Page 15 of Concluded
CHAPTER6
Dee sprawled on a couch in a vast room with gold-veined marble floors, white walls, and a fresco painted on the ceiling.Actually, the couch was more of a chaise lounge, and although its ornately carved and gilded frame was not to his taste, it was comfortable and big enough for him to sprawl.He’d been on the couch all day, yet he felt enervated and sore, as if he’d spent hours doing hard labor.He wondered whether Ashley would bring him some cold water.Or maybe ice cream.Had she conjured up any frozen treats?
She sauntered back into the room, her face slightly drawn.
“What was that noise?”he asked, although he didn’t particularly care.
“Nothing.”She sat down in the throne-like chair beside him and scooted around a bit, making herself comfortable.“All right, babe.We’ve established that you can do some pretty good things.I mean, this house is great.Needs more furnishings, but we’re not staying long anyway.”
The thought of moving made him groan softly.“What are we doing here anyway?”
“I told you.This is me taking you out for a little test drive.Kicking the tires and all.Seeing if you’re worth an investment.”She winked.
Dee spread his arms.“I made all of this out of nothing.Of course I’m worth it.”
“Well, technically I made it.With my wishes.You just made the wishes work.”She waved away his attempt to argue the point.“Anyway, yeah, this is cool.But we’re in the market for more than a construction guy.”
“Who’swe?”Dee had asked this many times already, in many different ways, and had yet to receive an answer.He didn’t actually expect one now.
“What if… I wished to be the country’s first woman president?Could you make that happen?”
He frowned.“I don’t know.But I wouldn’t.We’re supposed to be a… democracy.”He couldn’t say the last word with any conviction, considering recent politics.Man, what if that was how the current guy got elected?Somebody with Dee’s talents helped him make a wish.That would explain a lot, but it was also deeply unsettling.
“You need to thinkbigif you’re gonna work with us.Don’t you want to be valuable?Play a role in the changes to come?”
“I don’t know.”He wasn’t sure of anything anymore.She was using her skills to push him to do things he wouldn’t otherwise; he knew that for a fact.But they were things he wanted, in a way.He felt as if he’d been confined in a tiny box up until this point, and now he’d been let out and encouraged to flex his muscles.It felt wonderful.Being powerful was a new sensation for him, and it fit him comfortably.
“Can’t we just make your dream house wherever you want to live?Or you could win the Mega Millions lottery.Or?—”
“Can you create life, babe?”
“Uh….”He pictured creating life the typical way—fucking—and wouldn’t mind the actions at all.It had been a long time since he got laid, especially by someone as hot as Ashley.He had no intention of becoming a father, however.He’d be shitty at it.
Ashley hopped out of the chair, glided the few steps over to him, and handed him one of the pearls she kept in her pockets.She had a whole necklace’s worth of them, and she’d been doling them out one at a time.“I want plants,” she said, leaving him both slightly disappointed and slightly relieved.
That seemed harmless enough.“Okay.”He concentrated as he squeezed the pearl, enjoying the tingle as it raced through his body, almost as good as sex.When the tingle faded away, he handed the pearl back.
She mumbled something that he couldn’t be bothered to decipher, then wiped the pearl dust from her hands.Almost immediately, greenery sprouted through cracks in the marble floor and snaked up the walls, bringing with it a thick, jungly odor.He couldn’t help grinning as he watched.This wasn’t the kind of vague, tiddly stuff he did for paying clients.This was real magic,hismagic.And it was possible that nobody else in the world could do this.
Within less than five minutes, the walls were completely covered, while more vines hung like swags from the ceiling.The leaves were broad, bright green, and arrow-shaped, some of them so big that they could have been used as umbrellas.There were clusters of little star-shaped flowers too, tucked in here and there.
Ashley nodded approvingly before handing him another pearl.“Animals,” she said.
That made him uneasy.Vegetation was one thing, but creatures that could feel?
“I wish for animals.”She sounded a little angry.
And, well, he was pretty curious to see whether he could manage it.So he did his thing and Ashley did hers, and soon afterward hundreds of colorful snakes slithered along the vines.
“Snakes?”he croaked unhappily.He needed a nap, but no way was that going to happen in this room.Not now.
“I was in the mood.They’re pretty, aren’t they?”
“I’m not a big fan of snakes.”
“But these are yours!You’re like their daddy.And we made so many of them.”
He glanced up, saw a snake with scarlet and sapphire scales looking down at him from a low-hanging vine, and shuddered.“Are they, um, venomous?”
