Bound (Secrets of the Djinn) Read Online Free PDF Page B

have.  The library carpet was fine this morning according to Hank and Grams.”
    “What are you thinking, gremlins?” Zane teases.  He’s sitting next to me on the bed now , being careful not to jostle me.
    Brielle shrugs off his comment.  “Seriously, something’s wrong, I can feel it.”
    “Sympathy pains?” I ask, trying to smile.
    She snorts.  “Please.”
    I should tell her about the feeling of being pushed I had both times I fell, but the idea of invisible gremlins causing my accidents is ridiculous.  I shake my head.  “Like you said, I’m just a klutz.  I wasn’t watching where I was going and I tripped and then I was careless with the crutches.  That’s all there is to it.”
    “Drink up,” Roman instructs, handing me a glass of whiskey.
    I glance down at the glass and then back up at him.  “I feel stupid sitting here drinking alone.”
    Brielle grins and leaves the room.  She returns shortly with two more glasses.  To Roman, she says, “Sorry, Doc, you’d better stay sober.  We don’t want her arm to fall off when you try to treat it drunk.”
    Roman chuckles.  “You are very wise.”  Tossing clothes onto the floor, Roman clears off the one chair in the room and has a seat.  “Drink away.”
    After filling her s and Zane’s glasses, Brielle holds hers up in a toast.  “To the most delicate flower I’ve ever met.”
    “Brielle,” Zane growls.
    I pat him with my good hand.  “She’s just teasing.”  She’s not, but I don’t want them to argue.
    Sipping my whiskey, I enjoy the burn as it flows down my throat.  After several more sips, the alcohol is doing its job.  I didn’t eat much for breakfast so the whiskey has a clear path to my bloodstream.  My body is growing warm and the throbbing in my wrist is dulling slightly.
    “Another toast,” Brielle says, raising her glass into the awkward silence . “To defeating the djinn.”
    “I second that,” Zane says.  He downs the rest of his whiskey in one gulp.
    Brielle eyes my glass.  “Quit being a pansy, drink up,”
    “I still feel stupid trying to get drunk in front of you guys,” I admit.
    “Alright, let’s play a game for shots,” Zane says, a wicked gleam in his eye.
    “What kind of game?”  I ask.  I suppose I can rule out anything too risqué since his sister is playing.
    Reaching over to the nightstand, Zane opens a drawer and pulls out a deck of cards.  “Black jack, loser does a shot.”  He deals out two cards to each of us, one up and one down.  “Skye, hit or stay?”
    I peek at my cards.  I have a king and a five.  “Hit.”
    Zane flips over a card and places a two on top of the five showing.  “Stay,” I say, knowing I’m going to lose.
    After getting another card Brielle ends up at nineteen.  Zane has a ten and a king.  “Do your shot,” Brielle says with glee. 
    After a few more rounds, I’m not the only one getting drunk.  While we play our game and drink our whiskey, Roman sits in the chair watching.  Watching me, actually.  I feel his eyes on me and I want to tell him to look at something else, but I don’t want to bring Zane’s attention to it.  I do my best to ignore his scrutinizing gaze.
    Half an hour later, Roman decides I’ve had enough whiskey.  He sits next to me on the bed.  “Are you ready?” he asks.
    Stupid question.  “No.”  My vowel sound is drawn out into a slight slur.
    Ignoring my response to his apparently rhetorical question, he says to Brielle, “I need you to hold her legs down.”
    Brielle shakes her head.  “No way am I getting kicked in the face.”
    “He didn’t’ say ‘lay your face on her legs’,” Zane says.  “Just sit on them.”  Brielle ponders her options for a moment before moving farther onto the bed so she can sit on my legs.
    “Ow,” I whine.  “My knees aren’t supposed to bend that way.”
    “Damn delicate flower,” Brielle grumbles under her breath but she moves off my knees.
    “What do you