Read Jinni's Wish, Book 4 Kingdom Series for Free Online Page A

The
constant howl of the winds outside, normally so soothing, now
irritated him like the constant drip of a leaky pipe.
    He was angry.
    But he didn’t know why.
    He stared at his empty cave, at the pit of
fire that burned perpetually in the center of the dirt floor. He
stoked the flames, never letting them die, knowing they wouldn’t--
couldn’t-- warm him. That nothing could ease the icy chill that
encased his soul. That nothing could break his antipathy. Each day
an unbearable torture because it wouldn’t end. Because he was still
here. Still existing in a realm outside of happiness, joy,
life.
    Back and forth.
    Back and forth.
    Drip.
    Drip.
    Drip.
    He gnashed his teeth. She called to him,
wakened something in him. A sleeping dragon with claws that’d
slumbered for an eternity, now opening languid eyes with curiosity…
and maybe something more.
    Something volatile and violent.
    “Why are you here?” the shrill voice of she interrupted his internalizations.
    “Go away, Danika,” Jinni glared at the
miniature, innocent looking fae.
    She . His nightmare, his bondage, and
constant reminder of what he’d lost. What he’d sacrificed so long
ago. And for what?
    For something as fleeting and inconstant as a
vapor.
    Danika quirked a pale blonde brow. She
preferred the guise of a frail old woman. Doddering, and well past
her prime. Most godmother’s did. He could never understand why. Did
they assume it was because you’d trust them more that way?
    But he was as dangerous as she .
There’d once been a time, when his might could have quashed even
hers. He could see the monster lurking beneath the mask of civility
she’d worked so hard to cultivate, because he’d once worn one
himself. For a time.
    His soul trembled.
    Danika’s blonde curls bobbed gracefully
around her head as her lips twitched, as if she knew a secret he
did not. A frothing swirl of fury burned his gut.
    “What?!” he demanded louder.
    Her grin only grew wider. “My, my, my… is
that… anger?” She tapped her jaw, the silver tips of her nails
glinting like jewels as the fire reflected off it. “Surely not my Jinni. Why, I thought antipathy was your friend now. Now
tell me truth, honestly, why are you here and not there?” She
flitted closer, dragonfly wings shimmering with pale threads of
blue.
    “I did all you commanded of me, master ,” he sneered the last. “You told me to stay until the
girl arrived. I’ve done that.” Forcing a grim smile to his tight
lips, he sidled closer, until the electricity of his form crackled
like static against her magic. “Are you here to demand I
return?”
    She licked her lips, then with a loud sigh
crossed her arms and legs and floated before him, looking as
dangerous as a gnat. “I’ve never demanded a thing from you. Not one
thing, Jinni. I’ve always wondered about you?”
    It was bait and he knew it, but he couldn’t
help but ask, “How so?”
    Danika toyed with the edge of her fingernail.
“Why you hate me. Why you direct such venom at me when I never
asked to take you.” She paused for a moment, as if waiting for him
to speak, say something. But there’d be no words from him.
    What could he say anymore? Though the
memories were fresh and sometimes painful, it’d happened so long
ago that it seemed pointless to care. Most days, he didn’t.
    She shrugged. “I asked Betty,” she supplied,
“and I’m fairly certain she’s got you dead to rights, as my Alice
would say.”
    Scoffing, Jinni laughed. “Betty? Gerard’s
woman? Gerard has the mental capacity of vermin, what could she
possibly--”
    Danika narrowed her eyes, a terrible blue
glow infused the depths of her cobalt orbs and her lips set into a
tight grimace. “Mind your tongue,” she hissed, “I’ll not hear a
foul word uttered against the girl. And aye, she did have some most
insightful thoughts as to our ,” she stressed, “current state
of affairs.”
    “Then by all means,” he genuflected, “do
share,