Falling for the Genie (Genie's Love, Book 1) (19 page)

Since my mother and I each have jobs, we’re going to be visiting each other on the weekends. Money is tight, so we can’t travel too often, but we’re going to video chat all the time, and text each second we can. Things aren’t a hundred percent perfect, but I know they will be. We’re going to see the therapist next week, and after that, she’s set to visit me in New York.

Spending time with her brought me back to when I was a kid and we did many things together, mostly cooking. It was no different at her place. We went a little wild in the kitchen, creating dishes that didn’t make sense, but tasted okay. When I had to leave for New York, it felt as if a part of me was being left behind. But I know my mother isn’t going anywhere. Sebastian is gone and his spot in my heart might never be replaced, but at least I have my mother. I owe that to him. If not for him giving me the strength to take that step, my mother and I would be strangers right now.

I think about my genie all the time. Mom’s asked me questions about him, but I don’t really like to talk about it. She reassured me that if we’re meant to be together, we will be. I wish I could explain that there’s no way we can ever be together. He belongs in his world and I belong in mine.

As I go to the alley outside Inferno to throw the garbage in the dumpster, I crash into something hard. A person. Looking up, I see a guy standing there. He has blue eyes, long black hair. Scanning his naked chest and black pants, my heart lurches.

Sebastian.

His skin isn’t golden, but pinkish-white like any human. He doesn’t have those designs on his chest. But it’s him. I’d recognize those deep eyes anywhere. I throw my arms around him. He stumbles back before pulling my hands off him and glaring at me.

“Don’t touch me,” he says, narrowing his eyes and giving me a look like I’m covered in dirt.

My heart drops to Earth’s core. “Sebastian, don’t you recognize me?”

His eyes narrow even more. “How do you know my name?” He looks around. “What is this place? It seems oddly familiar. Where am I?”

He doesn’t remember anything. When I wished him back home, he forgot all about me. Instead of him remembering and me forgetting, the opposite happened. But he knows this place. I have no idea how he left his home, but something pulled him here. He feels something. Perhaps he can remember.

“It’s me Lily,” I tell him.

His eyebrows furrow.

“You’re on Earth.”

His eyes snap to my face. “The human world?”

I nod. “Please remember me. You were sent here as a genie. I found your lamp in that dumpster over there.” I angle my head toward it. “You granted me three wishes.” I step closer to him and run my hand through his hair. “You fell in love with me.”

He springs back. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

I press my lips to his. He’s tense and I can feel him ready to shove me off, but his body relaxes and he places his hands around my neck, deepening the kiss. A million sensations explode all over me. I’ve missed having his body crushed against mine, his lips moving against mine. This is how it’s supposed to be. He and I…we’re meant to be together. I don’t care if I have to spend a lifetime helping him remember. I’m not going to lose him again.

“Lily…” he says against my mouth. “Lily.”

I pull off and gaze into his eyes that are filled with confusion, but are slowly growing with recognition.

“My Lily.” He pulls me into his arms.

“You remember,” I whisper.

He trails kisses down my neck. “I can never forget you.”

I shut my eyes and let myself enjoy this moment. My body shudders as he pops little kisses all over my skin. Then I freeze. “Sebastian, what happened? How did you get here?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “When I returned home, I couldn’t forget you. I wanted to return to you, more than anything.”

I place my hand on his heart. It’s thumping. “What about your sister?”

A shadow crawls over his face. I know that look too well to know what it means. My stomach clenches and I pull him into my arms. “I’m so sorry.”

He buries his face in my neck. “She took her own life.”

Tears fill my eyes.

“When you wished me home, everything returned to normal. I went back in time, to the day I killed the prince.” He swallows. “In this new version, it was my sister who killed him. In self-defense.”

My hands fly to my mouth. “Oh, no.”

He nods, his lips in a tight line. “She took her own life before sentence could be passed on her. She knew punishment would be terrible and chose not to live than live a life full of pain.” He rubs his forehead.

“Sebastian, I’m so sorry.”

He shakes his head. “Maybe it’s better this way. She would have probably been beaten, tortured, or worse. She’s at peace now, although I wish I could have brought her here.” He covers his face. “I was too late.”

I don’t know what to say. Apologizing isn’t enough. Maybe there’s nothing I can say to make him feel better. I take him in my arms. “I’m here for you.”

He presses his lips to my temple. “Thank you.” He clutches me tightly. “I had nothing left there. All I wanted was to return to you.”

I press my forehead to his. “You remembered me all this time?”

He nods. “Even though the past changed in my world, my memories remained the same. But I must have forgotten them when I returned to Earth.” His eyebrows knit. “Thank you for helping me remember.”

“How did you get here?”

His eyes move to the entrance of Inferno. “Am I keeping you from work?”

“Nah. It’s okay.”

He smiles a bit. “There’s an elder who knows all kinds of magic. I told him everything and he helped me leave Ortarus and travel to Earth.”

“Is he going to get into trouble? Did he require you to do anything?”

He shakes his head, sliding his hands in mine. “He’s the king’s advisor, but he hates the king as much as I do. We’d been friends for a while, before I was sent here as a genie. He’s one hundred percent trustworthy.”

I sigh in relief and rest my head on his chest. “The golden skin is gone.”

“Yes.”

I raise my head to him. “What about your magic?”

He lifts his hand toward the dumpster. It moves a bit to the right. “It’s not as strong as on Ortarus, but I still have it. I don’t know my limitations, though.”

I smile. “Are you going to stay here?”

“I have nothing keeping me in Ortarus.”

“What about your parents?”

He twists his nose. “My parents stopped being my parents the day they gave my sister and me up.”

I kiss him. “I’m so sorry about your sister.”

He strokes my hair. “It’s better this way. She’s no longer suffering.” He fingers my bottom lip. “She’s going to remain with me always. In here.” He touches his heart. “Just like Daisy is going to stay in your heart forever.”

We stand with our arms wrapped around each other. I breathe in his smell. It’s the same exotic one. I never thought I’d be in his arms again. It’s where I want to be. Forever.

“Lily.” Sebastian kisses my ear. “I never thanked you for sending me home and absolving me of my crime.” He strokes my cheek. “But I’m here now and I’m never going to leave you. I promise you that.”

I place my cheek on his. “And I’m never going to leave you. Ever.”

My head throbs like someone smashed it against a pile of rocks.

I try to move my limbs, but they feel like they’re buried in cement. When I pry my eyes open, I’m blinded by something bright and strong. The sun? My eyes snap shut and tears seep out.

The throbbing travels from the back of my head to my forehead. I moan as images come. Memories. It all rushes back to me. The killer waves this morning, almost as high as towers. The itchy sensation pricking every nerve of my body as I imagined riding them. My stupid self ignoring the warning bells telling me it was too dangerous. Paddling into the ocean and popping onto my board. Getting swallowed by the massive wave. Thrashing my arms and legs as my mouth desperately sought oxygen, only to get salt water instead. My limbs growing weaker until I blacked out.

Something touches my fingers. No, touching isn’t the right word. Rubbing, maybe? It feels nice. Soothing. Slowly, I open my eyes. A face stares down at me. The sun shines behind his head, creating a halo.

An angel? Am I in heaven?

He has dark blue eyes and long, golden hair brushing his shoulders. Definitely an angel. I
am
in heaven.

“Cassie!” a voice calls.

The angel disappears and I hear a splash. I try to raise my head, but the throbbing turns into hammering, and I groan. When I turn my head to the side, I realize I’m on some sort of boulder in the middle of the ocean.

“Cassie!” the voice calls again. It sounds like my best friend, Leah. I hear an engine. She must be on a boat or Jet Ski.

I open my mouth to call to her, but nothing comes out. The action alone takes up so much energy that my eyes droop.

Through the fog in my head, I hear the engine approach. A hand shakes my shoulder. “Cassie? Are you okay?”

I open one eye. “Leah?”

She’s sitting on a Jet Ski, dressed in her wetsuit. Her green eyes are wide in alarm. “Thank God you’re alive.”

When I try to sit up, my head spins. “Easy,” she says, climbing out of the Jet Ski and settling near me on the boulder. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and helps me into a sitting position. “We need to get you to the hospital.”

“I’m fine,” I mutter. “What happened?”

“You wiped out. I saw you go down and I grabbed the Jet Ski to go after you. I’m taking you to the hospital. You have a nasty bump on your head.”

I finger the spot. Ouch. “How did I end up on the boulder?”

Her eyebrows crease. She scratches her dark brown hair. “Did you swim here and pass out?” She takes me in her arms, hugging me close. “You have no idea how freaked out I was when I saw you lying here. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She pulls out of the hug. “I was searching forever. I really thought…” Her voice cracks. “I really thought you died. Don’t you ever do anything like that again!”

I stare down at the small waves hitting the boulder. “There was a guy. An angel. An angel saved me.”

“An angel?” She surveys the area. “I didn’t see anyone.”

“Maybe I went to heaven.”

She doesn’t say anything. I know what she’s thinking—that I hit my head and am talking nonsense. Am I?

“And when you called my name, he disappeared. I’m telling you the truth, Leah. I’m not crazy.”

“O-kay. What did Angel Guy look like?”

Those eyes. So deep, so blue, like the ocean. And golden hair that I’ve never seen before, not even in the movies. “He was beautiful.”

Her eyebrows crease again. I know she doesn’t believe me, but I couldn’t have been hallucinating. The hands rubbing my fingers were real. His face was real.
He
was real.

Or was he? I shake my head because none of this makes sense. Maybe I am hallucinating.

Leah gets on the Jet Ski and helps me climb on behind her. I’m still a little groggy and dizzy, but my headache is disappearing by the minute. She steers us toward the shore.

I look back at the boulder. He had to be real.

We make it to the beach and climb off the Jet Ski. Leah wraps her arm over my shoulder. “Feeling okay?”

“Fine.” I keep looking back toward the ocean, hoping for—I don’t know. For Angel Guy to pop out of thin air and reveal himself?

“I still think you should see a doctor. We hear so many stories of people hitting their heads and thinking they’re fine, when they sustain major head injuries and—”

“Leah, quit worrying. You’re worse than my mom.” Mom has never really liked me spending most of my free time hitting the waves. I guess as her only daughter, she wants someone more…like her. A daughter who would go shopping with her and give her fashion advice and stay up into the early hours of the morning talking about guys.

Leah stops in front of Misty’s Juice Bar, the place she’s currently working at, and faces me. “You’re just so reckless, Cass. I know I’m not a great surfer, but even I know you shouldn’t have been in the ocean with those waves.”

I press my lips together.

She touches my arm. “I know you’re still hurting from the breakup with Kyle—”

“We are
not
talking about that.” I nod toward the shop. “Your boss is giving you the death glare. I’ll see you later, okay?”

Rubbing my head, I notice the pain is almost completely gone. I squint toward the ocean. It’s wishful thinking, hoping my board will somehow emerge. Chances are it’s in pieces at the bottom of the ocean.

My eyes move to the sky, which is growing a little gray and cloudy. We’ll probably have a storm later today or tonight.

When I enter my beach house, a familiar scent tickles my nose.

“Mom?” I hurry into the kitchen and find her sitting at the table, munching on a chocolate bar and flipping through a magazine. I take in her familiar chin-length, dyed red hair and light pink nail polish.

“Cassie!” She stands and pulls me into her arms. I bury my face into the side of her neck, feeling the stiffness of her business suit against my arms. She’s been gone for over two weeks. As much as I enjoyed the freedom, I missed her terribly.

She steps out of the hug and studies me like she hasn’t seen me in years. “You look great, honey. Except, what happened to your head?” She reaches to touch the bump, but I move back.

“Oh, nothing. I tripped on the stairs. So um, how was your trip?”

“Busy, but good.”

I peer into the living room, where her suitcases are lined against the wall. “Need help unpacking?”

She bites her lower lip, regret clouding her eyes.

My heart sinks. “You’re leaving again?”

She sighs and drops down on the chair, running her hands through her hair. “I fly out again tonight. Sorry, Cass.”

I walk to the cupboard and rummage around until I find my gummy worms. Mom works in sales. She travels all over the country selling a new line of women’s cosmetics. It’s been her dream job ever since she started college. Then I came along when she was in her last semester and ruined her plans. She got her degree, but had to kiss the dream goodbye. Dad was chivalrous and married her, but he left us when I was ten. Not very chivalrous. Now that I’m eighteen and will start college in the fall, Mom can finally live her dream.

I stick a worm between my teeth and slice it in half. She was a complete mess when my dad left us, and now she’s finally putting her life back together. I can’t take that away from her, no matter how much I miss her.

She gets to her feet and takes me in her arms again. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I didn’t think I’d have to travel this much.” She draws back and looks into my eyes. “You know you’re always welcome at Uncle Jim and Aunt Lisa’s and the gang if you get too lonely. And Leah’s parents would love to have you over any time.”

I don’t say anything, just continue to devour my worms. I stayed with Leah the first few times my mom was away. We had a blast. But after a while, I wanted my mom. That’s how it’s been for the last few years of my life—just Mom and me. But I suppose I need to get used to this, to the future. College, a real job, my own apartment.

She touches one of my blonde braids that’s curled over my shoulder. “And there’s always your dad.”

I push away from her.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” She reaches for me again and plays with the bottom of my braid. “He’s trying, Cass. At least give him a chance.”

“Mom—”

“That’s all I’m going to say. Just to give him a chance.”

I clench my teeth.

Mom squeezes my shoulder. “We have the next six hours to spend together. Let’s make the most of it. What do you say?”

I force a smile onto my lips. “Okay.”

Buy now from Amazon