Will Power: A Djinn Short Read Free

 
    “I just wish it didn’t require me to leave here.”
    “We take the jobs we are given. Be grateful.”
    I noticed the harsh stab in her tone. It was always the way my mother acted when someone sounded as if they were questioning the Djinn. I knew my place. Guardjinn. Server. Protector. Slave .
    The last thought slipped in and I immediately scolded myself for even thinking it.
    Mother placed two bowls of soup on the table and I joined her to eat. I said nothing as we slurped the warm liquid, just listened to my mother ramble on about what a great opportunity it was and that if I succeeded, then the palace guard would definitely want me.

    ***

    My bedroom was barely big enough to hold me. I’d lived in this house my whole life. When I was younger this room had seemed huge, but now the bed took up half the space and a small chest of drawers the rest. The only empty floor space was so the door could open and close.
    I threw my gym bag on the bed and started pulling clothes from the drawers and stuffing them in. It only took a minute or two and I was ready, packed to leave.
    I’d never realised how little I owned. I changed into a fresh tee and jeans, pulling my leather jacket off the back of the door and on to my back.
    I ran a hand through my hair and remembered the bandages. I couldn’t go see a healer tomorrow. I needed to do it tonight, but I didn’t want to waste time heading back up to the palace. I remembered there was a Guardjinn healer just down the road, a retired, elderly woman who was a bit of a shut-in. Hopefully she’d help me.
    I pulled the yellow envelope out from the bag and turned it over in my hands. How was I going to succeed where everyone else had failed?
    I ripped off the top; a bunch of papers bound by a paper clip were inside. They were files on Malcolm, I saw, as I pulled them out. A picture of the Blooder from a few years ago stared at me.
    He was middle-aged with a crooked nose, but looked strong and stern by the way his jaw was set and chin held high. There was a lot of useless information about habits, past sightings and strategies which I skipped. Someone who has been able to keep out of our grasp for sixteen years didn’t have a pattern to follow.
    I flipped a few pages over and saw her name.  
    Kyra Greenwood.
    A photo was attached but it was old — she only looked to be eight or nine. A second photo was clipped to the page.
    It was Kyra as a baby, wrapped in a yellow blanket and held by her mother, Isabelle Greenwood.
    The information on Kyra was even less helpful than that on Malcolm. Her name, age and birthday provided nothing useful about her as a person, nothing that might help me get close to her.
    How would I ever complete this job on my own? I couldn’t ask Pyke or Mia for help, but I wasn’t going to take some older Guardjinn along either. They wouldn’t respect me as a leader and I wouldn’t know them.
    No. Alone was how this was going to work. I was going to bring Kyra back and get my position at the palace.

Chapter Three

    I stared down at my bandaged hands and wondered what it was like to feel something. Anything . But there was nothing.
    I flexed my hands and felt how stiff they were, but there was no pain. I couldn’t believe Jack would recommend me to Ivan after what he had said today during training.  
    My bedroom door slammed open, causing dust to fall from the roof.
    “You were just going to leave and not even tell me?” Pyke yelled, lunging at me.
    I would have dodged it but my room was too small. Pyke grabbed my shirt and pinned me to the bed.
    “Ivan gives you a job,” he said, eyes a burning fury, “and you don’t tell me! Were you just going to disappear into the night?”
    “That was the idea,” I said, pushing Pyke off me.
    “I can’t believe you! You know how long I’ve waited to — ”
    “This isn’t a revenge killing,” I said. “This is a retrieval job. I’m there to get the girl, not kill the Blooder.”
    “We could do