Ten minutes and at least fifty panting breaths later, I’m sneaking up to the door to Ash East Arrow’s world jumping vehicle. I check the handle but, no surprise, it’s locked. Fishing around in the pocket of my jacket, I dig out my lock pick and unpick the lock. When I try the door handle again, the damn thing still won’t open.

Hmmm…

I trace my fingers around the edge of the doorframe and note a layer of silvery dust.

Fey magic.

“Shit. East must have sealed the door with magic.”

A quick check around the area lets me know the everlasting fire is still blazing brightly and the parking lot is now fairly cleared out.

Inching closer to the door and deeper into the shadows, I dig a can of fey magic repellent from my pocket. One spray of this and the door should unlock. The problem is, the repellent only lasts for about five minutes before the fey magic resurfaces. Since there’s only enough repellent in the can for one use, if I’m not off the world jumper vehicle by then, I’ll be locked in.

But I really don’t have another choice.

I’ll have to move fast.

I give the bottle a few quick shakes then tap my finger against the top of the can. A pungent mist spritzes from the nozzle and sprays all over the front of the door, causing the silvery dust to evaporate. I check the door handle again …

“Jackpot,” I whisper as the door opens.

I step onto the world jumper vehicle and close the door behind me.

The area inside is far bigger than what the size of the vehicle should hold, more than likely due to magic. To my right is a large sitting room, fully stocked with leather sofas, a fireplace, a hologram television, and an array of guitars, speakers, microphones, and a drum set. To my left is an open kitchen with the biggest fridge I’ve ever seen, shiny marble flooring, and glass countertops filled with mini water fey.

“Crap, I hope they can’t see me.” I squint down at the sparkling miniature water fey and cringe when a glowing pink one makes eye contact with me.

It tsks me with its tiny finger before swimming deeper into the counter, urging the rest of the miniature water fey to come over. Once they’re all gathered in a circle, they huddle together.

I don’t know much about mini water fey, but I have a feeling they’re plotting against me right now.

Time to wrap this plan up.

The information Lead gave me about Asher stated that the lamp will probably be hidden in his room in a magically sealed trunk. I cross the living room and head down a wide hallway lined with lanterns and shut doors. Unsure of where to start, I open the first door on my right.

Inside, everything is made of bronzed metals and gadgets, all the way from the orbed chandelier to the gleaming metal floor. If I had to guess, I’d bet the room belongs to the cyborg.

Shutting the door, I move on to the next room. It’s also a bedroom, with black hardwood floors, a massive king-sized bed, and winding metal trim covering the ceiling. My first guess is that the room belongs to Asher, but a shimmering coat of fey magic covers almost every piece of furniture and the walls.

No, this has to be East’s room.

I back out of the room and open the next shut door. Behind it is the biggest bathroom I’ve ever seen, with a bathtub large enough to fit ten people.

I grit my teeth. Here, the world is filled with starving, poverty-stricken humans, and these asshole’s world jumper vehicle is better than most human’s homes.

Suddenly, the idea of stealing the lamp seems way more appealing. I can almost picture Asher fuming when he discovers it gone.

I hurry onward and throw the next door open.

“Yep, this has to be his room,” I mutter as I inch inside the largest room I’ve stumbled across yet.

The area is spacious, the ceiling domed and painted with a white, black, and grey skull mural. The walls are dark grey and nearly mesh with the black hardwood floor. The bed is lavish and covered with a velvet comforter. Perched in front of the bed is a steel trunk engraved with obsidian.

I resist a happy dance, knowing I still have to get the trunk open, and cross the room to the foot of the bed. I kneel in front of the trunk and examine it. The lock on the front appears to open with a key, but I doubt it’s going to be that simple. I give it a go, anyway, trying to pick the lock. No luck.

Setting my trusty lock pick aside, I search the trunk’s sealing for traces of fey magic. The outside is squeaky clean. I can’t spot any other locks anywhere. No magical inscriptions. No scanning pad. Nothing other than the damn key lock.

I sit back and rub my hand across my face. “How the hell are you sealed?” My gaze travels to the bottom of the trunk. “Hmm …” I grip the sides and, with a grunt, tip the trunk upward to peer underneath. Nothing besides a smooth, flat surface resides.

“Dammit.” I lose my grip as one of the obsidian jewels cuts my fingertip and the trunk crashes to the floor.

“How the hell is that thing so sharp?” I mumble as I press the bleeding wound to the front of my jacket.

I glance at the jewel that split open my skin. The edges are smooth, so how did it cut me? I brush my finger along the jewel—

“Crap.” I wrench back as a needle snaps out of it, but not fast enough before the needle embeds into my skin.

Panic sets in as I fumble to dig the needle out, only to realize it’s attached to a thin tube filled with green, bubbling liquid.

A green, bubbly liquid now pumping into my fingertip.

Shit. I know what that liquid is.

Jinn death poison.

My pulse soars as I yank the needle out of my finger. The tube ravels back into the jewel as blood pools from my skin. My eyes water as pain pulsates from my now green fingertip.

Poison. I’ve been poisoned by jinn death poison.

I’m going to die.

Right as the thought crosses my mind, the lid of the trunk pops open, as if to say ha, ha, go ahead and take the lamp now. You’re going to die, anyway.

Goddammit, I really hate genies.