A Genie's Love (The Djinn Series) Read Free Page B

not like that whore before. Cassia’s a witch. She knows our kind and our lives. My advice is to put on your big boy panties and get your shit together. Dinah, give him her number.”
    “I, uh, don’t have a phone. Hold off on the eye rolling. I’ve never needed one before. I’m not sure I need one now, for all that.”
    “Do you want one?”
    “Why do you insist on rushing me? Can I have a few seconds to get my brain matter off the floor?”
    Apparently not. Tig threw up his hands and stomped out the room with a brusque, “I’m done.” Only the soft-spoken Dinah remained.
    “Well, I’m not,” she said, with an outstretched hand and a wink. “I’m tougher than I look. Meaner too. So you’re going to get up and figure this out.”
    “Is that a wish or an order?”
    She shrugged, then pulled her hair into a bun and grabbed her purse. “Pick one. Scratch that. I wish we were at the mall and, oh never mind, I’ll grab the keys. Be right back.”
    In the blessed silence, Faruq sagged against the wall and stretched his back. He’d come here for a lamp, not a wife. Did he believe Cassia was the one?
    Not exactly.
    Did he want another man touching her?
    Well, not exactly that either...

Chapter Four
    ––––––––
    O n the run back home, Cassia stumbled over every stone in the country and received a dozen angry car honks in the city. Her mind’s eye locked on Faruq, leaving her physical ones just sorta dragging three steps behind. But c’mon! What was the man’s problem?
    Djinn didn’t have physical medical conditions that she knew of. That didn’t, however, speak to mental strains that might befall any Magical. The next thought that popped into her head landed her straight into a thicket of dead rose bushes. The pain hardly registered.
    Oh, why hadn’t it come to her sooner? Someone must have had his lamp. The dear thing had likely been under the servitude of some jackhole who’d drained him dry. The thought of it sent her blood boiling and she had to do an extra two laps around the block before continuing on. She very rarely got so angry that magic bubbled to the surface, but trees withered around her and bugs chattered in protest. Even worse, she didn’t have enough control over her power to shut ‘em up. The extra two laps became an extra five.
    No, she wasn’t a decent witch. She knew no spells by heart and her pull on power was never as strong as her sister’s. But she had a feeling that if the person who hurt Faruq stood in front of her right now, she’d light ‘em up.
    How had it even happened in the first place? Tig’s lamp stayed safe around Dinah’s neck or his own. Faruq must have slipped up and lost it somehow. She shuddered and did a sixth lap. Djinn couldn’t be made to hurt themselves, but their kind had a long history of being tools of murder and torture. That would mess anyone up in the head.
    By the time she reached her house, she prayed for a rock to slither under. It was no wonder Faruq hadn’t wanted to touch her when they met. Instead of concern for his condition, she’d jumped from unnecessarily cruel to annoyingly flirtatious. Even worse, the beautiful man had taken her crazy in stride. If Faruq ever spoke to her again, she promised not to embarrass herself.
    Drenched, she kicked off her shoes and slid across the floor on damp feet. Every few steps, a new lump of clothing dropped to the floorboards as she stripped out of her running gear. She’d overdone it. Her arches ached, her blowout was now a ‘fro out and she had to roll down her panties to get them off.
    Upstairs, she hopped into the shower and rested her head against the fogging glass. Even here, that djinn invaded her thoughts.
    His face.
    His short cropped hair.
    His lips weren’t bad either and the image had her hands moving.  She’d been too long without a man’s touch and with her schedule, there weren’t any prospects on the horizon. Memories of Faruq clouded her mind and as her fingers