Jeannie smiled at Mike and made her final offer. Her voice dropped into a seductive whisper. “You could have the woman of your dreams all to yourself. Start your family. Lead a mighty army against the forces of darkness.”
“As if you aren’t part of the forces of darkness,” scoffed Mike. “Soulless shrew. Get thee behind me, Satan!”
Jeannie pulled back as if slapped. “Soulless? Don’t you know it’s not nice to point out a lady’s shortcomings?”
“She has no soul?” I asked.
Mike shook his head. “No, just like that demon Marcus.”
“I’m not a demon! Demons don’t follow the rules.”
“Not a demon, no,” agreed Mike. “But without a soul, no one can trust you.”
“Souls aren’t important,” said Jeannie with a wave of her hand. “Some people have more than they need. Like you werewolves, greedily keeping two souls in one body. Some of us got shortchanged. Eternal life isn’t fair.” Jeannie glanced at Ariel. “Anyway, having a soul—or two—doesn’t ensure trustworthiness.”
Jeannie then smiled at Ariel. “How about you? Just think, one little wish. Your country could be free from all enemies. We could get rid of that nuclear facility that’s just over the border in Iran, the one you don’t know about.”
She leaned close and licked her lips seductively. “I could bring your pack of lovers back to life. Gosh, I could even give you the ability to transform whomever you wish into a werewolf, without that ninety-nine percent fatality rate.”
“I wish—” Ariel began, only to be cut off by my backhand blow. It sent her flying and her head smashed against the crystal wall. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.
I glared at Mike and Jeannie. “We will not be making any deals with the evil genie.” I shuddered at the thought of how a supremely powerful entity could twist even the most well-meaning wish.
“If you’re so powerful,” I said, waving around at the sere desert outside, “why isn’t this entire country a garden? Why is Ariel’s country still in existence? Surely one of your former master’s first wishes would be to eliminate his country’s enemies?”
“Rules,” spat out Jeannie. “My former master likes the desert. As for Ariel’s little country, that would be like, like—like a queen jumping from one chessboard to another to block a checkmate.”
“You’re the queen?” asked Mike.
“No, I’m the chess master!”
“Does that make me your pawn?” I asked.
Jeannie peered at me with eyes that could pierce time. “No,” she mused, “You’re not a pawn. You have much more freedom of motion. Something higher.”
“Queen?” suggested Mike.
“No. Lower than a queen, higher than a pawn. What’s the word in English?” She snapped her fingers. “You’re a paladin!”
I furrowed my brows. “Like that old TV show?”
“Have claws, will travel,” quipped Mike.
“Not the TV show.” Jeannie waved away the idea. “Paladin is the old word. I think the modern equivalent is ‘knight.’”
I snorted in contempt. “This paladin doesn’t have a horse, armor, or a magic sword.”
“But you have your faithful squire to bear your shield,” said Jeannie, nodding at Mike. “The horse and magic sword come later.”
She said it with such conviction that I blurted, “A magic sword? How the hell would I get my hands on a magic sword?”
“Do you wish to know where and when?”
I held up both palms to reject the idea. “No way! I have no wish to know the future.”
Jeannie scrunched up her nose in disappointment. “Then there will be no spoilers for you.” Then she smiled brightly, as if she had reconsidered my response and now approved of it. “That’s good—this way the game can continue without interference.”
“But you’re stuck in here, chess master,” I said with an equally bright smile. “Looks like this game is almost over.”
“No. I can see a hundred moves ahead. I make the moves.”
And who is moving you? I wondered but didn’t ask.
“So we’re at an impasse?” asked Jeannie.
When had she shifted back into her harem outfit?
“Looks that way,” said Mike.
“As long as you’re my guests for the foreseeable future, I must treat you with hospitality. I could whip up a dinner for us all.”
“To ‘sate our appetites’?” I quoted. “No thanks.”
Jeannie frowned in disappointment. “Well, at least let me fix your gear. You won’t be comfortable in those old rags.”
With a gesture, all my clothes were cleaned, the damned sand was gone from my underwear, and even my sandblasted boots were restored to new condition. The same occurred with both Mike and Ariel.
Behind us, Ariel groaned. She would wake soon.
“You’re very kind,” I said. “But we have to be off. People I care for are in danger.”
Jeannie smiled warmly, as if I had shared a juicy bit of gossip with her. “So you do have a way out! No wonder you could resist my temptation.”
I stepped backward, putting distance between me and the inhuman genie.
“Mike, pick Ariel up,” I ordered. “We have to get going.”
“You don’t have to rush off. You could stay, keep me company, then I could warp time to bring you back to this second.”
“And all it would take would be one wish?” I snorted in contempt.
“Well, yes.” Jeannie raised a finger and widened her eyes, “I could teach you how to warp time. How to use that timestone you left at home. That would make you almost as powerful as a genie.”
There were no secrets from this creature. “No, thanks. My father-in-law is boomeranging through time and living backward. I have no interest in screwing with time.” I had to get out of here before she found a trigger I couldn’t resist.
“Oh, well. Can’t blame a girl for trying,” she said. “Have a safe trip.” Then she giggled like a child.
I resisted the temptation to ask her what she meant. Thank God for old Twilight Zone episodes.
“Mike, face the glass with Ariel in front of you.”
I stepped back, still facing Jeannie, until I was on Mike’s right. My inner wolf did not want to turn our backs on her.
I reached over with my right hand and reached inside Mike’s shirt
