CHAPTER 14

Mac

TECHNICALLY, I DID GRANT ALY’S wish. I stayed away but only so far that she couldn’t see me. I couldn’t leave her completely no matter what she wished. Not until she made her final wish.

I would be lying if I didn’t say her wish had hurt. I thought we were getting along well. Beside the fact that I had originally planned on seducing her just to get out of there, I found myself wanting to be with her. So, I followed her.

I watched from across the street, glamoured as a normal-looking fellow; one of the few abilities I was able to use outside of wish granting. Why it wasn’t included in the rules, I didn’t know. Maybe to protect myself from being seen? Either way, I didn’t like to think much about it, in case suddenly I couldn’t do it anymore.

When Aly went home, I waited outside of her building. I might have been able to glamour myself but I didn’t think Aly would just ignore a random person coming into her home. It took several mind-numbing hours before she finally exited the building and it took everything in me not to drag her back into the apartment.

She was stunning. I’d never seen her this way before. While she looked great in anything, she had really put an effort in her appearance. I wished she had dressed for me and not to go out with Jade.

Following after her at a safe distance, I admired the way her dress hugged her backside and outlined the long length of her legs. I remembered what it felt like to have those legs wrapped around me. I hoped to have them doing so again very soon.

The place Aly and Jade were meeting at was a small establishment, but was already bustling with patrons. A long line trailed out of the door and I watched with growing interest as Aly approached Jade. But Jade wasn’t alone.

The man with his arm wrapped around Jade’s waist had to be her beau Gregory, but the other two were clearly unattached. Their eyes roamed Aly’s form with appreciation. The redhead had the decency to keep to himself but the other one blatantly came on to Aly, making me see red. I wanted to step in to tell him . . .What exactly? I had no claim on her. Sure, we’d kissed and then some, but I was just a genie. He, like her, was human.

So I stood by and watched as the almost-balding man leered at Aly, as he took the seat next to her before the other man could, and then proceeded to insult Aly’s profession.

I’d taken a table a few feet away, so I could still hear what was going on without getting caught. But I must have been staring too hard because Aly almost caught me. I used my magic to glamour the table so the waitress didn’t bother me. Instead of a single person seated and not drinking, she thought it was full of females all with full drinks. She’d brush it off as them being slow drinkers.

By time Aly and her friends were prepared to leave I was ready to fall asleep. I didn’t know humans could drink so much. It was no wonder so many of them died young. I shook my head and followed after Jade as she tried to get an intoxicated Aly back to her apartment.

I’d almost had to intervene as the blue-haired woman tried to get Aly up the stairs,. Aly was a tired drunk and kept almost knocking Jade on her ass. I wondered, not for the first time, where the men were. They should have been helping Jade get Aly home, but when Jade had said as much they made their excuses and headed in the other direction.

Lazy bastards.

When Jade reached Aly’s apartment I decided I’d hidden for long enough. I materialized inside her apartment and opened the door from just as Jade put the key in the door. Jade’s worried expression changed to relief as soon as she saw me in the doorway.

“Thank God,” she exclaimed and shoved Aly’s bag and keys at me, “I forgot how much of a lightweight she is.” Jade glanced down at Aly where she had passed out against the wall beside the door.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her,” I moved into the hallway and gathered Aly up in my arms. She barely weighed anything and I found it funny that Jade had had such a hard time with her.

“I think I should stay,” Jade said after a moment, coming into the apartment behind me. I shrugged and let her do what she wanted while I took Aly over to her bed.

Pulling the covers back, I laid her down gently. Maneuvering her shoes proved to be a challenge and earned me a grumbled curse from a drunken Aly, which made me smile. I slipped her leg beneath the blanket and covered her up. Immediately, she turned over and curled into a ball. I ached to wrap myself around her but remembered we weren’t alone.

Moving away from the bed, I turned to Jade who was looking around the apartment in awe. “She cleaned.”

Glancing around I saw what she was talking about. The books had been picked up and placed in neat piles. The clothes that had littered the ground were stacked in a basket, or up in the open closet. Seeing it made me sad. If she had been upset enough to clean so thoroughly, she must have really been hurting and I hadn’t been there for her.

She didn’t want you there, a voice in my head said. I pushed it aside and said, “Did you need something else?”

Jade shot a look at Aly snoring away in the bed, and then suspicion filled her gaze, “Are you even supposed to be here? Where were you before?”

I rubbed the back of my neck and made something up on the spot, “I had family business to attend to so I couldn’t go out with you guys.”

“Then what are you doing here now?” she pointed an accusatory finger at me.

I dug into my pocket and pulled out the spare key Aly had given me before. “I have a key. Obviously, Aly doesn’t care if I’m here.”

Lips pressed together in a thin line, Jade nodded, “Fine, I’m taking your word for it. But you’d better not try anything. She’s vulnerable right now, and doesn’t need you horn dogging on her.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her description. “Don’t worry, I won’t touch her. I’ll just sleep on the couch in case she needs anything. Then I’ll be gone in the morning.”

“If you say so,” Jade walked over to the apartment door but paused at it, “You better be good to her. She’s been hurt too much already.”

I didn’t give her a response because whatever I said might end up being a lie. I probably wasn’t good for her. In fact, I knew I wasn’t. We weren’t even the same species and once she made her last wish I wouldn’t see her again.

After Jade left, I did exactly as I’d promised Though I hated it, I laid down on the lumpy couch and tried to get some sleep.

About half way through the night, I was awakened by Aly throwing up over the side of her bed. My nose crinkled in disgust, but I went to the bathroom and retrieved a wet washcloth and a towel.

I tossed the towel on the floor over the vomit and then sat on the bed. I held the wash cloth out to her. She looked at it and then her head moved up until it was aimed at me.

“Mac?” she croaked.

“Yes, it’s me,” I answered and thrust the wash cloth into her hand. She took it her expression filled with gratitude, and I went to fetch her a glass of water. Glass in hand, I sat next to her on the bed. Switching out the wash cloth for the water, I lifted her hair to cool off the back of her neck. An old trick I’d learned from one of my masters; a doctor and very good at what he did.

We sat there in the dimly lit apartment while Aly drank from the water. I took the silence as a good sign. She didn’t yell at me to leave, or demand to know what I was doing there. It was possible that she was just too sick to bother with me.

“I thought you weren’t coming back,” Aly said after a moment.

“Sadly, no matter how much you wish it I won’t leave until you make your final wish.” While saying the words I realized how much I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay by Aly’s side. No matter what that meant for me and my kingdom.

“I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it,” Aly put her hand on my arm and I placed mine on top of hers and squeezed.

“I know you didn’t.” We were quiet again and before it could become awkward, I stood from the bed and started back over to the couch.

“Mac,” Aly’s voice stopped me.

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you sleep on the bed with me?” The question hung in the air between us. I knew what it meant to humans if I shared a bed with her but did she really mean it?

At my hesitation, Aly added quickly, “Just to sleep. I don’t think anyone would want to kiss me right now.”

I chuckled and moved over to the other side of the bed. “I don’t know about that. Having partaken in such an activity, I think many would be willing to look past the bad breath.”

Giving a small giggle, Aly lay back down next to me. We remained that way for a few minutes each on our own side of the bed. Then Aly surprised me by moving over to my side. She placed an arm over my chest and one leg entangled with my own.

“Just sleeping. Got it?” she pointed a finger at me.

“Understood.” I wrapped an hand around her and she snuggled into the crook of my arm. Closing my eyes, I listened to her breathing and the scent of her hair filled my nose. As I drifted to sleep I thought. I could get used to this.