77. Friendship is Magic

{Naya}

Sitting around the dinner table with Zayn, Mom, Sinbad, and Ritsu almost felt normal. But of course, there was one individual absent who was the final piece to this oddly blended magical family. Not to mention, Ritsu was no longer a talking monkey, but currently invisible to all eyes and ears. Whatever he said, I had to relay back to the rest of the party.

"The marid that I met said that I had to find someone who can help me direct the powers. I figured that someone would be you, Zayn."

Zayn was close enough that he could reach over and squeeze my hand. I wasn't happy to see the look of pained sympathy on his face.

"I'm sorry, flame princess, but I don't have firsthand knowledge on how to wield a marid's power. Sadly, I've never had the privilege of even meeting a marid in person. Except for you, of course."

I looked down. "So basically, there's no one in our circle who knows collectors and marida well enough to help me."

My words were followed by a really disappointing awkward silence. Then Ritsu turned to me and whispered, "Usher."

I lifted my head. "What?"

Zayn, Mom, and Sinbad glanced around. They knew Ritsu was sitting next to me, but they couldn't see him or hear him.

"What's wrong, Naya?" Zayn asked me.

I held up my hand. "Hold on. Ritsu just said something." I turned back to Ritsu. "Who?"

His golden brown eyes were intense. I could practically see the light bulb flashing above his head.

"Portia's cat. Usher. She's a sila. She could help us."

I repeated what he said to the others. Then I looked back at Ritsu and said, "But if she's a sila, how does that make her helpful to us? Is there some secret link between the marida and the sila?"

Ritsu shook his head. "I have no idea if she knows anything about the marida. I thought of her because she's old and she's a djinni that we can trust."

I said the same thing to Zayn and followed it up with, "What do you think, Mr. Naim?"

Zayn looked thoughtfully down at his wine glass for several seconds. Finally, he looked up.

"Sila are hard to find and they guard many secrets. If this Usher would be willing to help us, there is a very strong chance that she would have the knowledge we need to save Uriel."

It wasn't until now that I realized there was a lump lodged in my throat.

"There's one problem though. Portia is completely in the dark when it comes to this stuff. There's no way we'd be able to isolate Usher without her knowing about it. I'm sorry, but I'm not that stealthy."

"I could go," Ritsu offered. "Even though she's a cat, she would probably be able to see me."

Mom, not having heard Ritsu, said, "Naya, if I can handle the truth, so can Portia. You two have been best friends since you were toddlers. She might be a little surprised, but I doubt she would be upset."

That was when Sinbad took a deep breath and folded his hands over the table.

"I have something to confess."

We all turned to him.

He took another steadying breath. "I may have already . . . told Portia about some of the more unnatural things that go on in Mr. Naim's estate."

Say what now?

I worked my jaw. "Can you be more specific, Sinbad? What exactly did you tell her?"

I don't know if it was the new hair or eyes that was making me look more intimidating, but Sinbad was refusing to look me in my eyes.

"I-I think," he stammered, "that we shouldn't waste any more time talking about it. We should go straight to Atlanta. Portia can fill you in once we get there."

Before I could erupt in protest, Zayn said, "I think that's an excellent idea. I'll book us a flight to Atlanta right now. Hopefully we'll be able to catch the red-eye."

My mom sprung to her feet and came around the table. "Naya, come help me pack."

Clearly, she didn't want me harassing Sinbad for more details. He smartly followed Zayn out of the dining hall. Ritsu silently joined me and my mom.

***

Twelve hours later we were standing outside of Portia's apartment door. She had known we were coming, but this was still a hella awkward situation.

"Um." I stared at the door. All I had to do was knock, but there was such a high potential for failure on the other side. What if Portia had been pissed at me for lying to her all this time? I could very well be walking into the end of a lifelong friendship. With Aqua acting up and everything else going on, I didn't need that in my life right now.

On the other hand, let's say that Portia didn't hold any hard feelings for me about all the secrets. We still had to worry about Usher. What if she didn't want to help us at all? Last time I was here with Uri, she had acted really pissy towards him. Ritsu once told me that this was because Usher wanted to distance herself as much as possible from the world of djinn. But being a free djinni herself, wouldn't she understand what Uri was going through? Uri always told me how sila were known to help other djinn out of sticky situations. One had done so for him in the past. Another had saved our asses in the desert by leading me to Cyndr's caravan.

What if Usher did agree to help us? All we would have left is the off chance that she knew anything about marid magic!

I felt a hand gently collapse on my shoulder. Zayn's calm, fatherly voice sounded gently in my ear.

"Don't fret, flame princess. Everything is going to be fine. You take your time."

Right. The longer I stand here worrying if Portia will dump me or not, the longer that psycho Janus has to tortue Uri.

I knocked on the door. My best friend of more than a decade swung it open after we were waiting only a few seconds.

"Oh hey, girl. Wow! Hi, Miss Nadine! Long time no see. Sinbad, Zayn – y'all are here too? Naya, you should have told me that we were having a party. I would have bought some wine. Come on in."

We filed into her apartment. The others made themselves comfortable. I was too queasy to sit down, so I just leaned on the counter that divided the kitchen from the living room. Ritsu hovered at my shoulder, steadying a comforting hand on my lower back.

"You didn't bring your monkey with you?" Portia noticed.

I gave a nervous smile. "Ritsu wasn't feeling good. So he stayed home."

Portia shrugged and turned to Sinbad. I guess they were a real couple now because they kissed and struck up a conversation as if they'd been in a relationship for months.

Zayn and Mom looked at me expectantly while Portia was distracted with Sinbad. I could tell by their faces that they were depending on me to start the conversation and break the news to her. I pouted because I was hoping that Zayn could take on that responsibility for me, but he was right. Portia was my friend. I had to tell her.

"Portia," I said, feeling like my stomach was going to both rocket up through my esophagus and crash through my bowels, "there's something we . . . I have to tell you."

Portia turned her back to Sinbad and raised an eyebrow. "What did you want to tell me, Naya? That you're a djinni? Or that you got turned into a djinni by your boyfriend who is also a djinni? Or that Mr. Naim is a wizard, but the good kind like Dumbledore? And there's another wizard chasing after you and Uri, but he's the bad kind like Voldemort. Did I get everything?"

I almost laughed. I didn't even have to ask. There was no way Portia was angry with me for keeping this from her for so long. I could tell by the smirk on her face.

I pushed myself off the counter and walked over to her. We hugged fiercely.

"This is why you're my best friend, girl," I said.

Portia squeezed me harder. "You know it. You can't make me run away that easily. Besides, now I have a folk hero for a boyfriend. It doesn't get any better than that."

We laughed and separated. I finally let Portia guide me over to the couch. When we were all sitting down, I took a deep breath and said, "There is one thing that you don't know. That's why I'm here. Portia, Uri's in trouble. The only one who can help us is . . . Usher."

Portia glanced around, but Usher wasn't in the room. There was only Raymond, who mewled lazily on the television stand.

Portia narrowed her eyebrows. "Um, I don't get it. What –"

I just decided to say it.

"Girl, your cat is a djinni."