.
“I’m afraid my power is zapped. I could try, but I don’t know how far we’d get.”
I slid my hand in his. “We’ll make it,” I said. “We’ll do it together.”
We all ran across the stage, aghast to realize the show was still going on. Ten snake dancers were getting hugs from albino pythons. I recognized one as the brunette who’d told me where to find Zev.
“Thank you!” I called back to her as we escaped through the corridor that led back up to the front hallways.
Four familiar faces loomed near the entrance to the theatre.
“Son of a bitch,” Ryker hissed. “It’s Cooper and his boys.”
“We should split up,” I said. “It will be less conspicuous. You and Carver go ahead. Zev and I will create a distraction.”
“Are you nuts?” Carver asked me incredulously. “I can’t run away while you set yourself up as bait for these goons.”
“Zev said he can apparate a short distance. If we get in trouble, he can just poof us out of there.” I gave Zev a back-me-up-on-this look.
His mouth thinned into a grim line. “I can facilitate an escape if need be,” he agreed. “Marigold is right,” he said to Carver and Ryker.
I don’t know why, but hearing him say I was right made me ridiculously happy. “Okay, you two hide for a minute, and we’ll draw them off. We’ll meet down at Martel’s, and if we don’t show, go to the boat. We’ll meet you there.”
“You better show up,” Carver groused.
“We’ll show,” I promised. I gave him a fast hug then repeated with Ryker. I’d gotten my friends into my mess, and I was going to do everything in my power to get them out. When they were out of sight, I waved at the blue men like a lunatic.
“Hey, Dickheads!” I shouted.
Zev groaned, but it got their attention. Cooper and his buddies took off at a sprint. Well, shit. Zev grabbed my hand, and we ran down the hall back toward the stage. The “Employee Only” door was unmanned, so we went down that way. A giant snake wound its way towards us.
Lamia might not remember who we were, but she sure as hell remembered that we’d pissed her off. Blue Man Group was behind us, and a giant snake goddess was in front of us. It was the proverbial rock or a hard place scenario. With danger closing in from both sides, there was no time for hesitation.
Luckily, we were only buying time for my friends.
“You ready to get out of here?” Zev asked.
The snake was slithering fast, and the storm kelpies were storming. “Oh, absolutely.”
He grabbed me in his arms, and in the next blink, we were somewhere else. It was dark but warm. “Where are we?” I whispered.
“I’m not sure, libbu ša.” He held up his finger, and a flame no bigger than candlelight flickered from the tip. Boxes were on metal shelves surrounding us. “We’re in a storage room, maybe?”
“I love it when you call me that.” I smiled. “Libbu ša.”
“It is accurate. You’re my heart,” he said. He pressed my palm onto his chest. “Without you, I cannot survive.”
“I think that’s been established,” I joked. “Just look at the trouble you got yourself into leaving me the first time around.
His expression darkened. “I didn’t leave you, Marigold.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” I said gently. “You were gone for seven months, and I never heard a peep from you. That feels a lot like leaving. Look, I know it’s not your fault. I mean, now I know. But you made choices for the both of us that we should’ve been making together.”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
“The hexogenist. Dr. Raines. If you were trying to change to be with me, you should’ve told me.”
His eyes swirled with fire, and yet, he still managed to look abashed. “I’m sorry. I...I didn’t want to break your heart again. What I was looking for was an impossible feat.”
“You want me.” I slid my hand down his chest. “I want you.”
He stilled my hand from going further south. “It’s more than want, and you know it. The stakes are too high where we’re concerned.”
“I’m still a creature of fire, and you’re...” He stopped talking when I set my hand ablaze.
“I’m a creature of fire now, too.”
He pulled me close, his body hard against mine. “I can feel my soul intertwined with yours.” His voice was a hoarse rasp, filled with dark promise. “I have never had this kind of connection with anyone. Djinns do not have mates. They don’t fall in love. It is the way of our kind to remain unattached.” He curled his fingers at the nape of my neck, and his breath against my skin made me shiver with delight. “But with you, it has been and will always be my impossible dream.”
“Possible,” I told him. “The two of us together. Anything is possible.”
The air crackled with tension as our gazes locked, the unspoken desire between us becoming impossible to ignore. As if drawn together by an irresistible force, our lips met. I moaned against his mouth as his hands roamed my body.
“Oh, hell, yes.” I slid my hands over his shoulders and locked my hands behind his neck. “I’ve missed you.”
“I...” The door to the room we were in rattled to life. Zev grinned ruefully. “To be continued.”
“The minute we’re off this island,” I told him. “Count on it.”
We kissed one more time as Zev blinked us out of the building and onto the street. His face was pale, and the fire in his eyes was barely ablaze. “Are you unwell?”
“I’m weakened, but I am stronger with you. Apparition takes a lot of magic on a good day.”
“That’s okay. We can make it on foot from here.” I took his hand. “Follow me.”
We were nearly home free, except for the two angry gods and their goon squad. Whatever. I would worry about them after I got Zev off this rock of misery.