There was a need for her approval glimmering in his human eyes and Nadira felt her tension leave her shoulders. She was worrying for nothing, it was all just weird stress dreams. Idrak cared for her and wanted her to be happy, how could she think otherwise?
Giving him a bright smile, she nodded. "It's perfect. I can’t believe you did all of this just because I told you about the chapters on the Iberian wars we are covering in class."
With a blink, his human façade disappeared and Nadira smiled even brighter. Winking at her, Idrak gave her a piercing look as her eyes roved over his true form appreciatively.
"Do not tempt me, my love," he warned playfully. "I would fuck you here and now as the waiters watch."
Nadira set down her fork with a clatter as she hurriedly picked up the glass of wine and took a big gulp washing down the piece of lodged food down her throat. With nearly watering eyes, she glared at the djinn as he laughed.
Taking a bite of his own khachapuri, Idrak grinned at her. "Of course, I would have to bring you here," he said, referring to her statement earlier. "I cannot imagine what that fool is teaching you in that class of yours. I bet he is just going to gloss over Tamar's rule if the cur even deigns to mention her."
"He was going to mention her," she felt the insane need to defend her professor. He may not be as knowledgeable as the immortal wishmaster sitting across from her, but he was nice and his lessons were always interesting. Though secretly, she knew the professor would indeed probably gloss over the famous Queen's legacy.
Idrak let out a derisive noise as he finished off his second helping of food.
Taking another bite of the cheesy delicious bread bowl, Nadira thought of something. "Can you travel back in time?"
He was quiet for a long moment as he considered her question. Lifting his clawed hand, he stared at the long black tips of his claws in quiet examination before answering. "I can stop time, a technique I used to pull you from certain death," he gave her a grave look as if just remembering it angered him. "Though I can say I have not actually traveled back through time myself, but I am sure I can if I wanted and I know I have done it to others in the past." Seeing her confusion, he explained. "I have made armies vanish with a snap of my finger and didn't give it a single thought in that moment. But with my capture, my thoughts and my memories became my jailers, my friends, and often the source of my torture, which gave me immense time to think that maybe they simply did not vanish."
"As in they were sent somewhere else or maybe another time?" she offered excitedly.
"Maybe even another dimension," he added thoughtfully.
"Dimension," she repeated in awe. "I mean you hear of the possibility of these things in scientific journals and TV but…" her voice trailed off as she considered the possibilities.
Smiling Idrak rested elbow onto the table and his chin onto his palm. "With my guidance, you will soon understand that the world you know now is only a fraction of the truth."
*
That night when they got home and showered, Nadira lay propped up in bed as Idrak sat cross-legged at the end of the bed flicking through the television channels. Secretly she knew he loved TV though, the djinn was too proud to admit he was overly impressed by much of anything humans came up with, but she knew deep down he was fascinated by human technology, especially TV.
Swiping through her phone, she felt her stomach drop at the guilt-laden text message from her mom and accompanying voicemail. Clicking on the voicemail icon, she held the phone up to her ear and begrudgingly listened. After a few seconds, she dropped the phone with disgust onto the nightstand next to her.
"Let me guess," Idrak spoke without even turning his head as he stared down at the remote, most likely looking for a particular button. "Your mother?" he speculated.
"Yeah," she groaned, hating the words that were about to leave her mouth. "She wants me to come to dinner."
Chapter 13
Parking the SUV at the curb, Nadira let her tense shoulders hit the seat behind her. To say she did not want to go inside was a massive understatement. Wearily, she turned her head and looked at the bleak, beige townhouse with a growing pit of dread in her stomach. If the pit got any bigger, she was positive she was going to throw up.
Seeing a shadow come to the living room window, Nadira recognized the silhouette of her mother pushing the blinds apart just enough to look out onto the street. Nadira heaved a heavy sigh, it was as if her mother could sense her trying to grasp on to the last lines of her happiness and had an uncontrollable urge to obliterate any such attempts. Annoyed now, Nadira shut off the engine and stepped out of the car. Wearing a pair of black jeans and a blush-colored top and black sandal stilettos, Nadira grabbed her gold and black crossbody purse from the backseat and made her way down the cracked pavement sidewalk. Idly, she noticed Kedar's blue Mercedes parked across the street and inwardly groaned. She was hoping that somehow her sister would have thrown a fit or something and bailed on the dinner, making it a fraction more bearable for Nadira. But of course not.
Reaching for the front door's handle, Nadira blinked in surprise when the door pulled back, suddenly revealing her mother's stern face. Like a hawk, her mother's shrewd gaze passed her up and down, taking in her gained weight and stylish clothes, both of which Nadira knew suited her looks perfectly.
"You're late," her mother snapped dryly.
"Yes, well, I wasn't particularly looking forward to coming," Nadira mumbled as she followed her mother over the threshold and closed the door behind her.
Turning on her heel, her mother gave her a sharp look. A look at one time would have made Nadira shrivel at the sight, and to be honest, it still kind of did, but instead, Nadira returned an equally quelling look of her own. Maybe it was her newfound confidence or maybe it was the stories of Tamar The Great, queen of Georgia, Idrak had shared with her last night, Nadira couldn’t be quite sure. But a strength she never had before seemed to cover her bones in steel, and she faced her mother with a calm surety.
Seeing that she was not going to back down, Candrii turned back on her heel and marched into the living room with the rest of the company. Hanging her purse by the door, Nadira slipped her phone into her back jean pocket and made her way into the den of wolves.
After a few moments of awkward small talk, they finally sat at the dinner table. With her mother and father sitting at each end of the table and Kedar and Nazma sitting on one side, leaving Nadira to sit on the other side next to a glaringly empty seat.
"So, tell me again, where is your husband, Idan…Idris…" Kedar asked, making an obvious show of trying to remember Idrak's name.
There was something different about the man, something that didn't sit well with Nadira from the moment he greeted her. It could be the fact that when he spoke now, unlike the past, where he was always polite if not a little on the serious side, he was now very arrogant. A multitude of signs stacked on top of each other all pointing to his arrogant nature: the haughty tilt of his head as he spoke as if he was a king gracing his supplicants or the way each question was phrased in a way as if he already made up his mind on the answer and he was simply asking to entertain himself. But worst of all, it was the way his eyes blatantly lingered on Nadira, obviously following the lines of her curves as if his wife wasn't sitting quietly next to him.