45. The Red Dress
{Uriel}
Molten rock encased in lava skewered through the necks of the hay dummies. Despite the deadly accuracy, Uriel was not satisfied. He swept his fingers in the air, forming a sloppy conjuration. As a result, the dummies began to move. They levitated off the ground and glided a few yards to the right before changing their course to go left.
Uriel grinned. Now that he had moving targets, he could really put his skills to work. He put some distance between himself and the flying scarecrows. Then he relinquished himself to his suit of fire. Whenever he gave his inner fire control, he no longer needed to worry about being burned.
There was only one thing that kept Uriel from donning his suit of armor more often – Naomi.
With the djinni's inner fire came thousands of years of isolation and hatred. It was Uriel's hatred for bondage that provided fuel for his power. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to hold his own against a seasoned collector like Janus Bergman.
Still, there were drawbacks to relying on a power reinforced by hatred. Like forgetting what it was like to be human. When he wore his suit of fire for too long, things like compassion, curiosity, and joy became obsolete, leaving only his rage.
That was why he chose to train alone.
Naya had invested so much in helping Uriel return to normal. He didn't want to ruin that by sinking into his suit of fire whenever he came across a challenge. He wanted to face his problems as a human, not a changeling.
But when it comes to Janus, I have no choice. I won't let him hurt Naomi.
The fire channeled enough to where he could feel it rising in the back of his throat. Uriel drew it up like it was a wad of phlegm and spat it at his targets. The small concentrations of fiery missiles landed harmlessly onto the hay mannikins.
Uriel bit his lip in frustration. A moment passed before an invasive sensation tickled the back of his nasal cavity. He let forth an uncontrollable sneeze, which triggered the missiles to explode.
The djinni wiped his nose and shrugged. "That's progress."
+++
{Naya}
In the weeks following my finger-burning fiasco, I learned a lot about combat, controlling my fire, and building up a tolerance to the heat. I had to do the latter by exposing my fingertips to heat for a few minutes each day. Every few days, Zayn would increase the heat and time that my fingers spent exposed.
I was surprised by how quickly this method toughened my finger nails and the skin around them. I guess I can give partial credit to the fact that I had a djinni's body. Zayn told me that he used some of the same methods that Shaolin monks used to toughen up various body parts.
This combined with my combat training enabled me to do all kinds of stuff with my inner fire, such as creating tiny flame whips and darts. Zayn told me that I shouldn't concentrate all of my energy into one finger like I did the first time around. Rather, I should spread the fire among all ten fingers. He explained that because the orifices under my nails were so small and densely packed with keratin, I would be limited in the amount of fire I could produce.
Uri's power, on the other hand, had a lot of burst potential. But my advantage was that I could rely on a steady stream of power for an extended period of time. Zayn also told me to focus on executing long ranged attacks by shooting small fiery darts. While I was able to accomplish this, I prefered making the long whips of fire to lash at my enemies.
I could also concentrate my inner fire to encase my nails whenever I needed to block attacks. It was this ability that I was still trying to master. Channeling and spreading the fire was simple, but slowing down its stream and limiting it to the width of my fingernail proved to be a challenge. Still, I kept at it because Zayn said that it was important to have a defensive way to use the suit of fire.
"Miss Naya! That's enough for the day."
At the sound of Zayn's voice, I retracted my inner fire and let it retreat to my core. Relying on the fire did not exhaust me like it had in the past. When I first started training, I would have to take five hour naps at the end of each session. Now I could last much longer during sessions and only needed a few minutes of rest before getting back at it again.
Zayn brought me a towel and a glass of lemonade. I gratefully accepted both.
"Thank you, Zayn. How am I looking so far? Do you think I'm ready for the desert?"
Zayn gave one of his warm, paternal smiles. "You look more than ready. Besides, we cannot waste any more time. I have you, Uriel, and Ritsu booked for a flight to Oman for the day after tomorrow. Between now and then, I want you all to relax and enjoy the surprise I have for you."
The magus winked conspiratorially.
I sighed. "Zayn, you've already given us so much. I can't ask you for anything else."
Zayn wagged his finger. "You are not asking for anything. This will be a gift. So that is that. Here. take this." He held my wrist and flipped my hand right side up. Then he pressed a shiny credit card in my palm. "You will need to purchase something nice for the occasion. Preferably a dress."
I narrowed my eyes. "Is that the only hint I get?"
"One other thing," Zayn added, "you may invite a friend along if you would like. I can have one of my drivers pick them up around seven. The event will be tomorrow night at eight-thirty sharp."
I was dying to know what Zayn was planning, but I didn't push him any further. I thanked him and gave him a big hug before taking off. I prayed that Portia was in town visiting her parents. When I called her, I nearly screamed in excitement when she told me that she was in Knoxville.
"Portia, you are not going to believe this," I said over the phone, "but Uri and I have been chilling with his uncle for the past few weeks . . . in his mansion! The man is loaded."
Portia gasped. "Shut up! No way."
I giggled. "I'm telling the truth. This place is huge. Bigger than anything I've seen on TV. And guess who's here?"
"Umm..."
I didn't give her a chance to figure it out. "Sin! Portia, I think he misses you."
I could tell that she was trying to keep her cool on the other end.
"W-Well, what should I wear? Naya, I have to be honest with you. I haven't stopped thinking about that man since I dropped you guys off at the antique shop."
I held up Zayn's credit card. "Girl, we've got all day to figure out what you're going to wear. I'll be around to pick you up in about twenty minutes. You and I are going shopping."
***
"I can't believe Uri's uncle just gave you a credit card. He must not realize that he's about to be bankrupt." Portia teased while she watched me try on clothes in Anthropologie.
I stuck my tongue out at her in the reflection of the dressing room mirror.
"I'm not that bad of a spender. Plus, when you see the way Zayn lives, you'll realize that there is nothing that I could possibly do to put a dent in his finances."
I continued to experiment with different poses in the dress I was trying on. Portia leaned back and pulled up Instagram on her phone. "Whatever you say, girl. By the way, why did he send you on a shopping spree in the first place?"
I turned to the side to get a look at how my butt filled out the dress.
"I told you, Uri and I are going on a little vacation in a couple of days. It's one of those expedition tours through the desert. Not my style, but Zayn's paying for it so I'm just going along for the ride. Anyway, he has some sort of surprise for us tomorrow and he said that I need to get something to wear. So here we are."
Portia tucked her phone away and sat up straight. "He told you to buy a dress for a surprise? Why are we in this wannabe boho-chic store? We need to blow this tiki hut and go to Nordstrom or Michael Kors!"
I kissed my teeth loud enough to grab the attention of the store clerks. "To spend money on a six thousand dollar dress? Yeah right."
Portia was already on her feet, helping me get out of the clothes.
"You are as dense as they come. Mr. Naim is obviously throwing a goodbye party for you and Uri. That means you've got to be the most slammin', smokin' hottest babe in there. Now let's go."
After we left Anthropologie, Portia had the two of us perusing all the designer boutiques that I would never dream of stepping one toe inside of if I didn't have the money. During our little scavenger hunt, she and I repeatedly butted heads. Her style of formal wear was clean lines, structured bodices, and flashy rhinestones. I preferred dresses that had movement and exotic prints.
In the end, we settled on a Roberto Cavalli dress for me. It was deep red like the color of wine. With its thin shoulder straps and lace bodice, we both agreed that the design was simple yet elegant. I particularly liked how the rest of the dress draped from the waist down and dragged along the floor.
Portia talked me into letting her pick out a dress as well. I figured that if Zayn let me invite her, he wouldn't mind us both using his credit card to purchase something for whatever occasion he had planned.
It took Portia a fraction of the time to select her dress. I wasn't surprised to see that she fished out one of the dresses that I had turned down earlier. It was a black mini-dress with long sleeves, skin-tight from head to hem and covered all over with diamond-like rhinestones.
I rolled my eyes at her while the cashier rang us up. Portia rolled her eyes right back at me and said, "Don't worry, I'll promise to not upstage you tomorrow. I just needed to make sure I wear something that will get Sin's attention and keep it there."
Portia mentioning Sinbad made me think of Uri. Due to our strict training schedules, we hadn't had as many opportunities to spend time together. But now that I had my inner fire under control, that was all about to change.
On our way out of the store, I studied my new dress. Hopefully, wearing it tomorrow night would guarantee that I would get a lot more than just a kiss goodnight.