Page 22 of A Cursed Heart
“Some do. However, there is always a price and a twist.” The way he said it told me enough.
“So you aren’t like a genie. Sorry, djinn?”
“No. First of all, I cannot use my magic to harm or influence you.” That was a relief. It gave me a feeling of safety I really needed. “Second of all, my task is to protect you. To give you what I can with my magic. We are tied together now.”
“You said that before. What d’you mean?”
“Well, you are my owner, my master, until you choose to break our bond…”
I didn’t particularly like the idea of owning a person. Big ick. There had to be a way out of that. “There’s more to it.” He was holding something back.
“Or until someone takes the heart ruby from you and feeds it their blood. Though that is usually only possible if…”
A shudder raced down my back. A sense of foreboding came with it. “If I’m dead, right? That’s another way to break it, isn’t it?”
“Yes. In the past when my owner has died, that has broken the bond.”
“What happens to you then?”
“I go back inside and wait for the next one to come along. They always do. The lure of the gem is too much.”
His existence was horrible. How could anyone live like that? “Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why were you in there?” He had said it was a punishment, but I felt like there was more to it. I needed the context, what he thought he was being punished for to really understand.
Over the course of a few minutes, Mal laid out the story for me. Telling me about his past and how he’d hurt the treasured concubines belonging to his oldest brother. How it wasn’t just that event, but a series of them. All powered by greed and a need for more power. I could tell he found it difficult to speak about it and that he didn’t hold anything back. By the end, I hated his brother for what he’d done to Mal.
“I am a selfish creature by nature, and this is my penance. To live to serve others until I have balanced the scales enough to earn my freedom.”
“What’ll happen to you then?” Surely there had to be a reward at the end.
“I do not know.”
My stomach swooped. I couldn’t live like Mal, not knowing when I would be free of the hell I was in or what was to come after. To suffer through it for centuries was beyond anything I could wrap my head around.
“Doesn’t that scare you?”
“No.” His almost black eyes turned distant. “If it is my death, then I think I would welcome it.”
Fuck. He sounded so hopeless. “Can’t I wish you free?”
Mal’s smile was bitter. “I am not a djinn, remember.” He sighed. “No, I will do my best to be a good servant to you. To protect you from Sloane Salvatore. Then, when it is time, I will move to the next person if this is not enough.”
I hated that idea down to my very bones, which considering I barely knew the guy, was a pretty intense reaction to have. “That’s not good enough for me.”
He frowned. “I do not understand.”
This was something I would have to figure out for myself. I had to get Mal free from the gem, but only if he got to live after. I wanted him to have some freedom first. “It’s fine. Look, I’m taking Salvatore down, so all I have to do is buy some time without getting too deep with him. Does he know you were in the gem?”
Mal thought about it. “No. It appears as if that side of the legend had slipped from memory. This is the first time I have been outside for such a long time. I forget when the last master was.”
“Well, that’s useful.”
“Though he might suspect you have the gem. Is there anywhere you can hide it?”
I thought about the fist-sized, heart-shaped stone in my pocket and winced. “Not sure.”
