"Trying to save your ass, Mike. That's where I've been."
My best friend looked like I had the one time I'd found myself in the throes of a bad break-up. There was only that once, though, because that was the last time I'd let anyone get that close to me. His hair--red like mine on top (because I'd had extra color and he'd had too much to drink) and bleached on the sides--looked like he'd been tugging on it all night, and his lean, muscular body was hidden beneath my blanket robe.
I made a face. "Are you wearing anything under there?"
He just stared at me with eyes as clear and blue as a tropical sea. Didn't so much as raise an eyebrow.
Shoving him out of the doorway, I pushed past him and closed the door. "I went by the shop to see if I could find something that could possibly get you out of this mess I'd gotten you into."
Mike leaned back against the closed door and watched me move around the small kitchen, making some orange spice tea. It was late, and I was tired, but restless. Tea would help.
"What could Lizzy possibly have in that tourist shop that would catch the interest of a djinn?" he asked. "I work there, Ang. There's nothing there but fake voodoo shit and beads."
"I don't appreciate the tone," I responded.
He cocked his head to the side, a smirk teasing his lips and his eyes full of amusement at my expense.
I stuck my cup under the one cup coffee maker and hit the button for hot water only, then I turned around, leaning against the counter, and crossed my arms over my chest. I eyed him a minute, and then, with a sigh, I reached into the waistline of my pants at my back and pulled out a dagger. Without a word, I laid it on the counter beside me.
"THAT was not in Lizzy's store." He pointed at the ancient looking relic. "What is that?" he asked.
"A knife," I told him.
"No shit, Ang. What are you planning to do with it?"
I glanced down at the "knife". It needed to be cleaned, but I could still see the faint lines of the runes carved into the blade. "I'm going to use it to kill the djinn. After I tweak it a bit with a spell."
"What kind of a spell?"
Sighing heavily, I turned around to get my tea. "The kind that will help me kill a djinn, Mike. For fuck's sake."
"Snapping at me is not necessary," he declared. "Jesus, I'm just asking."
I glanced over my shoulder at him, then took a deep breath as I dunked my teabag a few times. "You're right." I paused. "I'm sorry. And thanks for not hating me," I told him. "Ya know...for getting the both of us into all of this shit."
Opening the blanket robe, he brought it up over his head, revealing a hard, bare chest and pajama bottoms before he wrapped it tight around himself again. "I do hate you, Ang. However, you're the only friend I have right now who understands why I am the way I am after being the made into the plaything of a djinn."
"You make it sound like he demanded sexual favors from you."
"It wouldn't have surprised me," he countered. "But lucky for you, he only made me sit here with his magical fist around my heart until you made sure he got away free and clear. Do you know how fucking terrifying that was? Feeling my heart squeeze inside of my chest every time you mouthed off to him?" He paused. "At least I assume that's what you were doing."
I wouldn't look at him. He knew me too well.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you so quiet?"
I shrugged. "Nothing. It's been a long day." I knew better than to think he'd let it go at that, but a girl could hope, right?
"Ang." There was a warning in his tone that told me my assumption had been correct.
Picking up my teacup, I held it in both hands and turned around to face him. "It's really nothing. One of the vampires saw me coming out of the shop and followed me for a bit, that's all. I handled it."
"Which one?"
"The scary one that never smiles."
"Jamal," Mike said immediately.
"I guess so." I kept my voice casual, playing it off like I didn't knowexactlywho he was, and had ever since the first time I saw him.
