“Mia does?” Scott asked with a frown.
“Yes.” Selene sighed and dreamed of a hot shower to wash the day’s stink off from sitting in the car for so long.
Instead, she dumped her bag on Scott’s sofa and headed out the door to go meet another person with power.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Scott sat next to Selene in the booth, and Mia sat directly across from them.
Even though it was past nine at night, the coffee bar was almost packed. After receiving their orders, Mia glanced at Selene.
“Is it okay if I keep this conversation to the three of us?” Mia asked.
Selene glanced around and nodded.
Mia smiled and, suddenly, everything stopped. The noise in the coffee shop, all movement. Even the air seemed to still.
“There, that’s better.” Mia relaxed back. “What are you?”
“I’m…” Selene leaned forward, her elbows on the table. “The goddess of darkness. You?”
“Wow, really? A goddess?” Mia looked interested. “There really isn’t a name for what I am. The closest label, which has been handed down my family’s blood line, is djinn.”
“Seriously?” Selene tilted her head, then looked over at him.
“Which means?” he asked with a slight shrug.
Selene smiled. “She’s a genie.”
He turned to Mia and ran his eyes over her. She’d been living in the apartment complex longer than he had. He’d noticed her the first week after moving in. On several occasions, he’d thought of asking her out, but the timing had never been right.
They’d done some minor flirting, or at least he’d thought they had. Not once during the past year had he thought anything such as this about her.
“A genie? Like in Aladdin?” he asked.
Mia chuckled. “Yes, but I’m not made of blue smoke and can’t grant wishes.”
“What are your powers? If you don’t mind me asking,” Selene said.
“Besides this”—Mia waved her hand to the stillness—“one of my favorites is…” In the next seconds, Mia’s face transformed. Then her entire body shifted, and her hair seemed to grow everywhere. Seconds later, a very large black dog sat where Mia had been. “I can’t keep the form for long, but…” The dog smiled back at them, then started to change back to Mia.
“That is so wicked,” Selene practically clapped. “What else?”
Mia smiled. “I showed you one of mine.” She motioned to Selene.
Selene frowned and then nodded. “Okay, but mine are a little… darker.” She held out her hand. When Mia started to put her hand in hers, Selene pulled back slightly and said, “Don’t freak. It’s just a vision.”
How many times in his life had he seen what happened to people when they touched Selene? Too many. Watching Mia’s eyes go white and the blood drain from her face still got to him.
Mia jerked her hands back and frowned towards Selene. “I can do visions too, but mine are…” She shifted and locked eyes with him.
Instantly, images of him and Selene walking on a beach somewhere filled his mind. Selene was in a ridiculously small black bikini. She had on large black sunglasses, shielding her eyes from him.
“Is this everything you imagined it would be?” she asked him.
He turned to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Yes, and more,” he said before kissing her.
“…happy,” Mia finished as the images disappeared.