Djinn (18 page)

"At least he knows his place," Ivan sneered. "You better learn yours …"

The lights began to flicker like a crazy disco, and the crackle of electric current surged through the wires.

"What the?" I said, looking around the room.

Ivan stared at me with more anger than I'd seen in anyone before in my life.

"ENOUGH!" Isabelle said, kicking her chair back and rising to full height.

The flickering stopped, and Ivan and I stared at Isabelle. I didn't even know she knew how to get angry, let alone raise her voice.

"Enough is enough," she said, more calmly than before. She adjusted her dress, trying to cover up her outburst. "You two are acting like children. Ivan, Kyra is still learning our way of life. You need to give her time to understand."

Ivan remained silent. I think he was surprised by Isabelle's outburst, too. She turned to me eyes blazing gold. "And Kyra, you do not understand our culture and, as you said, Will doesn't have a problem with it—"

"But—"

"But, nothing. I am your mother, and I am telling you to drop it."

I lowered my head. It was the first time I'd been told off by my mother and shamed into silence. I was kind of impressed and annoyed at the same time.

"The Guardjinn have protected us for centuries, and things will not change just because you don't like them."

Isabelle was flustered, breathing hard, like she'd been running. Bits of hair fell from her bun. She looked a mess, but stronger than I'd seen before.

"Now, off to bed with you." She pointed to the door.

"What?"

Isabelle stood up straight. "You heard me, young lady." She moved around the table and grabbed my arm, pulling me from the room.

She dragged me into the foyer before she let me go and gave me an exasperated look, all the anger gone from her face. I was confused; she'd seemed so mad at me moments ago, but now she seemed sad, like in the kitchen earlier.

"What am I going to do with you?" she sighed, brushing my hair back.

"I'm sorry, I just—"

She put a finger to my lips. "I know. I know," she said. "It's difficult for you, I can see that. I know it will take time, but please don't argue with your father. He's a very stubborn man who follows the old way of things."

"I'm sorry." I hung my head. I didn't think I'd felt more guilty about anything else in my life. Isabelle brought that out in me, just like a real mother could.

"Just give him some space and try to learn without judgment until you know everything, okay?"

She clasped my face, lifting it to meet her eyes, so kind and loving. She looked at me the way Dad used to, like I was the most important thing in the whole world.

I was beginning to understand that Isabelle behaved differently around Ivan, more prim and proper. Away from him, she could be herself. That was how I felt, and suddenly, I had a connection to her that filled me with a sense of belonging, a secret only we shared.

"Okay," I agreed. "I'll be good, but I'm not doing it for him. I'm doing it for you … Mum."

Isabelle smiled wider than I'd even seen before, tears welling up in her eyes. "I love you, Kyra." She kissed my cheek. I was too tall for her to kiss me any higher.

"Goodnight," I said, a little embarrassed.

"Goodnight, darling."

* * *

My room had been cleaned while I was out. The bed was made and my clothes had been picked up off the floor. It was weird, like the cleaning fairies were real, and Dad had been lying about them all along.

I didn't like it. Someone, most likely a Guardjinn, was invading my privacy and going through my things. Maybe I'd talk to Isabelle about it tomorrow.

I stripped off my clothes from the day and felt instantly better about everything, like I was shedding my skin and becoming a new person. I slipped into grey shorts and a singlet and pulled my hair tie, letting my hair fall in wavy curls past my shoulders.

Despite my outburst downstairs and my general feeling of anger all day, I was feeling a little better than before. Ivan may have been a horrible person, but Isabelle was more like me than I had realised. One good parent out of two wasn't bad, right?

I splashed cold water on my face in the bathroom and got ready for bed. I was just steps away from pulling back the covers when I heard a knock at the door.

I hoped it was just Isabelle, and not Ivan on a rampage. I hesitated at first, thinking about the latter, but the knock came again, and there was urgency in it. I opened it a crack, peeking outside. Will stood there, staring back at me with his head cocked so he could see me through the small opening in the doorway.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

I wanted to turn him away. I wasn't interested in seeing anyone right now, but a part of me was drawn to him, wanted him there. I pulled the door wide open.

"Come in," I replied.

He entered after bowing and I hurriedly closed the door behind him.

"Should you even be here?" I said, more harshly than I intended to. I walked past him and sat on the bed.

"No, I shouldn't." He stood a distance away from me.

"How did you even get in?" I asked. "I can't imagine Ivan would like you being here."

"I told Isabelle I had something to give you, as a part of your study. Ivan wasn't around."

I was surprised he admitted to sneaking around. Will seemed like the type to value truth, but I guess everyone lies sometimes.

"Why are you here?" I said.

"You were upset this afternoon, and I know you didn't feel like talking," he said, picking up a photo frame from my bedside table. "I wanted to make sure you were alright." He glanced at me with gorgeous golden eyes. "So, are you?"

"I wasn't," I admitted. "I may have gone off at Ivan over dinner."

Will sat next to me on the bed and I could feel the heat from his body causing my skin to tingle.

"He wouldn't have liked that," Will said, half smiling. I think Will disliked Ivan almost as much as I did, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

"No, he didn't, but Isabelle actually stepped up, which surprised me."

"I know you don't like how the Guardjinn are treated, but—"

I shook my head. "Don't worry about. I admit I don't like it, but I promised Isabelle to keep my opinions to myself until I was more … adjusted."

Will raised his eyebrows at me and smiled.

"What?" I said. "I can behave."

"Listen, I know—"

I put my finger to Will's lips. I didn't even realise I'd done it at first. His skin was soft against mine, his even breathing passing over my finger with nothing between us.

"I know you want to say something to comfort me, but really, I'm going to be okay."

I felt myself leaning closer to him, like Will had a gravity of his own that pulled me in. My finger dropped from his lips and fell into his hand. He didn't pull away and I didn't move either.

"I'm going to learn everything I can and then, once I'm a functioning member of Djinn society, I will scream my opinions from the rooftops."

"I have no doubt you'll make your opinions known," he said.

I wasn't sure if Will liked that I was opinionated or not. He had this way of hiding his thoughts and feelings that I was yet to master.

"I can't help who I am," I replied.

Will was barely an inch from my face, his eyes glancing from my lips to my eyes, as if asking to kiss me. I gave a slight nod; or, at least, I think I did. Our closeness made my head feel fuzzy and my cheeks blazed warm. Our lips were seconds from touching. I could feel his breath on my face, warm and inviting.

"I should go," Will said, pulling away quickly. In a second he was metres away from me, across the room with his hands folded across his chest. He was breathing hard, and so was I.

"I'll see you tomorrow for your lesson," he said, looking away.

"Will," I said, rising from the bed, but he was out the door in a flash, closing it behind him.

Left alone in the room, I felt stupid for letting myself get that close. What was I thinking? I barely knew him, not to mention my parents would never approve, as he was Guardjinn and I was Djinn. I shook my head, letting my hair fall in front of my face.

"I can't fall for Will," I told myself. "He's off limits, and the only reason I like him is because he's been all kind and caring when I was a wreck. I lost my life and Malcolm, and I'm just filling the void."

I sat back on the bed and touched my lips, as images of Will kissing me floated through my mind.

"No, stop thinking about that."

I lay back with a thump, clenching my hands at my sides. "Stop thinking about that, and focus on your new life."

Chapter Eighteen

The rest of the week passed without drama. As promised, I kept my mouth shut about things I didn't agree with.

I learned a lot during that first week. Will had me learning about Djinn history and royal bloodlines. It was a little awkward, spending so much time together after our almost kiss, but Will simply acted like it had never happened, which was fine by me.

I asked if I could just read about the history in a book, but he told me all the history books were written in Arabic, which I couldn't read. It was the native language of the Djinn, from thousands of years ago. So I was stuck, spending day after day convincing myself I didn't have feelings for him.

"I liked the pink dress from before better," Isabelle said, as I spun around in a circle for her.

It was the end of the week, and that meant I was off to meet the royal family at the palace. I was in my room trying on dresses as Isabelle sat on my bed and judged. Will stood out of my view, leaning against the door, reading me family trees of the royal bloodlines.

"The third king was assassinated, which led to King Caster's reign," he said, but I wasn't really paying attention.

"Can't I just wear jeans and a nice top?" I asked Isabelle. I was sporting a blue frilly dress that made me feel more like a cake than a person.

"I let you get away with that stuff every other day," Isabelle said twirling her finger to get me to spin again. "But today you're meeting the queen, so you're going to look pretty. Now, try on the pink one again."

"What is the name of our current queen?" Will added from around the corner.

"I already told you, I hate pink," I said, picking up the bottom of the dress so I could actually walk. "And our current queen is Celeste Von Carlisle," I added to Will.

Isabelle waved me off. "Fine," she said. "What about the gold one, to match your eyes?"

I pulled the dress up over my head, with some difficulty, and threw it on the floor.

"Not on the floor," Isabelle sighed.

She had been trying to make me more ladylike over the past week, but it wasn't sticking. She'd taught me how to talk to royalty, walk with my shoulders back, and even attempted to apply make-up, which I fought her on every day.

Isabelle raced to pick up the blue frilly dress and smooth it out, like I didn't have a million of them in the wardrobe.

"Sorry," I said, but not really meaning it.

She hung the dress back up and pulled out a gold one from the back. It was a little short, when compared to the long ones I'd tried on earlier, and I preferred it to the long ones I kept tripping on. It was tight as I pulled it over my shoulders, but it showed off curves I didn't know I had. It shimmered like starlight and had a cute gold ribbon around the waist with tiny spaghetti straps.

"Oh, perfect!" Isabelle gasped, hands clapped over her mouth.

"You think?" I asked, looking down at the dress.

"Will, come over here. We need a man's opinion." Isabelle beckoned him forward, but her eyes remained fixed on me.

Will had spent a lot of time at the house because of my tutoring, and Isabelle had taken a shine to him—at least, whenever Ivan wasn't around. Will was always the perfect gentleman around Isabelle, making polite conversation.

He walked around the wardrobe and his eyes lit up when they spotted me.

"Well, what do you think?" Isabelle asked, presenting me.

"You look beautiful," Will replied, his eyes unmoving.

"See," Isabelle said, "the perfect outfit." She went about tugging at different spots of the dress to make sure it sat perfectly on me.

"I have the perfect shoes to go with this in my room," she announced, and hurried out the door in a flash.

I was alone with Will, standing in the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen and he couldn't take his eyes off me.

Someone pinch me
.

His golden eyes studied the dress, studied me and I felt embarrassed, wanting to cover myself, as if I was naked.