She’d told me not to touch the stone, because I would release power that I wouldn’t be able to control. But at this point, what did I have to lose?
If I touched the ring and found out what power it contained… well, I didn’t know what would happen unless I tried. If I did nothing, I would surely die here.
And so, I reached for the ring, stroking it with my index finger. The sapphire was silky and smooth, and was it just my imagination, or did the stardust within brighten at my touch?
I pulled my finger away and looked closer. It wasn’t my imagination. The sparkles of light were getting brighter and brighter, swirling around the gem. As if the ring had been brought to life. The swirling quickened, and then it rose from the gem completely.
It became a glowing orb in front of me, the shape morphing into the form of a beautiful young woman. She wasn’t fully there—she was transparent, like a ghost—but her eyes met with mine and she smiled.
“Hello, Annika.” Her voice was light, like an echo, bouncing off the walls of the cave. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Annika
“Who are you?” I blinked a few times, making sure I wasn’t imagining this.
Maybe the cave was running out of air and I was hallucinating? But she was still there. She was dressed in a vintage blue gown, and combined with her short, curled hair, she looked like a Hollywood starlet from the early twentieth century.
“What are you?” I continued. “And how do you know my name?”
“So many questions.” She laughed, giving a small flick of her hand. “But it’s fine. I’m happy to answer them all.”
“Okay…” I watched her, waiting.
“My name is Geneva,” she said simply. “And I am a witch.”
“You don’t look like a witch,” I said, the image of Camelia popping into my mind. Camelia was solid and… alive. “You look like a ghost.”
“I suppose I do, don’t I?” She raised a hand in front of her eyes and looked through it, smiling sadly. “I appear this way because my kind turned against me. They cursed me. They created the curse just for me. They named it the ‘genie curse.’” She laughed, although her laugh sounded hollow—defeated. “A play on my name. They thought it was clever.” She reached out to touch the nearest object—a crystal ball of some sort—but her hand passed right through it. She snarled at her hand and let it fall back to her side. “I’m powerless to do anything for myself. I feel like a ghost. That’s all I am—a ghost of who I used to be.”
Questions raced through my mind—mainly if she could get me out of this cave—but demanding her to do something for me hardly seemed like a smart way to begin this relationship. So instead, I started with something else.
“Why did they curse you?” I asked, trying to swallow down the suspicion rising in my throat. Because Camelia had warned me that the objects in this cave were dangerous if not controlled by a witch who knew what she was doing. And if Geneva’s kind had turned against her, I assumed they had a reason.
It was probably why Camelia had warned me against touching the gem.
“Jealousy,” she said, her eyes darkening. “I was the most powerful witch in the world. The others were afraid of my powers. So, what do people do when they’re afraid? Destroy the object of their fear. In their case—me.”
“But they didn’t destroy you,” I said. “You’re here.”
“Barely.” She huffed. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m bound inside that ring on your finger. And my magic no longer belongs to me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Who does your magic belong to?”
She stared straight at me, her gaze sharp, and said, “My magic belongs to you.”
Annika
“But I’m not a witch,” I said. “I can’t do magic.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Think for a second about what they named my curse,” she said. “The genie curse. What do you know about genies, Annika?”
“You know my name,” I realized again. “I never told you my name.”
“I’m the most powerful witch in the world.” She straightened. “I have strong psychic abilities. But back to the point—the curse. What do you know about genies?”
“Genies are trapped inside lamps,” I said, and I held the ring out in front of me, everything clicking into place. “Or rings.”
“Yes.” She pressed her fingers together and leaned forward. “Continue.”
“I touched the ring—which I guess could be compared to rubbing a lamp—and you came out of it,” I said. “And you said your magic belongs to me. So does that mean I get three wishes? Like if you were a genie?”
“Worse.” Geneva frowned. “You see, my magic was so strong that the witches couldn’t kill me. So they trapped me in that ring and locked it in this cursed cavern. They never expected anyone to be able to enter and retrieve it. They intended for the ring—and myself—to be lost forever. Because as long as my spirit is connected to the ring, I’m bound to serve its wearer for as long as the ring belongs to them.”
“So you can get me out of this cavern.” I smiled, relieved that for once since being kidnapped last year, things seemed to be working out in my favor. “You can teleport us out of here.”
“I can.” She nodded. “I can take you anywhere in the world.”
Anywhere in the world? My mind raced with the possibilities. That was a huge offer.
The first place that came to mind was the Sanctuary that Jacen had mentioned—the place where humans could go and be free from all supernatural creatures.
But if I went there, what would happen to the ring? To Geneva? Surely she wouldn’t be allowed inside the Sanctuary. And Jacen… he’d risked so much to help me escape. I hadn’t seen him since Camelia and her guards had attacked us in the mountains. I didn’t know if he was okay. He didn’t know if I was okay.
Given all that he’d done for me, I needed to see him again.
And then there was Camelia. As much as I was wary of her, we’d made a blood oath. She’d promised to turn me into a vampire if I gave her the ring.
“What are you thinking, girl?” Geneva asked.
“I thought you were psychic,” I said. “Shouldn’t you know what I’m thinking?”
“It doesn’t work like that,” she said.
“Oh.” I frowned. “Well, I was thinking about a lot of things. Mainly that I’m not sure where I would go. You see, the vampires of the Vale killed my family. And given all that I know of the supernatural world, I could never return to living a normal human life.”
“Do you want me to wipe your memory of the knowledge of the supernatural?” she asked. “Because it’s in my power to do so. And if you wish it, I can—”
“No!” I said sharply. “I don’t want to forget. I won’t be ignorant. I won’t let myself be a victim ever again.”
“Good.” She smiled. “I was hoping you would say that.”
“Also, I made a blood oath with Camelia,” I told her. “She’s the strongest witch of the Vale. She has to follow through with her promise to me.”
“What did you promise her?” Geneva raised an eyebrow. “Because blood oaths are a strong, ancient magic—so strong that even I cannot reverse them.”
“I promised her that I would give her the ring, and she promised that in return she would try her hardest to convince Queen Laila to turn me into a vampire.”
“Those were the exact words?” Geneva asked.
“I think.” I scratched my head, trying to recall the conversation we’d had in the dungeons. I still hadn’t recovered from the vampire blood hangover at that point, so my memories were hazy. “I suppose I don’t remember the exact wording. But it was close.”
“Well, luckily you have me on your side.” Geneva reached for the crystal nearby, but her hand passed through it again. “Rhatz!” she cursed, turning back to me. “I can’t interact with anything in the mortal world unless you command me to do so.”
“What were you trying to do?” I asked.
“I was going to use the crystal to view the moment when you made the blood oath with this witch Camelia,” she said.