I yelped in surprise, earning a laugh from the other ladies, then gave Kinara’s hand an appreciative squeeze before heading out after Ahlaksiz. She had already entered, so I waited for the others. Jalee joined me first, trying to smooth the butcher’s apron and clearly not enjoying it.

  Kinara came to my side, wrapping her fingers in mine. “What, I’m not allowed to cup you whenever I want?”

  “It’s fun for all parties,” I replied, “but… sometimes it’s a bit ticklish?”

  “Ahhh. Yeah, like me when I’m not turned on. I get it.”

  “Are you ever not turned on?”

  She hit me playfully, then thought about it. “Come to think of it, whenever I’m around you that would be a big no. But when you’re not around, I imagine it could happen—me not being turned on, I mean. Or maybe it would be even more, because I’d be missing you.”

  “You’re sweet.”

  I gave Jalee a nod, then craned my neck to see why Milrae was still in the car.

  “I’m going to get some rest,” Milrae said. “Stay here and close my eyes, recover a bit.”

  “That makes sense,” I replied.

  “She’ll be fine,” Kinara assured me. “It was my idea, because my healing saliva works best when one is properly resting.”

  I couldn’t argue that, and having a lookout made sense, even if she was asleep. Any strange noises would likely wake her. With Kinara on my arm and Jalee taking up the rear, we entered the building. Ahlaksiz was hugging a young man, who stood next to a counter displaying pomegranates and bottles of water.

  My eyes scoured the empty walls trying to make sense of this, then returned to the sight of Ahlaksiz, still hugging the guy. My guess was he was even younger than I, though Ahlaksiz had shown that age wasn’t one of her main concerns.

  “Sorry,” she said, finally breaking from the embrace and gesturing my way. “This is Ferris. Ferris, I’d like you to meet Aziz. He’s my best friend’s son, my godson.”

  “Your godson?” I blinked a couple of times, working to understand this. “You knew he’d be here?”

  “Not at all, but it’s not a huge surprise.”

  “I’m one of a dozen or so stone specialists,” the man said, nodding my way. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “You, too,” I replied, trying to ignore the amused sideways glance Kinara was sending my way. My best guess was she was thinking of the way she had fondled my stones, and putting that together with the way this guy had called himself a stone specialist. It wasn’t that funny, but I cared for her too much to say so. Instead, I offered her a humored smile in response, then gestured around the room. “So where are the stones?”

  Aziz grinned and stood with arms spread, as if gesturing to them. He was in good shape, wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans. He kept a slight black beard; his hair on top was slicked back, and his eyes glinted with a bit of a fiery look. I had to wonder what sort of monster he was, but the fire made me suspect possibly an ifrit, if those were real.

  “Sorry, I don’t get the joke,” I finally said.

  “Approach the walls.” He took a step over toward one, motioning me to follow.

  I did, and as soon as I was close to the wall, I understood. It must have had some sort of vision ward on it because the view transformed from a blank wall to one with a full display of precious stones. Having made introductions, Ahlaksiz was already at the opposite wall, picking out stones from thin air—at least it appeared so since I wasn’t on that side.

  “So what’s this one do?” I asked, holding up a pink quartz.

  “I mean…” He eyed me with confusion. “You don’t know? Various stones hold different powers, in a sense. But it’s not because of the stone in itself. It’s more related to the color, which is, of course, related to light. I believe—though some debate this—that there’s something special about light when it comes to monsters and other creatures who use magic.”

  “Like sunlight giving powers to Superman?”

  Aziz guffawed. “No, because it works much the same in our world. Only some find here they can be dampened, or amplified.”

  “None of us have been affected like that,” Kinara interjected.

  “Maybe not, but some are. And it might depend on your environment. You’ve used your magic in many parts of the world?”

  “No…”

  “Exactly.” Turning back to me, he held up the quartz. “Whether my theory is correct or not, something like this still has its effect. Quartz, for example, works defensively by lowering your enemy’s drive to attack. It can make friendlies more friendly and might be the tipping point that makes someone go from uncertain about kissing you to very certain. If an enemy is trying to drive an extra bit of energy into their attack to take you down, this might stop them.”

  “And other stones are then related to their colors?” I pondered this, then asked, “What about those with mixed colors?”

  “Exactly as you’d expect. Mixed effects, sometimes differing in fun ways. A bloodstone, for example, is dark green with splatters of red. It might have different variations of hue and degree of color. Green often helps one heal faster, or amplifies one’s power if related to healing or growth, while red can be harnessed more for blood rage or fire protection. Both depend on the hue, and if a bloodstone is more red than green, it’s likely to do weird things. I once had a stone that, when pressed to my body, allowed rage-fueled attacks to grant me healing. It meant I could attack and attack, and as long as I stayed full of rage, my stamina wouldn’t fall.”

  “That sounds badass,” I admitted.

  He nodded. “But also dangerous. You don’t want to live your life full of rage, and you don’t want your enemy getting hold of stones like that. I make it a rule to destroy any such stones I find, and you’ll certainly never see one in my shop.”

  “That’s fine, because I’m seeking a different type of stone,” Ahlaksiz said, eyes narrowing as she watched the man. “Do you have any Alexandrite?”

  He frowned, shaking his head. “I might know where to find some, as I’ve found some there once before, long ago. What would you need it for?”

  “It’s complicated.” She eyed her godson, then sighed. “If I can’t trust you, who can I trust, am I right?”

  “I’d like to think so.”

  She nodded. “Ferris isn’t a monster, as you might have noticed. He can summon.”

  “Fucking hell.” Aziz eyed me in a new light.

  “Language,” Ahlaksiz scolded.

  “Sorry, it’s just… Fuck. Oh, that’s why you didn’t know what the stones do. Of course.” He held up his hands. “Sorry, sorry. Where did you—I mean, how…?”

  I stepped away from him and moved closer to Kinara and Jalee; I wasn’t sure if his reaction was good or something I should be worried about.

  “My brother stumbled upon her shop,” I explained.

  Ahlaksiz nodded. “The rest sort of played out as you might expect. He summoned, ended up at the shop, and now we’re here.”

  He nodded with great interest, then eyed the two monsters near me with increased interest. “Did you…?”

  “Link with him?” Kinara grinned, showing off her pointy little teeth. “That’s right.”

  “I see…” He looked from them to me, amazed. “You know, I was linked to one who could summon, long ago. Fucking church burned her at the stake, claiming she was a witch.”

  “Oh, you’re… of course. Sorry, older than you look, I mean.”

  He nodded. “Most of us are, or older than we’d look to humans, anyway. So you’re getting powers and all that?”

  “I am.” Since he stood there waiting for more, I elaborated. “First echolocation, basically,” I said with a nod at Kinara, “then other powers, like being able to sense when an attack is coming, moving underwater, stuff like that.”

  “We still don’t know what powers I’ve passed on, do we?” Ahlaksiz said.

  Aziz’s eyes went wide, then his face scrunched up as he said, “Eeeew. Not you two!”

  “What?” She looked up from a rock, then frowned, clearly realizing she had given away that information without meaning to. Her embarrassment turned to annoyance. “And why shouldn’t we have?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe that when you were his age it was, what, the Dark Ages?”

  “No, it wasn’t the damn Dark Ages,” she snapped. “And for that, I’m taking this stone for no charge.” She pocketed a turquoise one, then mumbled, “I’ll make love to whomever I please, thank you very much.”

  “Sorry, it’s just… Wait! You can’t have passed on any power, anyway—you weren’t summoned.”

  “What?” I said, turning to her with confusion. “Is that a thing?”

  She cocked her head, then faced her godson. “Is that a thing?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, back when I was with my witch, she would get all the dick and puss she could. Basically, fucking anything that walked and wasn’t from Earth, in an attempt to get all the power she possibly could. It took her ten non-summons before she concluded that she couldn’t get power from them. I’ve confirmed it since, so,” he turned to me, “sorry, bro, can’t get any powers out of me, either.”

  “I…” I didn’t have anything to say to that.

  He burst out laughing; my monster ladies were chuckling, too. “Dude, you should see your face.” Aziz shook his head. “I get it. Humans are weird about that stuff sometimes. Or some humans. It’s cool.”

  “I have nothing against it, I’m just not into it,” I said, trying not to sound offensive.

  “No, no, I get it. Trust me, there have been times in Earth’s history where people were way bigger prudes than most of you are now.”

  “And times when it was almost the opposite,” Ahlaksiz said.

  “Still, too bad for you.” Aziz beamed. “I’m an ifrit, which is kind of like a fire genie. That’s how I like to spin it, anyway. Imagine what you’d get from me?”

  “It would be kind of hot,” Kinara said, winking my way.

  I laughed. “I see what you did there. And, no offense, but… can we focus? Stones?”

  “Stones,” Aziz said, turning back to Ahlaksiz. “All ready?”

  “Aside from the Alexandrite, yes. You’ll come with us to find it?”

  He was all smiles. “I’m invited? Then hell to the yes.”

  As she handed over little discs that I hadn’t seen before—apparently some form of monster payment—I had to ask. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what’s up with the name?”

  “You don’t like my name?” Aziz asked nonchalantly as he counted the discs.

  “It’s a great name. I mean, why was she able to tell it to me so easily? It can’t be used against you?”

  He looked up, pocketing the discs as he held my gaze, and said, “Try it.”

  “Try… saying your name?”

  “To control me. See what happens.”

  I eyed the others. Kinara and Jalee were watching with curiosity, Ahlaksiz with humor. Shrugging, I said, “Aziz, I command you to do a little dance.”

  “Oh, gladly,” he replied, then flipped me off. “Right after you go fuck yourself.”

  He burst into laughter again, as did Ahlaksiz despite his language. The other two monster ladies looked appalled and simultaneously curious.

  “Okay, point made,” I said, “but why doesn’t it have power over you?”

  “Because the one who summoned me had a very powerful spell, one that she gained toward the end, by going into the monsterverse.” He paused for dramatic effect, then said, “She found a way to channel the power of my name into herself, so when she died, it set me free.”

  “We can do that?” Kinara asked with awe.

  “Hold on.” I held up a hand to make a point. “Wouldn’t I have to die in that scenario?”

  Aziz nodded, and Ahlaksiz said, “It’s not likely something you’ll have the luxury of worrying about, anyway. To my knowledge, this witch was the only one who had been able to do it, and it seems she took her secret to her grave.”

  “Imagine my surprise when that Aladdin movie came out and the whole thing ended up about the genie getting his freedom.” Aziz started walking for the door. “It was almost like the story of my life, only with a lot more singing, a blue guy instead of me, and some other minor details. But basically, my life, right there.”

  “He can be a bit eccentric,” Ahlaksiz said as he exited. “But he’s one of the good monsters. Trust me.”

  I did, so we had nothing in response to her statement. We followed him out and showed him the car, over which he gushed and held a hand to his mouth as we told him about taking it from a hunter.

  “You never cease to amaze me,” he told me with a shake of his head, then tapped on the window to wake Milrae. “And who might this beauty be?”

  Milrae opened her eyes, stared at him for a moment, then shifted to the other side, going back to sleep.

  “She was shot,” Kinara explained. “In the process of healing, now.”

  “Ahhh.” He put a finger to his lips and squeezed into the back, finding it to be a tight fit but doable.

  We all piled in, on our way to nearby hills to look for some rare rock. As far as I was concerned, that meant more time to explore Tunisia, so I was thrilled.

  6

  Flying in our cloaked vehicle into the hills of Tunisia, I couldn’t help staring in awe at the deserts, rolling brown mountains, palm trees, and occasional small towns. When we landed in one of the mountain areas, I was almost in a daze. How could I have lived so much of my life without having seen places like this? Taking a deep breath of fresh air, I looked out over a nearby oasis below a cliff, and thought it was like a scene from a film, but so much more real with the air and the warm breeze.

  “This is part of your world?” Kinara asked, folding her arms and taking it all in. “Contrasted with your home, then the lake… I’d like to point out how confusing it is.”

  “Yours doesn’t have different landscapes?” I asked.

  She pursed her lips, then turned to Milrae.

  “Does it?”

  “In a sense,” Milrae said. “However, not like this. There’s a certain darkness that seems to penetrate all of it, making it much more… monotone in style.”

  “I’ve settled here for a reason,” Aziz said, kneeling to caress one of the rocks. As he did, smoke rose from his hand, and the rock split. Within, purple geodes glimmered. He looked up at me, grinning. “And it’s not for the sand.”

  “But it’s a beautiful country, from what I’ve seen.” I turned, hands out, closing my eyes and letting the sun hit me. This wasn’t my norm by any stretch, but what about my life lately had been normal?

  “You done?” Ahlaksiz asked, and I opened my eyes to see the others watching me with humored stares.

  “If I had a choice, no. But since we have a stone to find, sure.”

  She turned to Aziz, eyebrow raised.

  “I’ve only found one such stone here,” he admitted, “and it was around the waterfall that leads to that pool of water. Just up this way.”

  “What happened to that one?” Ahlaksiz asked.

  “I sold it, actually, to a Myth.”

  Recognizing that term, I turned to Ahlaksiz to see how she’d react, but she simply nodded and followed him up the tan-colored rocks. The rest of us came up behind while I wondered which Myth it had been and if I’d know of them. As time passed and no one asked, the moment was lost, and asking would have been awkward. Instead, I turned to check on Milrae in case she needed help, after being shot and all. She smiled and blew me a kiss.

  “Don’t worry about me,” she said, apparently noticing my concern. “The healing of a chirop can work wonders.”

  “One reason they’re hunted, actually,” Aziz said, glancing back and eyeing Kinara.

  “Thanks for the reminder,” she spat back.

  “I didn’t mean anything by it,” he replied and shrugged. “Only that, I’m surprised you’re out in the open like this, and with such company.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, partially out of curiosity but also in case I was supposed to come to her aid.

  “He’s referring to the fact that, back home, some of us might have been quick to take her head,” Jalee said, the words coming out quickly. I’d nearly forgotten that she had served a hunter, and judging by the way she said this sentence, I figured that meant she would have been in that “some of us” category.

  “Others would be quick to act as well,” Kinara added, “if they knew I was here. Most don’t think of me as a monster, but more like a tool to be used.”

  “Like aloe vera,” Ahlaksiz explained.

  I guffawed at that, and said, “A damn sexy plant, in that case.”

  Kinara frowned at me, clearly unsure how to take that. Since I hadn’t meant any offense, I apologized.

  “Again, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Aziz said. “I was caught off guard when I first saw the makeup of this group, is all. Then again, those who can summon often bring a variety of followers into their fold. I never would’ve thought I’d be lovers with a cockatrice, but there we were until it all fell apart.”

  “Cockatrice?” I knew the term, but at the moment I could only hear “cock” and a contorted version of trice that made me think “thrice”; the image that entered my head was not pleasant.

  “Kind of like dragon-meets-rooster,” Aziz explained with a laugh, “and in this case, with gorgeous breasts and an ass for days.”

  Now that image was very confusing, so I simply nodded and continued following them on our hike. As amazing as the day was, the warmth was starting to get to me; I could feel damp sweat on the small of my back.

  “Basty, would you..?” I said, and Basty transformed from the scarf around my neck to a little Totoro-looking creature on my shoulder. An image of raw meat crossed through my mind, and I said, “We have any of that meat left, for my little friend?”

  Ahlaksiz paused to retrieve some of what she’d taken from the butcher, handing some to me and some to Kinara. The latter scarfed it down, while I took it with disgust and fed it to Basty. The little creature swallowed it whole, eyeing me with a drowsy, contented look.