23. Djinniyah

{Naya}

"Shall I kill the pirate?" Ritsu repeated when I didn't answer him the first time.

Was he serious?

"Er – no, Ritsu. Besides, how would you even . . . ?"

The monkey gestured to a sword lying near Sinbad's leg.

The skin on my arms turned to gooseflesh. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Uri stepped forward, crouched and lightly ran his hand over the bejeweled hilt.

"It's a scimitar. Sinbad most likely brought it over when he passed into our realm."

While Uri studied the sword, I took another look at Sinbad and agreed that he indeed looked as if he had traveled from another time. His garments resembled those on the illustrated pages of my book.

I asked, "What are we going to tell him when he wakes up? It won't go over well if we say that he's a fictional character out of a storybook. Explaining to someone that their world doesn't exist can result in some serious mental damage . . . I think."

"I have an idea," Uri said as he stood up. He brought the scimitar with him and weighed it in his hands.

"We can tell him that he was accosted by ghouls on his latest voyage. The ghoul cast him into a dreamworld. Luckily for him, you and I are friendly wandering djinn who have agreed to search for a way to free him of his curse."

I propped my hands on my hips and fixed Uri with a condescending glare. "Excuse me? Ghouls?"

"Lesser djinn," said Uri. "Naya, don't look at me like that. Weren't you reading the book? Characters in Sinbad's realm stumble upon djinn all the time. Trust me, he won't question us."

Ritsu greedily rubbed his hands together. "And if he doesn't, I can kill him, yes?"

I poked him with my big toe. "Since when were you so obsessed with murdering innocent pirates?"

The monkey crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Were you never inclined to ask what kind of demon your beloved djinni decided to bind to this deplorable form? If you haven't realized it by now, I'm not some twittering imp."

I turned to Uri. "What kind of psycho demon did you trap inside this poor monkey?"

Uri rolled his eyes. "That isn't important right now. We need to get Sinbad to a magus named Zayn Naim. He's a djinni sympathizer living in Knoxville, Tennessee. I know that it will be a trek, but we'll be safe there until we can return Sinbad to his world. Not only that, but Zayn can help us cloak our bond so that we don't get spotted by collectors and other devious magi. Hey, Naya . . . what is it? What's wrong?"

It was taking every ounce of my willpower to not pass out. I licked my lips and swallowed whatever unpleasant thing was welling up from my stomach.

"Uri, the reverend lives in Knoxville."

Uri put down the sword and drew closer to me. I was still pissed at him for kissing Erin, but I leaned on him anyway. He held me against his chest and spoke into my ear, "Your father doesn't need to know we're there if that's what you want."

I thought about it for a moment. Then I sighed and said, "No. I've dodged this long enough. I need to face him and tell him what's really going on with me. I suppose I might as well tell him about you too."

Uri stood me upright and turned me around so that we faced each other.

"Why would you do that?"

I tried to explain. "Of course I can't tell him that you're a djinni or that you turned me into one. That's not what I meant."

Uri's mouth curled into a hopeful smile. "Then what did you mean, Naomi?"

To distract Uri from the heat creeping up my face, I scooped up Ritsu and held him like a teddy bear. The monkey relaxed his body and swished his long tail back and forth.

"I mean, Portia already thinks that you and I are dating. It only makes sense to keep the story consistent when we see the reverend."

Uri's grin stretched a little. "This thing happening between us, is it still just a story?"

From my arms, Ritsu muttered, "If this djinni plans to come any closer, put me down and conjure yourselves another room."

A groan came from the ground. Sinbad was waking up.

I let Ritsu go and approached Uri. Resting my fingertips on his sternum, I said, "You know what they say. Every story has a vein of truth."

Uri's dark brown eyes seemed to crackle with red embers.

I said, "Before we take the next step, there is something I have to do first."

Uri watched in amusement as I sauntered away from him. I suspected that he lost his grin when I knelt before the dazed Sinbad and pulled him upright.

"Where am I?" The pirate babbled.

I shut him up with a loaded kiss, during which, I could feel Uri boiling in the background. Especially when Sinbad eagerly kissed me back.

"Now we're even," I breathed happily after letting go of Sinbad. If I had held on any longer, Uri probably would have set fire to the poor man.

I made a move to stand up, but hesitated when I spotted the scimitar lying near my feet. In a flash, I had the arcane sword positioned against the pirate's neck.

"And you," I said through a sweet smile, "Don't you ever think about touching my monkey again. Understand?"

Sinbad's handsome face paled. "Aye."

As I got up and walked away with Ritsu riding on my shoulder, I heard Sinbad say to Uri, "Djinniyah. Beautiful, but utterly terrifying."