The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury Read Free Book Online

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jinn
,
demon
,
repel
, and other similar words. They were put there to turn away any of my kind who might try to enter, and their power rakes over me like claws. It seeps through me like poison, tainting my smoke sickly green.
    â€œZahra, are you all right?” Aladdin asks, halting beside me.
    I shake my head and struggle to stay on my feet as my head reels. It’s like being caught in a landslide. Shaza said I was the only one with a chance of getting through these gates—but even I might not be strong enough. I try to force myself into motion with the thought of freedom, but all I can manage is one half step before my stomach twists violently and I drop to one knee. The sea wind batters me, and I wish I could turn to smoke and let it carry me away.
    â€œIt’s warded,” I whisper. “Against the jinn. I can’t . . . I can’t get through.”
    The doors suddenly groan, and I look up to see the elephants beginning to move, drawing them shut. Alarmed, Aladdin looks at the gate, then back to me. “Zahra, you
have
to go through. If you don’t, the guards will know what you are. They’ll kill us both right here. Killing jinn and anyone who sympathizes with them—that’s what they
do.
They’re
Eristrati.
”
    He says the word as if I should know what it means, and I study the guards closer. They all carry spears of iron, their shafts carved with more Eskarr glyphs. These are no ordinary soldiers; they are armed to fight jinn, and they know what they’re doing. Four thousand years may be quite a long life, but I’m not ready to be done living just yet. Not when I’m this close to breaking free of my cursed lamp.
    â€œI can do it,” I murmur.
    â€œAre you sure?” He’s studying me as if he’s worried I’ll pass out. I very well may.
    I nod, not entirely certain but willing to try. Not because I’m truly worried the guards will kill us—Aladdin does have two wishes left, and I’m far from unskilled in defending myself. But because I know this is it. This is the last chance I’ll ever get. If I fail, I don’t even think I’ll protest when Nardukha strikes me down. I can’t take another
year
in that lamp, much less an eternity, not when a chance at freedom is so close.
    â€œI have an idea,” I say. “But I’ll need your help.”
    â€œHurry,” he says, watching as the doors swing inward. Already they are half closed.
    I conjure a small puff of smoke beneath my dress, letting it settle over my stomach, making me round as a melon. Add the pain in my eyes and my tight breathing and I am the perfect image ofa woman going into labor. Aladdin looks down, makes a strange noise deep in his throat, then nods.
    â€œRight. We can do this. No problem.” His tone is a little high, but he grabs my hand. “Let’s go!”
    I must lean on Aladdin, and not only for show—the closer we get, the harder it is for me to hold out. The air feels like knives, the ground like burning coals. It seems all the elements bend themselves toward crushing me, repulsing me, grinding me into the earth. Somehow, his heartbeat gives me strength. Perhaps it helps to hide my jinn nature from the wards. Either way, I can feel myself gaining a little more control of my own body. I burst forward, and together we run for the gates. They’re seconds away from shutting entirely.
    â€œWe won’t fit,” I say.
    â€œYes, we
will
,” Aladdin replies through clenched teeth, as if he can will them open with sheer stubbornness.
    â€œIf you wish for it—
ugh!
” As we pass through the stone gryphons, their stare seems to hone in on me. The Eskarr glyphs seem to glow. The power behind them pushes at me with the force of a hundred horses, seeking to trample me into the earth.
    â€œMy wife!” Aladdin cries to the guards. “She’s going to give birth! Stop the