initiated. Even the leader of the resistance, the baddest, most dangerous
assassin I had ever met, died before he turned thirty. A had been more than a
friend, but a father to the poor orphan girl he plucked from the streets. Our
newest assassin, RRR, had to train for five years before she was even allowed
to tag along on a mission.
I was familiar with death. We were old acquaintances, death and I. I had
been face to face with it more times than I could count. I had lost people,
people I loved. They had been ripped brutally away from me by the seductive
pulls of death.
Was I afraid?
Most definitely.
Would I allow that fear to consume me?
Maybe.
“Just...don’t die, okay?” Diego pleaded. “I don’t know what I would do
with myself if something happened to you.”
My throat closed up at his confession.
“Don’t get all sappy on me,” I said roughly. He snorted.
“You started it, bitch.”
“You’re the bitch.”
“You’re the-”
Diego was interrupted by the rapid knock of knuckles against my
bedroom door. I stilled, immediately switching the water off. I told myself
that it couldn’t be a competitor. What type of assassin would knock before
they killed you?
A polite one, I reasoned.
“Stay back,” Diego warned. “A lot of the competitors saw me with the
other Assistants. They know I’m not Z.”
Now it was my turn to snort. If he really thought I would stay on the
sidelines, he didn’t know me at all. This was my fight, not theirs, and I would
never forgive myself if I pulled them into the crossfire.
As I wrapped a towel around me, I became aware of voices speaking near
the main doorway - far enough away where the intruder wouldn’t be able to
see me in the shower, but close enough where I could hear two, distinct
voices. Both male.
I recognized Diego’s immediately as he introduced himself to whoever
had stopped by. I heard the second voice ask for Z.
“I want to thank him for participating in The Damning,” he stated.
His voice was familiar. Raspy, almost, as if it had been used frequently.
There was a slight lilt to his words. I would like to say it was an accent of
some sort, but I knew it came from an accident in his early years.
But it couldn’t be. What would he be doing in the Capital?
My traitorous heart pounded beneath my ribcage. My brain fought against
my heart. It was completely illogical to assume he would be here. What
would be the reason? Was he a competitor?
I prayed that I was wrong. I didn’t know what I would do if I saw him
again.
“The crown would like to thank him for his service,” he continued, and
Diego said something else in reply, but the words were lost to me.
Assured that I was mistaken, I steeled myself and stepped out of the
bathroom. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I was only wearing a towel,
revealing my long legs and a hint of cleavage. None of that registered in the
dysfunctional mess of my brain.
I saw him a second before he saw me.
His hair was longer than I remembered it, brown curls resting just over
his shoulders. His violet eyes were the same as they had been years ago,
glowing slightly in the scarcely lit room. The expression on his face,
however, was entirely different from the boy I knew. While back then he had
always been smiling, as if he was privy to a joke that the rest of us had yet to
hear, his features were now sharp and cold. I would almost describe it as
cruel. He was impeccably dressed, as always, in a gray suit jacket and a dark
tie. He once told me that it was necessary for a businessman like himself to
look the part. I had laughed and responded by saying that he was a Genie, not
an entrepreneur. Of course that resulted in a tickle fight and the loss of my
virginity.
Despite the physical changes, the man before me was unmistakable. How
many times had I ran my hands through those brown locks? Kissed those
lips?
and a cry. I had always considered myself strong, but just then, I felt weak.
Weak and defeated and vulnerable. I was suddenly sixteen again, head over
heels in love with an unattainable man. Sixteen, and with the hope I could
somehow get a happy ending.
“Lin?” I whispered. His head snapped in my direction.
“Susan?” he said back, sounding just as stunned. His eyes widened, and
his expression shattered. In that brief moment when his carefully constructed
walls broke, I saw a man in agony. I couldn’t look away from his eyes that
held me hostage. While all Genies had the same violet irises, his were
different. There were golden flecks around his pupil, as if he held the sun in
those depths. People always told me that the eyes were a window to the soul,
and with him, I believed it. I could see every conflicting emotion - pain, grief,
longing - in those beautiful eyes.
“Zara?” Diego asked, eyes volleying from me to Lin and back to me
again. I could see his mind spinning, piecing together everything I had ever
told him about my past love.
At the sound of Diego’s voice, Lin’s head whipped in my friend’s
direction before turning back to me. He finally seemed to notice the state I
was in. Namely, a short towel and nothing else. And Diego’s state - a short
towel and nothing else. His face darkened with an almost incandescent fury.
Before I could say anything, he pounced on Diego.
NINE
Z
Iused to have this fantasy when I was younger - to be loved completely
and to love someone back. Admittedly, my wistful daydreams usually
ended with said guy fighting for me. Physically, of course, because I
was a twisted bitch. To see Lin throwing punches for me was sexy as hell.
The sixteen-year-old girl in me wanted to swoon.
But to know that those punches were directed at my gay best friend? That
kind of put a damper on the whole fantasy.
Lin was glowing, a bright light emitting from his body. His purple eyes
flashed dangerously as he leveled another punch at Diego’s head. I
recognized this as his power acting up. Most of the time, a Genie’s power
only rose to the surface when someone was making a wish. For him to be
vibrating so erratically, like an electrical wire strung taut, he must’ve been
immensely furious. Strong or heightened emotions tended to bring out the
Nightmare characteristics of any individual.
Lin’s hands wrapped around Diego’s neck, and I immediately ran towards
them. I shouldn’t have underestimated Diego, though, for my Mage friend
merely flicked his wrist and sent the Genie flying into the wall. He kept his
gaze fixated on Lin, using his impressive power to hold him in place.
“Well that was fun,” Diego mumbled, using his free-hand to rub at the
bruises forming on his neck. “Usually I only allow my boyfriend to choke
me.” His towel must’ve came off in the shuffle, giving me a view of
his...manhood. It was something I never
wanted to see. Not that it wasn’t a
good dick or anything but...
Lin, still glancing between Diego and me, saw the directions that my eyes
flickered and began to glow yet again. His hair moved as if in an invisible
breeze at the power running rampant through the air.
“At least you’re not hard,” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth to
Diego. “I don’t know how you would’ve been able to explain that.”
“Only two people make me hard, sweets.” Diego gave me a crooked
smile, eyes still trained on Lin. “My sexy mate and you, of course.”
“Of course.”
“So please tell me how you know the crowned prince of the Genies,”
Diego said with a heavy sigh. He made a tsking noise and shook his head in
disappointment. “I taught you better than that.”
“Wait?” I said, stunned. “Crowned prince?”
Diego was wrong. Lin wasn’t a prince. He was the man that had broken
my heart, the teenager I had foolishly fallen in love with before I understood
what love was. He was the person that had caused me to build walls around
my heart, unbreakable barriers that not even Mali or Diego had fully chipped
away. He gave me the irrational fear of falling in love, and not because the
aspect of love itself was terrifying. What was terrifying was falling so deeply
and desperately in love with someone only to realize they didn’t feel the same
way. They say you can’t die from a broken heart, but those people have
obviously never had their hearts ripped from their bodies and stepped on by
the person they loved the most. If I hadn’t met S, I would’ve stopped
believing in love and what it could do for you. Lin had destroyed me, and S
had been the one to glue the shattered remains of my heart back together
again.
And then S had died.
Trust me. Love doesn’t exist.
“His name is Devlin. Devlin Genie.”
I couldn’t help but snort at the name. There was nothing remotely funny
about the entire situation, yet my miserable brain latched onto the first
coherent thought it could think of. Devlin Genie. Believe it or not, the names
Genie, Vampire, Shifter, Mermaid, Shadow, Incubus, and Mage were not
actually intended to be the names of the species. When the seven deadly sins
came to earth, they chose select families to lead.
Mary and Alain Genie.
Marisol Vampire.
Taylor Shifter.
Larry and Ted Mermaid.
Serenity Shadow.
Daniel Incubus.
Ian Mage.
The names stuck. What was once last names became a way to refer to an
entire species. These selected, powerful families have ruled the Nightmare
and human world for hundreds of years, if not thousands. Nobody can be
certain when the Nightmares came to be.
To hear that my Lin was the crowned prince, Devlin? Devlin Genie?
That was fucking hilarious.
“What the hell are you doing here, Lin?” I hissed. Lin’s - excuse me,
Devlin’s - head swiveled in my direction.
“I could say the same about you,” he retorted. “Can you please release
me?” This was directed at Diego, spoke through gritted teeth.
“Do you promise to behave?” I answered.
“If he puts some damn clothes on and steps away from you, then yes.”
Diego and I exchanged a look before breaking into laughter.
“I’ll put my towel back on,” Diego amended, still chuckling. “But I’m not
moving away from my sweets.”
Once again, Devlin growled - actually growled like a damn neanderthal -
before taking a calming breath.
“I promise,” he said at last sounding anything but sincere. Diego dropped
his hand, and Devlin fell to the ground. Fortunately, Devlin’s power seemed
to have lessened from what it had been earlier, but he still threw glares in
Diego’s direction.
Diego, for his part, unashamedly flexed his stomach muscles. God, I
loved him. Everybody needed a friend like Diego in their life.
Devlin and I participated in a silent stare off. As before, a thousand
undefinable emotions flickered in his violet eyes before his lashes fluttered
against his cheekbones, twigs of ebony.
“I’m here to officially thank Z for his service,” he said at last. I folded my
arms over my chest.
“And I’m here as Z’s Assistant,” I admitted. At that, his eyes flashed to
my face. It was no secret that “Assistant” often translated to “lover”. This
time, I could clearly see the emotion darkening his features: jealousy.
What right did he have to be jealous? He was the one who had left.
“Zara…” Diego whispered beside me. He had grabbed his towel off the
ground and had somewhat reluctantly wrapped it back around his waist.
“Zara?” Devlin asked in disbelief. “You told me your name was Susan.
Was anything you told me the truth?”
I remembered when we had met. He had caught me stealing a loaf of
bread from the local bakery.
“What’s your name love?” he had asked, lips tilting up in amusement. I
scrambled to come up with a name that wasn’t Z. It was no secret that names
like mine were associated with the Alphabet Resistance and, more
importantly, the assassins guild. My eyes trained on the name tag of an
employee in the bakery.
“Susan,” I read, voice stumbling over that one word.
“Susan,” he repeated.
Now, as I stared up at Devlin’s arresting face, I couldn’t help but laugh
humorlessly.
“You have a lot of balls to say something like that, Lin. Or should I say
Devlin?”
“So we both kept secrets from each other.” Devlin shrugged. “No
relationships are perfect. I did what I did to protect you. Being the prince
brings about a lot of enemies.”
While my mind immediately screamed bullshit, the reasonable voice
inside of me pointed out the reason for my own lie as well. Protection. He
was a Nightmare, and I was an assassin. I had thought him to be a normal
Genie, and he thought I to be a normal girl. Why did it just occur to me how
toxic our love was?
Was it even love? Or was it just lie after lie piled on top of each other,
turning our relationship into something unrecognizable?
“I don’t care why you’re here, but you need to leave. It’s not safe,”
Devlin said earnestly. His eyes were locked on mine.
“Diego, will you leave us for a moment?” I asked, turning towards my
friend.
“Will you be safe?” he asked.
“I would never hurt her!” Devlin shouted, but Diego ignored him.
“Will you be safe?” he repeated, and I offered him a small smile.
“Seriously dude?”
Chuckling, Diego hoisted his towel further up his waist and exited the
room. I watched his retreating back, trying to ignore the eyes I could feel
penetrating my skin. Devlin always had a way of innately commanding
attention from me. Even when we were younger, I wanted nothing more than
to stare at him and hang onto every word he said. I was so dumb back then,
consumed by this love that defied all logic. A Genie and an assassin fell in
love...that wa
s the beginning of a bad joke.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Devlin said again, once he was certain that
Diego wasn’t lurking in the hallway. He was beginning to sound like a
broken record. Shouldn’t do this. Shouldn’t do that.
When did I ever listen to him? Silly boy should’ve known me better.
“And you shouldn’t be here.” I waved my hands to emphasize the here I
was referring to. His frown only deepened.
He really had changed. Gone was the fun-loving boy who told me he
wanted to save the world. In his place, was a stranger. Hard edges, narrowed
eyes, downturned lips.
“Because your lover, Z, is going to arrive soon? You don’t want to be
seen with me, right?” he asked tersely.
“Yes,” I said. Satisfaction filled me when his face darkened with
jealousy. Call me petty or vindictive, but an odd thrill went through me at
seeing such an expression on the brooding male.
“He’s dangerous. He’s a murderer,” Devlin tried again, and I began to
laugh.
Yes, she most definitely was.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore,” I said instead. I took a
step forward, and Devlin instinctively stepped backwards. His Adam’s apple
bobbed when he swallowed. “We are not together anymore,” I stressed.
“Hell, we’re not even friends. You made the choice to walk out of my life,
not me. You left. You fucking left! And now you think…” I trailed off in
irritation. The tips of our feet touched, his clad in brown leather and mine
bare. My chest was heaving as I pressed a finger against his well-developed
stomach. He had gained more muscle than I remembered. That was glaringly
obvious, even with the suit jacket. I yearned to articulate every crook in his
stomach, the broad width of his shoulders, the hair cascading in soft curls
around his oval face. The need to touch him was almost painful. Distance had
not lessened my attraction to the Genie. It only amplified it. I wanted to kiss
the shit out of him, and that thought terrified me.
Instead, I shoved him.
He staggered, though not because I was strong. From the widening of his
eyes, I deduced that he was shocked by my aggressive display.
“I hate you,” I said. My voice, which I meant to be strident and cruel,
trembled. “I hate you so fucking much.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he continued to watch me with large,