Fate's Pawn: Wishes Three

Chapter Seven: My Seals

I furrowed my brows as I studied this enigma in front of me. We were inside yet another one of his elaborate rooms, though this was a lot smaller than the others I had been paraded through. My lamp secure in its magical box hovered in front of Guile. He studied it making hmms and ahhs as he poked it at one spot or another. “They really have you locked down tight, Rosebud.”

“Rosebud?” I pursed my lips. “You don’t get to give me pet names.”

Guile chuckled. “Oh? That’ll change later, and it’s such a shame, it fits your hair so well, you’re as beautiful as a rose.”

“Remember, roses have thorns,” Dagon interjected as he placed his palms on my shoulders and moved me back a step from his friend.

“So they do, but a budding rose will always take my breath away.” He turned his attention back to the lamp. His fingers trailed over the box and thin purple lightning bolts lit up where his fingers brushed against the surface. “Acacia, I’m going to need a hit of your power.”

“I thought you were going to be able to break this with ease, why do you need to siphon off me?” I didn’t like the sounds of this.

“Because the lamp is tuned to your wavelength. If I feed it a bit of your own energy through, with my power it’ll open right up for us and let you back into your precious home.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did.” Guile smirked at me, his eyes promising me all manner of things I did not want to indulge in. As strange as it was when I studied those eyes of his I could almost visualize me doing things I never would ever do. I didn’t know why, but it made me want to keep my distance away from him.

“I’m serious,” I glowered at him. “Why do you have to break into the lamp anyway? Why doesn’t it just open up like everything else does in this home of yours? And Dagon might trust you, but I don’t.” I gave him one of my best haughty stares with my nose up in the air. I couldn’t meet his eyes, not when they made me feel oh so strange.

“It’s not a genie’s power that caused the lockdown of your lamp, Rosebud.”

I grit my teeth. “Okay, so you can only deal with things that are related to genies? Some rule breaker.” I snorted.

Guile’s eyebrow rose as he studied me. “Why so feisty?” He grinned. “Ah, you’re starting to fall for me and trying to create some distance. No worries, a lot fall for me. I’m not as popular as some of my siblings, but I can still turn a few heads. As for your question, I can bend rules for more than just genie rules, but if I did that to crack open your lamp, it wouldn’t stick once you left the borders of my humble abode.”

“Humble?” I snorted again. “I’m not falling for you, now or ever.”

“Good,” Dagon nodded. “That would be most unwise. He’s not worth your time really, but besides being a flirt my friend is quite good at magic, so if you could actually do that? You know, work your magic. I promise he won’t hurt you, Acacia, let him use a little bit to break open these seals.”

“What exactly do you need?” I crossed my arms as I took a step back.

“Oh, I don’t need much from you. When I say a bit of your energy, I merely mean I need but a drop of your blood. That will tune in with the lamp and I’ll be able to destroy all the seals at once.”

Bile rose in my throat. “What kind of immortal are you that you need blood? Are you a demon, or are you a warlock?” I took several steps away to give us distance as I eyed him. My heart was hammering and I tried to calculate how I could escape. Dagon stood between me and the exit, and though I trusted him, he trusted his friend.

“You’ll find out soon enough, but no, I’m no demon or warlock, Rosebud. You don’t have to be afraid of me. What’s it going to take for you to trust me on this? I don’t want you to suffer not being able to rest in safety. I know how important a lamp is to a genie, it’s like a base for recharging. Think about it, if I was to do anything sneaky, Dagon would kill me in front of you. He’s made his intentions about you quite clear. You’re still able to upgrade at any time you like of course, but until you make that decision I won’t put a finger on you.”

“Stop calling me that.” I sighed and as my head fell forward I took a couple of steps forward and held out my hand. I couldn’t stop the tremble that coursed through me as he traced the path of my vein up my wrist and up my arm. “Just take your blood and get this over with.” I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to watch.

Something soft and wet enveloped my fingertip and my eyes snapped open. My pointer finger was resting in Guile’s mouth. He smirked at me before a sharp lancing pain exploded through my body from my fingertip. It lasted but a moment and then he sucked on my finger for a brief second before letting me free. I cradled my hand to my body and stared at the blood that welled from where the man had bitten me. I popped the cherry tip in my mouth to try to soothe the pain away.

“You didn’t have to be that rough,” Dagon scolded.

“She’s just that delicate, it couldn’t be helped. Besides, look at her giving me an indirect kiss, she’s very cute you know.”

“Indirect kiss?” I sputtered as I spit my finger out of my mouth. I hadn’t even thought about it and it sent a shiver through me. “That was dirty.”

“Oh no, I assure you it was quite clean. Now, watch me work my magic.”

I continued to glare at him my throbbing finger shoved under my arm now. The sting hadn’t gone away and it pulsed through me like a drum. “This all better be worth it.”

Dagon soothed my back with tiny circular strokes. I melted against him and my eyes fluttered closed for a moment. “Did you want me to bandage your finger, Acacia?” I nodded and winced as he left to go retrieve the materials to do so and I was left alone with Guile. Once more those eyes of his caught mine and I squinted mine shut to drive him out of my mind. I wouldn’t let him in.

“You know,” his voice rumbled close to my ear. I hadn’t even noticed his movement. “If you really wanted to keep away from me, you would have gone with Dagon. The fact that you stayed right here says something about your budding feelings.” His smirk could be heard from just his voice.

I growled as my eyes opened and I took a step backward. “I can’t be too far from my lamp, you already know that.”

His smirk was just as smug as I had imagined. “Oh? Is that so?” His eyes were glowing and it forced me to take another step back. There was a pale light coming from this man and his deep blue eyes were turning an icy sky blue now. “I already told you the rules of the genies don’t apply here. No sort of rule applies here any longer, here you are completely free. You don’t have to tether yourself to that lamp of yours, you are free to go anywhere you like in this place of mine.”

Free? That wasn’t a word I had been familiar with in this context for a very long time. “You’re finished borrowing my power?” I had edged farther away from him and gave him a sideways glance.

“Oh I could always take more if you want, you’re very sweet you know. Like a fruit that is just ready to ripen.” I shuddered. I really did not like being compared to an edible item. “But yes, I have enough to weave into the spell now. Are you sure you’re so eager to scurry off and not see just what I can do? You’re not going to give me the opportunity to show off for you?”

I was halfway out the door now and I felt no tug toward my lamp. There was nothing keeping me in the room, well almost nothing. I couldn’t quell my undying curiosity about what was going on. Just what could this strange man do? What sort of magic did he possess besides being able to bend and break rules? I was dying to know. “I want to see the spell broken with my own eyes.” I sighed and sidled back into the room but kept my back against the wall and well away from him.

“You don’t have to be so far away, it’s not like I’m going to bite you,” he teased.

“You mean bite her again.” Dagon interrupted as he entered the room. “Sorry, I wasn’t able to find much, he has so much stuff it’s actually hard to find anything here. I can at least wrap it in some gauze if you’d like.”

I had forgotten about my finger and I pulled it forward now to inspect it. It had pained me before but now it was perfectly sealed, not even a mark of the bite was left. “I guess I don’t need it?”

“I see.” Dagon turned his attention once more to his friend. “Is it time to destroy those seals of theirs?” He smirked. “I wish I could see their faces when they feel that break.”

“As you command,” I whispered. I could only hope that this wouldn’t count against his wishes, but he had said the words I had no choice but to obey.

“You don’t have to grant that.” Guile was leaning back and looking straight into my eyes. “I told you, you can do whatever you want genie rules be damned here. But if you want to, you can practice.”

“Guile,” I whispered. He stood straighter as his eyes sharpened.

“I like it when you call my name, Rosebud.”

I rolled my eyes. “Never mind, I should have realized you can’t be serious.”

He chuckled the tone a dark rumble. “Oh, I can be quite serious, Acacia. What is it you want from me then?”

I took a deep breath. “I want to grant Dagon’s wish, even if it was just a slip of the tongue or something he doesn’t really mean. I want to grant it. I want to be able to grant wishes without killing people. If something goes wrong, can you break it so he doesn’t get hurt?”

Dagon’s smile grew into a full-fledged smirk and his eyes sparkled. “Thank you so much, Acacia. I don’t care about the wish itself, but I’m really grateful that you even want to grant it for me, especially since you do not have to.”

“Enough flirting you two.” Guile turned away from us and focused his full attention on the box around my purple lamp. This time as his fingers brushed the surface there were bright silver sparks that erupted from every point of contact. He chuckled as he placed his full palm on a side and the box crackled.

True to my words while Dagon and Guile were distracted I let my magic flow through me once more and a golden circle of light appeared in the air. In the middle of it were those that had tried to win me at the auction. The red-head from before turned his attention from wherever it had been before and stared straight into my eyes. Hunger flared for a moment and it took my breath away, but I was distracted as the crackling stopped and Guile started to laugh. I turned away from the window I had created and stared at Guile my mind not comprehending what I was seeing.

There was my lamp, free at last. I could return to my home at any time! However, that wasn’t what my full focus on. 

No, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the great black wings that arched from Guile’s back. He looked over his shoulder at me and grinned. “Told you I was a great rule-breaker, Rosebud.”