The Red Shoe Chronicles : A Fantasy Romance Anthology Read online

  Air popped from every corner of the room. Red sparks burst here and there; an indoor fireworks display. A rose-colored wave rushed across the space, revealing piles of objects, each pulsing with its own flaming energy signature. Thuds echoed from the floors below and Destiny realized her earlier assumption was correct.

  This fake building that hadn’t existed in Sling City yesterday was filled with the items Genesis had stolen from across the globe.

  “It’s all here,” she said. “With this, the Sling Group can put me away forever. Your career would be made. You’d be as big as any hero in the League of Defenders.”

  Chapter 3

  Her words ground through Destiny like gravel. Sure she could drive a car on top of it, but the ride would be bumpy as hell.

  Genesis stood there staring at her with the conviction of someone that actually made sense. As if she got up everyday, shot over to the city she was most wanted in, warped a building into some twisted monument of her own making, only to surrender inside of it.

  Destiny scoffed. Her gaze landed on an object rocking in the far corner. “I’m sorry, I smell horseshit.”

  Gen turned toward the wooden rocking horse she was referring to and pointed. “Ralphie over there created what the world called the Hebe Phenomenon. That toy alone gives you everything you need to put me away for the rest of my life.”

  She didn’t have to reach far back into her memory to recall herself slumped over her laptop, absorbed in news streams. The scent of her ratty hoodie traveled seven years to prick her nose, which she wrinkled.

  “Kance City,” Destiny said in a dull voice.

  Genesis folded her hands behind her back. A slight smile played on her lips. “Ranked among the happiest cities in the country. I never liked that the media named the movement after the goddess of youth. I told them over and over, I don’t do magic.”

  Destiny narrowed her eyes and leaned away from the wall. “Does the fact that they’re ranked on a list of happy cities give you comfort for what you did to them?”

  “What I did to them?” Gen frowned. “I think you mean what I did for them.”

  Arguments rattled around in Destiny’s head, each trying to find purchase on her tongue. “You always do that,” she finally spat. “Ignore the pain you cause. The people that lost things you didn’t even consider. Grandchildren. Memories. Jobs.” She shook her head. “You still think people prefer eternal youth to actual life? Even with all you’ve seen. You hurt those people. You…”

  Gen’s red gaze lasered in on her as she raised her hand. A crimson spark shot from her hand and sealed itself across Destiny’s lips. The energy tightened around her mouth like a gag.

  Destiny widened her gaze. “Mm!”

  “And you always do that.” Genesis stepped forward, tightening her fist and the grip around Destiny’s mouth at the same time. “If what I do is so terrible, why did you let me go?”

  Memories of that first violation burned through Destiny and she shoved power out of herself in an angry burst. Beams of white light shot through the shield of red energy covering her lips, then shattered and shot into the corners of the room.

  She narrowed her eyes. Genesis let out a low gasp, and held up her hand. “Destiny.”

  She pushed her power out, creating her batons again, and then whipped them in circles through the air, backing Genesis up inch by inch.

  “Wait!” the villain cried out.

  Ignoring her plea, Destiny swung her weapons, beating through the energy field Gen always had erected around herself. She connected with her cheek, and Genesis lurched to the side. She raised both hands, slamming one baton into the small of her enemy’s back. She swept the other baton toward her ankle, dropping Genesis to the ground with enough force to rattle the walls. Various objects fell from shelves, rolling across the floor, sparking off red electricity as they did so.

  Surging forward, Destiny kicked Genesis over onto her back, swung her left arm down, and pressed the energy weapon to her throat. Lowering herself onto her knee, she ground out, “Do not.” She pushed the baton tighter into Gen’s flesh. “Do that again.”

  Genesis spread her arms and legs out, reminding Destiny of a child about to make a snow angel. Her following smile cut through the dizzying beat of Destiny’s heart. The woman’s eyes burned deep red.

  She felt herself being pushed back. With a grunt, Destiny tried to keep the baton in place. Her hands shook with the effort. White light spit out of the ends of her weapon, began to fizzle, and then settled into a dull yellow.

  Genesis laughed. “And I’m not even trying.”

  She sat up, forcing Destiny back. She landed with a thud on the floor. Genesis swept forward, grabbed Destiny at the nape of her neck and pulled her close.

  Their lips almost brushed.

  Destiny almost whimpered into submission.

  “You used to be the only hero who could even come close to stopping me.” Genesis shook her head and a tendril of red hair fell against her cheek. “Now trying to stop you is as easy as waving my hand, and that’s after I genie’d up this building and hid everything in it from you. You’re not balanced. I thought that’s why you left me, to keep your power.”

  She pressed her lips into a hard line. “Get your hand off me.”

  Genesis tightened her grip, hopping ever closer on the balls of her feet. Their knees touched. “Is that really what you want?”

  Destiny slumped her shoulders forward, panting like someone in from a run. She closed her eyes and shifted one leg. “I want to know what this is really about.”

  A few seconds passed and neither of them moved. Destiny was all too aware that their knees still touched. She couldn’t help but wonder if Genesis was as aware of that fact as she was.

  Finally, the woman cleared her throat and pushed to standing. “Already told you. Surrender. But first—” She turned away and retreated to a corner of the room. Destiny slowly lifted her gaze, but made no other effort to move. When Gen faced her again, she held a pair of red high heels by their ruby encrusted straps.

  They looked as dangerous as the tight outfit she had on.

  “First,” Genesis repeated. “I wanted to give you these.”

  Chapter 4

  Destiny blinked several times, alternating her gaze between Genesis and the pair of shoes. Several beats of silence banged between the women. Finally, Destiny shrugged, stood up, and brushed off her hands.

  “You want to give me one of your cursed objects.” She pointed at the genie lamp, an object Destiny let Genesis walk out of an excavation site with in the Casby Desert eight years ago, and then at the rocking horse, which was perhaps the most famous object Genesis, or as her fans called her, Genie X, associated her with.

  The Sling Group called her the Bitch Witch. It was one reason the woman hated magic.

  “And in your color, not mine.” Destiny scoffed. “How sweet.”

  Gen crossed her arms, holding the shoes under her left arm, while pushing her breasts up at the same time. She frowned as the flesh threatened to spill out of her leather top. Destiny thought about the flow of her own power through her body to keep her gaze off Genesis’ chest.

  It wasn’t easy.

  “I don’t know how many times I have to say it.” Gen tilted her head. “I don’t curse objects. Magic isn’t real. At least, not on Earth. Superpowers are.” She clicked her tongue. “And these shoes aren’t mine. I got them…” She smiled and held them up again. “Off world.”

  Destiny lifted an eyebrow. “Another planet?”

  “Our moon,” Genesis corrected. “From the Fairy Godmother. So, they’re far from cursed.”

  Destiny stared at her for several seconds, trying to figure out if she was being serious or not. Nothing in her expression indicated she was being fucked with, but this had been the weirdest night she’d had in a while.

  She sighed. “You came back to Sling City. To bring me red shoes. From a fairy godmother. You met on the moon.”

  Gen took a sho
e in each hand. Destiny took a moment to appreciate the craftwork. The heels were around six inches, and glimmered with a ruby overlay, much like the straps. They also pulsed with the same energy Genesis was known for, which was why it was hard to believe the shoes weren’t somehow altered by her.

  The woman tilted her head. “At the height of your career, you killed a monster from a planet I still can’t pronounce, but this you don’t believe.”

  Destiny winced at her words. “I didn’t kill him.” She shook her head. “It. And I didn’t have a—”

  “Choice,” Gen finished with a half-smile. She raised her hands. “I’m not here to argue morality with you… Again. I’m here to make a deal.”

  This she had to hear. She widened her eyes to prompt Gen to go on.

  Genesis gestured to the items filled with her power, objects that she’d programmed to do whatever she wanted them to do, and then pointed at herself. “I will surrender all of this, and myself, to you.” Her gaze darkened. “That’s important, Des. Only to you. And I’ll only do it if you put these shoes on.”

  Destiny Langston had spent most of her adult life as a pro hero, fighting everything from killer robots to sea monsters, and yet, what was coming out of her old flame’s mouth was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.

  She started to bite her bottom lip, but the laughter she wanted to hold in came thundering out anyway. Leaning over, she slapped her knee and howled. After a few seconds, she straightened and took Gen in. Her hands were planted on her hips. The expression on her face was murderous.

  “S-sorry.” Destiny wiped away tears of laughter with trembling hands. “But, come on…” She snorted out another giggle. “One of the most elusive super villains in the world came back to give her ex-girlfriend moon shoes?”

  Gen waved her hand through the air. A wooden chair with a red cushion rattled in the corner of the room and then dragged toward Genesis, its four legs pulsing with energy. It came to a stop behind her. Genesis sat down, crossed her legs, and peered up.

  “Thought I’d take a seat until you’re done.” She studied her crimson nails. “I know how long you can go on when you find something amusing.”

  Destiny held her breath in an attempt to stop the giggles from bubbling up her throat. She sniffed and raked her fingers through her thick, black hair. “I think I’m done,” she finally said.

  “Good.” Genesis planted both feet on the ground. “Do we have a deal?”

  “Fuck no.”

  “Why not?”

  “I know you think I’m innocent, but you couldn’t even get a baby to crawl into this trap.” She gestured toward the shoes and snorted. “What did you hex those to do? Make me murder the Sling Group? Take the entire city hostage? Monologue while a caped hero sneaks up on me from behind?”

  The stony expression returned to Gen’s features. “I don’t hex things. I change them. And like I said, I got these from…”

  “A fairy godmother on the moon.” Destiny waved. “Fine, I’ll play along. I haven’t seen you in eight years, after all.”

  Genesis stared at her.

  “So, tell me, what are the shoes supposed to do?”

  “Well, for you.” She leaned forward, then stood out of the chair and closed the distance between them. “Hopefully, everything you’ve ever wanted, for forty-eight hours at least. Consequence free.”

  Her sudden proximity stole the snarky response Destiny had stored up. “Oh? And what is everything I want?” she asked in a strangled voice.

  Genesis inched even closer and brushed her bottom lip against Destiny’s earlobe. She shivered and balled her hands into fists. “Me,” Gen purred. “For two fucking days. Without the fear of losing or weakening your flair.”

  Destiny pulled away and snorted her disbelief. Still, she couldn’t spot any lies in Genesis’ expression. “That’s impossible,” she said. “I don’t know why, but you’re lying.”

  She held the shoes out to her. “I lie all the time,” she admitted. “Never to you. And you know that.”

  Destiny eyed the shoes as a reluctant excitement flooded her. She hated that her body screamed out for Gen’s touch. She wanted to fall into this woman, always had, and that fact had led to the ruin of her pro hero career.

  She almost laughed out loud at her failure to stop Genesis in her quest to rewrite the world in her own making. She had one of the most powerful flairs on record, but she could only use it if she remained balanced. In fact, that’s what the media used call her, The Balanced Hero. Now, she was known as the Unbalanced Hero, among other things.

  “Well?” Gen asked after Destiny hadn’t spoken for several moments. “Do we have a deal?”

  Her gaze remained on the heels. “They pulse with the same energy you use to change reality,” Destiny stated. “And you stand there and tell me you didn’t create them.” With effort, she looked her in the eye. “I know you think pro heroes are stupid, but I didn’t—I didn’t think.” Her voice started to crack, so she cleared her throat. “I’m not some child you can tease with a fairy tale. After everything you put me through...” Tears seared her eyes and she blinked them out. “You’d really insult me that way?”

  Gen shook her head. The movement was precise. Certain. “No. I would not.” Placing the shoes behind her back, she sauntered forward. “Let me in and put my words to the test.”

  Chapter 5

  Destiny’s muscles seized.

  She met Gen’s gaze and nodded. “Do it. Before I change my mind.”

  Genesis put down the shoes and then waved her hands in the air. Red ribbons of energy danced around her fingertips. “Are you sure?”

  “Get it over with,” she said, even though her thoughts screamed out she was being an idiot. Having someone in your head was a violation, and Gen was far from trustworthy.

  But I have to know. She nodded again. “Hurry up.”

  Genesis waved her hands at Destiny’s temples. The world became crimson red, and Gen shoved a rush of images into her head. The foreign thoughts were tinged with red, and Destiny recalled the one other time Gen had used her power to get into her head. She had to hug herself to keep from calling this off.

  She threaded her memories through Destiny’s thoughts with such speed that she gasped and reached for Genesis’ arm to brace herself. When the last image fell away, Genesis folded her arms behind her back, regarding Destiny with an unreadable expression.

  Destiny blinked down at the high heels. “Holy shit. You brought me moon shoes.”

  “Fairy moon shoes,” Genesis corrected, an uncharacteristic flirt in her tone.

  “I need to sit,” she muttered.

  Gen gripped her arm and led her to the chair she’d gotten out of the corner only minutes before.

  Destiny sank into the soft seat and shook her head. “I know magic is big on the moon but why would they have a pair of shoes that can grant your deepest sexual desires?”

  Genesis shrugged. “Lunars are freaky,” she told her, using the proper term for Moon people. “They’re very about their sexuality and most of their magic goes toward enhancing the experience.”

  She gritted her teeth. “Why would you need them?”

  “I just showed you.”

  Destiny nodded. “But you showed me what happened so fast.” She rubbed her eyelids. “So you met with this… Godmother, specifically to get these shoes. But why? And why would she just give them to you?”

  “Of course not.” Genesis huffed, tapping her foot with impatience. “Nothing is free. I made a trade. A trade she’d be crazy to refuse.”

  She tilted her head. “You gave her one of your objects.” She decided to leave out the word “cursed,” because Genesis seemed tense enough. “Which one?”

  Genesis simply stared down at her. She could tell right away she wasn’t going to get an answer to that question, she asked another, “Do they really work?”

  Gen smiled as she knelt in front of her, reached for her foot, and slowly began untying the laces of Destin
y’s ratty, white sneakers.

  “If they didn’t, do you think I’d have done all this?” she asked, pulling of Destiny’s shoe along with her thick sock. As she went to work on the other shoe, she added, “Now that you know I’m not lying, will you put them on?”

  Destiny swallowed hard. “Have you tried them?” she asked in a small voice.

  She shook her head as she gently pulled off her remaining sock, trailing her finger against the sole of her foot as she did so. Destiny jerked away so Genesis gripped her ankle harder and dragged her, along with the chair, closer.

  Gen rested her foot between her breasts and stared up at her. Her expression softened. “Hell no,” she said. “You know I despise magic.”

  “So, why—”

  Genesis held a hand up. “Please don’t ask me why I brought them to you again. I told you why. Now, time to woman up. Do we have a deal, or not?”

  Destiny’s breath caught in her throat. She had so many more questions, but none of them seemed to matter as she peered into Genesis’ eyes. There was so much history between them. So much heartbreak. So much regret.

  Was it really possible to transcend all that with a little fairy magic? Or would she simply wind up losing even more of her power to this woman… The same woman who literally ripped the cape from her shoulders only to show up tonight, waving it at the apex of the city like a taunt.

  Only… That expression on her face. She’d seen every look a person could master in Gen’s features. This was something new. This one edged the corners of her eyes in what looked like fear.

  “I went to the moon, and would have gone farther to give you back everything I took.” Genesis reached for one of the shoes and held it near her feet. “You’re not a pro hero anymore, so this time, you really have nothing to lose. You can get me out of your system. You can do what you were meant to again.”

  Destiny held her breath for several moments.