The room went dead silent. Quieter than anything Nicole had ever heard before. For a moment she couldn’t make out a single sound. Not the rush of cars going by on the street. Not a sigh or a gasp from inside the store. Nothing.

But she certainly felt something—a prick in the center of her breastbone, deep and sharp. For a moment, the sensation was strong enough to make her lose her breath.

The air crackled around her. A magical energy, similar to the kind that flowed from grimoire earlier, surrounded her. This one was every bit as powerful, but it had a different intensity, a different timbre.

“Oh God, Nicole,” Emily broke the silence. Shock filled her voice. “You don’t know what you’ve done.”

“That’s not true, Emily.” Nicole did her best to keep her voice steady as she stared at Shay’s back. His whole body was marble hard and every bit as still. “I know exactly what I’ve done.”

Shay spun around faster than her vision could track. One second he was standing with his hand frozen on the door knob, and the next he was practically on top of her, towering over her, staring her down. The orange and yellow embers were back in his irises, swirling and rising stronger than before. His eyes lit up with a fierce light…and despite her best intentions, Nicole stumbled back a step.

So much for standing her ground.

Who could blame her? She’d been prepared to face Shay Madrid, but this wasn’t him. At least, not the one she knew. This wasn’t the man who kept his chin down and his gaze guarded. This wasn’t the man who spoke low and infrequently.

This was another creature entirely.

One who hummed with power. A power she’d just handed over to him. A power that came from the deepest part of her.

This was a jinni.

“No.” Shay’s voice was louder now. Deeper too. It burst out of him and swirled around her like a whirlwind. “You don’t have a clue.”

“Shay.” Now it was Merlin who sounded cautious.

Without taking his eyes off hers, Shay threw up his open palm, stopping Merlin’s words in an instant.

“Don’t warn me to be careful, mage,” Shay said. “I shouldn’t need to remind you that I’ve been controlling this force far longer than you.”

Nicole swallowed down hard. Everything about Shay seemed so much bigger, so much stronger than it had just seconds ago.

Maybe Emily was right. Maybe she hadn’t fully thought this through.

But it was far too late to worry about that now. She’d made her choice. All she could do now was straighten her spine, and act like she knew what she was doing.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “You don’t scare me.”

He leaned in closer, and Nicole pressed her back even harder against the counter behind her.

“I should.” His dark whisper sent chills through her body.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Emily broke in, her tone stark and serious. “Now he has a piece of your soul.”

Nicole knew the rules. Everything had to be paid for. Just as there was no such thing as free energy in this world, there was no free magic in the Realm. There was cost to everything.

And the cost of wishing on a jinn’s name was your soul.

Of course, Nicole wasn’t an idiot. She knew the other rules as well.

“But he doesn’t have the whole thing,” she said. “Not yet. Full payment isn’t due for three wishes.”

“Or three thousand years,” Fenrir said.

“Yeah.” Nicole smiled at the wolf. “But since it’s rare for people in this world to live past one hundred, I’m not too worried about that one.”

Shay didn’t appear to be moved by the argument. If anything, his temper grew hotter. He leaned in closer, and Nicole found herself arching her back against the lip of the counter.

“So, you’ve chosen to bind me to your side until the end of your life?”

Okay, when he put it that way it did sound bad. Really bad.

But no. That wasn’t what she intended at all.

“Of course not,” she said. “The moment the store and my family are no longer in danger, I’ll wish you free. I’m sorry, but—”

A deep rumble rose up from his chest. The sound alone would have probably been enough to stop her talking, but the sight of his gritted teeth just inches from her face was really what froze her.

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry.”

“Shay, stop it,” Emily said. “You’re scaring her.”

“Obviously not enough,” he shot back.

“If you touch one hair on her head—” Emily started.

But she never got to finish her sentence.

“I think it’s past time for everyone to leave,” Shay said. Without breaking eye contact with Nicole, he snapped his fingers.

And then they were gone. All of them—Emily, Fenrir, Merlin. There was no fanfare, no puff of smoke, no shimmer of light. One second they were there, and the next they were just gone.

Nicole’s breath caught in her throat. “Wh-What did you do to them?”

“I sent them home.” His eyes narrowed even further. “Now it’s just you and me. Just the way you wanted it.”

Suddenly, her family’s little bookstore felt really small. Tiny, even. Though Nicole had a feeling that any space with Shay in it would feel that way. Especially now.

“That’s not fair. I didn’t want any of this.”

“Then prove it.” He backed off a step. “Make that second wish, and set me free.”

Oh, crap. He was not going to like her answer.

“No.” Her voice wasn’t as loud as his, but at least she managed to get the word out.

His shoulders stiffened. This time Nicole could feel the heat emanating from his gaze as he snapped his attention back toward her.

“What do you mean no?”

Nicole lifted her chin. “You know, the usual definition.”

Frustration showed in the tight lines around his eyes and mouth. “Why not?”

“If I set you free right now, would you agree stay and help me protect the store?”

“Of course not,” he said. “I would send you some place far away from this shop. Far from this city. From me.”

“And that’s why I can’t do it…yet,” she said. “You don’t understand what this store means. It’s not just my family’s legacy. It’s history.”

“And do you think that history will comfort your parents every time they make the trip to leave flowers on your grave?”

A flash of anger heated Nicole’s cheeks. She pushed hard against his chest, but he didn’t budge. Not an inch. “That’s not fair.”

Shay shook his head. “It’s the truth.”

No. It wasn’t.

“Nothing is going to happen to me, or to the store,” she said. “Not as long as you’re here to protect us.”

Shay glowered down at her even harder than before. He leaned in closer. So close, that for a moment Nicole feared he might squash her like a bug against the counter. It took every ounce of Nicole’s courage not to buckle under the power of his stare. Somehow she managed to outlast him. After a long moment, he shook his head and stepped toward the front window.

“You picked the wrong hero,” he said as he walked away.

Oh, thank God. For the first time since she’d made her wish Nicole managed to pull in a full breath.

She leaned against the counter as he stood with his back to her, staring out the window in silence. A full minute passed. Then another. Slowly, all the peace she’d been wishing for moments ago turned to tension.

“You know this doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” Nicole said when she couldn’t take the strained silence anymore. “I could help you out. Instead of wishing you free when this is all over, I could just wish all the exiles back to the Realm.”

“No, you can’t.” He didn’t bother to turn around. “Wishes only work on one soul at a time, not on groups.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Another few minutes of silence fell between them before Shay finally turned around and looked her up and down. She did her best not to squirm under his gaze. The sparks were gone from his eyes, but Nicole had a feeling they hadn’t gone far. They were underneath, ready to reignite at any moment.

“So, what do we do now?” she said.

“Now you go upstairs and stay in my apartment, while I do what needs to be done down here.”

“You’re going to set up warding to protect the store?”

“I am.”

“I’d like to stay with you.”

“And I’d like to be free.”

“I could help.” After all, she knew more than a little about magic.

“No, you can’t.”

Nicole huffed in frustration.

“Really?” she said. “Is this how it’s going to be between us from now on? Always fighting?”

She regretted her words the second he started striding back toward her. The focus and determination in his gaze made her tremble. The closer he got the harder it became not to turn and run.

Once he was in front of her, he propped his hands on the counter top beside her, caging her in.

“You want to fight?”

Oh, God no.

But Nicole’s pride wouldn’t let her say that out loud.

“Not really,” she said. “But I will if I have to.”

One corner of Shay’s mouth lifted.

“Then let me give you a piece of advice,” he whispered against her ear. She wasn’t completely sure if the sensation running down her spine was from fear or the wash of his warm breath against her skin. “If I were you, I would choose your battles very carefully.”

Nicole turned her head to get a better look at him. “And if I don’t?”

His smile grew. “Then I can always keep the peace by snapping my fingers and sealing up those beautiful lips of yours.”

He didn’t look like he was bluffing. Not even a little bit. Nicole felt the blood drain from her face.

“So, upstairs then?” she said.

Shay didn’t relish the fear shining Nicole’s eyes. He wasn’t proud that he was the one to put it there. But there had been no way around it.

Not when the woman refused to listen to reason.

She had no idea the magnitude of the mistake she’d made by trading a portion of her soul for his help. All for a shop. A simple building of timber and plaster that likely wouldn’t last another century in this world of temporary things. It made no sense.

Shay shouldn’t have been surprised. Back in the Realm, creatures had sought him out for much smaller concerns—personal matters of desire or revenge. It seemed no matter the world, people were far more willing to sell their soul than swallow their pride.

Somehow he’d never thought Nicole would be among them.

That wasn’t exactly true. He’d hoped that she wouldn’t. But in the end she’d succumbed to the allure of his power…just like everyone else.

And now he held a piece of her inside him. Her unique energy filling him with power. It didn’t help his mood that her soul was every bit as bright and glorious as he’d feared it would be. The outside wisps that had floated over when she was near were nothing compared to the full force of her. She shimmered and shone a thousand times brighter on the inside.

Shay had never felt a soul as strong as hers.

And that’s why he needed to strip her essence from him as soon as possible.

Shay knew how this went. The longer he drew power from her soul, the more intimately they would be connected. Where he’d only been able to sense her emotions before, now he could feel them. Her desires, her fears, they were all inside him now.

It had been hard to keep his distance when he simply knew about her attraction to him. It was going to be infinitely harder now that he could feel it as well.

Which meant he needed to make good on his end of her wish fast.

But there was no way he could effectively protect the store against Marrow and his soldiers with Nicole hovering over his shoulder every second, distracting him with her closeness. And it wasn’t just the force of her emotions he worried about. There was also the concern that she would slip and make another wish.

She might know a lot about the Realm of Light—more than any other mortal in this middle world—but she didn’t know everything.

She didn’t know Marrow. She didn’t know what he was capable of. She didn’t know the sting of fae steel. She didn’t know the vacant emptiness of wandering the world without a soul.

And Shay was determined that she never would.

Even if it meant lying to her. Even if it meant making her hate him.

“Your door’s locked,” Nicole said, standing a few feet ahead of him at his apartment door.

For a split second Shay started for the key in his front pocket, but he quickly caught himself. He didn’t need that kind of hardware anymore.

He raised his fingers, commanding the steel tumblers inside the lock. The metal obeyed, falling into position all at once. He nodded to Nicole and she tried the knob again. This time the door opened easily.

Shay made sure to leave a buffer between them as he followed her inside. The one bedroom apartment above the bookstore might have been simple, but it was more than enough for him.

He watched from the doorway as Nicole walked around the room, examining his possessions. He didn’t have many. A few trinkets from a land called Turkey—the country where he’d first landed after being tossed through the Gate. He’d liked the vibrancy of their colors and intricate nature of their patterns so he’d lined the floor with their carpets and hung their textiles on his wall.

Everything else he owned were mere necessities—a bed for sleeping, cushions for sitting, cases for holding the odds and ends he’d collected during his time here.

The apartment was comfortable enough, but Nicole must have found it fascinating because she walked around examining every piece as though it gave her a secret window into his personal life.

Shay didn’t rush her as she looked around. He felt her curiosity, and didn’t blame her for it. After all, wasn’t he just as curious about her?

After a slow trip around the room, Nicole finally stopped by the bay window in the front of the room. He tried not to smile as she lifted herself up on the cushion-lined bench. It was his favorite spot too.

He’d lost track of how much time he’d spent sitting there and watching the trickle of people walking by. Even from this height he could feel what they were made of—their wants, their needs, their fears. He’d been surprised to find that the people here weren’t all that different from those back in the Realm.

Every story he’d ever heard of Earth painted it as a paler version of his home world. Less vibrant, less enduring, less real. Earth was supposed to be a horror story. A place where everything died and rotted away. A place where life was horrible and brief, and despair was all anyone knew.

Two minutes into his exile, and Shay knew that had all been a lie.

Sure, there was no innate magic here, but this world held other treasures—hope, and courage, and love.

He still struggled to understand parts of life of Earth. He had yet to wrap his mind around the intensity of mortal emotions and the strength of their attachments to one another. After all, why would fragile creatures strive to create strong attachments when the brevity of their lives guaranteed they’d end in grief and sorrow? It made little sense.

And yet they all seemed to crave that connection. Nearly every last one of them. Not just here in this city. But all around this world.

Shay was shaken from his musings when Nicole turned away from the window and gazed at him with her big brown eyes.

“When do you think Marrow will come back?” she asked.

“There’s no way to know.”

It was the truth. Not the one she wanted hear, but the truth all the same.

“But you know he will be back.” It wasn’t a question. Shay wasn’t even sure she was talking to him. There was a depth to her tone that he hadn’t heard before, not even when she’d feared for her life.

As if the weight of the situation finally had settled around her shoulders, she pulled her legs up onto the bench next to her and wrapped her arms around them tight. For the first time, Shay saw Nicole as the fragile creature she really was.

“Without a doubt,” he said. “That’s why I need to go downstairs and start putting up the warding to protect this building from whatever he might be planning.”

She balled her hands in front of her mouth and nodded. She was trying to be strong, even though right now she felt anything but. Shay sensed the swirl of conflicting emotions churning inside her.

“You’ll be safe up here.” He meant the words to be reassuring, but her emotions didn’t settle.

She looked over at him. “Would it help if I kept watch?”

He doubted it. There was nothing her eyes could spot that his heightened senses wouldn’t pick up on their own.

But he didn’t tell her that. Shay could sense just how important this was to her mental well-being. She didn’t want comforting half-truths. She needed to feel like she was contributing to the fight. Like she had a sliver of control.

He could give her that.

“It would,” he said.

She nodded, and Shay felt a little of the weight lift off her shoulders as she turned back toward the window.

But the truly strange thing was, some of the worry lifted off of his as well.