“Whatever you do, don’t use magic in the store, okay?” I told the two genies staring at me. “Oh, and don’t tell my friend you’re genies.”

“Why?” asked Kaza, breaking off a twig to clean his teeth.

On my last visit, my friend Scarlet mentioned the priestess ruling over Terra dictated everything. She forbade magic, and anyone caught doing it was imprisoned for life. Trespassers from other regions, like us, were considered illegals, so we had to remain discreet and not draw any unwanted attention.

“Magic is banned around here,” I said. “Anyone found using it is punished and killed.”

Dahvi nodded. “Understood, Master.” He got busy hiding the magic carpet behind a bush out front of my friend’s store.

Good. Gods, I loved giving orders!

Pity Kaza didn’t take me seriously, winking at me and puckering his lips in a kiss. Wounded, pale, sweating from fever, and with the gold in his eyes washed out from weakness, he still managed to find the strength to flirt.

Gods, love him…I sure knew I was fond of him.

In his current state, I hadn’t wanted to bring him out of the lamp. But I doubted Scarlet would have given me the medicine without seeing the patient first.

I knocked at the door and waited.

Kaza’s hands found my hips. His lips pressed against my neck. “Remember last night?”

Heat scaled up my throat and into my face. How could I forget? But did he have to mention it in front of Dahvi?

“Come visit me in the lamp again.” Kaza nipped my neck. “Tonght.”

Blinding light from the porch suddenly illuminated us, and I snapped to attention. The door creaked as it swung open. A little bell chimed, too.

“Azar?” Scarlet stood in the doorway, wearing a wolf onesie, her hair pulled back in braids. She certainly loved her onesies. Had one for pretty much every animal—bear, rabbit, tiger, owl, cow, bee, and the list went on.

I bounded up the stairs to give my friend a hug. “I’ve missed you.”

Scarlet returned the embrace. “What are you doing here so late? Is Ali okay?” She glanced over my shoulder, scanning the two genies. Her eyes paused on each one.

“Charming outfit,” Dahvi said.

I almost melted into a puddle at the sound of his sexy voice.

“Brings out your eyes,” agreed Kaza, offering his flirty smile of greeting.

Scarlet’s smile cut short as her savvy, crystal-blue eyes drifted down Dahvi and Kaza’s bare chests.

Well, heck! If someone showed up on my doorstep with guys wearing pants and vests that revealed their chiseled chests and stomachs, my gaze would be roaming, too!

“What’s going on,” my friend asked, her tone tipped with curiosity.

Guess me showing up out of the blue with two semi-naked guys was a little unusual. But Scarlet was used to seeing nude people all the time. Some with boils and warts. Others with burns. Gods. My brains burned from picturing the sagging, old men she’d probably treated. Good thing I never got into the herbal profession.

“Quick.” Scarlet shoved Kaza inside. “Come inside before someone sees you.”

I trailed behind Dahvi and closed the door behind us.

In the entry hall, Kaza took Scarlet’s pale hand and kissed it. “Why, hello, my master’s friend, I am Kaza.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “This is my less-attractive and not-as-funny brother Dahvi.”

Dahvi laughed off the jab and bowed.

I nudged Kaza in the ribs. This wasn’t the kind of place to be throwing around terms like “master.” Not with the priestess and her spies on patrol. We weren’t supposed to be here. I didn’t want to be caught and imprisoned again for the second day running.

Scarlet shyly brushed aside a lock of dark hair. Her grandmother had raised her to be a real lady. No doubt, I could learn a few things from her.

Kaza gave my bottom a pinch before wandering away with Dahvi to admire the store’s supplies.

My boots clomped on the polished wooden floors as I entered the shop ahead of Scarlet. One wall had shelves filled with jars of teas and other dried herbs. The front counter was filled with parcels of healing teas, ready for delivery by Scarlet’s assistant I assumed.

Scarlet leaned into me. “Since when do you hang out with two adorable guys? Well, that blond one looks pretty ill; is that why you’re here?”

What was she saying? I was a saint who didn’t date? Hmmm. Guess she was right for the most part, but if the genies stuck around, that might change.

Scarlet gripped my chin and swiveled it from side to side. “Look at your skin. It’s glowing. You finally took that lavender solution I mixed up for you.”

“It’s taken away that uptight edge,” joked Kaza as he picked up a jar of something that looked like dried weeds.

No. The lavender wasn’t the reason for my glow. For that, I owed a big “thank you” for the genies’ presence and the amazing sex I had that morning. But I wasn’t saying that out loud.

“Listen,” I said, trying to get off that topic. “We’re here to get some ferret’s leaf. Do you have any?”

Scarlet’s eyebrows rose. “That’s an extremely rare and potent herb. Expensive, too. What do you need it for?”

My gut twisted into knots. Gods. I hadn’t even thought about payment. And the less she knew, the better. If the priestess caught wind of our visit and came snooping for answers, I didn’t want to leave my friend in any danger.

Scarlet must have read my thoughts in my eyes. “Pay me back when you can, okay?”

Sometimes, she did this for me when I couldn’t pay in full, and I repaid her in installments. She was generous that way. Her motto was she’d rather help someone than be rich. Something I was totally down for.

Dahvi’ clamped his hands down on Kaza’s shoulders and spun him around to show Scarlet the bloodstained wound dressings. “My brother here is injured.”

She gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth.

“Tiger scratch, to be precise,” said Kaza. “But it doesn’t hurt much. I had a good nurse clean my wound and bandage me up.” He gave me a wink.

My heart did flips. I’d tend to him any day.

The yellow-vested genie barely limped as he crossed the room, but I caught the shivering racking his body and the grimaces he tried to hide. Ali did the same, trying to play down his illness when he wanted to go out and fish in the river.

“What kind of trouble are you in, Azar?” Scarlet whispered to me. “The only person who own tigers in Utaara is the sultan.”

“And the vizier,” I added.

Her mouth pressed into a thin line and she nodded. Apparently, may answer was enough to end her questions. While she was aware of my line of work, she didn’t always approve but understood it was how Ali and I had survived this long.

Aromas of various herbs hit me. Sweet, bitter, woodsy, spicy, minty, and menthol.

Glass jars on the top shelf clinked as Scarlet shifted them. She hunted through cupboards, removing a tincture bottle, alcohol preservative, a pot, mixing equipment, and a measuring flask.

“Heavens, Azar,” she said on her return to her counter. “Your leg is swollen and bruised. Let me get you something for that.”

“Twisted it,” I answered.

Scarlet gave me a fierce look that told me she was very worried before she got busy preparing the mixture. She sprinkled all sorts of herbs into a pot with water, along with three drops of a brown liquid. While this boiled on a fire stove in the back corner, she measured out preservative in a tincture bottle.

I helped her, readying a gauze to drain and extract the liquid. I knew how to do these things after I’d watched her do them before, and she’d taught me how to create some brews for Ali.

Unable to keep his hands to himself, Kaza trailed his fingers along the many jars and sprigs of dried herbs tied in bunches. “Look, Brother,” he said, pointing to a water jar with a hose and suction pipe. “A hookah!”

“Scarlet,” said Dahvi. “May we try your tobacco?”

“Sure,” she said, measuring out some spoonsful of herbs onto a set of scales. “Help yourself.”

I loved her for that. She was always so generous. I gave her hand a squeeze.

She smiled and put a pot of water on to boil. “When this boils, make yourself a tea with this mixture. It’ll reduce the swelling and pain in your ankle. You should be healed in a few days rather than weeks.”

Wow. Anything to help me out was a blessing. “Thank you, my dear friend.” I gave her a quick hug.

Kaza’s yellow magic lit the tobacco inside the glass base, and it bubbled away in the gently boiling water. Smoke curled from the base into the pipe with the mouthpiece, from which he took a long inhale. The air filled with the scent of apricot and vanilla. Shapes formed in the smoke he exhaled. Roses, flying carpets, a genie lamp, necklaces, a pair of lips that puckered as if kissing. But when an erect penis sailed right past me, I snorted and slapped him in the arm.

“You know you love it, my desert queen,” Kaza said.

Yes, I did. But he was going to get us in trouble. Displaying magic like that in the open was going to give them away. And in Terra, of all places! The one land where magical creatures weren’t welcome.

To my great relief, Scarlet hadn’t noticed a thing, her concentration buried in the brew she prepared. Thank gods, too. She probably would have had a heart attack at the penis-shaped smoke.

Gods. I imagined Scarlet’s grandmother glaring down at me from the heavens for bringing such filth into her former home!

Kaza took a few more puffs from the pipe, activating a fiery glow in his arm veins and in the golden rings around his eyes. Something told me he couldn’t help it. His heart told me the smoke called to the fire within his genie blood.

The knowledge didn’t stop me from going into panic mode. I darted in front of Kaza and tapped my foot, hoping my friend wouldn’t notice.

“You like my cured tobacco?”

I almost yelped at Scarlet’s question.

“Delicious,” Kaza said, handing the pipe to Dahvi. “Just as good as the tobacco back home.”

My heartbeat thundered in my ears. This was getting too close for comfort. I mouthed the words “no more magic” to Kaza.

Scarlet stirred the bubbling brew, fanning the sickening smell of the herbs my way, nauseating me more.

“Folks come from all around to buy my products,” she said.

At this announcement, the genies exchanged impressed glances.

“My tobacco has five hundred five-star ratings on Terra’s Customer Approval Plank,” continued Scarlet. “Well, until lately, when this disgruntled customer gave me five one stars, and my rating dropped.”

“Did she say star gazing?” Dahvi asked Kaza.

This earned a giggle from Scarlet. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

“No,” said Kaza. “We’re from—”

“Come and rest, Brother.” Dahvi curled his arms around his Kaza’s shoulders and dragged him to the waiting room.

Talk about scaring the hashish out of me.

“Who are those guys?” Scarlet’s eyes drilled into mine for an explanation of everything. “They’re kind of strange.”

I needed an excuse and fast. “They were prisoners like me.” I laughed nervously. “Locked away for a while. Sent them a bit loony. We escaped the vizier together.”

Okay. So that was partly true. My friend didn’t need to know any more. Her safety depended upon it.

Scarlet took my hand. “Are you in trouble, Azar?”

I squeezed her hand. “A little. Nothing I can’t handle.”

The bridge of her nose creased in a way that screamed concern. “Do you need any money?”

“No.” I waved her away. “You’ve done enough for me. Let’s just say in a week, I’ll be able to pay you everything I owe you.”

The worry in her eyes refused to leave, even as she continued with her brew.

The water in the pot had boiled, so I left the room to grab a mug from her kitchen out back. Upon my return, I poured the mixture and water into my cup. It steamed in my hand, and I left it to cool. It smelled bitter and disgusting. But if it helped my leg, I’d take it.

I sat on a stool at the counter, waiting for Scarlet to finish Kaza’s ointment. It felt good to relieve the ache in my ankle.

“Can you call your friends?” Scarlet asked some time later, holding a jar full of reddish ointment.

“Kaza,” I said. “Your medicine’s ready.”

The genies bustled back into the room.

Don’t ask me why, but Kaza, Mr. Show Off, felt it necessary to strip off his vest for its application, even though his wound was on his leg. I laughed into my hand at him.

“Lie on the sofa there,” Scarlet said. “On you side.”

Kaza groaned as he followed her instructions.

“Sorry, this might hurt a bit,” Scarlet explained as she patted a soaked gauze along his lesion.

“Nothing hurts me,” said Kaza, blowing me my hundredth kiss.

Gods. If only I could smooch him for real.

Poor Scarlet looked as if she had trouble concentrating. Her gaze kept flickering across Kaza’s back. She seemed to take her time in applying the ointment, as if she were dragging it out.

Didn’t blame her in the slightest. Taking a sip from my mug, I admired every line of his incredible body. The curve of his rock-hard chest. Rippling muscles across his back. Grooves in his collarbone and shoulders. The perfect specimen. All the genies were.

“This might leave a scar,” Scarlet warned Kaza.

I didn’t mind if his skin was marked by the tiger’s claws. It gave him character. Like the scar I’d received on my arm from the ruthless orphanage operator who’d flung me into a wall when I had refused to be his slave.

“I’d get injured a thousand times for my master.” Kaza threw in a wink.

I wouldn’t let anyone go through this again. Not for me. I wasn’t worth it.

But secretly, a part of my heart soared at Kaza’s words. Thanks to our imprint connection, I knew he was being serious and speaking the truth.

Scarlet gave us both an inquisitive look.

I returned it with an I’ll tell you later glance and took another gulp of my disgusting tea.

When my friend finished administering the ferret’s leaf mixture, she looked to me and then back to Kaza. “Something’s wrong. The moth’s eye and owl’s claw should have reduced the inflammation and swelling. The tiger lily should have sealed up the wound by now.”

I jumped to my feet. My mouth turned to sand. Why wasn’t it working? What was wrong? Was he going to die? At that thought, my knees almost collapsed on me. I leaned against the counter behind me.

Golden sparks flew off Kaza’s wounds.

Oh crap.

Scarlet stepped back all of a sudden. The tub of ointment crashed to the floor, some spilling on the leg of her onesie. “Magic,” she sputtered.

Kaza twisted around and pressed his finger to her lips. “Shhhh.”

My heart exploded. Now we were in deep crap.

Scarlet turned to me. She seized my forearms and squeezed hard. “Tell me what’s really going on, Azar, or I can’t help you.”

I pulled Scarlet into my arms to comfort her. Everything poured out of me—the entire story. From Ali’s illness, to the sultan’s cave, to the genie lamp, being imprisoned by the vizier, and how the genies had rescued me from the tiger pit.

“Heavens.” Scarlet paced along her floor. Her fingers trembled as she rubbed her forehead. “Give me a minute.” She took a few deep breaths.

When she returned, I ran a hand along her back.

“Surely, there is an answer in one of your books,” suggested Dahvi.

“Books.” Scarlet jabbed a finger at the ceiling. “Yes.”

She scurried over to her herb book and flicked through it. “Heavens no. That won’t do. Hmmm. No.” She turned a few more pages, her eyes scanning the text.

My stomach tumbled like a rock rolling down a hill. I glanced at my genies.

Dahvi bit his lip.

Sweat dripped off Kaza. Despite all the kisses and bravado, he was not doing do well.

“This might work,” said Scarlet. “The magical sands of Katar was reported to have once healed an injured unicorn.”

“Where do I find the sands?” I asked.

Scarlet rubbed the back of her neck. “The Collector trades magical items. She might have some.”

The Collector? That bitch didn’t exactly have the best reputation. She probably knew of a way to steal my genies, and while my body rotted in some shallow grave, she’d sell them to the highest bidder. My chest threatened to burst at that idea. I couldn’t lose the chance to save my brother. Lose the chance for a better a life. Lose the chance to be with them all.

Bitter tears stung my eyes. “No,” I said. “No way.”

“Red is the only one who can help,” Scarlet urged. “She’s helped me out a few times.”

So The collector went by the name Red huh?

“Master,” said Dahvi, his voice insistent and firm. “We must do this.”

Kaza’s muscles quivered from pain, and he bit his lip. How much longer did he have before his conditioned worsened like Ali’s had?

I’d do everything in my power to help save Kaza, as I intended to save my brother. “Looks like we are paying The Collector a visit.”