Wish For Me (The Djinn Order #1) (23 page)

There was a knock at my door. I looked up to see Elena standing in the doorway, knuckles resting against the wooden door frame. I stiffened and struggled with whether to invite my aunt in or tell her to kick rocks. I wanted to do both.

Elena apparently sensed my hesitation. “I’m not here to make trouble or apologize. We are way past that, and nothing I say could make amends.”

She was damn right about that. I looked at Irving, asking him how he felt about her presence with my eyes. Not that it mattered really. She was his fucking
master
now.

“If you want me to go, I will,” Elena said. I hesitated a moment and then gestured for her to come in.

“Mom still sleep?” I croaked. I reached for my water and Irving handed the glass to me.

Elena stepped inside and dropped down into my armchair after I nodded that it was okay. Despite my pissivity, it felt weird that she had to ask permission and felt even more strange that I had to grant it. Things were already changing between us and I didn’t like it at all. “Yes, she’s still asleep. She’d been sitting by your side since you were shot. I think she may have slept two hours total. I finally made her leave some hours ago, and once she was knocked out, I got some much needed shut-eye of my own.”

I nodded. “So I hear you’re Irving’s master now.” I felt no need to beat around the bush with her. If that made her uncomfortable, oh well. She’d lied to me all my life so it served her right.

“I did what I had to do to save your life, Glory.”

“But not because you felt guilty, right?”

Elena seemed surprised at my accusation. “You’re my niece, Glory. You have always been the most important person in this world to me. How could you ever think that I would risk everything to save your life for any other reason besides the fact that I love you?”

I snorted. “Risks? What risks? You have exactly what you wanted. Irving Amir in your service. It’s only a matter of time before you hand him over to the League of the Black Cloud.”

“Never,” she said. “The League will never get their hands on the Chronolier of Irving Amir.”

My eyes narrowed, not trusting her words. “Why would you protect Irving?”

Elena averted her eyes, like she was ashamed. Or embarrassed. “I was never revered like Kit was within the League. I was always just Madeleine Delvaux’s baby sister, more or less because I shared Maman’s sentiments toward the Djinn kind. I never understood why we hunted them, or why Maman never left the League even though she despised it and everything it stood for. It was only after Maman became too old to hunt that I found out that Carter Ruiz had threatened Kit and I. If she had tried to leave the League, he would have had us all hunted and killed. Besides, Kit loved being a hunter so much that Maman was afraid that Kit wouldn’t cooperate if we decided to run. So she stayed.”

I took a moment to process that. “Okay. How did Old Addie get her hands on Irving’s Chronolier?”

Elena shrugged. “I don’t know. It was only about five years ago that Ruiz informed us that he suspected Maman had the Chronolier and that he thought it had been in her possession since before the attack on Shrinelyn. That shocked us because the League had been hunting for Irving for centuries and we couldn’t believe our mother could have the Chronolier and not say something. So we questioned her about it, but she denied having ever laid eyes on it. Kit didn’t believe her, and I have to admit, neither did I. That’s when the trips began.”

I nodded. “I remembered you guys were always going on “shopping” trips when I was in high school and Dad would never give me more than the basic details about where you were going or why I couldn’t go with you. I hated you guys so much for not inviting me on a single trip. Now I know why.”

My aunt nodded. “We wanted to keep you away from the League for as long as possible, so we never let you come with us. We traveled to some pretty shady places in search of that Chronolier. Kit was so sure Maman had gone to great lengths to hide it from us, and her chronic desire to please Ruiz, even after what had happened with Karaman, blinded her. Blinded me too, I guess. Because never did we once think to look in Adele Delvaux’s basement.” Elena laughed. “It was right there under our noses all along, hiding in plain sight. She must have known that she’d probably be dead before we ever found it.”

“Still, she took a chance,” Irving said. “Either one of you could have discovered my Chronolier. It was simply luck that it was Glory.”

Elena disagreed. “Maman’s basement was Glory’s playground as a kid. She played dress-up and make-believe and all sorts of games down there. I think Maman hid it there on purpose, knowing that if anyone found it, it would most likely be Glory.”

“But I hadn’t been down there in years,” I said. “Yet, she didn’t bother to move it or anything. Why?”

None of us had an answer for that question.

“I need you to know that I will never try to keep him from you, Glory,” Elena said, gesturing at Irving. “Not if you want him. Not if you love him.”

Again, I was in shock. After hearing what had happened between my mother and Karaman, I would think Elena would be more inclined to keep Irving and I apart.

“I never knew Karaman,” Elena said, as though she knew what I was thinking. “I was only eight when you were born and didn’t even know you were half-Djinn until you were ten years old. Mom and Kit kept it from me. They said it was for my safety. I say, that’s bullshit.” She never said what she thought were their real reasons for keeping her in the dark about me. I never asked.

“Why can’t you just make your wishes and give Irving back to me?” I questioned her instead.

Elena shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way, kiddo. No one can be the possessor of any one Chronolier twice. Irving will never be yours again.”

“Irving will
always
be mine,” I growled. My fingers curled into fists at my side.

My aunt held up a hand. “That’s not what I meant. The truth is, after I make my wishes, Irving’s Chronolier can be claimed by anyone, putting us
all
in danger. So we decided I wouldn’t make any. At least, not yet.”

“What do you mean,
not yet
?”

“My two remaining wishes could prove to be useful on our expedition and I don’t want to waste them on stupid shit.”

“
Our
expedition? You know about Rasputin then?”

“Yes.” She exchanged a look with Irving before switching back to me. “He is the reason we were in the Hindu Kush. We were looking for the Army as well.”

“How do you know about the Army?”

“All hunters know about the Army of Brass and Steel.”

Of course they did
.

“Kit and I are going to help you two hunt down The Four,” Elena said.

“The
who
?”

“The Four,” Irving said. “But the brothers are only called that in casual conversation. In reality, they are the Djinn Order.”

My eyes widened upon recognizing that name. “You mean Lord Con wasn’t the only Balzar?”

“No. He had three brothers whom were never seen because he forbid them from integrating themselves into our society. They were outcast into the far reaches of the universe, and from what Lord Con told me, there was a good reason for that.”

“Okay. So where are the Balzar Lords?”

“That’s one of our more pressing problems at the moment. Unfortunately, the location of The Four, including Lord Con, is unknown.”

“Then how are we supposed to find them?”

Irving leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “My uncle may be able to help us.”

I raised a brow. “By your tone I can tell that’s going to be a problem.”

Irving nodded once. “You’re the half-Djinn daughter of the traitor Karaman and the hunter Madeleine Delvaux.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “
That
.” Sighing, I let my head fall back onto my pillow. “The Sultan is going to hate me when he finds out.”

“He will not hate you,” Irving countered. “My uncle is kind beyond measure and would never judge you for something out of your control. Edwin and Ada, especially Ada, are quite a different story. They will not like this at all and may try to thwart our mission by convincing the Sultan not to help us. He trusts them even more than he trusts me, and may do as they ask.”

“So it’s Edwin and Ada we have to convince, not the Sultan.”

“Precisely.”

“But hopefully they’ll be understanding when they hear about our plan to put down Rasputin,” Elena said. “They will know how important it is that we find him before he finds you.”

I raised my head. “Me? Why me?”

Elena licked her lips. A nervous reaction that made me equally as nervous. “Because he can’t
ever
know that you exist.”

“
Why?
”

“Because people will die, people we all care about, if he ever finds out you are alive,” Irving said.

I groaned. “If I have to ask
why
one more fucking time, I’m going to locate mom’s crossbow and put one in each of you.”

“If they won’t tell you, I will,” a voice said from right outside the doorway.

We all looked up as my mother entered my room, said crossbow in hand, looking as though she hadn’t slept a wink. I felt the space fill with tension until I swore I heard the drywall start to give. I reached for Irving’s hand and gripped it tightly.

“You want to know why, Glory?” my mother said, her expression tired yet fierce. “Because you are the daughter of Madeleine Delvaux.”

She lifted her crossbow and examined the trigger. She clicked it a few times before peering at me over the bow’s mechanical limbs.

“And Rasputin,” she said. “You are the daughter of Madeleine Delvaux and
Karaman Rasputin
.”

Glory St. Pierre never thought so many lies could hold so much truth, especially when her entire life has been one of those lies. Now that she knows who she really is, she must find a way to come to terms with it before the Djinn sorcerer Rasputin and his steel army descend down upon the human and Djinn realms, wielding magic so dark even her own Djinn lover, Irving, is wary of it.

Their only hope to save the realms are a couple of hunters and the Lords of the Djinn Order, four powerful Djinn who have remained elusive for centuries. Armed with her only granted wish, a fabulous airship, and the Djinn she loves by her side, Glory will embark on a quest to find the four lords and enlist their help. But there is a reason the lords have been in hiding, and once this tiny band of adventurers awakens them from their slumber, they will set off a chain of events that has been in the making since the beginning of time.

There is no turning back now.