Melody Unchained by Christa Maurice Read Free Book Online

thigh. “You changed it first.”
    Jerry caught her hand. “I was explaining why we couldn’t do what you want.”
    “Yet.”
    He squeezed her fingers. “You’re stubborn too.”
    She smiled. He was holding her hand. He didn’t realize it yet, but he was holding her hand. His grip was warm and solid. For the first time in days, she felt anchored.
    “Melody, I don’t know where you came from or what happened to you in the past, but things have changed.”
    “I know. I’m free now and I’ve picked you.”
    Jerry glanced around. “It’s not that easy.”
    “I have to be out of Billy’s apartment in ten days. I’m going to come live with you.”
    “No, you’re not.”
    Melody stared at him. Couldn’t live with him? Why? “But you like me. Why can’t I live with you?”
    “Because it wouldn’t be right.”
    Her face tensed and her vision got blurry. What would be wrong about it? It was the normal way of things, to go from one master to another. If she didn’t go to him… “Where will I go? I have to be out of Billy’s apartment in ten days. Where will I live?” Her throat closed with her panic.
    “I’ll help you with that.”
    Melody sucked in a breath. Alone. He was going to help her find a place to live, but she would be in it alone. It was better to be a genie, trapped in a lamp. “What will I do?”
    “Melody.” Jerry put his arms around her shoulders. “I know you’re scared, but I’ll help you.”
    “I don’t want you help me. I want you to be my master.”
    “Shh, calm down.” He stroked her hair.
    “Is she okay?” the woman at the next table asked.
    “Her grandfather just died. She’s never been on her own before.”
    “Poor thing. You know, the coffee shop is looking for help. Maybe she could get a job here,” the woman said.
    “Thanks, I’ll look into it.” Jerry kept stroking Melody’s hair and making shushing noises.
    Melody shuddered. She didn’t know anyone else and she didn’t know how to make friends. Jerry might be able to find her somewhere to live, but everyone would keep looking at her like she was crazy. He might help her get a job, but no one would talk to her. Empty decades unrolled in front of her. If only she could have died when Billy had. Just like all her masters, she hadn’t asked for the right wish. His last wish shouldn’t have been to set her free, it should have been to let her die.
    * * * *
    Jerry sat down on the couch in the living room of Billy Welsh’s apartment. He hadn’t expected her to go to pieces like that. Good thing the coffee shop was only three blocks from her apartment building. She’d allowed him to put her to bed without begging him to come with her. That’s how broken up she was. Now he was afraid to leave her alone.
    What a fucking awful mess this was turning into. He couldn’t in good conscience just take her in like she wanted him to. Any other guy would have snatched her up in a second. Hot chick with literally millennia of experience who was all for being his personal toy? What wasn’t to love about that? But it was just wrong. What did Stella call him? A statistical anomaly? That shoe fit. Melody didn’t think she was the victim of a crime, but she was. That crime had just taken place a long, long time ago. Some super-powered jerk had stuffed her in a lamp and made her a slave to whoever said the magic words.
    He stared at the pictures on the wall. She needed to learn to live her own life again, or maybe for the first time. Some teacher he was going to make on that subject! He hadn’t lived a regular life since Amanda’s first diagnosis. Since that moment in the doctor’s office, he had managed, not lived, taking care of her, their bills and her treatments all the way up to arranging her funeral.
    Jeez, did Billy leave a will? He should start figuring out what needed to be taken care of. That was something he knew how to do. Jerry found a pad of paper in the kitchen and started making a list of what Melody