“Man and vampire. What I was. What I am. Shall we see what the smoke tells you?” He held out another pin.
Before she could change her mind or think too hard about it, Sophie jabbed the thumb of her left hand with the pin and let her blood flow into the bowl.
Minegold chanted again, eyes riveted above the bowl.
“It’ll be okay. It’s okay, always okay as long as we have each other,” Jesse murmured, lips pressed against her hair, arms fastened around her waist.
“Look!” Sophie pointed as her own face appeared and hovered, a misty form that blurred and shifted as the smoke kept flowing as the fire burned.
“Oh. Human. That’s good. I guess—”
“Wait.” Minegold held up his hand.
Slowly, like the curtains parting as a show began, the wavering face split, becoming two faces. One was angular and red-eyed, sharp teeth in a snarling smile. “Oh, God.” Sophie’s knees buckled.It’s real. It’s true. My dad was a vampire and my mother—
The other half of the smoke took longer to form, slowly articulating not just a face but a tiny, curvaceous body made of glowing orange flames, swirling, tiny tongues of fire all over her skin as she danced, hands circling and swaying. Tiny horns nestled in flowing hair. “What is that?” Jesse breathed out.
“Ifrita!” Minegold gasped.
Sophie looked at the older man, unsure if he’d spoken a word in a foreign tongue or if that was a kind of creature. “What?”
“Ifrit. A fire-demon, related to the djinn.”
“Gin?”
“You call them genies. Ifrits are similar in nature. Ifritias are the females, and they are extremely rare. Natural temptresses, they live in deserts and offer wishes at terrible prices, or seduce... well. That is the nature of many demons, my child, to grant wishes and seduce. Even vampires. We look quite handsome.” He tried to laugh but it faded fast.
“Fire... and Vampire. Don’t mix.” Sophie felt hollow as she watched the flaming woman dance. The smoking male face seemed to watch, eyes glowing brighter. “Hey? Did that move?” She tried not to scream, but watching the figures in the smoke move was a whole different level of creepy.
“I think—” Jesse’s voice died away as the dancing flame seemed to notice her smoky audience, sashaying close to him, but he drew back.
“Shh. They cannot be together.”
“Well, I’m here so they must have worked it out,” Sophie hissed crossly. She watched the forms circle one another now. Suddenly, without warning, the flames went out. A new face emerged, every bit as seductive, but still. The smoky couple intertwined.
“She gave up her powers for him. But... ifritas are not mortal. They cannot live as humans.”
“I don’t think she did,” Jesse pointed to the hazy couple. The gray woman grew more and more translucent. Her middle grew larger while the rest of her shrank. A tiny spark appeared in the center.
“That’s me,” Sophie whispered, understanding.
The three figures watched in silence as the rest of the tale was told. The spark grew and left the body of the woman, whopromptly fell to ash. A fine mist drifted down, making the fire in the bowl hiss and sputter.
The vampire began to grow fainter as well.
“He can’t live without her.” Jesse’s arms tightened. “I know the feeling.”
Sophie nodded, the lump in her throat preventing speech. Only the spark was left now. The spark slowly grew into a pale, pale girl made of white smoke. The fire had burnt out.
