All Bottled Up (24 page)

“How the hell did you find this place?” Viola said, shaking her head.

“Shut up.” Beth pointed to a white house up ahead. “There it is.” The paint was peeling off the small building, giving it a worn-down look. The two large bow windows in the front displayed a variety of books and objects. It looked like she sold everything from books about how to fix your bathroom and animal skills, to semi-precious stones. No wonder Beth had been drawn to this place. It was just weird enough to warrant further inspection.

They opened the door and a little bell rang above their heads. Other than the two of them, there appeared to be no one there.

“Hello? Ms. Mason?” Beth called out.

“Coming. Give me just a minute.”

“Take your time. It’s Beth and my friend.”

Viola eyed the contents of the store. Books filled most of the small room, lining book shelves that stood from floor to ceiling. In the few display cases that edged the wall were a strange mix of old jewelry, snuff boxes, and ornate bottles. None of which were as large as Jerod’s. Viola took a quick peek inside her bag to make sure it was still there and still in one piece.

When the small woman emerged from what looked to be a store room, Viola almost dropped the bottle. It was her. The woman who’d talked to her in the bottle! Viola 224

couldn’t move, every muscle in her body completely seized up in a strange mix of anger and panic. How could this woman be here?

This is impossible. It can’t be her
. Viola would have chalked it up to extended jet lag if it weren’t for the way Ms. Mason smiled at her.
What the hell was going on here?

“Ah, Beth. I’m so happy you’ve come back. How did you make out with that book I gave you?”

Beth blushed, but tried to shrug it off. “Not much luck I’m afraid.”

“What book?” Viola whispered.

“Your friend here was interested in mind reading. Specifically, how to do it.” Viola turned and stared at Beth, her mouth hanging open.

“Oh come on, it was for fun,” Beth said and crossed her arms across her chest. “You always said you’d love to know what Bill was thinking.”

“Not literally!”

Ms. Mason chuckled. “Mind reading may not be your thing. Very few are able to do that. But don’t give up, you may have other skills you’re not aware of. Now.” She turned on Viola. “You’re the lady with the genie problem.”

“Umm, I guess you could say that.”

Ms. Mason held out her hands and made a gimme motion. It didn’t seem right handing his bottle over to a complete stranger like this. Again she wondered if Jerod would be able to emerge if Ms. Mason rubbed the bottle. He wouldn’t be hers any longer.

Viola sighed. If there was any chance that she could get him back, she’d take the risk. Viola pulled the bottle out of her bag, lightly ran her thumb down the side, before she handed it over to Ms. Mason.

“An old one, I see. What was he, one, two thousand years?”

“Three thousand, actually.”

She eyed Viola, squinting hard before she smiled again.

“Very old indeed. And your friend said you’d grown attached to him? And he didn’t seem irritated by this?”

She shook her head. “No, we got along quite well. He even promised that any wishes 225

I made wouldn’t inadvertently harm either me or anyone else.” Ms. Mason puckered her lips. “I find that very odd indeed. Genies aren’t usually a pleasant bunch, you know. A bunch of self-righteous assholes, for the most part.” She didn’t want to listen to Ms. Mason’s opinions of genie personalities, and at this point, she didn’t really care about any other supernatural being but Jeord. Viola felt her stomach start to go funny. She was starting to feel stressed—she hated stress. Only gave her headaches and indigestion. She needed answers and needed them now.

“Do you think there’s a chance we can get him back?” Ms. Mason had walked over to a small table that was shoved in the corner of the room. She barely looked where she was going and barely missed tripping over a stack of books on the floor.

“Maybe. Depends on the curse. Hmm.” She flipped the bottle over. “Well, isn’t that interesting.”

“What?” both Beth and Viola asked at the same time.

Ms. Mason looked up and smiled at the two of them. “There’s something written on the bottom of the bottle. See?”

She spun the bottle around in her hand so Viola could see. She had to walk over and take a closer look to see what Ms. Mason was referring to. There, written faintly on the bottom, looked to be some sort of fancy script.

“Can you read it?” Viola looked up at Ms. Mason.

The older woman shrugged. “I’ll have to take a look at some of my books. Possibly.”

“Will it take a while? I mean we can go and come back,” Beth said a little too eagerly.

Ms. Mason smiled a small, strange smile. “No, shouldn’t take me long at all. I think I know where the book I need is. Why don’t you have a seat over there, Ms. Sampson?

You can read some more of your mind reading books while Ms. White and I search my back office.”

Beth shot Viola a pained look, but sat down where the woman had pointed and picked up one of the books. She mouthed
have fun
as Viola disappeared into the back.

226

“So,” Ms. Mason began as she bent over and rifled through a stack of books on the floor in the tiny office. “Tell me how you met your genie.” Not knowing where to start her search, Viola chose a pile of books in the opposite corner of the room. As she looked, she relayed as many details as she could to the older woman, hoping she wouldn’t have to go into too many of the more intimate details.

“So you tripped over his bottle in the water? Interesting.” Viola blew some dust off the spine of a book, and looked up. “Interesting how?” Ms. Mason turned around and sat on the edge of her desk. Viola stopped moving, unable to look away from her intense stare.

“They say that the master doesn’t accidentally find the bottle. That it is preordained, the coming together was set in motion years before.”

“I figured things got stirred up by the last hurricane that’d passed through. I just happened to be the lucky one to bash my foot on it.”

“There is more to the magic than simple coincidence.” Ms. Mason smiled down into the pages of the book she was flipping through. “No, it was definitely meant to be.” Viola suddenly got the creeps. “You mean it was fate that I stubbed my toe on his bottle?”

“Something like that,” Ms. Mason agreed. “I find it interesting that it was drawn to you.”

Now what the hell was that supposed to mean? Viola smiled and put on her best telemarketer voice.

“How so?”

“Usually, the genie’s bottle finds someone who is selfish. Based on your wishes, I would say that is something you’re not.”

Oh.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. I did wish for him to show me how to make Bill fall in love with me,” Viola said to the open pages of the book.

Ms. Mason chuckled. “If that’s as selfish as you get, you’re not that bad.” Viola aimlessly flipped the pages of the book. “I remember Jerod looked shocked 227

when I made the wish. But I wasn’t sure why.”

“Probably because most people wish for money, or power.”

“I wished for money too.” She looked up at Ms. Mason.

“Money for your friend.”

Why was she trying so hard to convince this woman she wasn’t a nice person? She’d grown up hearing it so much from her mom, that she’d finally come to believe her. That was probably why she’d tried so hard to make up for it, prove that she was nice, she could help others, that she wasn’t the root of the problems in her mother’s relationship with her father. Viola had wanted nothing more than to have a simple life, to find someone who genuinely loved her. But it had taken her much longer to convince herself that she deserved it.

Jerod had helped her with that.

“You never told me what your final wish was. The one that put you in the predicament in the first place,” Ms. Mason said in a voice that sounded like she was trying a bit too hard to be nonchalant.

She didn’t want to think about that night, not until she knew if there was a way to get him back. But she didn’t want to take the chance it was important. “I wished I could give him something that would make him as happy as I was.” The older woman stopped moving and looked at Viola. “Is that exactly what you said?”

She nodded. “He vanished immediately afterwards. Does it help us?”

“Absolutely.” Ms. Mason motioned for Viola to show her the spine of the book she was holding. “Ah. That’s the one.”

Viola handed it over and waited for her to search through the pages. She hated waiting. But more than waiting, she hated not knowing if there was any way to get Jerod back. She couldn’t take any more after five minutes.

“Did you find anything?”

Ms. Mason licked her index finger, looked at Viola over the top of her glasses and flipped another page.

228

“Yes, but I need to narrow the passage down. Perhaps you could check with your friend. See how she’s doing out there all alone.” Viola stood quickly. “That’s a great idea. I think I’ll do that.” She almost tripped on a stack of books trying to rush out of the office. When she saw Beth sitting at the table totally engrossed in a book, Viola momentarily forgot why she was there.

“Hey, whatcha reading?”

Beth looked up and blushed. She tossed the book aside and crossed her arms across her chest.

“That? Oh it’s nothing. Just some fluff Ms. Mason had lying around.” Viola walked over and sat down across from her friend. “You know I can spot your bullshit as easily as you can spot mine. What’s up?” Beth found a spot on the wall behind Viola’s head very interesting. “Have you ever…” She sighed. “Have you ever thought you’d heard a voice in your mind? Talking to you.”

“You mean self talk? I’m always chatting to myself in my head.” Beth shook her head and leaned forward. “Not quite. More like, you’re having a conversation with someone.”

Viola frowned and leaned in close. “Are you serious? Is that why you’re interested in mind reading? You think you’re picking up someone else’s thoughts?”

“Yes. You don’t think I’m crazy?”

Viola smiled and tried not to laugh. “We’re here to try to get my genie back. I’m the last person to criticize.”

Beth closed her eyes, something in her voice changed, making her sound very far away.

“I can’t quite describe it, but every so often I can hear his thoughts. He’s angry and confused, but I’m able to comfort him.”

“Him?” Viola reached out and gave Beth’s hand a squeeze. “Do you know what he looks like? What his name might be?”

229

“I’ve found it!”

“Later,” Beth whispered and turned toward the back room.

Ms. Mason beamed as she marched out of the back room. She was waving her hand around in the air as she spoke.

“Brilliant curse, really. He had the power to free himself all along. Just didn’t know it.”

Viola stood up, completely forgetting Beth.

“Really? Can we get him back?”

Ms. Mason stood still and Viola had the sudden impression she was being evaluated.

She straightened and met the woman’s level stare with one of her own. She wanted Jerod back and she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way. It was then that Ms. Mason smiled widely.

“Yes. But you have a lot of work ahead of you. Do you think you’re up for the challenge?”

“Try to stop me.”

230

Viola lit the last of the candles in her living room and said a silent prayer. It’d been three hours since Beth had dropped her off. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to convince Beth to leave, but it hadn’t turned out to be an issue. All she had to do was promise on the threat of bodily harm to bring Jerod over to meet Beth tomorrow if this worked.

When. Not if.

Half her provisions were still hiding in the plastic bags on her table. There was lots of time to get them out. First she had to see if this was going to work.

Jerod’s bottle sat on the floor in the middle of the room. She’d taken care to move as much furniture as she could out of the way, as Ms. Mason had suggested. It was hard to know what exactly was going to happen since there wasn’t any information about the success of this particular curse buster.

She gave her appearance one final quick look in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect. The little black dress Jerod had bought for her snugly hugged her curves.

God, she never thought she’d be in a dress like this. Certainly not looking the way she was tonight.

She had Jerod to thank for that. Now it was time for her to return the favor in spades.

Viola picked up the small bag of crystals from her table that Ms. Mason had given to her on her way out the door.

“Remember, dear, he might not be coherent when you call him forth. He may not ever remember you. Because of your wish, how you phrased it, everything will hang in limbo until a decision is made.”

She took a shaky breath and smoothed her hair. He damn well better remember her after everything that happened. Viola sat down on the floor and crossed her legs, making sure to tuck her bare feet under the bottom of her dress. The three crystals were cool as 231

they landed in the palm of her hand. She turned each one around with her finger, feeling the sharp edges as she did.

His bottle looked lifeless as it sat there waiting for her to do something. Viola took the green crystal, kissed it and placed it on the right side of the bottle. Her nerves sent her stomach churning.

“Jerod, I don’t know if you’re in there, but I need to talk to you.” She kissed the blue crystal and placed it on the left side.

“Now, you may not want to talk to me after what I’m about to do to you. But trust me, this is for your own good.”

Only the red crystal remained in her hand. Viola looked at it and felt a rush of nervous energy surge through her. She placed the red crystal directly in front of the bottle. When she pulled her hand away, all three of the crystals began to glow. Viola replayed the words Ms. Mason had taught her over and over in her mind, making sure she didn’t screw anything up. She closed her eyes, licked her lips, and began.

“By the power of earth, wind, and fire, I command thee to obey my spoken desire.” She opened her eyes and waited. After a minute of nothing, she felt her heart sink.

Sitting straighter, she pinged her finger against the bottle.

“Come on, Jerod. I know you’re in there.”

Oh shit, idiot
. She wanted to slap herself on the forehead.

“I command thee to return to me.”

The air in her living room stilled and grew heavy. William began barking uncontrollably from behind her closed bedroom door. The crystals’ inner glow intensified, lending their light to Jerod’s bottle. What had appeared lifeless only a few minutes earlier now seemed to return to its previous luster. A blast of intense light forced Viola to cover her eyes and still managed to shine brightly through her closed lids. When she was able to open them again, she sucked in a surprised breath.

Jerod.

He was lying naked on the floor, his body in the fetal position around his bottle.

Viola rushed over to him, yanking the blanket from the couch as she went.

232

“Jerod? Are you okay?”

He began to shiver and cough, his eyes looking wildly around the room, unable to focus on her.

“It’s me, Viola. Can you see me?”

After a minute, he seemed to be able to see her. A deep frown etched on his face he finally spoke.

“Who are you?” he managed in a weak voice.

His accent was heavier than before, making him sound even more exotic to her ears.

She’d hoped he’d appear and they’d be able to start up where they’d left off, despite Ms.

Mason’s warning. Viola wasn’t about to get discouraged. Ms. Mason had talked about what Viola needed to do in the event this happened. Viola helped Jerod sit up, maintaining constant contact between them.

“I’m Viola. Don’t you remember me?”

“You’re not my master,” he said, sounding annoyed and dismissive. He tried to turn away from her, but she wouldn’t let him.

“No, I’m not. But I know where your master is.” His eyes shifted back to hers, but he still couldn’t focus completely on her.

“Take me.”

She shook her head. “Not yet. You’re not ready to see your master yet.”

“I am ready. Take me now, or feel my wrath.”

Viola’s head snapped around when the flame in her propane fireplace kicked in, sending a small wave of heat rushing toward her. Turning back to him, Jerod was panting, exhausted from using even that small part of his power.

“See, you’re not strong enough yet. You need to get your energy back before you see your master. Here.” She grabbed a glass of water she’d prepared earlier. “Drink this.” She brought the glass up to his lips, helping him drink. He wrapped his hand around hers, holding the glass in place. The brief contact brought back memories of all the times when he’d touched her intimately. He finally pulled her hand away, gasping for air.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice returning to the familiar tone she’d grown used to.

233

“You’re welcome. How are you feeling?”

He frowned again, as he studied her face. “Do I know you?” Her insides did a back flip and she couldn’t help but smile at him. “Yes, we’re old friends and used to spend a lot of time together.” Okay, so that wasn’t entirely true. But she’d spent more time with him than any other person had in the last three-thousand years. Surely that had to count for something.

“But you are not my master?”

“No, I’m not.”

He nodded and accepted her help to stand up. She walked him over to the couch so they could sit and talk. Not that she knew exactly what she was going to say, only what she had to accomplish.

She had to convince him that he could free himself.

“Is that better? Can I get you anything?”

“I’m fine, thank you. But I do need to find my master.” Viola gave his hand a squeeze. “Why?”

He looked at her like she’d suddenly grown a second head. “Because I’m a genie. I am nothing without my master.”

“Do you remember how you became a genie?”

His mouth opened, but the words seemed to stop before they reached his mouth.

Slowly, he closed it again and shrugged. She wanted to hug him then more than anything else, but at this point, it would do more harm than good.

“I know how it happened,” she said and squeezed his hand. “Want to hear the story?” Jerod hesitated for a moment before he nodded and waited for her to continue. Viola licked her lips, a motion that caught his attention. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

“A long time ago, you were a very powerful man. You fought in many battles and led your men with honor. After one of those battles, you went to a village for rest and food.”

She paused waiting to see if the words were sinking in. When he didn’t say anything to stop her, she continued.

234

“The first night you were there, you met a young woman. She was very pretty and very shy, but she was quite taken with you. Do you remember?” His gazed dropped to the floor, but he slowly began to nod. “Yes. Her name was Anona.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“She was lonely and wanted to spend her time with me. But her family didn’t approve.”

Viola watched a mix of emotions play across his face. His hand squeezed hers in a painful grip. She tried to squeeze back to relieve the tension, but refused to pull her hand away. If this didn’t work, it might be the last time she touched him.

“Do you remember what happened after that?” she asked and hoped something had stuck with him.

When he shook his head, she mentally prepared herself for what she had to say.

“Anona came to your bed one night. She was inexperienced, but you didn’t mind.

She gave you her body, asked that you make love to her.” Jerod shook his head. “No, she was too young. I shouldn’t do this. But she won’t stop.”

Viola realized that he was there, reliving his emotions. Her heart raced with excitement. They were so close to gaining his freedom, and he didn’t even know it.

“It’s not your fault, you know. She wanted to be with you. She didn’t want to be seen as a little girl by her family,” she whispered.

“I know you’re a woman.” He reached out and cupped Viola’s breasts with his hands. “I can feel that. But this is wrong.”

It took every ounce of her control not to give in to the power of his touch. She felt her nipples harden under his caresses, her body spark to life.

“It wasn’t your fault, Jerod. She made a choice. You didn’t force her.” He shook his head hard. “No, I should have stopped her. But I was so lonely.”

“No one should be lonely. There was nothing wrong with what you did.” Jerod looked into her eyes. Viola saw his sadness and guilt and knew that it didn’t 235

matter what she said to him, a piece of him would always feel that way.

“She was a virgin. I took her honor and it caused her to end her life.” Frustration picked at Viola. She knew a woman’s virginity was a prized possession long ago, but she hadn’t considered that he’d still feel the intense guilt over what his actions had caused.

What he didn’t realize was he’d been wrong. All these years, he’d felt guilt over something he really hadn’t done.

“It was her family. When they confronted Anona, she blamed you. Did you know that? She didn’t want them to know the truth and it was easier to blame the last man she seduced.”

“How can you say that? You weren’t there,” he ground out.

“No I wasn’t. But I know. I know you. I trust you.” All his years of servitude and loneliness were all the result of a scared girl who didn’t want to admit the truth. Viola’s anger flared through her. She took her hands and turned his face toward hers.

“Listen to me. You did nothing wrong. You’ve been unfairly punished.” Jerod blinked several times. The fog that covered his mind seemed to lift for a moment.

“Do I know you?”

“I’m Viola.” Her words came out as a whisper.

“Viola?”

He reached up and touched her cheek. His fingers traced a path along her jaw line and down the curve of her neck. She sighed and leaned against his hand.

“Did Beth get her money?”

Her eyes flew open. His face was unreadable, but a small part of the old Jerod seemed to be back. She threw her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yes, she did. And she would very much like to meet you to thank you in person.”

“Where am I?”

He began to rub her neck and the small of her back, tracing a lazy design as he went.

236

Viola tried to stay focused on the task at hand, but with greater difficulty.

“You’re at my house.” She looked up at him and grinned. “I found a way to break the curse.”

Jerod shook his head. “That’s not possible.”

“Of course it is. All curses have their reverse. It’s a universal rule.” The real explanation Ms. Mason had given her earlier had promptly gone over her head and through her ears. All she knew was there was a way out. Now she only had to convince Jerod of it.

“Anona’s grandmother is the only person who can free me. She is long dead.” Viola leaned in so her nose brushed against his.

“Actually there is another way. A loophole.”

“A what?”

“Loophole. A way around the original curse, so you can be free forever. How does that sound?”

Jerod shook his head. “Not possible.”

She couldn’t resist. There was something about him, his scent that drove her wild.

She’d done nothing but dream about being with him again and now that she was, all she wanted was a single kiss.

Her lips sought his out, gently encouraging him. He didn’t respond at first. But slowly, he parted his lips enough that she was able to suck on his bottom lip. She ran her tongue over it until he opened his mouth and kissed her back. She wanted to cry, he was so gentle. She wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him close to her. When she finally pulled away, they were both panting. Only an inch from him, she rubbed her nose against his cheek.

“It is possible. But you have to want to stay.”

“How?” His voice came out as a croak.

When she looked into his eyes, she couldn’t believe the emotion she saw. This was the real Jerod, stripped down to the bare bone. Every insecurity was plain on his face, in the way he leaned toward her, the way he held her hand. He was scared, and it was up to 237

her to help him.

“Tell me why you were made into a genie.”

He shook his head for a moment before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I…hurt a girl. Made her do things.”

“You just said you didn’t force her. Jerod, look at me,” she said, a little sharper than she intended.

It worked though, and Jerod opened his eyes and focused on her.

“Viola?” He rubbed his thumb across the pulse line of her wrist and slowly smiled.

It was him. Somehow he’d managed to claw his way back to the surface, back to her.

Her hands began to shake so she quickly busied them, tightening the blanket around his shoulders.

“Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?”

“I’m tired. Where are we?”

“My place. Look, forget everything else. We don’t have a lot of time.” He frowned, but brought her hand up and kissed her palm. “Very well. Time for what?”