13. Hookah Therapy

{Ritsu}

Ritsu watched Uriel catch Naya before she hit the ground. Then he carried her over to the couch and set her down gently.

He began to dab the sweat from her forehead with the edge of a pillow. "How did she get so sick all of a sudden?"

Ritsu crossed his furry arms. "She said something about not getting any sleep last night."

Uriel glared at him. "Had I known that, I wouldn't have let her leave the apartment." Then he softened his gaze. "And I'm not sure, but . . . it seems that her father is another source of stress. He tried to contact her twice today. It really took a lot out of her, so I'm going to lend a hand."

Ritsu didn't like the sound of that, but he held his tongue. He waited while Uriel focused on Naya's body. To the naked eye, it would appear as if the djinni was simply staring at her, but Ritsu could sense the exchange of fire.

The monkey demon rocked back and forth on his heels until he noticed something flicker in Uriel's expression. His internal flame was growing fast and too much of it was transferring into Naya.

Ritsu hopped onto the couch and tried to meet the djinni's gaze. "You know that if you bond with her, it will decrease your chances at freedom."

Uriel remained silent.

Ritsu gasped, "Don't tell me that you've already –"

"It wasn't intentional," Uriel interrupted, his gaze hard. "I think she can see the color of my fire, but that's it."

Ritsu flailed his tiny arms. "You're making it worse by sharing your flame with her!"

"She was weak. She needed my help."

Ritsu crawled onto Naya's abdomen so he could level with the djinni.

"Don't be foolish. All my mistress needed was a bit of rest. You know how dangerous bonding is, and you've already done enough to give a collector a reason to sniff around."

Uriel shouted, "I have this under control!"

"If your fire blends with hers –"

He swatted the monkey to the side. "I won't let that happen. Now shut your mouth. She's waking up."

+++

{Naya}

"Uri?" I croaked as soon as my voice returned. He and Ritsu helped me sit upright. I opened my eyes, expecting to be on the floor, but found myself stretched out on the couch. Uri's look of concern made me avert my eyes and pull away from him.

"Don't worry, Mistress," Ritsu reassured me as he patted the center of my forehead. "You've got your strength back now."

"Give me my phone," I muttered. Instead of being relieved that I didn't have a concussion, I only felt embarrassment. Uri had seen me lose it over a damn phone call.

What if the reverend actually showed up at Uri's apartment? What would you do then?

My deepest fear made me want to pass out all over again.

"You're coming with me," Uri said.

I dared to make eye contact with him. "I'm going back to my bottle, actually."

"That wasn't a request. I will let you have some time alone, but we're going to talk first."

The heaviness in his brown eyes only angered me further. The last thing I needed was some kind of lecture from him! No matter how much I glared and tried to look for a way around him, Uri would not let me get by.

"I don't want to talk to you!" I spat. With each word I spoke, a bulge in the pit of my stomach reacted and expanded. Whatever it was, I used it to pull magic into my right arm. Without thinking, my hand darted towards Uri's neck. I let forth a small gasp at the aquamarine flames that clung to my fingernails.

My movements were interrupted by a binding sensation. Uri had caught my wrist in his grip, which felt like hot chains wrapped around my skin. I cried out, but that didn't stop him from bending my arm at an odd angle and forcing me to my knees.

His voice was low and fierce. "I am trying to help you."

I pathetically beat his iron grip with my free hand.

"Let me go!" I gasped.

He didn't.

"Uriel, please!"

The burning sensation evaporated as soon as he released me. Uri stood up and turned his head.

"In the future, to strike me like that again would be . . . stupid." he said without looking at me. Then he stepped to the side and gestured to my hookah pipe behind him. I watched on in helplessness while my coal grew wide enough to eclipse the ash bowl.

Fantastic, Naya. Your little kung fu stunt almost cost you.

Uri rolled his shoulders. "Let's try this again. Naya, would you care to join me for a few minutes?"

Standing up and holding my head high, I asked, "Where are we going?"

Uri walked past me.

"The roof."

***

It was no surprise to me that the rooftop of Uri's apartment was one equipped with a small garden and cozy lawn chairs. Strings of white lights criss-crossed above us. It felt like something out of a John Green novel.

This isolated getaway didn't make me any less angry. That is, until I saw a hookah pipe propped between the two lawn chairs. This one was tall, green, and already lit.

Uri made his way to one of the chairs and took a seat, not bothering to invite me over. I kept up my cold silence as I joined him.

Eyeballing the hookah pipe, I asked, "What flavor is in there anyway?"

"White grape."

Uri tested the shisha by inhaling through the hose. The sound of the bubbles dancing in the bottom of the bowl made me relax. But they could only fill the silence for so long.

Uri took some time to get the coal going before handing the hose off to me. As I took my drag, I let my gaze wander to the streetlights beyond the edge of the building. Uri patiently waited until I passed it back. We took silent hits and avoided each other's gaze until it was time to change out the coal. It didn't surprise me that Uri had some extra ones stashed in his pocket.

While he went about cleaning out the ashes and relighting the coal, I leaned back on the lawn chair and closed my eyes.

Just imagine that you're meeting with a therapist.

Finally, I spoke.

"My dad doesn't know I dropped out of Emory. He thinks I'm in my third year as a Biology Major, preparing for med school. I had a scholarship and everything . . . . That's all gone now."

I opened my eyes to see Uri with the end of the hose poking out the corner of his mouth.

"Is he going to be a problem for us?"

I met his gaze, thankful for the light buzz. "Let's just say that we can't get away with swinging by and telling him that we're cousins."

Opaque jets of smoke escaped Uri's nostrils in the midst of his contemplation.

"Why are you so afraid of him?"

I sat up in my chair and offered my hand. Uri handed the hose over to me. After I took a long pull, I said, "If there is one thing my dad and I share, it's that we don't like being disappointments. Let's just say that the reverend is not against putting on the pressure. Big time. I thought it would get better after I left for college, but he was still there, influencing every decision I made. I knew which classes to take, which friends to pick, which guys to bring home for Sunday dinner. I even knew which hobbies he would find acceptable for me to partake in."

Uri's expression darkened.

I took another drag and continued, "Soon I realized that I was becoming the very person that my mom divorced. In that moment, I was desperate to reclaim who I was and reject anything that the reverend deemed worthy. So I dropped out. Refused to get a job. Mooched off my friends. Slept around. Basically, I became a waste."

"You're not a waste." Uri declared in a corrosive undertone.

I grinned ruefully. "It's not me that you have to convince."

Uri didn't ask any more questions. Instead he said, "I brought you up here to tell you this: if you don't feel well, don't hide it from me. You haven't spent much time as a djinni, so you aren't aware of how much it takes out of you."

I shook my head. "But I barely used any magic today."

"Stress can be a drain on your body too, Naya. I can't expect you to help me if you haven't gotten any rest the night before."

I threw down the hose. "You're the one I'm stressing out about! What if I can't teach you everything in time?"

He sighed. "You need to relax. It hasn't even been three days and I'm already pretty close to beating Angry Birds."

I folded my hands and bowed my head.

Uri asked, "What are you doing?"

"Praying for patience."

The djinni tapped my shoulder until I looked up. That goofy, crooked grin had replaced the dark lines from earlier.

"Tell you what. Tomorrow is your day off. You can sleep in as long as you like and then we can do whatever you want."

"I want to become a human."

"Anything except that," he said, giving me a hard pat. Then he got up and joined me on my lawn chair. Looping his arm around my shoulder, he tugged on one of the springy curls by my face. I expected him to say something, but he only looked at me. He snaked his free arm around my waist.

"Feeling better?" He whispered.

"No." I lied.

I unraveled his arms from around me and stood up.

"But thanks for the hookah."