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Chapter 10
Back at home,my troubles came flooding back. Furniture was overthrown. The lamp busted. Cushions tossed onto the floor. A platesmashed.
My heart caught in my throat. Gods! Had the vizier’s guards ransacked my place and taken the genie and my brother? Breathing was close to impossible as I tip-toed through the mess that was once myhovel.
“Ali! Where are you?” My voicequivered.
Karim jumped up and shrieked at me pointing to the kitchen counter. His eyes were wide and startled. I crushed him to mychest.
A grunting sound from deeper inside. Hope flared in my chest. Someone was alive.Ali!
On the kitchen floor, I found Zand and Ali in a tangle of limbs, roughhousing, shoving each other, and making guttural noises. Neither of them wore a shirt or vest. Both were covered in a sheen of sweat. Ali had the genie in a headlock and pinned to theground.
“Submit. Submit!” my brother yelled andlaughed.
“All right, you win,” said Zand, his abdomen tight and showing off his abs. “Again.”
I glanced at Dahvi, who stood there watched them, running his fiery pendant up and down his necklace, andgrinning.
What the heck was going on here? Exactly how long had they been wrestling like this? A rush of panic clawed at my insides. Did the monster of a genie hurt my brother? Ali was in no condition to be messing around. Where had all this strength come from all of a sudden? He'd been so weak for so long. Was the genies’ magic somehow breathing new life into mybrother?
“What are you doing?” I snapped. “Ali, you’re sick. Why aren’t you in bed? Who busted up thehouse?”
Ali and Zand both glanced up and then collapsed onto the floor,laughing.
Karim started moaning nervously in my arms. He always did that when I told him off. The poor little thing thought I was yelling at him. I stroked his head and huggedhim.
“I feel better.” The cough that followed Ali’s words told me otherwise, and I narrowed my eyes in hisdirection.
"You were gone for a day,” Ali said with a shrug as if it wasn’t a big deal. “We were bored. Messingaround."
Clutching Karim in one arm, I grabbed Ali with the other to check for bruises. "You could have hurt him," I barked atZand.
"Azar." Ali removed my hands away gently.Our gazes met. Annoyance flickered in his eyes. “I’m not a kid anymore. Stop fussing overme.”
My heart sank. He'd never pushed that before. We’d always been so close. He leaned on me. Relied on me. And I him. Now, it felt as if a crack had opened in the ground betweenus.
Zand gave me a kiss on the cheek before picking up the shards of broken ceramic from my plates. “We’ll fix this in no time. Don’tworry.”
Heat scaled down myneck.
Damn, that genie. I wanted to punch him right in the nose. My brother could have been seriouslyinjured.
My hands fisted. “You just need to be careful,Ali.”
A long cough rocked through him and had me reaching forhim.
Zand gave my brother a good thump on the back, as if to help Ali clear his chest. It worked, and my brother stood straighter andsmiled.
"Your brother's been cooped up for too long," said the red genie, flicking his long mane over his shoulder. "My mother used to tell my father that a little fun is good for the inner flame. Revives it." He thumped his chest with afist.
My eyes lingered on the spot where he’d hit himself. I ought to be pissed at him, but damn him and his logic…and his sexy-as-hell chest. Maybe having the genies around served as a good distraction from Ali’s poorhealth.
Dahvi put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed, massaging the taut flesh. I brushed him off and restored the fallen lamp to its originalposition.
Part of me was joyous that Ali had taken to the genie. He'd always wanted a brother. When Ali was younger, he would play in the streets with the other boys in the slums. As a teen, his health had fluctuated, which had made it difficult for him to keep friends to play with. I guess I was grateful that Zand had entertained my brother. But part of me couldn't get past the bitter sting of Ali’s rejection. I couldn’t lose him like I'd lost my mother. If I did, I’d havenothing.
Maybe I was being ridiculously overprotective, like a momma bear. Ali was a grown man. In a few years, he'd make a home for his own family. Where would that leave me? A penniless thief andalone.
