Free The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury Page A

the corners of his lips turning slightly upward, as if amused. “You took down the Bull like he was no bigger than a goat. Who are you? Why haven’t I heard of you before?”
    The girl drops to a crouch in front of Aladdin, pulling out a dagger and twirling it idly while she locks eyes with him. “A few weeks ago, I hired you to steal something. And now I want it.”
    â€œWhat?” He looks around at the girls, bewildered. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never met you before. And I certainly didn’t steal anything—”
    The girl presses the dagger to Aladdin’s cheek, and he stiffens.
    â€œThe ring,” she says softly. “Where is it?”
    Aladdin lifts an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you work for
Xaxos
. I’d definitely have heard of you if you do.”
    â€œI don’t work for Xaxos,” she replies, lowering the dagger. “Xaxos works for me.”
    He digests this in silence, shock turning to skepticism. “Are you saying that
you’re
the Phoenix? You’re the mysterious rebel who set those prisoners free and stopped a plague?”
    â€œWe helped her,” says Ensi, pouting a little. “I don’t know why they couldn’t call us the Phoenix
es
. I’m the one who made all those little bottles of medicine, remember?”
    â€œHush, Ensi,” says the leader. To Aladdin, she replies, “It’s complicated, all right? But I
am
the one Xaxos works for, and I
am
the one you have to answer to for not giving me that ring!”
    â€œThe Phoenix,” Aladdin repeats, shaking his head a little. “
The
Phoenix. Does Xaxos know you’re a girl half his age?” He laughs. “I’d love to see his face—”
    â€œHow long is this going to take?” the archer asks suddenly. “They’ll notice we’re gone.”
    â€œThere
are
faster ways of interrogating someone,” says the one with the snake. She opens her cloak, and the viper coils down her arm, tongue flickering. I stiffen in Ensi’s arms, my hackles rising. The snake lifts its head and glares at me; animals are never fooled by jinn disguises.
    â€œHush, Khavar,” the leader is saying. “Raz, go stand outside, in case any guards get curious.”
    The archer nods and heads to the door, looping her bow over her shoulder. Khavar keeps glaring at Aladdin, her snake coiling around her arm and resting its head on the back of her hand.
    Aladdin swallows hard, his eyes fixed on the reptile. “Look, even if what you say is true, I don’t have the ring. Maybe Xaxos didn’t pass on the message, but I never had it to begin with. Not that I didn’t
try
.” He laughs and lifts a shoulder. “I
am
the best thief in—”
    â€œYou’re lying.” The leader stands up and crosses her arms. “Two nights after I had Xaxos hire a thief to steal the ring, Darian rode out like a madman in the middle of the night, his best soldiers with him. He hasn’t been seen for days. There’s only one object he would go to such lengths to recover. You
did
steal that ring, and now you’re going to give it to me.”
    â€œWhat do you want with it?” he asks. “Who
are
you? A revolutionary? A thief? What’s your name?”
    The girl only stares at Aladdin, her brow creasing. She seems to waver for a moment, then she looks up at one of her girls and nods.
    â€œNessa, tell him.”
    Nessa, the quietest of the group, steps behind the leader and pronounces in a low voice, “Aladdin rai Mustapha, pay your respects to your king’s daughter, your princess, and your sovereign, Caspida nez Anadredca of Parthenia, Heiress to the Throne, Jewel of the Amulens, the Beloved of the Gods, and First Daughter of the Anadredcan Dynasty.”
    Startled to my core, I stare with new eyes at Caspida. I have known an Anadredca before: Queen Roshana Mithraya