My mind is made up. I want to stay here with you.” He sat and took Ben’s hands in his. “It’s half an hour to midnight, so yes, we’d better do this.” He swallowed. “Are you ready to make your wishes?”
Ben took a deep breath and held both of Dae’s hands in his. “I’m ready. I have something else to say first.”
He gulped down his emotion. “These last few weeks have been incredible. I know it hasn’t been that long, but having you in my life has meant the world to me.” He paused as Dae’s eyes shone with unshed tears.
Hell, Ben’s eyes felt gritty and sore and he blinked furiously. “No matter what happens, I want you to know you’re a man I could fall in love with. Hell, I’m already a little bit there.” He took another deep breath. “If the worst happens, and you go back into the lamp, then if you ever find yourself back on Earth, you need to make me a promise to look me up.”
He tried to smile but it wasn’t quite there. “Wherever you find yourself next, I want you to make the best of it all, as I will. We owe it to each other to keep going and lead happy lives. Even if I will miss you like crazy.”
Dae nodded as a tear rolled down his cheek. Ben wiped it off tenderly. “I promise all of that,” Dae whispered. “I’ll miss you too, Ben Sinclair. These last few weeks have been special to me. You’ve made me welcome in your world, and I hope I get to stay here with you, even if it means giving up who I was. I’ll always be yours, no matter where I am.”
He leaned in and for the next few minutes, Ben was lost in the feel of Dae’s lips on his, the taste of salty tears and the warmth of skin against skin. When they pulled apart, Ben could hardly speak. Dae squeezed his hands comfortingly.
“It’ll be all right. Say it,” he whispered. “Say the words.”
Ben’s throat was dry, dread welling inside like the steady seep of a broken tap. But Dae looked so fearless right now, his eyes trusting, an expression of calm on his face.
Ben closed his eyes, then opened them again. Time to speak the phrases he and Dae had practised so often. Dae had warned him sometimes things got lost in translation when making a wish and the more detailed, the better.
“Oh Djinn of the lamp, please grant me my second wish. My wish is that Daeliel Jadu Alario, Elliel of the Kingdom of Quimaria, Djinn of Calado’r and son of Sameria and Medeaus, brother to Jannalor, be granted human form and the ability to remain on Earth, here with me.”
He stopped and waited for Dae to do his bit. The granting of a third wish was something of a mystical process involving a lot of muttered words.
Dae nodded and closed his eyes, his hands waving in the air in strange circling movements interspersed with an occasional sharp clap. When he spoke, the language was like nothing Ben had ever heard before. It was captivating. Soft, hushed tones, the words an exotic chant of Middle Eastern dialects were mesmerising with their soft lilt.
Ben held onto Dae’s shoulder tightly, dreading whether Dae would disappear into thin air suddenly. Who knew how this all worked? What he’d wished for was without precedent in the archives, and even Dae wasn’t sure what would happen next.
To his relief, Dae seemed as solid as he’d been a minute ago, and when he’d finished his incantation, he nodded to Ben to say the next wish. They clasped hands, and Ben thought Dae was also as worried as he was that he’d suddenly vaporise and end up back in the lamp.
“Oh Djinn of the lamp, please grant me my third and final wish. I wish for Daeliel Jadu Alario, Elliel of the Kingdom of Quimaria, Djinn of Calado’r and son of Sameria and Medeaus, brother to Jannalor, to be granted access to his home world of Quimaria, that he may visit his family after he is human.”
They both knew this was a tall order, but hey, they’d nothing to lose. That Dae had been willing to give up his family to stay with him had been humbling. Dae had said he had enough residual magic captured in a charm bottle to perhaps effect one last visit if the last wish weren’t granted, but it was a