Harley Merlin 12 by Bella Forrest (story books to read TXT) 📗

can talk about this.” Santana reached for my hand, but I recoiled.

That’s right, get your ass as far from here as you can. This is not intended to serve us. We were fed a lie, and I ought to tear out her tongue for lauding us with false promises, Kadar snarled.

“You needn’t despair, Raffe. There may be a way to resolve your problem, but that is not our priority at the present moment,” Safiya urged. “We will find a way after this is done.”

“How? Do not claim you will unravel the curse yourself,” Zalaam interjected. “We do not even know which djinn cursed the Levi family. That secret was lost many decades ago. I highly doubt even you would be able to unearth it.”

Safiya smiled strangely. “I will do what I can and inquire where I must.”

“Another empty promise?” I wheezed, desperate for some space to think.

“I will not lie to you. The odds are slim, but that means there is still a chance.”

“Raffe, it will all be okay,” Santana cut in. “Let’s just go for a walk and talk this through.”

I shook my head, preparing to flee. “No. I need to be alone. Don’t follow me.”

“Raffe, come on, we can—”

“I don’t want to talk! I want to be on my own. I can’t even think here, with all this djinn energy all over the place.” I offered her an apologetic look, but I really did mean it. I couldn’t talk about this… yet. The wound was too fresh.

Safiya removed her hand from my shoulder, and I ran. I didn’t need to hear any more. Safiya had known the truth and she hadn’t said a word. She had let Kadar and me think it would all be fine. That it would be a clean slate, regardless of the intricacies of Erebus and djinn magic. Well, I wouldn’t believe in false hopes again, because it only hurt that much more when the dream came crashing down.

Twenty-Nine

Kadar

I always said you should never trust a djinn. I fed my thoughts into Raffe’s head. We stalked together through the darkened desert, the oasis at our back. Nobody had followed us after Raffe had gone all dramatic and made a dash for it, and that suited me fine. I didn’t want to be around anyone right now, either. Safiya gave us hope, and now I wanted her head on a pike. “Fuming” didn’t even begin to cover it. “Livid” might’ve been more fitting.

“Shut up!” Raffe barked. “Now’s not the time to be a smartass.”

I’m just saying… I told you so. Surprisingly, being right didn’t make me feel smug. For once, I hadn’t wanted to be. Raffe might not have known my private thoughts, but the prospect of having Santana all to myself had been tantalizing, and Safiya had whisked that plump morsel under my nose and snatched it away again. I hated her for that. Loathed her, in fact. Stupid old witch, trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

“Please… just stop. I don’t want to hear ‘I told you so.’ I don’t want to hear any of it.” Raffe lowered his head against the biting wind. “You might be inside me, but you’ve got no idea how this feels.”

Why, because I’m a heartless monster? I replied.

“You know I didn’t mean that.” Raffe rubbed his eyes, weary to the core. He wasn’t the only one. “I realize it sounds stupid, since I only started believing in the possibility about two seconds ago, but Safiya made me put all my eggs in this basket.”

And now there’s yolk all over the place? I offered a bitter laugh, but Raffe didn’t bite. He wasn’t listening to me. No, he was on the Santana train, bound to nowhere good, and he wouldn’t be getting off until he was ready to stop wallowing. Mortals loved a satisfying wallow—like hippos in river slime.

“My whole future with Santana rested on this, and now it’s gone. This freaking hurts, Kadar.” Raffe came to a sharp standstill, heaving ragged breaths.

Easy there, pal. I know it hurts… I feel it, believe it or not. My heart is your heart. I sense when someone has taken a sledgehammer to it. I tried to offer some comfort. What could I say, I had a soft spot for the guy. Years joined to him would do that. He’d snuck in and lodged his prongs deep. It was like brushing past a shrub and getting a pesky burr on your back. And, call me sentimental, but I wouldn’t pluck him off even if I could. I might have wanted him to pluck off from time to time, but he and I were one.

What have I turned into? My worst nightmare—a soft djinn. Ugh, spare me. I kept those thoughts to myself.

“This sucks, Kadar.” Raffe breathed into the chilly night.

You know, it’s not all bad, I mused so he could hear.

“What do you mean?” Raffe snuffled. Yeesh, if he started the waterworks, I’d have to lock myself away until he got his act together.

The thing is… I hesitated, terrified of going full sap. But he needed to hear this. And I needed to say it. The thing is, Raffe—even if we could separate, I don’t know if I’d actually go through with it.

“You wouldn’t?” Raffe sounded shocked, his brainwaves thrumming with surprise.

I laughed quietly. I’ve been with you since you were born. I existed before you, but not long enough to get used to it. I’m still a kid, in djinn terms, though don’t go spreading that around or I’ll singe the skin off your tongue. Being with you is pretty much all I’ve ever known. Nobody knows you better than I do, even Santana—much as she’d argue against that. Hell, she’d probably set up a quiz to test the theory, and I would have to embarrass the crap out of her.

Raffe chuckled despite himself. A good sign he was coming out of his wallowing hole.

You and I share all the fleshy goop of