Le sigh. I don’t understand how me, hater of all genies and most paranormal creatures, is supposedly going to fall in love with a genie then die in his arms.
Sure, Asher isn’t as awful as his father or other genies I’ve crossed paths with, and I feel terrible for what his father has done to him, but he still has a way of working underneath my skin. Like, for instance, right now.
I already woke up in a really bad mood. Then the moment I stepped foot into the kitchen, my irritation grew the instant Asher opened his mouth.
“Are you going to make me do this every time I want to eat?” I huff an exasperated breath. “If so, you seriously have control issues.”
He’s standing on the opposite side of the kitchen island, wearing a pair of black jeans that hang low on his hips, with chains dangling from the pockets. He may be completely irritating, but I have to admit he’s sexy.
Dammit, why do genies have to be so sexy? It’d make my despising him so much easier if I wasn’t attracted to him.
Asher slants forward, resting his arms on the glass countertop filled with mini water fey blowing glittery bubbles. “All you have to do is say please. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“It’s not a big deal. I just wanted to point out that you’re a control freak, just in case you weren’t aware.”
“Oh, I’m well aware.” He plucks up a piece of sausage from the plate in front of him, sticks it into his mouth, then licks his lips clean.
My mouth salivates, but I refuse to say please. I refuse to let him win.
Yesterday when he did the same thing to me, I quickly caved. Today, though, I’m feeling pretty stubborn, mostly because of what I found out last night about Asher’s curse. Between his curse and mine, I highly doubt I’m going to fall in love anytime soon, which makes me feel super sulky.
Sure, I already knew I couldn’t fall in love, but now it seems even more impossible.
“You seem particularly moody this morning.” Asher glances down at his handheld device. “Any particular reason?”
“Um, yeah, because an old, douchebag genie refuses to let me eat breakfast.”
When his gaze snaps up to mine, I offer him a sugary sweet smile.
His eyes darken as he sets the handheld device down. “You know, that’s twice you’ve called me old. Most genies would’ve gotten rid of you by now.”
“It’s a good thing you need me then, isn’t it?” I casually slide my arm across the countertop toward his plate in a lame attempt to steal a piece of sausage.
As my fingers graze the edge of the plate, he moves it out of my reach.
“Say the magic words, little thief, and I’ll give you the best breakfast that’s ever passed across those pretty lips of yours.”
I mentally roll my eyes at his cheesiness. Between him and East, I’m on cheesy overload.
“The best breakfast I’ve ever had?” I draw my hand back to my lap. “That bar isn’t too high since most of my breakfasts came from dumpster diving.”
Curiosity sparkles in his eyes. “What’s dumpster diving?”
“Digging food out of a dumpster.”
His face twists in disgust. “You’ve eaten food out of a trash can before?”
My jaw ticks, but not necessarily because of him. “Starvation sometimes leads to having to take drastic measures. like digging food out of a trash can.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He almost sounds genuine.
“Why? It wasn’t your fault.” I eyeball his food again, on the verge of giving in and begging.
I’m so hungry.
“Perhaps.” He wavers his head from side to side. “Maybe it is, though. I mean, my father took your parents away from you, which led to you living on the streets, right?”
My chest constricts at the reminder. “I was dumpster diving when my parents were still around. Not that much, but … Starvation is—was pretty unavoidable. And I’m sure it’ll still be after I steal these objects for you and my life goes back to normal.” I wait to see if he’ll divulge why he’s said more than a handful of times that he feels like he knows me. See if he’ll admit he’s cursed to fall in love with me, only to watch me die.
I doubt it. No, the only way to get the truth around here is to listen in on conversations. And with East and Arrow about to endeavor to the planet Steel, Asher will have no one to chat with, so my resource for getting information will be long gone. Probably doesn’t matter anyway. Ever since they discovered I have the ability to hear other pitch frequencies, they’ve started being careful about what they say.
“When your life goes back to normal, huh?” A pucker forms between his brows.
“What? Is it not going to?” I challenge. “Because we made a deal that after I stole these objects for you, you’ll set me free, remember?”
“Of course I remember. In fact, I’m counting down the days until our bargain is completed.” He smirks when I glare at him. “However, I wouldn’t be surprised if you got so attached to us that you wanted to stay. Humans can be rather clingy.”
“Well, according to you guys, I may not be human.” I grin haughtily. “So, I guess that doesn’t apply to me. It’s probably why I had such an easy time turning down you guys’ offer to come back to your world jumper vehicle when we were back at the arena.”
“Doubtful. I think you just wanted to make sure the vehicle was empty so you could try to steal my lamp.” His pierced, pale blue lips kick up into a smirk. “And other creatures can be clingy, too. I’m betting you’re one of them.” He reclines against the counter behind him, crossing his arms and grinning as I flip him the middle finger. “What? It’s true. I can’t tell you how many times a groupie has fallen in love with the band and wanted to come on tour with us. It’s pretty pathetic, if you ask me.”
“I’m not a groupie or a fan of paranormals, so I doubt that’s going to be a problem,” I quip, sneaking a glance at his plate of food. “Plus, I find you guys super annoying.”
He’s far enough away that I might be able to snatch the plate and run, if I’m sneaky enough. Well, unless he blasts me with a curse. But from what I’ve seen, Asher doesn’t possess normal genie cruelty. And as far as I can tell, he loathes using his magic.
“If you say so.” Doubt twinkles in his smoky eyes. “You’ve only been with us for a couple days, though.”
“Yeah, so?” I arch my brow, carrying his gaze in an attempt to distract him as I discreetly slide my arm across the countertop.
“So, you’ll more than likely be with us for at least a couple months, which leaves a lot of time for your feelings to change.”
“Ha, I highly doubt that’s going to happen. And why the hell would you even want my feelings to change after what you found out about me …” My eyes suddenly pop wide. “Wait. Back the hell up. A couple months?” I shake my head, pulling my arm back. “No, no, no, no, no. There’s no way I can be stuck on this world jumper vehicle with you guys for a couple months. I’ll lose my mind! We have to find a faster way to do this. Like, how can we shave off some time?”
He searches my eyes for worlds knows what. “With all the stops we have to make, including the planet Water, which takes over three weeks of traveling to get there, a couple months will be pushing it already.”
My expression sinks. “Isn’t there a shortcut?”
“That traveling estimate is with taking shortcuts. The only other way to get through this quicker would be to teleport, and since none of us are witches, that’s impossible.”
My lips tug into an even deeper frown. “Don’t you know any witches?”
He stares at me for an unnerving amount of time before pushing away from the counter. Then he strolls around the kitchen island and comes to a stop unsettlingly close to me. “We do know a few witches, but no one can know what we’re up to, Harlynn. Asking for outside help means dealing with questions and leaving tracks behind, which could lead to us getting caught.”
I tilt my head up to meet his gaze, my hair casc
ading down my back. “But you told me about your plan. Well, some of it.”
He leans in, his eyes darkening with smoke. “Yes, little thief, but I swore you to secrecy with magic. Plus, you have a lot riding on us succeeding.”
True. If I don’t succeed, or if I try to double-cross these guys, not only will I die, but so will Jason.
“You know, I really wish you’d just tell me exactly what you guys are up to, instead of feeding me bits and pieces.”
He lowers his head, his lips dangerously close to mine. “If I told you, then I’d have to keep you. And from what you just told me, you don’t want that … right?”
My heart thunders in my chest, for various reasons. One reason has a lot to do with how delicious he smells, like cupcakes and frosting.
Dammit, I’m getting so hungry I just might bite him.
A low chuckle reverberates from his chest. “Go ahead.”
I blink. “Huh?”
A cocky grin tugs at his lips. “Take a bite out of me. I won’t mind.”
Oh, my ditzy unicorns, did I say that aloud?
“I didn’t mean that in, like, a sexual way,” I say in an attempt to salvage some dignity. “I meant, bite you aggressively so you’ll go away and I can eat.”
Rubbing his lips together, he nudges my legs open with his knee.
“Hey, what the hell—”
In the snap of a magical wish, he’s positioned himself between my legs and has an arm on each side of me, his lips dipping close to mine. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible liar?”
“No, because I’m not.” Like a boss, my voice comes out even. “In fact, back on the streets, my nickname was Miss Perfect Liar.”
He cocks a brow, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “Is that true?”
I steadily hold his gaze, ignoring the flutters going mad crazy inside my chest.
Stupid flutters. They need to chill the eff out and stop getting all excited over stupid genie touches.
“If I’m such a terrible liar, like you implied,” I say evenly, “then you should already know the answer to that.”
He presses his lips together, struggling not to smile. “I guess so.” His gaze descends to my mouth and, holy crazy troll babies, I think he is considering kissing me.
If he does, I’m for sure going to slap him.
I think so anyway …
Okay, okay, I don’t know what I’ll do, and I never get to find out, because East and Arrow stroll into the room and ruin the moment.
“Well, well, well, this looks interesting.” East scans over the distance—or lack of—between Asher and me. His glittery wings are spanned out, and he’s dressed in black pants and a matching shirt, his blond hair a perfectly styled mess.
Asher’s gaze flicks to mine, and then he pushes away from me and turns to East. “Harlynn and I were just arguing about breakfast.”
“Sure you were.” East gives Asher a knowing smile.
Shaking his head, Asher wanders back to the other side of the kitchen and collects his handheld device. “When are you guys taking off?”
East gives me a look that I don’t bother trying to decipher, then he strolls over to the fridge. “Pretty soon. We just need to grab some supplies.”
“Don’t forget to grab some extra faerie dust,” Arrow says as he takes a seat on the barstool beside mine. His arms that are spun of flesh and bronzed gadgets flex as he crosses his arms on top of the counter. “Are you hungry?” he whispers lowly to me.
How did he know?
I nod. “Starving actually.”
“What are you two whispering about?” East asks us as he turns away from the fridge with two small velvet bags in his hand. “And why the hell can’t I hear you?”
A small smile pulls at Arrow’s lips. “Because we’re speaking in a frequency only cyborgs can hear and speak.”
Asher’s gaze zeroes in on Arrow. “So, not only can she hear other frequencies, she can speak them, too?”
Arrow shrugs. “Apparently.”
Asher sets the handheld device down, his gaze flicking between me and Arrow. “How did you know she could do that?”
Arrow gets to his feet, the gadgets covering his body gearing up as he lifts his arms above his head and stretches. “I had a hunch and decided to test out the theory.” He rounds to the other side of the island, opens a cupboard, and pulls out a tall, bronzed box.
Asher frowns. “I was going to take care of that. We were just working up a deal first.”
“There’s no room for deals. She needs to eat about twice as much until her body adjusts to world traveling.” Arrow sets the box down in front of me, earning a nasty look from Asher.
Whatever’s in this box has got Asher’s panties all twisted up in a bunch.
That makes me smile.
East rests his arms against the countertop as he grins at me amusedly. “What’s causing those beautiful lips to smile, sweetheart?”
See, cheesy overload again.
“Oh, nothing.” My smile grows as Asher’s annoyance doubles. Then I turn to Arrow. “So, what’s in the weird metal box?”
With a trace of a smile, Arrow twists the knob on top of the box and a ray of light illuminates from inside. “Since I don’t possess a lot of magical abilities, I can’t just snap my fingers and make food appear, so I use this.” He taps the box. “All you have to do is say what you want and it’ll make it for you.”
“Wow, that’s pretty cool.” Although, I didn’t realize until now that cyborgs ate food. I slant forward in the stool, the light reflecting against my pupils. “I can say anything I want?”
Arrow nods, watching me with intrigue. “Anything at all.”
“What do you usually ask for?” I’ve never had the option of having whatever I want for breakfast, and all the possibilities … it’s almost overwhelming. Everything sounds so delicious. My belly grumbles with possibilities.
“French toast is one of my favorites,” he tells me with a tiny smile.
“French toast sounds awesome,” I tell the box. “With sausage and bacon, and biscuits. Oh, and waffles and eggs and real maple syrup and cupcakes with lots and lots of frosting.” I cringe, feeling Asher’s gaze boring into me, as if he thinks my request for cupcakes has to do with his scent, which I guess it sort of does. He doesn’t need to know that.
“And hot chocolate with marshmallows,” I continue with my ordering, my appetite growing by the second. “And coffeecake. And …” I trail off as I note the three of them staring at me with wide eyes. “What?”
East’s tongue slips out to wet his lips, then he trades a look with Asher and Arrow. Arrow’s lips pull into a smile, and East lets out a chuckle. Even Asher, the grump, looks amused.
“What’s so funny?” I demand, crossing my arms.
East simply shakes his head. “You’re absolutely adorable. You really are.”
“That she is,” Asher mumbles, his gaze relentlessly welded to mine.
Since I’m fairly sure they’re making fun of me, I shoot East and Asher a glare. “You know what? I think I’ve decided who my favorite band member is.” I lean toward Arrow with my eyes narrowed on East and Asher. “From now on, I only like Arrow, and you two can suck it.”
“Suck what exactly?” East muses, his gaze drifting to my chest. As his lips part, I hold up a hand.
“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t. Just don’t.” I shake my head as his glinting gaze meets mine.
“You’re the one who told me to suck it,” he says. “I was just going to tell you what I’d like to suck on.”
Asher whacks him in the back of the head. “All right, that’s enough. Harlynn needs to eat breakfast, and I’d like to keep mine down.”
“Like you didn’t think the same thing,” East mumbles, rubbing his head.
Asher’s gaze strays from East to my chest then to my face. The hue of desire in his eyes makes my skin flush.
I casually scratch my neck, trying to hide the bit of cleavag
e popping out of my tank top.
When I wandered into the kitchen after barely sleeping, I hadn’t bothered to change out of my pajamas. At the time, I didn’t care, but now … my tank top seems too thin, the shorts too short, too much of my skin showing so they can see just how flushed I am.
And the longer Asher and East openly check me out, the deeper my blush gets.
“Would you guys stop looking at me like that?” I demand. “In fact, don’t look at me at all.”
“Are we making you uncomfortable?” Asher asks, sounding strangely concerned.
I waver. “Sort of.” Not necessarily in a bad way, though.
No, I sort of like their attention. I’m just not a fan of how obvious it is that I’m blushing because of it.
“We’re sorry.” Asher collects his handheld device and motions for East to follow him as he heads out of the kitchen. “I need to talk to you privately before you leave.”
East offers me an apologetic look then follows Asher down the hallway.
I watch them go, confused as a leprechaun who was cursed with two left feet. “Why did East look at me like that? Like he was sorry for something.”
“Because he was.” Arrow sits down beside me again. “Asher was, too.”
“For what?” I twist on the stool to face him, our knees touching.
“For staring at you like they were, and for making you feel uncomfortable.” Arrow reaches for the knob on the top of the box. “I think they’re worried they crossed a line.”
“They didn’t. I just didn’t like how they could tell I was blushing,” I admit. Talking to Arrow has been easy from the start. I think it’s because his gentle demeanor makes him less intimidating. “But I appreciate them backing off.”
I’m surprised, though, that a moody, brooding genie, and a flirty, perverted faerie respect me enough to back off when I ask. Too bad all paranormals and humans can’t be the same.
“None of us ever want you to feel uncomfortable,” Arrow tells me with such genuineness that, if I didn’t know any better, I’d wonder if he was human.
But then the gadgets in his fingers crank as he moves to open the top of the box, reminding me that he’s part machine. Still, I’m more than certain his heart has to be real, along with his soul.