Page 18 of Enslaved By Magic

Chapter 8

Amari

She thought about telling him about her afternoon in the park while she prepared dinner. Of course, she’d leave out the whole fantasy about having his children, that was her own guilty little secret, but she was curious about how he’d react to her treatment of the strange man. Her instincts told her Luke was a decent guy, maybe better than most, but how he reacted would tell her a lot.

It was a kind of test of his temperament and she was curious to see what he’d say. She decided she’d bring it up while they ate—but when dinner was done and on the table, Luke still wasn’t home. His schedule was heavy, but she’d gotten used to him arriving about the same time each night, so she was a little surprised. Another half-hour passed and she was just deciding to put the meal in the oven on low to keep everything warm when the door opened.

“Oh, there you are!” She set the plate she was holding back down on the table. “I wasn’t sure how long you were going to be, and things were getting cold,” she said. She wasn’t trying to sound like a scolding wife, but he apologized anyway.

“Sorry, I stopped by my uncle’s house to get some advice and it took longer than I expected,” Luke said, explaining the delay as he dropped his things and made his way to the table.

She took a seat, head cocked. “Advice about what?” she asked.

He sat down across from her and she could tell when the aroma from the home-cooked meal hit him because his stomach groaned audibly. He grimaced at the embarrassingly loud noise, but immediately began filling his plate with some of everything. He’d learned to be careful about anything that might be spicy, and she’d learned to warn him, so he wasn’t afraid to try anything.

He hesitated, looking like he wasn’t sure if he should tell her or not. “Well, about you, I guess. About the whole wish thing. My family comes from around where the stories about jinn originated. At least my mom’s parents did, so I thought her brother might be able to—”

“To tell you if I was dangerous? Or lying?” She shrugged. “I probably know most of the same stories he does—but I told you I’m not a jinn. Just a poor cursed human.”

“Okay, but to be fair that’s probably something a jinn would say. I mean, they are known for being tricky,” Luke pointed out.

“Tricky yes, but I don’t think they can lie directly. At least I can’t, not to the owner of the bottle. You.” She looked down, cutting a small piece of meat as she considered this. She wasn’t offended he would ask someone for advice, or even that he had concerns. She probably would too in his place. She just wasn’t sure how to convince him.

“Well, he recommended I make the first wish, since that would at least clear up part of things. If you’re not a genie, it’s going to be obvious pretty quickly if you can’t grant it,” Luke said.

Her head shot up. “Really? You’re ready to make a wish?” She could barely suppress her excitement. Finally, progress was being made toward her freedom.

He nodded. “I think so. I mean I’m not sure what to wish for yet, but yeah.” He seemed to be contemplating that since he went quiet, concentrating on eating dinner and then when he did speak again, the conversation turned toward what she had cooked, and what flavors he was tasting.

She answered his questions with some impatience since she desperately wanted to talk more about the wishing and not about which spices were in each recipe, but he didn’t seem to notice that. “It’s just fennel and ginger in that one,” she said with a long sigh, hoping to make it obvious she wanted to go back to the important topic.

“It tastes like something my mother used to make. Is it lamb?” Luke asked. He placed a bite in his mouth and closed his eyes as though savoring the flavor.

Amari nodded, and then paused, almost afraid to ask the obvious question. “Is she… did she pass on?” She held her breath waiting for the answer.

Luke’s eyes opened and he laughed, shaking his head. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that she got remarried five years ago, and she moved to Canada with her new husband. I’ve only seen her once since then, but she seems happy when we talk on the phone.”

“Oh, that’s good! I’m glad, that’s she’s happy I mean. It must be hard for you though, without much family around—except your uncle?” She tilted her head questioningly and tried not to show any of the sadness that was creeping into her heart. Talk of family always made her melancholy since her own was lost to her forever.

“Uncle and aunt, but we’re pretty close. Mom and I lived with them when I was growing up, so they helped raise me. I guess it was easier when she moved since I still had them. This is their house actually.” He waved an arm to encompass the room. “They rent it to me cheap. Which is great because my student loans bills are pretty high,” he said.

It had always seemed odd to her, these Americans with their broken families. Growing up, moving away, spreading out across the country. But maybe it wasn’t just America; the world was smaller these days. When she’d been young, it had seemed so vast. Families stayed together, several generations in the same house most of the time. She couldn’t fathom being fine with her mother living in another country—not if there was a choice.

Student loans weren’t something she was familiar with either, but there were so many things she didn’t understand. Asking questions constantly got frustrating, so she’d learned to simply make a mental note and then research it later. With the computer, this had become so simple that she rarely needed to question him at all, but there was one question the Internet couldn’t answer.

“You haven’t mentioned your father,” she said with just the slightest hint of a question there, so he could disregard it if he chose.

She, more than anyone, knew what a touchy subject lost family could be, and she noticed the sudden tenseness in his frame. “Not in the picture. I never knew him,” he said in a deliberately bland tone, and she couldn’t help wondering about that.

“Oh. I see.” She didn’t really but she had no intention of pushing. Besides, with all the changes in society, maybe not knowing your father was normal now. It would be something else to research later.

“About my aunt and uncle, um, my aunt would like to meet you,” Luke said awkwardly. He set down his fork and gave her his full attention, and she suddenly realized he’d been guiding the conversation this way for a reason.

“Me? Why—does she want to see what a genie looks like?” Amari asked.

“No, she doesn’t know. I talked to my uncle about everything, but I didn’t explain it to her. She um—she thinks you’re my girlfriend, so she wants you to come over for dinner. She was really happy I was seeing someone, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her you were just…” he trailed off there, looking unsure how of how to finish that sentence.

One eyebrow went up and Amari snorted a laugh. “That I was just a slave? That you owned me? Or that I was cursed to grant wishes but never get my own filled? Yes, I can see how that might be a little difficult to explain.” The words weren’t angry or sarcastic, not this time. She was amused and didn’t mind him seeing it.

---