Read Online Marked by Bonnie Lamer - Free Book Online Page A

or just copper plated stainless steel?”
     
    What is her problem?  “Sure. A pure copper one.”  Should be easy enough to find on ebay.
     
    She laughs but she’s not amused.  “You have no idea how hard it is to find something that’s made only of copper, do you?” 
     
    Whatever.  She’s looking at me like I’m fucking stupid.  I’m a med student for god’s sake.  Give me some credit.  On the other hand, I don’t know how hard it is to find something made of pure copper.  “I guess not.”
     
    “You mentioned earlier that you bind the djinn with copper.  I am assuming this has something to do with that?” Roman drawls, not interested in Brielle’s drama.
     
    “Look at you moving up to the head of the class,” she says.
     
    I shake my head.  “You get hit a lot, don’t you?”
     
    She ignores me.  “Anyway, copper isn’t as easy to come by as you might think.  They don’t make real copper pots anymore.  Or lamps or oil holders or anything.  It’s all some sort of alloy or copper plating.  So I rely on Jack to get me what I need.”  I’m betting Jack doesn’t come by these things legally.
     
    “You have to have a new copper object for each of the djinn you catch?”  Brielle opens her mouth to say something caustic, but I cut her off.  “Yeah, I know.  Now I’m the brains of the bunch.  Will you please stop being such an ass and just tell us what we need to know?  You’ve had years to deal with all this and we’ve had about an hour and a half.”  Maybe a little longer, but who’s doing the math.
     
    She is itching to say something nasty, but manages to refrain.  “Yes, you need a new copper something for each djinni.”
     
    “Djinni?  It thought it was djinn.”
     
    I get an eye roll but she explains.  “Djinn is plural.  Djinni is singular.”
     
    “Good to know.  What do you do with the copper after you bind it to a djinni?”
     
    “I’ll show you.”  Brielle rises from her chair and goes to the refrigerator.  Grabbing ahold of its sides, she starts rocking it back and forth, inching it away from the wall.  Roman and I sit in a dumbfounded silence.  She hides them behind her refrigerator?
     
    When it’s far enough from the wall, Brielle pushes a button on the back of the fridge and a panel in the wall opens up.  Behind it are three shelves filled with copper items.  I’m impressed to think that she’s fought that many djinn and succeeded in throwing them back behind the veil. 
     
    “If the djinn are back where they should be, why do you have to keep these items?” Roman asks.
     
    Brielle closes the sliding door.  “Because whoever binds the djinni to copper controls him.  Or her.”
     
    This is getting interesting.  “What do you mean, control them?”
     
    She pushes the refrigerator back in place and sits down in her chair again.  “I mean control them.  If they come back to this side of the veil, they have to do whatever I say.”
     
    That doesn’t seem so bad.  “Can they grant wishes?”  I expect her to mock me for that question.
     
    She doesn’t.  “Sort of, but not in the manner that you think.  They can’t just snap their fingers like in the movies and have that wish come true.  Almost all wishes come with a price.  For example, if I asked one of my bound djinn for a million dollars, he would acquire it for me, but would do it by robbing a bank and leaving my finger prints at the crime scene.”
     
    Dirty bastards.  “So it’s a ‘be careful what you wish for’ thing with them.”
     
    She nods grimly.  “Yeah.  Some people find that out the hard way.”
     
    “Have you ever asked for anything from the djinn you control?” Roman asks.  He’s just as fascinated as I am.
     
    Brielle shakes her head.  “That was the first thing Malik taught me.  No matter what they say, what they promise, never trust a djinni.”
     
    Sounds like good advice.  An interesting thought pops into my head.