Em rolled off me, breathing hard. We’d fucked like there was no tomorrow, then we’d fucked some more. I’d always heard that sex was supposed to be life-affirming, but god damn if this didn’t feel like a last meal. Well, fuck it, I’d gorge myself until they dragged me to the gallows.

“Well,” Em said, still panting, “what do we do now?”

I rolled onto my side and grinned. “Wait until I get hard again?”

“I’m serious,” she said. She wasn’t smiling. “Your list of enemies keeps getting longer, and your attitude keeps getting worse. Which means we’ll probably have more enemies.”

She wasn’t wrong. It was taking more and more effort to keep the animalistic side of me bottled up. I wanted to lash out at everyone, and when I looked at Em…

“The way you’re looking at me now,” Em said. “It’s the way I’ve always wanted you to look at me., but it almost doesn’t seem like you.”

“That’s because it’s not,” I said. “Or, at least, it’s not the old me. Jinn said I wasn’t bound by social convention anymore, and I think she’s right. There’s always been a part of me that wanted to be snarky and combative. And, God knows, I’ve always wanted to throw you down and enjoy every inch of you. It’s just that I never gave in to any of it. Now, holding back just doesn’t seem worth it.”

“I can handle the sex drive,” Em said, “Hell, I love the sex drive.”

“But?” I said.

“The other stuff is harder. I’m starting to miss the sweet, shy guy that couldn’t get up the nerve to make a move.”

I lay there, looking into Em’s eyes. I resisted the urge to let my gaze follow the contour of her body downward. I’d only been a genie for a few days, and already she was balking at my changes. What would it be like in a few weeks, or years? And, could I really blame her?

“Maybe we shouldn’t see each other,” I said.

Em bolted upright and jabbed a finger at me. “Don’t you dare! You don’t get to make that choice.”

“But Em—”

“No! If you don’t want to be together because that’s what you want, then fine. But you don’t get to decide how much danger I’m allowed to be in. You don’t get to decide what I’m able to cope with. And you certainly don’t get to fucking decide when I’m allowed to be happy!”

Her lips trembled, and tears probably weren’t far off. I lay there, lost in thought. Even with the madness of the last few days, I couldn’t deny I’d been happy with Emily at my side. She made everything tolerable and also made them a little better with her insights. I’d seen this exact scene play out in movies and books and always wondered how the guy could presume to think for his woman. Well, now I knew the answer…because he loved her. Just like I loved Em.

“I’m not trying to push you away,” I said, finally. “I’m trying to protect you. And not just from all the shit that’s going on, but from what I might become.”

Em got out of bed and pulled on her panties. Even now, I couldn’t help but admire the way they hugged her hips and cupped her special place. She caught me looking and leaned onto the bed.

“I’m not as weak as you think,” she said. “This body is yours, and everything that comes with it. Love isn’t blind, but it is blinding, so don’t push me away.” She kissed me and walked away.

I didn’t think she was weak. She was the strongest person I knew, and that wasn’t hyperbole. She’d had a hard life to this point and not only survived but thrived. Hell, if I’d had to crawl out of the shit-heap like she had, with an abusive, alcoholic father, an indifferent mother, and cut-throat siblings, I’d probably have curled up and died.

Of course, I knew better than to say any of that. I was certain that, as far as Em was concerned, this conversation was over, and any attempt to keep it going would sound defensive. She made it pretty fucking clear I was stuck with her, and I couldn’t have been happier.

She came back into the room carrying two mugs. “You’re almost out of vanilla.”

Fuck, she was beautiful. She held the mugs up to her chest, her breasts peeking out along the edges. They hid her nipples, and steam curled up from the drinks—she was literally smoking hot.

“What?” she said.

“If they advertised coffee like that,” I said, “no one would drink anything else.”

I took my drink and sipped appreciatively. The message was clear; it was time to get moving. We both got dressed, although my little soldier definitely had other ideas. I tried to organize my priorities. Jinn was still out there, and I didn’t know if she was really trying to kill me or not. The emissaries would be expecting my decision in a little more than six days, and the Zaeim Aljiniy were a complete mystery. What I needed was knowledge.

“We need to find some answers,” I said.

“Any ideas on how?” Em said.

“Well, Haliniel wasn’t exactly spelling it out for me, but I think I need to follow my trail.”

“You and Haliniel have something in common, then,” she said. “Because you’re not exactly spelling it out for me either.”

“Duh. When I saw Jinn disappear, she had a long tail of mist floating from her into the ether. I looked at myself, and I have the same thing. Only, it’s distorted and knotted, like a shriveled umbilical cord.”

“Nice image,” Em said. “Do you think you can follow it?”

“Maybe. I could see Jinn’s for miles before it dissipated. Mine only goes a few hundred yards. I don’t know if it will stay in focus while we follow it, or if we’re going to have to go to where it loses focus and try again from there.”

“Only one way to find out,” Em said, grabbing my keys.

I shielded my eyes against the early morning sun as we left the building. Em hooked her arm onto mine, and we moved as one down the sidewalk. My trail ran to the south and ended near the Verizon store at the end of the block.

“It’s not extending as we walk,” I said. “Looks like we’re going to have to do it the hard way.”

“Why should it be easy?” Em said. “Let’s stop by the bakery, I’m starving.”

As I opened the door for Em, I caught a glimpse of a man a few yards behind us. He had his wrist up to his mouth and was speaking. Fuck, that’s right, we’re fugitives, and we were stupid enough to go home.

“Donuts are gonna have to wait,” I said, pointing to the man. “We’ve got company.”

Em’s eyes widened when she saw the man. “What do we do?”

“All you have to do is trust me. I’ll protect you.”

I focused on the end of my trail and gathered threads around Em and me. The cop darted toward us, sensing his cover was blown. “The tabloids are going to have a field day with this,” I said as I released the threads. The world lurched forward. Em, and I passed through buildings and people like they were smoke. It felt like we were standing still, and I’d just pulled the spot where I wanted to be to me.

The world stopped moving, and my stomach revolted. I managed to hold on, but Em wasn’t so lucky. We’d appeared next to an elderly couple, and Em let out a torrent of coffee and bile. The sick landed on the ground next to the old woman, splashing onto her slacks.

“Oh dear,” the woman said, “are you all right young lady?”

“I’m so sorry,” Em said, still retching.

“It’s all right, sweetie. You don’t get to be my age without getting dirty from time to time,” the woman said. “Herbert, be a dear and give me your kerchief.”

The old man passed his handkerchief to the woman, and she began wiping Emily’s face, completely ignoring her own vomit-covered pants. I stood, awed by the display. It reminded me that, although my last few days had been a nightmare, not everyone was out to get us.

“Suck on this,” the woman said, proffering a hard candy, “It’ll settle your stomach.”

Em took it with a grateful smile. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I wasn’t expecting to get sick.”

“Does anyone ever?” the woman said.

I pulled out all the cash I had. Considering I’d created two million dollars recently, I was pretty disappointed by how little money I actually had.

“I’m sorry, miss,” I said, pushing the bills into her hand. “I need to get her home. Please take this and buy some new pants. I wish I could do more.”

She pushed the money away gently, but I held my hands up.

“You’re such a nice young man,” the woman said. “I’ll do as you ask. There’s a homeless man who could use this money.”

She walked away with Herbert. As she left, I caught part of their conversation.

“Steven will be so happy, won’t he, dear.” She said.

I almost fell over. That motherfucker had people like this old couple looking after him, and he dared to say no one cared? I hoped like hell that money was going to kill him, and soon.

“What’s wrong,” Em said. Color had returned to her face, and she sounded hale.

“Nothing,” I snarled.