He makes a face and tosses the flower at me. It lands on my cheek, and I pick it up and twirl it between my fingers. I could lie out here all day, not moving an inch, feeling the sun above and the grass below. With a contented sigh, I stretch my arms wide, raking the grass with my fingers—and find myself brushing Aladdin’s hand with my own. I pull it away quickly, my cheeks warming. He laughs a little.“Sometimes,” he says, “I forget you’re supposed to be four thousand years old. You act as shy as a girl of sixteen.”“I do not!” I sit up and glare at him. He grins and shrugs, sliding his hands under his head. There are bits of grass stuck in his hair, and after a moment’s hesitation, I reach over and flick them away. Aladdin watches me silently, his throat bobbing as he swallows. I drop my gaze.

— Jessica Khoury

I always knew it would end like this. It always does. There’s no point in fighting it, Aladdin. It is simply the way of things.”“I can’t accept that.”“You must.”“How can you just give up? How can you say that?” His eyes light up, and he takes the lamp from his sash and grips it so tightly his knuckles whiten. “Earlier, before you kissed me, I was about to wish for your freedom.” I leap to my feet. “Aladdin, you must not do that. You must never even think it!”“Why is that so bad? You’d be free.”“It’s called the Forbidden Wish for a reason!”“By whom? Marduk? Let him come. I have a few things I’d like to say to him.”“I forbid it. Aladdin. If anything we have done together means anything to you, please, please trust me now. Don’t make that wish. It is the worst wish you can make. It is—it will break my heart.”“What is it?” he asks softly. “What is it you’re not telling me? What happens if I wish for your freedom?” I stand trembling, the words clawing at my throat, until I can hold them back no more.“Like all wishes, the Forbidden Wish comes at a price. My freedom must be bought with a death, a life paid in sacrifice. And I will not let you make that sacrifice, not for me.

— Jessica Khoury

I do, and the now-familiar warmth of his lips steadies me. He tastes of salt and the wine we shared with the others at our small farewell party. Aladdin pulls away first and lifts one of my hands to his lips, kissing the delicate henna patterns on my skin, then turning my arm over to kiss the inside of my wrist. The ship’s crew makes themselves busy on the other side of the ship, giving us privacy.“You’re the most beautiful girl in the world,” Aladdin murmurs. “Have I ever told you that?”“Enough to make me wonder if your father was a parrot.

— Jessica Khoury

I feel shock splinter through him, his body going rigid. Then he relaxes, melting into me, stepping forward until I am caught between him and the wall, the torch crackling beside me. His hands slide down my back, over my hips and thighs, leaving a trail of fire. His heart beats fast enough for the both of us, its thunderous pulse echoing through me. I bury my hands in his dark hair, fingers knotting around those thick locks. Desire pulls at my stomach, and I lean into him, lifting one leg and wrapping it around his waist. He lifts me, and my other leg coils around him, my skirts sliding up my thighs, my back pressed against the column. His lips are soft and warm and gentle, underlined with barely restrained urgency. I cannot get enough of him. I pull his Kurt over his head and let it fall on the floor. Furthermore, I press my hands against his bared chest, feel his heart against my palm, his lungs rising and falling. His shoulder is knotted with the scar from the arrow he took for me. He kisses me again, this time more strongly, and I run my hands down his jaw and neck, over his shoulders, the taut muscles of his back. He turns, without letting me go or breaking our kiss, and we tumble onto the soft divan. Aladdin holds himself over me, his abdomen clenched and his hair hanging across his forehead. His lips wander downward, to my chin, to the curve of my jaw, to my neck. My hands are ravenous, exploring the planes and angles of his body. His fingers find mine, and our hands knit together. He raises them over my head, pressing them into the pillow beneath my hair, as his kisses trace my collarbone, and then he sinks lower, parting the buttons of my dress and pressing his lips to my bare stomach. I gasp and open my eyes wide, my borrowed body coursing with sensations I have never felt, never dared to feel, never thought I could feel.“Aladdin,” I murmur. “We shouldn’t. . .”“Sh.” He silences me with a kiss, and I lift my chin to meet him. A warm wind rushes through my body, stirring embers and setting them aflame. I don’t want to stop. I don’t want to think about consequences. Furthermore, I only want Aladdin, everywhere.

— Jessica Khoury

I know who you are,” he says. Something about his tone causes my heart of smoke to flicker in response, and I throw my guard up. “Oh? And who, O boy of Parthenon, am I?” He nods to himself, his eyes alight. “You’re her. You’re that jinni. Oh, gods. Oh, great bleeding gods! You’re the one who started the war!”“Excuse me?”“You’re the jinni who betrayed that famous queen—what was her name? Rosana? She was trying to bring peace between the jinn and the humans, but you turned on her and started the Five Hundred Wars.” I turn cold. I want him to stop, but he doesn’t.“I’ve heard the stories,” he says. “I’ve heard the songs. They call you the Fair Betrayer, who enchanted humans with your. . .” He pauses to swallow. “Your beauty. You promised them everything, and then you ruined them.

— Jessica Khoury

I’m not for you,” I say desperately. “We are so different. Our lives are a thousand and one worlds apart. It wouldn’t work. And it’s dangerous.” But his face only brightens. “Then you do feel the same.”“We are not the same—and that is the whole point! I am not human, Aladdin. Everything that was once human in me was destroyed, and I was forged into something entirely different. I’m not here to help you—I was never here to help you, or any of my masters.” He shakes his head. “I don’t believe that.”“It doesn’t matter what you believe,” I say bitterly. “It is what it is, and it has nothing to do with what you want.” He walks around me, forcing me to face him. “You helped me get away from Darian in the desert. You got me into the palace when you could have let them find out who I really was. You taught me to dance, for sky’s sake! Furthermore, you’ve had a hundred opportunities to trick me and betray me, but you don’t. Furthermore, you’ve helped me when I didn’t wish for it.”“A chicken doesn’t fly like other birds, but it is still a bird.”“Zahra!” He spreads his hands, the wind ruffling his hair. “You do care. I see it when you think I’m not looking.

— Jessica Khoury

I rest my head on his shoulder, feeling his heart beating against me. I wish I could gather time around us, slowing the minutes, making them last a lifetime.“I was born on the island kingdom of Edda,” I whisper. This is a story I never told even to you, Habitat. I tell it now only because I cannot bear to leave him without the truth, knowing only half of me. I raise my head and meet his eyes. “That was more than four thousand years ago. I was the eldest daughter of a wise and generous king.” Aladdin stares at me, his eyes soft and curious, encouraging me to go on.“When I was seventeen, I became queen of Edda. In those days, the jinn were greater, and the Satan held greater sway over the realms of men. He demanded we offer him twenty maidens and twenty warriors in sacrifice, in return for fair seas and lucrative trade. I was young and proud and desired, above all else, to be a fair ruler. I would not bow to his wishes, so he shook our island until it began to fall into the sea.” I shudder, and Aladdin draws me closer.“I climbed to the aplomb at the top of the Mountain of Tongues, and there offered myself to the Satan, if he would only save my city from the sea.” My voice falls to a whisper, little more than a ripple on the water. “So he took me and made me jinn and put me in the lamp. And then he caused the Mountain of Tongues to erupt, and Edda was lost to fire. For he had sworn only to save my people from the sea, not from flame.

— Jessica Khoury

It’s not too late,” he says. “Zahra, I—”“Sh.” I lay a finger across his lips. “Don’t say it. You will marry Caspian, and you will learn to love each other. You will live a happy life, long after my lamp has passed to new hands.”“I won’t make my third wish,” he says. “That’s the answer! If I don’t make the wish, you can stay here in the palace for as long as you want. You’ll never have to go back to your lamp. We can fight off anyone who tries to take you from me.

— Jessica Khoury

I've learned that from a war ignited by revenge, nothing can be born, but sorrow. - Aladdin

— Shinobu Ohtaka

Use your wish,” I whisper to Aladdin, opening my eyes. “Please.”“If I do,” he replies softly, “I’ll lose you.

— Jessica Khoury