Trouble With Mitch Read online

  Amira squeezed Mitch’s hand, glad she’d thought to hold his hand during the transfer.

  He squeezed hers in return and then let go.

  Panic seized Amira and she reached both hands in the direction Mitch had been standing but a moment before. Nothing but air met her touch. She inched forward, afraid to bump into him and make a noise, but more afraid of not finding him.

  In the back of the aircraft was a galley, equipped with a sink, electric stove and refrigerator. As far as she could tell, no one was back there, but a light click from that direction made her look again. The electric burner on the stove glowed red and a paper napkin floated down to cover the glow.

  Her heart stuttered in her chest and then pounded as fast as a beating snare drum. Mitch was creating a distraction.

  Amira hurried to the front cabin and stood behind the last chair waiting for her opportunity to snatch the bottle from the crate. That opportunity came a minute later. One of the longest minutes in her life.

  The acrid scent of paper burning filtered in from the back at the exact moment the fire alarm blasted the air around her.

  She held her breath and crouched behind the chair, waiting for the men to rush to the kitchen.

  Three of the four leaped from their chairs and ran to the back of the aircraft as smoke billowed from the galley.

  Why hadn’t the last man gotten up? And where was Mitch? Had he escaped the galley before the fun began?

  She didn’t have time to worry, she stepped into the aisles and moved toward the box. If the dumbass still sitting there wasn’t moving, she’d have to steal the bottle right out from under his nose.

  As she passed him, the scent of alcohol nearly knocked her down. The guy was passed out drunk. “Good grief,” she muttered softly.

  “You’re a terrible spy, you know that?” a voice said beside her.

  Amira jumped and bumped into a solid wall of muscles. “Mitch?” she whispered.

  “I hope I’m the only invisible man you know.”

  “Jerk. I thought you were trapped back there with the others.”

  “No, I’ve been up here waiting for them to go back.”

  “You could have told me what you were going to do.”

  “And spoil the surprise. No way.” His warm chuckle took the fear out of her.

  Amira smiled. Mitch always had a way of making her feel good about herself and the situation. “Well then, come on, help me get the lid off this box.”

  “We don’t have time. You take one side, I’ll take the other and wish us back behind our boulder.”

  The door to the cockpit opened and a man in a pilot’s uniform poked his head out. “What the fuck is going on?”

  Mitch reached out and found her face with his hand, then he leaned close and kissed her. “I’ve got my side, do you have yours?”

  She leaned down and gripped the handle. “I do.”

  “Make your wish now.”

  There were a lot more wishes she’d rather have made than returning to the cave where people’s lives were at stake, but Amira knew she couldn’t back out now. “I wish we were back behind the boulder near the tomb of Princess Vashti.”

  Thunder rumbled as the men lumbered back into the cabin, cursing. One of them kicked the drunk and muttered in a language Amira didn’t know. As another walked up to the side of the box, Amira shrank back, hoping the man didn’t discover her presence. His foot bounced against hers.

  The man kicked again and stared hard at where he should be seeing whatever it was he was bumping into. As he reached out, bright lights lit up the interior of the cabin. The man gasped and staggered backward, holding his arm over his eyes.

  Amira held tightly to the box, unsure as to whether or not it would make the transfer on her wish. When the lights faded, she found herself behind the same boulder, the box sitting in the dirt beside her. She unclenched her fist, released the box and said, “I wish Mitch and I were visible.”

  She’d never been so glad to see a man in her life as she was to see Mitch squatting beside her, a grin stretching across his face. “You did it.”

  “Don’t count your chickens yet.” She wrested the lid from the box and lifted the bottle from the packing foam. “Now you can count those chickens.”

  Mitch pulled her, bottle and all into his arms. “Okay, make me invisible again so I can see what’s going on with the rest of the gang.”

  Amira clutched the front of his shirt. They’d faced danger so many times that day, she didn’t want to let him out of her sight again, invisible or not. “I can’t let you go.”

  He cupped her face and kissed her gently on the lips. “I’ll be okay. I’ll sneak in, get a peek and be right back. You stay here and safeguard that bottle. I promise not to be gone more than two minutes. If I am, wish me out.”

  Amira chewed her lip. “Okay. Two minutes.”

  “Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

  “I’ll miss you, but I can take care of myself.”

  “That’s my girl. Stay quiet and out of sight.” He pressed his lips to hers, delving past her teeth to taste of her tongue. His hands roamed down to her waist to gather her in his arms. “I love you, Amira.”

  “I know.” She didn’t know, but she made light of his declaration so she didn’t make a blubbering fool of herself. Her voice caught in her throat and tears threatened to spill over her eyelids. “I wish you were invisible.” Silently she wished she were invisible too so that he couldn’t see how much it hurt to let him go.

  “Be safe, Amira. We’re not through here.” His lips pressed to her forehead, then he was gone.

  A sob rose in Amira’s throat and she swallowed it down before she did something stupid like alerting the guards to her position. Then she waited for two of the longest minutes of her life to pass.

  * * * * *

  Mitch slipped past the guards stationed at the entrance to the cave, careful not to scuff the gravel or make any sound whatsoever. With only two minutes to get in, assess and get out, he had to hurry. If he knew Amira the way he thought he did, if he didn’t come out and if her wishes didn’t get him out, she’d come in. And that’s the last thing he wanted.

  Once inside, he followed the sound of voices, down a tunnel corridor into a dimly lit chamber. Once in the chamber, he stopped dead-still at the sight that met his eyes.

  The evil bitch, Danorah, stood naked, her pale skin glowing in the lights from several flashlights pointed at her. Two men knelt in front of her, their hands sliding over her skin, their faces hidden by her body. In front of Danorah stood an audience of her hired mercenaries and two women seated on the ground, their feet and wrists tied in front of them. Edie and Kate.

  Edie’s face burned a fiery red, her green eyes blazing. She looked mad enough to spit fire. And Kate was no exception. Her dark hair was a tangled mass around her face, twin flags of color flew on her cheeks.

  The men paying homage to Danorah’s body shifted and Mitch could make out their faces.

  “Son of a bitch.” He swore beneath his breath. Harry and Will stroked the woman with their hands and tongues, working their way across every inch of her body. The blatant sensuality had Mitch hard as stone in one second flat and cursing himself for his primal reaction.

  “Lower,” Danorah cried. “I wish you to lick my cunt, Harry. I wish you to take my breast in your mouth, Will.”

  “Only because I have to, but it doesn’t mean anything. I won’t like it.” Harry dropped to one knee, grasped her ass in both of his hands and buried his face in her pussy.

  Will growled and took Danorah’s breast in his mouth. He bit down.

  “Ouch, damn you stupid man! Not so rough.” Danorah slapped Will.

  When he clenched his fists, she laughed.

  “What are you going to do, hit me?” She pointed to the floor. “I wish you to get down on your knees and beg for my forgiveness.”

  Mitch almost laughed out loud. Of all the wishes Danorah could make.

  Will’s fac
e creased in concentration. “I will not.” Before he could get the last word out, he dropped to his knees. “Forgive me, please.”

  “You see? You can’t win. I have the power. Once I have the last bottle, it will all be mine.” She ran her hand down to the mound of hair at the apex of her thighs. “Then I will have everything I want.”

  “When we break this curse, you will pay for this,” Will said, still on his knees, his fists clenched.

  “You won’t break the curse. I own all the bottles, the stone, everything and everyone.” She laughed.

  Mitch fought his urge to reach out and strangle the woman. If only he could get the bottles to the women and they could wish themselves out of the mess they were in. The odds were stacked against them.

  The bottles rested in the sarcophagus with the mummy of Princess Vashti. Two guards hovered, one at each end, guarding the dead princess and the bottles. A bag lay on top of a crate, the exact size necessary to hold the black Stone of Azhi. The guards standing in front of Danorah stared at her, their tongues lolling like thirsty dogs, clearly intent on the decadent display of flesh, none of them looking toward the stone. If Mitch could just get the stone, maybe he could keep Danorah from completing the steps to ultimate supremacy. He couldn’t destroy the stone. It was the key to removing the curse. The stone and all the bottles had to be returned to Princess Vashti. Only then would the curse be broken.

  Mitch inched across the chamber, making a beeline for the stone. Once he reached it, he bumped into something soft. Something soft and invisible. Amira!

  Damn the woman had a death wish! Unable to chew her out for entering a chamber full of bloodthirsty mercenaries, he bit down on his tongue and reached for her shoulders and shook her. Her fingers touched his jaw and she pulled him down for a very soft, very quiet kiss. Then her hands disappeared and she moved out of his grip.

  His heart pounded so hard in his chest, Mitch thought for sure everyone in the chamber would hear. The bag rose from the crate.

  Mitch leaned very close. “Where’s the bottle?”

  Equally as soft, she replied, “In the sarcophagus.”

  How? How had she managed to get the bottle past the guards at the cave entrance and those hovering around the sarcophagus?

  Mitch held his breath as the bag levitated over the crate and then flew across the room.

  “The stone! Stop it! Stop the stone!” Danorah screamed. The guard nearest to her lunged for the bag before Amira made it to the sarcophagus.

  A soft thump made Mitch’s heart stop. Amira. Had the big guard hurt her? Mitch hurried forward.

  The dust on the floor shifted and took shape, outlining Amira’s cheek and right side all the way down to her feet.

  “Grab her! Grab the woman. Don’t you see her? She’s right in front of you, idiot!” Danorah screeched. “Don’t let her disappear.”

  Amira’s disembodied right side rose to her full height and she lifted the bag containing the stone from beneath where she’d fallen. “No. I won’t let you do this.”

  The man who’d knocked her off her feet reached out to grab her.

  She ducked out of the way and his arms flailed in the air. He lunged forward, blindly searching for her as she moved through the shadows of the tomb.

  “To the sarcophagus, Amira! Get the stone to the Princess,” Harry cried out.

  “I wish you’d shut up,” Danorah told Harry, her voice harsh. “And I wish you’d stop licking me.”

  “Gladly.” He stood.

  With the guard still flailing at the air, Danorah threw her hands up. “I’m surrounded by buffoons!” She darted toward Amira, but Harry jumped in her way.

  “Out of my way,” she demanded.

  “Can’t, you didn’t wish it.” He smiled.

  When she tried to duck around him, he blocked her path.

  “I wish you’d get the hell out of my way.”

  Immediately, Harry moved.

  Will replaced him, blocking Danorah’s path. “Hurry, Amira! Get the stone to the princess.”

  The two guards near the sarcophagus spread their long arms and stood in front of the sarcophagus. Although she’d brushed the dust from her face and side, the bag containing the stone was a dead giveaway as to her location. She stood just out of their reach, the bag appearing to dangle in mid-air.

  With the other guards finally moving into action, she would never make it.

  Mitch had to take the heat off her. If something happened to Amira, he’d never forgive himself. “Toss it to me, Amira.”

  “I can’t. I don’t know where you are.”

  The guards zeroed in on Amira’s voice and moved in fast.

  “Your two o’clock, ten feet.” Mitch moved closer to the sarcophagus. “Throw it!” Mitch yelled. “Throw it now, then run!”

  The bag flew into the air. Mitch caught it and stuffed it under his invisible shirt.

  The two guards in front of the sarcophagus abandoned their search for Amira and rushed toward Mitch.

  Mitch ducked to the side and doubled back toward the sarcophagus.

  “Mitch, throw it to me now,” Amira called out, her voice bouncing off the walls, nearly impossible to pinpoint.

  “Where?”

  “I’m with the Princess.” She spoke softly this time and her voice didn’t bounce off the stone walls, yet filled the air.

  A cold chill slithered across Mitch’s skin.

  “Hurry, Mitch,” she entreated. “It’ll break the curse.”

  With the guards only inches from him, Mitch whipped the stone out from beneath his shirt and tossed it into the sarcophagus.

  “No!” Danorah shoved at Will’s chest. “Let me past.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “I wish you to let me past.”

  Will didn’t move, a smile spreading slowly across his face. “Say that again? I’m not sure I heard you.”

  “I wish you to let me past.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest and stood exactly where he’d been. “No.”

  Danorah screamed and flew at Will, fingernails scraping the air. “The power is mine!”

  “I don’t think so. Not anymore.” Will held his ground, refusing to let Danorah pass.

  “Don’t just stand there, seize the bottles and the stone!” Danorah shrieked at the guards.

  “I wouldn’t if I were you,” Amira’s voice called out strong and clear. “I wish Mitch and I could be seen.”

  Mitch gulped. “Uh, Amira…these guys each outweigh me two-to-one.” Thunder boomed inside the cave and brilliant light blinded him. When he could see again, he was visible. He took up a karate stance and faced the guards, hoping his fierce bravado would scare them back. “It’s all about leverage…it’s all about leverage,” he muttered. “Amira?” He glanced over his shoulder, but couldn’t see her in the sarcophagus. Had her wish made him visible, but not her? His gaze shifted back to the guards advancing on him, their teeth bared like rabid wolves. “Oh, boy, this is going to get ugly. Are you all right, sweetheart? Maybe you should consider getting the hell out of here.”

  “I’m okay.” Amira’s voice filled the cave like a surround-sound audio system.

  The guards stopped in their tracks and stared over Mitch’s shoulder, their olive-toned skin blanching.

  “What?” Mitch frowned, but refused to turn his back on the guards only a yard from where he stood. “Scared of me, are you?”

  Then they dropped to the ground, genuflecting, their bodies shaking.

  “What the fuck?” Mitch shot a look around the chamber. All of Danorah’s guards lay prone, their arms out in front of them, speaking in low, frightened voices.

  Even Harry and Will stood with their mouths open, staring past Mitch.

  “No! She can’t have it. The power is mine!” Danorah slipped around the open-mouthed Will and raced toward the sarcophagus.

  Mitch jumped in front of her, blocking her headlong charge. She hit him with such force, he spun around. Holding onto the naked wo
man, Mitch got his first look at what everyone else was staring at.

  Amira rose from the sarcophagus. Or at least Mitch thought it was Amira. It looked like Amira, but then again, not. The woman had the same long black hair and brown eyes. But the clothing was the filmy fabric that had been the death shroud of the Princess Vashti. It showed none of the decay of a thousand years.

  The frightening part was that Amira wasn’t standing on anything. She levitated over the sarcophagus, holding the black Stone of Azhi in her hands. “Those who have served Danorah, if you value your lives, leave now.” She spoke again, this time in Farsi.

  The guards dared a glance up, then scrambled to their feet and ran from the cave.

  “I didn’t know you could speak Farsi,” Mitch said.

  Amira smiled and shrugged. “Neither did I.” Then her face went poker straight and she raised her arms, holding the stone high above her head. “I decree this curse over.”

  “No. Don’t do it.” Danorah struggled in Mitch’s grasp. “Don’t waste the magic. You could own the world.”

  Amira shook her head. “No one needs that much control.”

  “You can have everything,” Danorah pleaded.

  “I’ve had everything money can buy.” Amira glanced down at Mitch. “But it doesn’t buy love. You have to earn that.”

  His heart swelled inside his chest and Mitch smiled back at Amira. “Damn right.”

  The woman he’d grown to love gave Danorah a stern look. “No woman should have absolute control of any man. Nor should any man have absolute power over a woman.”

  Harry and Will had moved over to Edie and Kate to untie their gags and bonds.

  Kate stood next to Will, her lips quirking up on the sides. “I don’t know. I kinda liked having Will at my beck and call.”

  “You have that without the wishes. Only it’s less dangerous for me.” He turned her and kissed the tip of her nose. “Anybody ever call you a pushy broad?”

  Kate’s brows furrowed and she shoved against Will’s chest, halfheartedly. “I wish you’d stop calling me that.”

  “Pushy broad.” Will’s brows lifted. “Ah-hah! It didn’t work. Wish for something else.”