6. The Lie

{Naya}

"We can't waste anymore time. We need to see your friend."

Uriel took hold of my wrist and pulled me towards the door. I looked down at my current attire and panicked.

"Hold on a damn minute! I can't go anywhere looking like this."

Uriel paused long enough to give me the once over. "I don't see anything wrong with how you look."

I snatched my hand back. "Haven't you been around humans long enough to realize that we don't walk around dressed like exotic dancers? Why do you make me wear these clothes anyway? I mean, c'mon, I wake up and my midriff is always out."

This jerk could barely hold back a laugh. "Believe it or not, Naya, that is your own doing. Use your magic to change if you want."

I gaped at him.

You've got to be shitting me. All this time I was the one sexing up my wardrobe?

I shook the thought from my mind and tried to concentrate on what I wanted to wear instead. Just like Uriel said earlier, I had to rely on my willpower to perform simple magic. When I looked down, I was wearing a plaid boyfriend shirt over a black bandeau top and comfy jeggings below the waist. I even managed to score some red Toms for my feet.

Uriel pointed at my unbuttoned shirt. "Look there. Your midriff is still out."

"Shut up." I turned away to button the shirt and roll up the sleeves. The henna had disappeared along my arms, but the blue highlights hadn't left my hair. Looking over my shoulder at Uriel, I asked, "So after you transformed me, why did my clothes default to the horny version of a genie in a bottle?"

Uriel shrugged. "Perhaps that's how you wanted to appear before me. Subconsciously of course."

I didn't know whether to be angry at him or the part of me that was unfairly attracted to him. I decided to ignore both. Brushing past him on my way to the door, I said, "Let's get this over with."

Once we were outside, I took in my surroundings. I was relieved to see that this part of town was very familiar to me thanks to my two years at Emory University. Portia lived in Decatur about ten minutes away.

Uriel escorted me to the waiting taxi. He did a great job of pretending to be a gentleman when he opened the car door for me. I shot him an oily smile and slid inside, making sure not to leave any room beside me.

Uriel bent his head and cleared his throat. "Are you going to let me in?"

I contorted my face into the most terrified look I could muster and gasped, "Uriel, behind you! It's a bad demon!"

Uriel quickly reacted to the illusion of fear in my eyes. As soon as he backed up and turned away from the car, I latched onto the handle for dear life and slammed it with all of my might.

The driver flinched. "Hey, watch the door!"

"JUST DRIVE!"

Maybe it was the unhinged look in my eye that did the trick, but he got the message as clearly as if I had a gun pointed to his head. While he swerved down the street, I peeked a look out the back window. Uriel tried to catch up, but his efforts were in vain. He eventually slowed down and watched us drive off with a troublesome look on his face.

"Boyfriend?" The driver tested.

I flipped around and slumped in my seat. "Stalker."

"Do you need to call the police?"

"Bastard has my cell phone. My ID too."

"Well . . . damn."

I gave the driver Portia's address and assured him that she would help me out. I spent the ten minute drive trying to get my heart rate down to normal. Ditching Uriel gave me one hell of an adrenaline rush. But by the time we reached Portia's neighborhood, I began to panic again. I had no money to pay the taxi fare.

Relax, Naya. Think of your djinni powers. Willpower, remember.

I tried to imagine a few twenties materializing in my pocket, but when I checked, there was nothing. Apparently my wishes did not extend to making it rain whenever I wanted to. That or I needed more practice before I could pull it off.

I'm so screwed.

Knock. Knock.

"Um, Ma'am?" The taxi driver pointed to the window.

I screamed at the sight of Uriel's face grinning on the other side of the door. He wrenched it open and tossed some money inside.

"Thank you for your trouble, sir . . . . Naya. Shall we?"

The djinni had to practically drag me out. The driver didn't look like he was sure of what he should do until he glanced at the money.

Hundred dollar bills.

As soon as I was out of the vehicle, the man drove off.

I flipped him the bird.

Uriel regarded me with amusement in his eyes. "I didn't realize you wanted to take a vacation so soon."

I glanced at him sideways. "You should have seen the look on your face."

His smirk deepened. "Yes, because you're just full of surprises, Naomi."

I rounded on him. "Stop that."

Uriel lifted an eyebrow. "Stop what?"

"You know exactly what."

The playful banter, the fancy rooms, pistachios, the monkey – all of it was making me sick. I just wanted Uriel out of my sight. True, everything up to this point was my fault, but I didn't need to be constantly reminded of how epically I failed at life. Even as a supernatural being, I was a total disaster.

"Let's just go. Portia's apartment is this way."

I went on ahead. As we walked, I kept thinking that Uriel would break the silence and try to apologize, but he didn't. I hated myself for being disappointed by this. I did my best to pull myself together by the time we reached Portia's door. Once we were there, I knocked.

The door swung open.

"Girl! Where have you been?" Portia shrieked as she tackled me in a hug. "I was waiting on at least a text letting me know that you were all right."

I squeezed her back and replied, "I'm sorry I made you worry. I forgot my cell at the club. That's why I didn't call or text."

Portia let go of me. "Well if you hadn't shown up sometime today, I was going to call the police."

She finally noticed Uriel standing behind me. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

I guess this was the part where I needed to lie. Oh boy.

Here goes nothing.

"Oh. Um, Portia, he's with me. Remember we, uh, met up at the bar."

Portia squinted her eyes at Uriel. A trace of recognition passed over her features.

"Does he have a name?"

"Yes," I said, "this is . . . Uri . . . . He's uh . . . visiting me. So you know, we've just been hanging out."

The last part of the sentence almost sounded like a question.

Portia invited us in. While Uriel wandered through the living room, she pulled me aside and gave me the look. "Hanging out? Naya, are you sleeping with him?"

I laughed louder than I intended and wiggled out of her grip. I joined Uriel in the living room and patted him on the back.

"No! Uri is my . . . cousin!"

Portia crossed her arms and glared at both of us. "Cousin?"

I gave a crooked smile and nodded. "Yep. On my mom's side."

Portia looked at Uriel again. "I thought your mom was from Trinidad."

"She is! But you know her sister – my aunt – remarried again and this is her new husband's son. So we're cousins, but through marriage."

Portia was silent for a long time. Uriel looked relaxed and happy. I knew for sure that I looked the opposite.

"So," Portia started, "how long are you going to be 'hanging out' with your cousin?"

This was the hard part.

I said, "Uri will be staying in Atlanta for about a month. My aunt wanted me to stay close and show him around until she and his dad get back from their honeymoon. But if I'm not back by then, don't freak out, okay?"

Portia said in an undertone, "He looks a little too old for a babysitter. And who the hell goes on a honeymoon for a month?"

She didn't appear to believe me or trust Uriel at all, but she sighed and said, "Whatever you say, Naya. Just keep in touch, alright? You know you can always stay with me if you need to."

I went over to hug her. "Thanks, boo."

She whispered in my ear, "Be careful with this guy, Naya. Usually you can handle yourself, but there's something about him that I don't like."

That was evidence enough that Portia did not believe a bit of my story. But she didn't need to. She was my best friend and she trusted that I knew what I was doing. In that moment I felt very tempted to tell her the truth and beg for her help.

What good would that do? You'd only be dragging her into this mess.

I would never forgive myself if I became responsible for Uri turning Portia into a djinni too. So I kept my mouth shut, let my friend go and looked back at him.

"C'mon. Let's go."

Before we could make it to the door, Portia said, "Slow down, girl. You're going to be gone for a whole month. Aren't you going to pack some clothes?"

I wanted to punch myself.

"Right!"

Portia stayed in the living room while I took Uri with me to my old bedroom. Portia's cats, Usher and Raymond, mewled at my presence. They lay curled up on my clothes strewn across the bed. I closed the door behind us and sat on the edge of the mattress.

I released a breath that I had been holding in this whole time and rested my face in my hands.

For the first time since I snapped at him, Uri spoke.

"Your friend is very keen."