Jack and Djinn (The Houri Legends, #1)(43)

Ben was speechless at her outburst, staring with comical sadness at his ruined flat-screen. “You crazy bitch,” he finally said, “look what you did to my TV! That thing cost me two thousand dollars!”

“I don’t give two shits about your TV, Ben!” she screamed.

“God, Miriam, you’ve really lost it, haven’t you?” He shoved her out of the way, and she could see his anger starting to rise. He’d actually thought he’d won her back, as if she would just come crawling back to him like a little puppy dog.

“Yes! I’ve finally lost it, Ben. You crashed Jack’s sister’s wedding. You hurt Jack, Jimmy, and William, and you probably would’ve hit Gramps if he hadn’t hit you first.”

“Gramps? What are they, your family now? And he hit me. I don’t hit old men.”

“Yes, they’re like family to me. And Gramps is more of a man than you could ever hope to be.”

“You’re starting to piss me off, Miriam. I promised myself I was done hitting you, but you’re making it hard to keep that promise.” Ben turned away from her, righting the TV.

“You think I care if you hit me? I’m used to it. Go ahead. Nothing matters anymore. I walked away from the man I love to keep you from hurting him or his family.” She hadn’t meant to say that, but it had popped out, and she realized how deeply she meant it.

“The man you love?” Ben whirled back to her, fist raised. Miriam didn’t flinch. “You’ve known him for what, two weeks? Three? What about me?”

Miriam laughed, a harsh cough of sarcasm. “You? You think I ever loved you? I was afraid of you, Ben. The only reason I ever stayed with you, the only reason I ever let you f*ck me, was because I was afraid of you. Because I didn’t think I was worth anything else. And then I met Jack, and he showed me how a real man loves.”

That one hurt him; Miriam could see the rage steeping in him, coming to a boil. “You little slut. You cheating little whore!”

She chose her next words with care, wanting them to dig deep. “Making love with Jack was the best thing I’ve ever felt. He knows what I want and how to give it to me. He’s a bigger, better man than you in every…single…way.” She hadn’t really, technically, had sex with Jack yet, but Ben didn’t need to know that. Besides, it was the quickest way to hurt him.

Primal fury filled Ben’s eyes, and his fists clenched, lifted. Miriam tilted her head back, keeping her hands at her sides. Let him do it, then. She didn’t care. She could use the fire inside to protect herself, but why bother? She’d brought what was coming on herself with her words, and she refused to use her magic to protect herself. Miriam almost laughed out loud, thinking how easily the word “magic” came to her now. She had magic. She was a creature of fire. She didn’t know where it had come from, or why it hadn’t protected her before, or how she had gotten it, and that was a set of questions that needed answering.

But not now.

She waited, expecting a blow that never came. Chest heaving with anger, Ben grabbed Miriam by the shoulders, his fingers digging into her arms. He wrenched open his door and threw her out, hard enough that she slammed against the far wall.

“Get out of here. Get out before I kill you.” The rage in his eyes was murderous, but he seemed in more control of it than she’d ever seen him. She didn’t question it, though. She turned and fled, hearing the door slam behind her.

Some instinct in Miriam’s gut told her this wasn’t over. Ben wouldn’t let this go, not this easily. Not after the things she’d said.

The walk home was long, and by the time she reached her door, her bare feet were bleeding.

She let them bleed. She didn’t care.





Chapter 14





Miriam

Four days earlier





Miriam called Larry and told him she needed some time off. He didn’t like it, and liked even less that she wouldn’t explain why, but he knew her well enough to grant it. She’d worked for him for a long time and had never taken a single day off, so to ask for two full weeks off meant something serious was going on.

“Hey, if there’s anything I can do….” Larry said before hanging up.

“Thanks, Larry, I’ll be fine. I just…need to figure some things out.”

“Okay, if you say so. But seriously, Miriam, call me if you need anything. You know I’m here for you.”

Miriam knew he meant well, but he wouldn’t be able to handle the trouble she was in. He wouldn’t know where to start. Neither did she, if she was honest. A million questions were banging around in her head like moths trapped in a lampshade, and she had answers to none of them.

Who was she? If she had all this magic inside her, where did it come from? This wasn’t a book or a movie. Magic wasn’t real. But the things she’d seen herself do were undeniable. What about her parents? Had her magic come from them? They’d never seemed anything but totally ordinary to her. Had they adopted her and never told her? But no, she’d seen her birth certificate from the hospital in Beirut with her parents’ signatures on it. She’d seen pictures of herself as an infant in her father’s arms—she looked just like him, got her dark brown eyes from him, her thin nose and full lips from him. If not from her parents, then where was this fire inside coming from?