Lucien didn’t like owing anyone anything, but these favors were for Imari’s safety. Her life. Her freedom. And really, it wasn’t just for her, but also for the genie the wish merchant had already captured. Adira deserved her freedom just as much. Those two reasons were more than enough for him to change his ways.
Besides, Imari was no longer just a woman he was helping. She was his wife.
Wife. Not a word he’d ever thought he’d use again.
Granted, it was a temporary arrangement that would soon be nullified—very soon, if this plan worked—but there was something reassuring about that. How badly could he mess up a marriage that already had an expiration date?
It was freeing.
And yet, at the same time, the thought of losing Imari was equally upsetting. No, not equally. It was much worse. But he held on to the hope that they would remain friends. That would be enough.
Another lie. It wouldn’t. Not by half. But it would be far better than losing her completely.
With that in mind, he went to work arranging a meeting with the Ellinghams. All it took was a quick back and forth of emails, and the meeting was set. The Ellinghams could always be counted on to act when it came to the protection of Nocturne Falls’ citizens.
He wasn’t as sure about Elenora, which was why he hadn’t broached the subject of her involvement yet. He figured he’d talk to Hugh and Sebastian and get them on his side first. Then they could help persuade their grandmother to lend her support.
He turned his computer off and headed to find Imari. She was, not surprisingly, in the kitchen with Hattie. They were making bread of some kind. Imari’s hands were sticky with dough, and there was flour on her cheek.
It was utterly captivating to see her getting on so well with Hattie, but he tried not to dwell on what was only temporarily his. Then it occurred to him how utterly heartbroken Hattie was going to be when Imari left.
She would stay in touch with Hattie, wouldn’t she? He believed she would. She was too good and too kind.
He would make a point to ask her about that as soon as the time was right. He cleared his throat to get their attention. “I’m going to the Ellinghams. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Imari smiled. “I really appreciate this.”
“I know you do.” He turned to go.
“Aren’t you going to kiss your wife goodbye?” Hattie asked.
Imari chuckled softly and rolled her lips in like she was trying not to laugh too much.
Lucien cut his eyes at his grandmother. “Imari might not want me to—”
But Imari suddenly puckered up and closed her eyes while leaning in his direction.
“See?” Hattie said.
Bemused but very willing to play along, Lucien sighed with great exaggeration. “Yes, Mémé.”
He walked over to Imari and kissed her. Not as properly as he would have liked, but a good kiss nonetheless. “There, wife. Are you happy?”
Imari’s eyes danced with amusement. “Oh yes, husband, that was perfect.”
“Are you happy, Mémé?”
She frowned at both of them. “You’re a rotten pair, you know that? But mostly you, Lucy.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek as well. “But I love you, so you have to forgive me.”
“I guess,” she grumped.
Laughing, he headed off to the garage. How odd that was, to be laughing. It wasn’t something he’d done much of in his life. Even odder still that there was a woman who was his wife in the house. A woman he liked so much he hoped she would stay. That was too much to ask, he knew.
She’d had a life before him. This new arrangement between them didn’t mean any of that had changed.
He’d told her when they first met that he had nothing to wish for.
That was no longer true. But he couldn’t tell her. It wouldn’t be fair. She might feel indebted to stay because of what he’d done for her, and he didn’t want that. If she wanted something more between them, it had to be because she wanted it. Not because she felt some sense of obligation.
Or worse, pity.
No, if anything was to come of this relationship, Imari would have to make that decision. He’d chased Pavlina, and look how that had ended.
When he arrived at Sebastian Ellingham’s home, Sebastian’s rook, Greaves, led Lucien to the library. Hugh and Sebastian were waiting for him there.
He would have liked to ogle the library and the array of books in it, but the matter of the wish merchant was much more pressing. “Thank you for meeting me.”
Sebastian and Hugh were both standing, but Sebastian gestured to a grouping of club chairs and a large, leather sofa. “You’re welcome. Have a seat and tell us what’s going on.”
All three got comfortable, although Lucien was anything but. It prickled him to ask for help like this, but he reminded himself it was all for Imari. For her, he would do anything. “I need help. Or rather, another citizen does, and I am trying to facilitate things for her.”
“I see,” Sebastian said. “Why you? Why doesn’t she come to us herself?”
“Is this about Imari Zephara?” Hugh asked.
“Yes.”
Hugh turned to his brother. “She’s the genie I was telling you about. A wish merchant is hunting her here in town. Abominable.” He nodded at Lucien. “We’ll help.”
Sebastian frowned. “You don’t know what he’s asking yet.”
“Seb, this is Lucien. And a woman is in danger.”
“Two, actually.” Lucien explained about the other genie in the wish merchant’s clutches. “This man needs to stop being a problem. Permanently.”
Sebastian nodded. “Agreed. I wasn’t aware of the full extent of his crimes. Explain how you need us to help.”
Lucien took a breath. His next ask was a big one, and he knew it. “It’s really more what I need your grandmother to do.”
Both vampires raised their brows, but Hugh spoke first. “And that is?”
Here went nothing. “I need to use her extensive jewelry collection as bait for the wish merchant.”
Somewhat stunned expressions met his words.
“The wish merchant is trying to locate Imari’s bottle through the use of a treasure-hunting spell. There’s no way a good cluster of your grandmother’s finer pieces could be ignored by such a spell. We could lure him in and deal with him once and for all that way.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Elenora isn’t going to like that. She’s going to want extensive reassurances that her jewels will remain safe. Especially after what happened with her pink diamond.”
Lucien had heard about that piece being stolen, but he also knew it had been recovered. Still, he understood that Elenora might be a little hesitant after such an experience. He laid out his plan. Both men listened intently, and in the end, they were nodding in agreement.
“Sounds solid,” Hugh said. “Are you sure Imari will go for it?”
“Yes.” Except Lucien wasn’t. He just didn’t see any other way. “But I need to get Elenora’s assistance in place before we move further. I wish I could come up with a plan that didn’t require her jewels, but we tried replicating the bottle and his genie homed in on it before it could be finished. She stole the replica right out of Willa’s safe.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sebastian said.
“Us too.” Lucien grimaced. “That attempt cost Imari the stopper on her bottle because Willa was using it for reference.”
“I’d say it cost you a hefty sum, too,” Sebastian added.
Lucien hadn’t really thought about that. “The money isn’t important. But that stopper is. Imari has to have it back, or the bottle is useless to her.”
“Then it’s settled.” Hugh looked at his brother. “We’ll convince Elenora that there is no other way. Her jewels won’t be in danger, they’re just to lure the wish merchant in. The rest will be up to Imari.”
Sebastian’s response came slower. “Elenora will want Alice involved. As backup.”
“Alice?” Lucien seemed to recall the woman was Elenora’s secretary.
“Alice Bishop. She’s a powerful witch who works for our grandmother.” Hugh’s face didn’t express a lot of love for the woman. “If Elenora wants her there, we won’t be able to keep her from the scene.”
“That’s all right,” Lucien said. “I don’t know if witch magic will have any power against a genie’s, but it couldn’t hurt to have them there.” Then an idea came to him. “Although a witch can use her magic against a human, can’t she?”
“Yes.” Hugh nodded. “It’s not necessarily what they prefer to do, nor do they openly approve of it in the coven, but the witches in town have been helpful in certain cases like this before.”
“Could we get a second?” Lucien’s thoughts were spinning faster than he could control them. “Another strong witch?”
“We could,” Hugh said.
“Are you thinking of Corette?” Sebastian asked his brother.
“Yes. And I know she’ll help.” Hugh answered Sebastian before glancing at Lucien. “Corette is my rook’s fiancée. The mother of Marigold, Charisma, and Pandora. All of whom are friends with Imari, I believe, so I’m sure Corette will assist us in whatever way we need. What are you thinking?”
“Very much like before, but with a little added insurance.” Lucien explained what he was thinking, and with each word, his confidence grew.
This plan was going to work. And it was going to be foolproof.
Imari stared at Lucien as he finished explaining his plan. She felt like she’d been gut-punched. “You’re asking a lot of me.”
“I know, but I don’t see another way.”
“I don’t either.” She sat back, still reeling from what he was asking her to do. He didn’t understand it, not fully. So she had no choice but to explain. “The thing is, it won’t go down exactly like you’ve plotted.”
“Why not?”
“Because when I use that last wish, with the stopper already in place on the bottle, I’m going straight home.”
“I know, but—”
“Straight home means straight to Khalid. And I am now a married woman. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Lucien nodded and looked quite pleased with himself. “That you’re not going to have to deal with him?”
“Lucien, that’s not at all—”
Then, as if he’d suddenly remembered everything else she’d told him, he frowned. “I know, you’re going to have to deal with the breaking of the betrothal, but I’ll go with you and help you explain to your parents. And to Khalid if need be. Surely they’ll all understand you had no other choice.”
She wished that was true. He was so good-hearted to think his presence would make a difference. “Dear, sweet Lucien. It’s not going to matter. I broke my betrothal. That’s all they will understand.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Then I will talk to them myself. I will make Khalid understand. I’ll tell him that the marriage was in name only. That it was just to save you. If he truly cares for you, he’ll thank me.”
She snorted. “You live in a different world, reaper. Khalid would as soon run you through with his bladed staff than thank you for marrying me.”
Lucien pushed to his feet, shadows of his reaper form flickering across his face as his eyes went dark with anger. “He can try. And if he is truly that much of a fool, he doesn’t deserve you.”
“Sit. Getting angry on my behalf is flattering, but it isn’t going to solve anything. I need to think about this.” She didn’t. Not really. This was the defining moment she’d known all her life was coming. The moment in which she was going to have to stand up to her parents and Khalid and tell them the truth about what she wanted for her future. And then deal with those consequences.
Because there would be consequences. Khalid would still expect the betrothal to be honored. At least, she thought he would. Lucien wasn’t jinn, so there was a good chance neither Khalid nor her parents would consider the marriage valid.
What a mess this was going to be.
“We could keep the stopper separated from the bottle,” Lucien said.
“That will only delay the inevitable.” She put her head in her hands and sighed loudly.
“Are you crying?”
She looked up into Lucien’s concerned face. “No.” Not yet anyway.
“We’ll figure this out. I promise. I won’t leave you to face this alone.”
She tried to breathe out all the stress clogging up her body and shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll deal with it. This moment has been coming all my life. You’d think I’d be ready to finally face it head on, but avoiding it has been so much easier.”
“Maybe we should avoid it a little longer and get out of the house.” He snorted with amusement. “Get out of the house. I’ve never said those words before.”
That made her laugh. “Then you really should take a break from this place, because you clearly haven’t done it enough. But I thought you said going out was a bad idea? What’s changed that?”
“You need a break. And if the wish merchant shows up, I’ll protect you. We won’t go anywhere too populated. But some new scenery would be good for you.”
“I’m not going to argue. Let me go change, and we’ll head out. But I don’t think I could take being around people all that much right now. How about we just go for a drive? Is that all right?”
“That’s perfect. I’ll go wait in the kitchen with Hattie.”
“Okay.” She went to her room and put on jeans and a dressy T-shirt with flats. She brushed her hair back and wound it into a bun, which she secured with a couple of hair ties. She would have liked some sunglasses. Maybe Hattie had some.
She turned to go ask, and Hattie was already at her door.
“Oh! You startled me.” She let out a little laugh as she put her hand to her heart. “I was just coming to see if you have any sunglasses I can borrow.”
“I’m sure I can rustle up a pair.” She smiled. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I forget how quiet I am when I’m in ghost form. Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I’m actually getting used to it.”
Hattie hovered by the door, hesitating. She seemed pensive.
“What is it?” Imari asked.
“I don’t know how to find a way to ask this question, so I’m just going to ask it. Do you…have feelings for my grandson?”
Imari opened her mouth to answer, but she paused to search her heart. Lying to Hattie just wouldn’t do. “I like him very much.” She might go as far as to say she loved him, but that was a dangerous thing to put into words for a woman betrothed to another. “But I am still technically betrothed to Khalid. I don’t think he’s going to accept my marriage to Lucien as a reason I can’t uphold my part of the contract.”
“What?”
Imari let out a slow breath. “Most jinn tend to think they’re at the top of the food chain, if you know what I mean.”
“I do.” Hattie pursed her lips. “Terrible business, the whole thing. You should get to pick who you want to be with.”
“Agreed.” She hesitated. “Unfortunately, I don’t think Lucien’s interested in being involved with anyone again.”
Hattie nodded, sadness in her eyes. “I think that too. But you’ve already been so good for him. If you were just to tell him how you feel—”
“I can’t do that. Not now. Not with so much still unsettled. Not with another man fully intent on claiming me as his bride, Hattie. And I can’t risk pushing Lucien away when I need him at my side.” She would have taken the woman’s hands in hers, but there was nothing corporeal to grab on to. “I’ve never had anyone fight for me before. And I’ve had almost no one in my life, outside of my friends here in Nocturne Falls, that didn’t want me for what I could give them. Lucien doesn’t care that I could bring him wealth or riches or anything, really. He doesn’t want a thing from me. And that’s amazing. I value his friendship more than I can say.”
“I understand.” Hattie looked utterly dejected.
“No, Hattie, I don’t think you do. I could see myself with him. I could. But I just don’t think he feels the same way. Not in a long-term romantic sort of relationship, anyway.”
“But you’ve kissed.”
“I know. But kissing doesn’t make a future. He’s a solitary creature. As much as I wish he felt otherwise…” She shrugged.
Hattie seemed smaller suddenly. Deflated. “He didn’t mean to do what he did to me. To take my soul. It was an accident.”
“I know that, too. I absolutely do.” It broke Imari’s heart to think that Hattie felt the need to defend Lucien to her. “Just like I know he would give anything to change that moment. And I know he’s a good man. A great man. And even if he has changed a bit these last few days, you know him better than anyone. What’s between us is a temporary thing. It has to be.”
Hattie frowned. “But why?”
She took a deep, shuddering breath to keep herself from crying. “Because I have a feeling I’m going to end up someone else’s wife very soon. And there’s nothing Lucien or I can do to stop that.”
Hattie looked on the verge of tears herself. “It isn’t fair.”
Imari blinked hard and made herself smile. “Not much of life is.”
Hattie drifted toward the door. “I’ll go get you those sunglasses.”