Jinni's Wish (Kingdom, #4)

“I… I…” She hung her head letting her hair hang over her face like a drape, shielding her from his eyes. “You cannot do anything about this, Jinni. Please. Don’t.”


He clicked his jaw, knowing in the depths of his soul who it was. Because there was only one person he could not kill in return. One man he’d sworn an oath of loyalty to. The only man who could lay his hand upon Nala without fear of retribution-- the King himself.

Jinni stood. The fire of heat turned into something sharper, colder, filling him and heating his veins with its icy kiss. “How long has he done this?”

Nala grimaced. “Jinni, please. Please don’t do this. You cannot do anything, my love. The bruises will soon fade, all will be well.” She gripped his hand, and tugged at him to stop his pacing.

But a powerful anger had gripped him, an irrational, mind-numbing rage that made him want to rip the man’s hands off with his own. He shrugged her off, needing to walk and pace and seethe.

“How long, Nala?” he asked her again, a low rumble laced his words.

She dragged her hands over her face. “He smells you on me. He cannot prove it, and I will never tell him, but I believe deep down he knows. And when I return, he… hurts me.”

Acutely aware that he could not scream, but needing to release the roiling tension gathering in his gut, Jinni marched to one of her precious apple trees and punched his fist through it, the wood splintered off in his knuckles, ripping his flesh open.

But the pain did not lessen the fury, only increased his desire to do more harm.

“No more,” he vowed.

Nala ran to him, gripping his hand and cooing softly against the bleeding. Gathering a corner of her robe, she dabbed at it. Tears coursed down her face.

“Please, Jinni, please forgive me. You shouldn’t worry about this. My body is strong, I’ll heal.”

“Forgive you?!” he roared, knowing his voice rose, knowing anyone who marched passed would hear, but his rage would not let him think rationally. “You’ve done nothing wrong. I will kill him.”

“No!” She squeezed his forearm as he tried to yank out of her arms. “No,” she pleaded again, wrapping herself around his middle. “You cannot.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You forget who I am. What I am. I can kill him. With my bare hands.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Not like this, Jinni.” Worry scrawled fine lines upon her brow. “Not like this. You must calm yourself.”

His nostrils flared, his blood boiled. Could she not understand, she was not a martyr that had to take this abuse. “I love you, Nala.”

Nala shook her head. “Quiet, Jinni. I’ll not have you be tried for treason. Do you hear me?” Her kiss took the sting out of her words.

That touch of her lips mollified him somewhat, eased the crippling anger to a manageable level. But his body still trembled with adrenaline.

“I must avenge your honor, King or no, you must understand that?” He trailed his knuckles down her soft cheeks.

Sighing, she laid her head against his chest and he gripped the base of her skull with frantic fingers. That any would dare to harm her…

“I understand,” she whispered.

“Tonight,” he nodded, gripping her chin in his hand, “open the doors to me tonight.”

“Oh what am I doing?”

Jinni feathered a kiss across her lips, tongue seeking entry, when he heard a rustle in a bush behind them.

Nala jumped away from him, and it incensed him all over again that they could not be free to touch and love openly. Muscle ticking in his jaw, he watched as one of her personal guards walked into the square.

The guard wore a bright crimson tunic and a large scabbard strapped to his waist, his black brow was raised in question as he spotted Jinni standing by the Queen’s prized apple tree. The very one that now sported a fist sized hole through its center.

Nala lay on her chaise, attempting to appear calm and collected, but it was obvious to him she was anything but. Her skin looked waxy and her eyes haunted.

“My lady,” the guard intoned, and dropped to his knee. “You look unwell, allow me to escort you to your chambers.”

“Yes, Mikahel,” she nodded, “I think that to be a good idea.” She gave him her hand, then turned and glanced once more at Jinni over her shoulder as the guard escorted her out.

Jinni clipped his head. Tonight, it would end.





***





Paz licked her lips as she gazed at the canvas. It was obvious to her how this would go down. Jinni stood by the window, gazing out at the sky, a blank look on his face.

“You don’t need to keep telling me this story, Jinni.”

His shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t look at her.

She sighed.

Nala was cruelly beautiful the way she’d painted her this time. Full mouth set into a devilish smirk, golden robe marked with blood-- his blood-- it was all a set up.

And Paz was angry.