Unwanted Blessings

By Hailey Huntington

Outside the glass walls of my office, people bustled purposefully about the main floor of the Magical Persons Agency. I, however, sat behind my desk ready to hit my head against one of said walls.

Someone knocked on my door, then rattled the handle. I looked up just as Agent Natalia phased through the wall. Scowling, I dropped my gaze back to my computer. “The door is locked for a reason. The Puerto Rico office is convinced they need my help to solve their chupacabra problem, but you know how rusty my Spanish is. And my werewolf blood does not make me understand the mind of a chupacabra!”

“They’ll have to figure it out by themselves, Peter. We’ve got a situation.” Natalia shoved a tablet at me, knocking over my “World’s Best MP Officer” mug—custom-made by my mother.

I caught the mug, then stared at the tablet. A traffic cam live-feed showed a blessing of unicorns trotting down the street in what appeared to be a Brooklyn suburb. Their shimmering horns and manes glistened in sharp contrast to the historical townhouses.

A part of me was tempted to laugh. Instead my frown deepened, and I stared up at Natalia. “Media control?”

“Already on it. No one’s seen them yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”

I spun out of my swivel chair, grabbing my leather jacket. “Talk and walk.” I opened the door, and we weaved across the main floor while Natalia briefed me.

“Zaahira Bakir is on file for genie heritage. She called in after her six-year-old daughter, Samara, wished for unicorns while in contact with Zaahira’s charm.”

I punched the button for the elevator. “Make a note for further training with Zaahira. This could have easily been avoided if she’d kept her charm safe.”

Natalia eyed me. “Easy, Peter. I think the chupacabra’s worn you down. Eat a snack.”

The elevator doors opened. “Send the unicorns’ location to my phone. Have Janae meet me there. You keep working with media control. And get a transport team in position!”

Natalia nodded as I stepped inside and the shiny silver doors slid between us.

I let out a sigh as I watched the numbers count down. All things considered, dealing with a bunch of magical horses was better than a bloodthirsty reptilian-canine. But only slightly.

I wolfed down the last bite of my chopped cheese as Junior Agent Janae and I hurried down the sidewalk, following the sparkly… evidence the unicorns had left in their wake. The blessing had migrated during our drive over from the neighborhood to a nearby park.

We caught up to them grazing in a thankfully-empty area. All five unicorn heads shot up at our approach. “Janae,” I said. She stepped in front of me.

Unicorns are noble beasts, but also highly protective. That tends to makes them more favorable toward young women who might need their help—and will probably fawn over them.

The blessing relaxed slightly at the sight of Janae. One of them stepped forward. “We can smell your various magics. Who are you?” His voice grated low, with a rumbling Scottish accent.

Janae and I flashed our badges. “Magical Persons, NYC division. We need to return you to wherever you were wished from,” I said. The unicorns snorted and narrowed their eyes. I quickly went on. “Don’t worry. We’ll resolve any issues with your local office.”

“That’s not it.” Another unicorn tossed her mane. “We’ve rather liked our visit across the pond so far. We want to keep exploring.”

“Yes,” a third chimed in. “It’s been ages since I’ve been in a town. I think the last time was in the 1300s. They painted a lovely portrait of me.”

I clenched my jaw. That was the problem with unicorns. They were majestic, honorable creatures with caring hearts—who were impossible to reason with. I think the stubbornness came with the near-immortality.

The blessing went back to their grazing.

I sighed. A genie’s wish couldn’t be reversed by another wish, so unless these unicorns agreed to cooperate, I was stuck with an unwanted blessing.

As I glanced at Janae, the unicorns’ horns glittered in the sunlight, almost blinding me. I squinted, an idea coming to mind.

“I”m afraid that you’ve already garnered a fair bit of attention in the short time you’ve been here. You need to get back to your safehaven before people start coming for your horns,” I said, tone dead serious.

That got the blessing’s attention. Their eyes went wide, nostrils flaring as they snorted.

“Our horns?”

“Horns haven’t been hunted in earnest since the Middle Ages!”

“You forget we’re in America,” the head unicorn said, his deep voice wobbling a bit. “They do things different here.”

Janae caught onto my idea. “Indeed. We’ve had to deal with incidents caused by fanatics in the past.”

The unicorns shifted, tails flicking.

“Maybe we should return.”

“This city does smell funny…”

Time was wasting. I nodded my head. “We have a transport team ready to take you back. Follow me.”

We had to be a sight as we walked—or trotted—to where the MP cargo truck idled, waiting. I didn’t envy the mess Media Control had to mop up.

The unicorns readily hopped into the back, nickering uneasily. I looked at one of the agents in the truck. “Bring them to the airfield. We’ll contact the Scotland headquarters and get a destination for you.”

He nodded, and I shut the doors. The truck rumbled off into traffic.

Glancing over, I eyed Janae. “Hey, do you want to figure out a chupacabra problem when we get back?”

“Nope. That’s your issue, Boss,” she said, bumping me in the shoulder. “Who knows? Maybe the Puerto Rico office figured it out while we were dealing with this situation. The unicorns might have been a blessing in disguise.”

I groaned.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailey Huntington is a speculative fiction author, penning tales of wonder, hope, and heroes, with a dash of wit. Her stories can be found online and in various print anthologies. When not writing or reading, Hailey can be found listening to her favorite film scores, making homemade ice cream, or spending time with her family.

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