As You Wish by Nichelle Gregory Page B

now here she was before him.
    “Can you help her?”
    He looked away from the silent cat to Karis. “Rue used genie magic and I can undo it.” He turned his attention back to the cat, aware of Karis staring at him as seconds went by.
    “Well, are you going to change her back?”
    “Did she have anything to do wi—”
    “No!” Karis took a deep breath. “She was disgusted by Rue’s actions.”
    Vander nodded. “Very well.” He outstretched his hands towards the meowing animal and brilliant purple lightening flashed from his palms. He heard Karis gasp as the cat morphed before their eyes, changing and shifting, taller and more human by the nanosecond, until Lona stood in front of them.
    She had not aged and if anything had become more beautiful with the passage of time. He had expected nothing less with Rue’s ability to keep her young. When they had first met, her beauty had taken his breath away, but now he simply waited for her to speak as they held each other’s gaze.
    “Are you all right?” Karis asked with wide eyes.
    Lona looked away from him, to glance at Karis. “I’m fine. Thank you for bringing me here. I’m so sorry. I never should have gone along with Rue’s plan,” she said, her voice trembling.
    “Whoa.” He moved to help Karis who was attempting to stand. “Easy, you’ve still got trace amounts of the drug he gave you in your system.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and wished they were alone so he could hold her body close to his own. What would he have done if he hadn’t gotten to her in time? The thought terrified him.
    “I should be thanking you.” Karis moved unsteadily from him to embrace the other woman. “If you hadn’t intervened and if Vander hadn’t gotten there when he did ¼ “
    Lona shook her head. “I know. The man I loved seems to no longer exist.” She turned to face him. “Vander, forgive me for being a foolish girl so many years ago.”
    The words he always wanted to hear from her lips now hung between them.
    “The past is the past, Lona, you don’t need my forgiveness.” He sensed Karis watching him as Lona looked down. Lustrous ginger strands, falling to her waist hid her face from view. “But you have it.”
    Lona lifted her head. “I do?”
    “Yes.” And she did. The moment he spoke the words, Vander knew he meant it.
    She offered him a hint of a smile. “Thank you for releasing me from Rue’s feline glamour. I never would’ve made it as a cat, I detest seafood.”
    “I’m just glad you got away from him now. The High Council will not rest until he and his associates are found.” If I don’t find them first , he thought grimly, as Karis sat back down on the bed.
    “He’s hell bent on having access to those portals and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.” Lona tucked her hair behind her ears. “Now, that he doesn’t have her,” she gestured towards Karis, “I’m afraid he’ll force Nadine to find another portal again and I don’t know if she can handle the energy loss.”
    “No,” Karis whispered, clutching the sheets.
    “We’ll stop him.” It was a promise he intended to keep, no matter the cost.
    “He will try again tomorrow night. I’m almost sure he will take Nadine to the clearing in the forest. He will be heavily guarded by his men, but I know others who will join us in taking him down.”
    “The High Council has already assembled a team.”
    “How many?” Lona asked concern evident on her face.
    “Ten,” Vander replied, thinking the power and strength of ten genies was equivalent to a hundred men.
    “Rue has three times that many men at his disposal.”
    “The High Council should know this. We can’t go after him unprepared.” He glanced at Karis. “I should go and tell them.”
    Lona shook head. “Let me go instead. I will share everything I know.”
    “Are you sure?” He didn’t want to leave Karis if at all possible.
    “Positive.”
    He looked away from Lona to Karis.