Impossible

Chapter 8

Brenda frowned at Jax as he pulled away from her and peered into the darkened magic shop. "Jax – what’s the matter?" He seemed to completely ignore her, lost in his own thoughts. He walked slowly to the windows of the shop, putting his hands flat on the glass. "Jax?" She came to stand right next to him, but the fire she had felt in his kiss now seemed to have disappeared. "Hey, you’re scaring me! Tell me what’s got you so upset about this all!" she added, placing her hand on his shoulder.

When Jax turned to face her, Brenda almost gasped aloud. The passionate need that had lit his eyes was now replaced by cold fury. "Tell me again the name of this shop, Brenda." He gripped her forearms with both of his hands so tightly she winced. "Tell me the name of the woman who sold you the incantation to summon me."

"I think it was Madame Miri," Brenda replied with a befuddled grimace. "Or something like that. I didn’t really pay that close of attention. She could have been the other owner – that Dana person."

Jax pulled her out into the alleyway and pointed to the sign. "Look at it again, more carefully, my angel," he said. "It is *Miranda’s* Magical Potions, not Miri and Dana’s."

Brenda frowned at the sign and then swore beneath her breath. "D*mn." She crossed her arms across her chest but then placed several fingers against her lips in embarrassment. "See, I’ve got this problem with letters and numbers sometime – it’s called dyslexia……"

"I know of your difficulties with the printed word, angel," Jax said gently. "Your mother spoke to me of it at the birthday festivities."

Brenda grimaced. "My mother has a big mouth."

"Not really……." He looked puzzled for a moment. "It is actually quite apropos, compared in size to the rest of her features."

As Jax regained his concentration and strode towards the door of the darkened shop, she waved a hand blithely in the air. "But I really don’t see what the big deal is, even if I DID get the name wrong." She stared off into space as he prowled around the front of the shop, rubbing at the glass to try to see the darkened interior.

Unnoticed by Brenda, Jax placed his hands flat against the front shop windows again. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then visibly shuddered. The calculating malice he sensed from within sent chills to his soul. "She was here," he muttered. "I can feel it."

Brenda was still mumbling, lost in her own deliberations. "I mean, what’s the difference? Madame Miri – Madame Dana – Miranda …..."

The feel of his hand over her mouth drew a stifled yelp of surprise from Brenda. "Do not even WHISPER her name, angel!!" Jax growled, wrapping his other arm around her shoulders. When he lowered his hand and stared deeply into her eyes, her confusion only multiplied. "Now tell me EXACTLY what bargain the two of you made!"

"Why? I still don’t see the big de……"

"TELL ME!!!"

"OK, OK!" The low roar of thunder in his voice almost took Brenda’s breath away. "Let me think……." Her eyes flitted back and forth as she labored to recall the details. "I was on my way home from work that afternoon, and I was just kind of wandering around the Quarter when I smelled this wonderful scent……" She glanced at Jax and lowered her tone in explanation. "I had been trying to come up with something new – something to give Scents of Angels a shot in the arm businesswise."

"And this scent that *lured* you in – it was something haunting, perhaps? Something that reminded you of your past? Or a pleasant time in your life?"

"Yeah – it did," Brenda breathed softly. "It was like something my grandma used to wear….." She seemed lost in her memories for a few seconds but then snapped back to the present. "Anyway, I went in the shop and I found that the scent was coming from this old dusty blue bottle." She grimaced. "And there wasn’t enough left in the bottle to send away for a chemical analysis."

Jax nodded, his impatience not very well hidden. "The deal, angel……" he prodded.

"Yeah, yeah – I’m getting to that!" she shot back. Brenda shifted her shoulders and shook her head a little defiantly. "So, I was just about to leave when this kinda creepy looking woman appears out of nowhere and offers to sell me the perfume."

"Tell me about her," Jax said somberly. "Define "creepy-looking.""

"Let’s see….." Brenda tapped her fingers against her chin. "She was about my height…….black hair…….really big eyes, although she used too WAY too much makeup on them……"

"You describe her perfectly." He nodded sternly. "Go on."

"Well, we talked a little, and then all of a sudden she told me that I would never be able to reproduce the scent by myself. She said I would need the powers of a genie to do it."

"A djinni."

"Whatever!" Her eyes widened defensively as she glared at him. "So when I told her I didn’t exactly have too many friends who were djinn, she offered to sell me a spell that would summon one to grant me my wish."

"First she used bait she knew you could not resist, and then she planned to use you to trap me." Jax shook his head, his teeth gritted in anger. "A most effective tactic." He turned to her again. "So how much did you pay her for the spell?"

"Well, that’s where we ran into problems. See, at first, she wanted five hundred dollars for the spell, which I *told* her I didn’t have! Then, we started to negotiate a little……."

"I don’t like the sound of this……" One golden eyebrow arched warily.

"…..and we finally agreed on kind of a two-part deal. She sold me the bottle of perfume and the spell for fifty dollars……" Brenda’s voice trailed off as she saw the storm clouds gathering in Jax’s eyes. "……and then once I had summoned you, I was supposed to pay her another fifty dollars……and do a favor for her."

Jax’s eyes widened. "What KIND of favor?"

"She didn’t say." Brenda shrank a little when she saw the rage building in Jax’s eyes. "She says she’ll let me know later what the favor is."

"You agreed to do an unnamed favor for that spawn of the devil???!!!" His hands balled into fists as he attempted to control his anger. "What is the MATTER with you, angel??!! Have you no common sense?"

The feel of his hand gripping her arm tightly brought Brenda back to the present. "Think very *carefully* now, my angel," Jax murmured, looking deeply into her eyes. "Was there anything else at all that was said between the two of you about this……..this *favor*."

She fought the feelings of inadequacy that had been her constant companion ever since she was a child. "Well……." Brenda nodded and stared into space. "When we agreed on the price, she sort of poofed this old yellow piece of paper out of nowhere and said it was an incantation that was guaranteed to produce a djinni." Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Wait a minute, Jax!" she cried hopefully. "I told her that I would come back and pay her another fifty dollars and grant her a favor IF the spell was successful! And technically, it wasn’t, because I didn’t manage to bind you to my will, remember?" She glanced down at his forearms. "You said something about not having to wear armbands or something……"

"Armbands of servitude – yes, my angel," Jax said absently. His eyes narrowed. "But you only failed to bind me because I interrupted you before you could say my entire name. And then I destroyed the yellow paper, as you call it, so no other would have the information to attempt the spell again."

"Oh……." Her face fell. "Yeah……I guess you’re right. So I guess since you did pop into my living room that night, the spell worked, and I owe this Miranda person a favor, huh?"

Jax never answered her. His eyes glazed over and he vanished into a reverie of his own, trapped in painful memories he thought had been long buried.

"Jax?" This time it was Brenda’s gentle touch on his arm that brought him back to the present. "I still don’t understand why this is such a bad thing? I mean, what did this Miranda do that makes her so awful?"

His chest trembled as he took a shuddering breath. "She is a destroyer, Brenda," he whispered. "She took away that which I loved most in the world. And now, because she was punished severely for her crime against me, she seeks revenge. And she will use you to achieve her goal."

Before Brenda could ask him for further details, Jax spun away from her. He paced to the edge of the sidewalk and stared up into the heavens, his mind traveling back to a time long ago and far away……

Thousands of years earlier – shortly after the djinn had been banished from the earth to take up residence on Astarra – a djinni named Thomas had formed order out of chaos. He brought peace to the squabbling djinn and was appointed by King Tristangor as the first Guardian.

"Jax?" Brenda’s tender whisper and the feel of her touch on his arm brought Jax out of his painful reverie. "Are you OK?"

"Fine." His eyes were still an icy shade of blue, far from the blazing sapphire inferno she had glimpsed earlier when he kissed her. "I just……" He looked around at the shop windows and Brenda felt his body tremble. "It’s just this place……"

"Jax – what did you mean before?" Brenda squelched possessive feelings – feelings she had no right to be having, since she barely knew this amazing man. "When you said that Miranda took away the person you loved most in the world?" Her eyes were softest brown velvet with sable satin fringe as she stared up at him. "Was it one of your parents? Or a sibling?" She swallowed hard, praying he wouldn’t be able to sense her confusion. "Or was it a woman……."

Jax’s body stiffened and he grabbed Brenda’s arm. "We need to get out of here – NOW."

"Jax!" Brenda protested, looking over her shoulder towards the shop as he dragged her back in the direction from which they had come. "What are you …….."

"We need to go back to your home, Brenda." One of Jax’s eyes narrowed and he mumbled some words she didn’t understand under his breath as he looked back towards the shop. "I want you as far away from this place as possible."

"But Jax, the shop is closed, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone around……." She tried to jerk her arm from his grasp, but it was as if a steel ring had closed around it. "I just don’t understand why you’re in such a hurry……"

"NOW, BRENDA!!!!" Before she could even take a breath to object, Jax pulled her against his chest. She barely had time to throw her arms around his neck as a whirlwind enveloped them – a tornado that barely ruffled a hair on her head, but spun them out of the reality of the French Quarter and into some milky, glittering fog that sent her equilibrium reeling.

Before her heart could even beat again, she found herself back in her own living room, trapped in Jax’s strong embrace. "Whoa……." She let go of his neck and put her fingers to her temples, massaging gently. "What just happened?"

"I apologize most sincerely, my angel," Jax crooned. He pushed the hair gently back off her forehead to place a kiss there. "In my haste to get you away from the danger, I forgot that that transportation process sometimes is quite disturbing to a human’s inner ear."

"You mean……." Brenda looked around them and then back to Jax, narrowing one eye. "So you just "zapped" us here?" She snapped her fingers. "Like that?"

He shifted his shoulders, giving silent thanks that his tar’ot had not faltered during the fairly simple incantation. "I did not want you anywhere near that shop," Jax replied curtly. "It was the most expedient thing to do."

As he walked away from her, Brenda frowned and put a hand on her hip. "There’s something I don’t understand, though," she said, tipping her head to the side. "If you’re really this all-powerful Guardian dude, how come you’re so worried about this Miranda person?" She waved a hand blithely. "Can’t you just "poof" her to some other time zone or turn her into an opossum or something?"

Gray flecks of annoyance danced in Jax’s eyes at her levity. "Miranda is a very powerful djinni, Brenda," he said somberly. "There was a time when her powers rivaled my own. And she may yet discover a source of additional power," he added, staring past Brenda with a gravity that almost frightened her. "A source that will ultimately destroy her." Then his eyes softened as he looked back at her. "And as we have seen, she is not above using you in order to take her revenge on me."

"But what about this thing?" Brenda lifted the turquoise amulet Jax had given her from beneath her dress. "Didn’t you say that nothing bad could happen to me if I wore it?"

He put his hands out to grasp her forearms tenderly. "I *did* say that, my angel, but Miranda’s powers cannot be underestimated….."

"And why is she so hacked off at you?" When Jax frowned his lack of understanding, she re-phrased her question. "What did you ever do to her that made her so angry?"

"That is *really* not your concern, my angel," he muttered, turning away from her. His head was swimming with unanswered questions. Did Miranda know that his tar’ot was faltering? Had she chosen this particular time to wreak her revenge – when he was weakest? Had she deciphered the prophecy and found Brenda – the only person who could restore his balance – before he did? Had she specifically chosen Brenda for that reason, or was it just an awful coincidence?

"But I think it *is* my concern, Jax," she argued softly, "especially if it means that I’m in dan……."

"I SAID IT IS NOT!!!" Fluffer McKitty darted out from under the couch and down the hallway of Brenda’s house with a yowl when Jax’s voice made the roof rattle. He stood in the familiar djinni pose, fists on hips, arms akimbo. "This is MY business, Brenda, and *I* will handle it!!"

"You?" Sonny chuckled softly. "You think YOU’VE come up with a better way to market your crèmes and body mists?"

"BRENDA!!" Jax’s harsh command made Brenda blink her eyes and startle visibly. "Did you hear what I just said to you?"

Her chin lifted defiantly. "You said that I was supposed to stay out of it. That you’d take care of it and it was *your* business."

Jax was so fearful for Brenda’s safety that he never saw the flicker of hurt that the painful memories generated in her eyes. He folded his arms across his broad chest. "You will NOT go back to that shop – not even to that place……..uh……" He stumbled momentarily but then regained his bluster. "……the Fraction of France."

She stared at him for almost a half minute before one eye narrowed and she started to inch towards him. "It’s the *French Quarter*, and are you *asking* me or TELLING me?"

Since equality of the sexes was an unknown quantity in the land of the djinn, Jax never even detected the feminist storm brewing. "I should think it was fairly *obvious*, Brenda," he announced sternly. "You are NOT to return to that place. It is my decree."

"Yeah……." Brenda poked one finger at his chest with contempt. "Well, you can take your little decree and stick it where the sun don’t sh….." Her sarcastic expression suddenly turned even fiercer. "Ohhhhhhhh, cr@p……….." He didn’t know what to expect when he saw the corners of her mouth lift into a wry smile. "Well, thanks to you, now I’ll HAVE to go back to the French Quarter."

Jax’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. "Thanks to me?"

"Yes," she replied with caustic sweetness, "because thanks to your little *zapping* routine to get us here, my car is still parked down where we left it near the Quarter!"

He chewed on his lip momentarily as he realized his error. "I see……." Once again, his bravado returned. "I caused the predicament, I will rectify it, my angel."

She crossed her arms and laughed loudly. "How? By going down there and driving it home yourself? I don’t THINK so!!" Brenda glanced down at her watch. She sighed and seemed to lose some of her swagger. "Besides, it’s probably been towed to the impound lot by now." When he quirked an eyebrow at her again in question, she automatically explained the expression. "The impound lot is kind of like the jail where they send cars that break the law."

Jax nodded solemnly. "The impound lot." He brushed something off his arm and then stared at her imperiously. "Then that is where I shall go to find your car and bring it back."

"Jax, I’d really prefer it if you’d just stay out of it." Brenda walked towards the couch, kicking off her shoes in the process with a yawn. "I’ll just call tomorrow to find out how much the fine is and make arrangements to have it……."

She didn’t even see him go. When Brenda felt her hair rustle and the faint scent of sandalwood and musk left the room, she turned to find him gone in a shower of sparkles and the sound of tinkling chimes. She paused for a minute, then sank onto the couch with a loud expletive.

"Why does he *always* do that to me??!!" A few seconds later, Fluffer jumped into her lap and was rewarded with some soft stroking as Brenda stared confusedly into space. "One thing I’ll never know – how do you get the last word with a djinni?"

*~*~*~*~*

Just as one djinni was disappearing from Brenda’s home, another appeared in a swirl of smoke and flash of lightning in the tiny magic shop in the French Quarter. The dust around her had no sooner settled than she heard loud screeching coming from the front of the shop.

"Babies!! My babies!" She burst through the curtains that separated the front from the back, her eyes wide with concern. The two cockatoos continued to squawk loudly and flap their wings as she approached them. "What’s the matter, my darl…….."

Miranda stopped abruptly, frozen in place near the front entrance of the shop. The birds quieted just as suddenly, keenly watching as she turned full circle, her eyes wide, her hands out to the side, palms up. When she faced the front again, one raven eyebrow arched in fury. "He was HERE!!" she snarled, eyes darting back and forth. She walked slowly towards the front door, her voice low and seething with anger. "The Guardian was HERE – not long AGO!!"

Only the sound of the birds’ soft cooing broke the silence. Miranda stared at the front window as though hypnotized, lifting her hand to place it against the glass where Jax had placed his on the outside. When she did, she drew it away as though she had been burned, her eyes growing even wider than they already were. She turned back to face the cockatoos, her face as red as their brilliant plumage. "AND HE IS FREE!!!"

Seeming to pick up on their mistress’s state of anxiety, both birds started squawking wildly. Miranda’s nostrils flared and she turned to pick up a large red flagon and fling it to the ground, smashing it to hundreds of pieces. "I should *never* have entrusted a human with a task this IMPORTANT! NEVER!!!" she wailed. She buried her hands in her hair and rubbed it briskly, raking her fingers through the strands as though to pull them out. "I should have KNOWN that she would have failed to bind the Guardian to her will!!"

"I really hate to be the one to say it, but………I told you so……."

Miranda spun at the sound of the low, hissing voice coming from the back of the shop. She glared into the darkness, one eye narrowed with exasperation. "Go away."

His chuckle was venomous. "Ahhhhh, my poor Miranda……even after all this time, you still cannot accept defeat gracefully, can you?"

"I have NOT been defeated!!" Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as he moved into the lighted front portion of the shop with her. Miranda shrugged her shoulders, smoothed her bright purple silk caftan in an attempt at nonchalance, and waved a hand airily. "This is only a MINOR detour in my plan……"

He circled her like a beast stalking its prey. "Your plan has FAILED, my dear……" His dark eyes glittered with depraved glee. "……as we both *knew* it would without my help….."

She let out a disgusted breath, her eyes darting to finally look him in the eye. "Did you not hear me before?" Miranda went to her birds, hoping he wouldn’t see her hand tremble as she stroked their breasts gently. "Go away, Faison. I do not need you. I still have other options I might use to bring Jax down……"

"I am your ONLY option, Miranda!" Faison growled, gripping her arm and pulling her towards his chest. "You cannot hope to defeat the Guardian without me – I have told you that for some time."

"I…….." She lifted her chin, trying to assert her own strength in the face of Faison’s overwhelming presence. "I still may have a trick or two up my sleeve, Faison." Miranda smiled at him, gaining confidence. "You forget how close I came to defeating him once and for all on Astarra."

Faison drew her nearer until his breath ruffled her hair. "There is only *one* way you will EVER bring Jax to his knees before you, Miranda," he whispered with a sneer. "You must draw upon the strength of the dark side."

She licked her lips, her eyes dropping to the gleaming black onyx of his amulet. "I’m not sure……" Miranda’s voice broke as she stared down at her own still-turquoise rune. "The price may be too high……"

Faison backed away from her, a knowing smile on his twisted face. "Ahhhhh…….but the rewards…….." He passed a bony, gnarled hand in front of her, causing her eyelids to flutter as the images bombarded her consciousness. "Think of the rewards, Miranda…….."

Miranda’s chest heaved as the vision Faison implanted swirled in her brain. Her hand rose, then faltered, then gripped her amulet tightly. When her eyes popped open suddenly, she looked down at the amulet to reassure herself it hadn’t changed color.

"Think about it, my love," Faison crooned. He faded slowly into nothingness in the darkening shadows. "Come be with us……..and share our power."

Minutes passed before Miranda’s breathing slowed to a regular pace. She looked around the shop, making sure that she was alone again. Then, she walked back to the perch where the cockatoos stood, heads buried under their wings. "I cannot," she murmured. "I cannot go to the dark side…….not even for this." Then she glanced towards the windowpane where Jax’s fingerprints still remained. "I………I………should not………"

To be continued……..