Three Wishes by Jenny Schwartz Read Free Book Online

bemused.
    She squeezed his hand. “I’ll think of a plan.”
    On the wind came the sound of jangling gold bangles and light female laughter. The djinni was laughing.
    He looked down at Miri’s earnest face and a tremor passed through him. He was cursed.

Chapter Six
    “Oh, that’s hilarious.” Cali leaned against the wall of David’s house, invisible to human eyes, and held her sides. “Did you see his face, Andrew? Your charge is terrified of Miriam. Frozen like a rabbit hypnotized by a snake.”
    Andrew smiled, but the muscles of his stomach were tense with emotional pain. Couldn’t Cali see how much she was like David? “He’s afraid to love.”
    Cali ignored the observation. “Miriam should just forget about him.”
    “She feels she has a debt to pay to David and to the memory of his family.”
    “If she enters his world, it’ll destroy her.” Cali was no longer laughing. “Men like David destroy. They crush innocence and enslave those weaker than themselves.”
    “David won’t hurt Miriam.”
    She snorted. “You’re his guardian angel. You have to believe that.”
    “I believe he’s in the habit of caring for her. Admittedly, his image of her is as a child. But he’ll still protect the adult Miriam. He’d die for her,” he added deliberately.
    He understood David’s feelings because the more he learned of Cali, the more he ached for her. She had courage and integrity, but she saw herself through a dark, distorted mirror. He didn’t just want her to bring him alive, he wanted to heal her hurts.
    Cali cast him a look of disdain. “I do not entangle innocents in the deaths of my masters. I won’t use Miriam as a weak point to attack David—and I’m not discussing my plans for his destruction with you.”
    “Tell me why, love. No, not why you won’t discuss killing David with me. I understand that. Tell me why he must die. Why have you sworn to kill every man who owns your bottle?”
    He saw the flash of pain in her eyes before she veiled them with her lashes.
    “You’re hurting, Cali. Let me see if I can help.” He held out his hand.
    “It’s an old story, centuries too late for healing.” She looked away from his hand.
    He leaned forward and caught her hand anyway. He felt her fingers move in fractional, instinctive acceptance and it was enough, for now. He tugged her down to the beach. The tide was out, the rocks dry and the sun warm. Gulls dived from the cliffs, calling in their lonely, rough voices.
    Cali sat beside him on a smooth rock, reclaiming her hand and lacing her fingers together around her drawn-up knee. She gazed out at the sea. Thick lashes veiled her eyes and the corners of her generous mouth tucked in, hiding secrets.
    He wanted to coax them from her.
    She charmed him in the clothes she’d chosen—a brigand’s costume of white shirt and black breeches and a jaunty red sash. It was a costume of defiance and romance. Cali might try to deny it, but her heart hungered for romance, to indulge her imagination and swashbuckle through life.
    Freedom. His heart hurt. As a djinni, bound by Solomon’s curse to serve humanity, Cali would crave freedom. And he couldn’t give it to her. It was the gift of a human and, as a guardian angel, he knew how rare such generosity was. Humans hoarded power—not necessarily out of greed or ego, but because they feared the future.
    What he could give Cali was the gift of friendship. He could listen to her story and share her pain. But would friendship be enough for him?
    When he looked at her, the discipline of his guardian role faltered. He wanted her smiles, her trust, her touch.
    Heaven, but he wanted her touch.
    He’d been alone for so long, living with cold duty. He’d been satisfied to test souls and save them. The distance between him and the world had grown imperceptibly, but he’d noticed the chill. It had become harder and harder to care. He’d felt his isolation. It was as if he no longer lived. But Cali stirred him to