Djinn Boyfriend: Horirem #1 (special preview)

“Where am I?” He snarls with a voice like stone.

“My house?” My voice cracks from nerves.

He raises my arm and sniffs at my wrist. His cold nose travels down my arm until his face is buried in my neck. He breathes me in there then nuzzles his nose into my hair.

“What is that smell?” He asks.

I’m too afraid to do anything, I just stand there like some statue. “Coconut hibiscus?”

The lion stares into my eyes again. “And who are you?”

“I uh-” My hand starts to tremble in his grasp. “I’m Hazel.”

He looks at my hand then holds it more gently. “Well, Lady Hazel, do you know what you have done?”

I try to swallow but the lump forming in my throat won’t let me. “You’re not Satan, are you?”

The lion chuckles. “My name is Horirem and I have been sealed in that tomb for centuries. You’ve set me free.”

“And that’s…” my eyes dart over him again. “That’s good?”

Horirem lets go of my hand and places a kiss on my forehead. “I am indebted to you, Lady Hazel.” He replies. “I have wishes I can grant you.”

“Wishes?” I blink several times. “Wishes?” I start to laugh. “You mean like a genie? Like Aladdin?”

“I do not know who this Aladdin is, but I was cursed to be a djinn.” Horirem places his hand over his broad chest. 

“What did you do?” I take a cautious step away from him.

Horirem lowers his head. “I put my faith in the wrong people and they used it against me.” He then looks back around my kitchen. He picks up one of my plants and looks it over. “I once served no one, but now I must serve a master, or it is back into my tomb I go.”

I pick up the artifact from the floor. It has split in two and the inside is all raw ruby. It is jagged and sharp, looking like some sort of lovely iron maiden. I look back at Horirem, who is sniffing a pot of aloe.

“So you’re not some sort of evil demon?” I feel stupid asking it.

Horirem’s lip curls and he snarls at me. “I should say not!” He scoffs in offense. “Why would you even say such a thing?”

“Well, it’s just that-” I shake my head and stop myself. “It doesn’t matter. But uhm...You say you grant wishes? How many?”

A grim look crosses Horirem’s face and he clinches his jaw tight. “My curse won’t be lifted until I grant tens of hundreds of thousands.”

“So a million,” I set the object on the table. “Do I get all of those?”

“Until you tire of me and seal me away.” He points to the object. “Or you die.”