19. Boshun

Iwoke sometime later, unsure what pulled me out of the best rest I'd had in ages.

Jasmine slept, and I rose up onto my elbow, watching her for a while. If only we could stay together forever. It was greedy of me. I'd never wish for her to be trapped inside the lamp with me for multiple lifetimes.

Rising, I removed the food I'd magicked for her. If she was hungry when she woke, I could create new. She could have whatever she wanted, from exquisite cuts of meat to the rarest cheeses, fruits, and vegetables. As for sweets, those too could be crafted to fit any whim.

That was the problem. She didn't have whims. She only wanted things that would make everyone else's life better.

I'd never met anyone who didn't think of themselves first. No wonder I'd loved her almost from the moment I met her. She gave all of herself, even to me. Taking wasn't in her makeup.

Movement from the open doorway caught my eye, and my pulse surged. I slipped from the bed and tugged on my pants. After covering Jasmine with a light blanket, I left the room, following the subtle sounds coming from my gym. Inside, I found Cardia lifting weights, her back facing me.

"Sit," she said. "Or work out. It's one of your favorite things to do, correct?"

"It helps me pass the time."

Her gaze flicked over her shoulder, darting down my frame, and she licked her upper lip. "It's paid off."

I didn't need her appreciation, or conversation, for that matter. "Why are you here?"

"Perhaps I wanted to see the pretty cage I'd placed you in."

"Why now?"

Her eyes darted to the open doorway.

"Leave her out of this," I snarled. "I mean it."

"Don't threaten me or you won't like what I might do." She curled a weight up to her shoulder, then slowly lowered it, straightening her arm. After repeating the process, she switched to the other arm, making one curl after another. "I'm more powerful than you, and it would be unwise of you to make me angry."

"What will you do? Trap me in a dinged-up lamp for a lifetime?"

"I could take her from you, make sure she never remembers you."

"Don't toy with her or me."

"Give me what I ask, and I'll free you."

"You don't want me," I said. "You only want to conquer someone who refused you. Forcing it won't give you what you seek."

"You don't know what I seek." Her gaze darted from mine. "No one knows what I want or need, and they never will. Why give anyone a weapon they could use against me?"

"Leave." I pivoted on my heel and strode to the door.

"What if I could free you?" She threw it out to tease me, taunt me.

Pausing, I turned back. "You've always been able to free me."

"True, though I didn't want to for a very long time. I've enjoyed thinking of you being subject to the whim of whoever held the lamp. Don't you enjoy being forced to grant wishes?"

"You know I don't enjoy this." She had no other reason to trap me here than to make me suffer.

"Humans are such silly creatures. Give me jewels, they say," she mocked. "Endless bolts of silk for my pretty dresses. A herd of the most exclusive horses. Petty possessions for those who are even more petty than their wishes."

"They're humans. It's their way."

Her gaze slid to where Jasmine slept. "Why fall in love with one of them, then?"

"You know she's different. That's why you employed her and then sent her to the palace. But claiming the lamp won't give you what you want. Nothing will."

"I want the lamp, and I'll find a way to get it. But I don't intend to force you to grant me wishes."

I snorted. "That's good because I won't give them to you. In that, I still have some will of my own." I'd learned how to squeak around the rules. "Why do you want the lamp?"

"What if I told you I intend to destroy it?"

"And kill me?"

"You won't die."

I'd be trapped forever. And if the lamp was destroyed, no one would rub it, and I wouldn't be given even the occasional reprieve to grant wishes.

"How can I escape this trap?" I asked.

"Find someone else who agrees to take it from you."

"You forced me. I never agreed."

"Oh, but you did. Think . . ." The smile she gave me made frost shoot through my body.

A memory plucked at my mind. Me, a foolish young wizard attending a magical college. I'd gone drinking in a pub near the campus. Somehow, I took the wrong hall to reach the back door. Stumbling into an office, perhaps that of the pub's owner, my eyes were sucked toward the sofa along one wall, to the naked couple entwined in a deep embrace. Cardia rode him, her arms around his neck while she whispered in his ear.

The lamp sat on the desk.

"Join us," she'd called out, her eyes traveling up and down my frame.

"I'm sorry. I thought this was the way out." I started backing into the hall, but a flick of her hand froze me in place.

Despite my training, I was unable to break her spell.

"There's only one way out," she said softly. "And I believe you'll do nicely in that role. I'd like to shed it for a bit, though I might want it back."

The door slammed shut behind me, and she peeled herself off the man. He slumped sideways, and he wasn't breathing.

Naked, she stalked toward me. "I know you, Boshun. I've watched you."

I tilted my head, studying her face, before I realized who she was. "You're Cardia, the head of the school board." One of the most powerful witches in our land. She had an attractive body, but her soul was tainted. I'd never desire her in the way she demanded.

"You have a lot of potential." She waggled a finger my way, and a band of magic traveled from the tip, gliding down my body.

While I remained locked in place, she sauntered closer. "Join with me, and we'll rule the world."

"No." At least I could make my mouth work.

With a flick of her hand, she bound my wrists and ankles and pinned me to the door.

"Witch," I bellowed. "Release me!"

"I'll let you go if you agree to join with me in every way possible." Her fingertip teased along my neck and chest, stopping at the opening of my tunic. "Say yes, and I'll not only make it worth your while, but I'll also make sure you never regret giving in to my request."

"Never." She may take away everything that was me, but she wouldn't take my will or my ability to control my own fate.

She pouted and ground her fingernail into my chest. "Yes is such a simple word."

I looked her in the eye. "No."

Wrenched back to the present, I growled. "I'll never give in to your demands."

"A silly man has replaced the silly boy you were back then, I see."

"Not silly enough to agree."

"And now you live with regret."

"Not regret." I sighed. "Never that. I live with a need for vengeance."

"One you'll never find, and thus, you're still a silly man."

A sound echoed behind us. Jasmine waking up?

"Humans are much too fragile," Cardia said with a sly smile.

"If you harm her or anyone she cares for, I'll find a way to make you pay forever."

"Now you're threatening me?" Her smile lifted completely, though her eyes remained sly. "You're trapped inside a lamp, subject to the whim of simple people who don't understand the true value of the gifts you bestow upon them. I'm the one with power here, not you."

"That's not exactly true." Incredible power came with the lamp. Enough to control a witch if only for a short time?

A blink, and I'd bound her with magical ties even she couldn't spirit away or loosen. When she shrieked, I secured a thick cloth around her mouth.

I stood over her while she lay on the floor trussed up by my magic. If only I could make her remain bound forever.

"Never threaten Jasmine," I growled. "You won't like what I'll do to get even."

Another blink, and I'd sent her from the lamp. After encasing it with magic to keep her from returning, I released her binds. As much as I'd love to leave her secured in a dungeon until she rotted, I wasn't cruel.

Perhaps if I was, I'd find a way to kill her.

Even if that meant I'd still be trapped inside the lamp.