The ball is shrinking. I have to curl up in a ball myself.
"Look, it's impossible to do what you want!"
The male djinn who spoke up for me looks pissed at the others. "Stop it! You're going to ruin another trip!"
"Oh, Shodfui, what's one mortal, more or less?" one of the women snaps.
"Ayai, this one happens to be mated to Daji! I'm surprised any of you fog-brains have forgotten the last time you tangled with her!"
Daji.
I don't know how this bond works, but maybe I can send out an SOS. It's like the stories of couples who get a sixth sense that the other one is in trouble.
I try to think thoughts of death, pain, suffocation, and danger. I broadcast my panic so loud with my mind.
Daji, please. Save me.
Shodfui, who seems to be the most grounded of the djinns, yells at the others. "Stop it!"
Crackling lightning bolts shoot from his fingers, streaking towards me. I can see them blur, and practically smell the electricity. They strike my claustrophobic and shrinking prison, halting it from crushing me like a trash compactor. I suddenly feel sympathy for mimes when they do that routine where they're in an invisible box that's shrinking.
"Shodfui," Big Burly Djinn says warningly, as if that one word and just saying it like a Mafia enforcer will make his friend back off. "Don't interfere."
"You're going to get us kicked out of the inn permanently, Jastam," Shodfui shouts. "One of the only places in the physical world where we can be ourselves. NO!"
"Listen to him, all of you," I gasp, my adrenaline working overtime. "I'll have to ban you from the inn. I have the power to do that. Daji sure as hell has the power to do that. The shields and magical sensors can block gods from coming in. We've done it before."
I recall reading a list of blocked/banned guests in the office. Gram and Gramps kept one. At the time, I thought they might be codenames or screen names.
"The last ban we had was the Cyclops in 2001," I say. "He was upset because the rakshasas kept making fun of his one eye. He busted holes in the walls, and it takes serious strength to do that. He scared the staff. He nearly clobbered my grandmother. Don't make me add you to the list."
The djinn all pause, evidently familiar with the story of the Cyclops getting kicked out of the inn. A lifetime ban, which for a mythical creature can span centuries, even eternity.
One of the other djinn, another female, seems to grasp the situation. "Maybe we should forget about dates right now. Maybe we should just enjoy each other's company."
"That wasn't the plan, Umnana," Jasnam shoots back.
"Oh, your plan." She sniffs haughtily. "This is why you can't find a mate. You're so fixated on plans. My plan this, my plan that. No flexibility. What girl wants that?"
Daji's snarl cuts off whatever he might have said. "That won't be a problem. He won't be getting any girls when I'm done with him, unless he lets my mate go."
The djinn all whirl to see Daji with her head up, her fox eyes fierce, and her teeth sharp. She looks like the spirit of the wild personified. Untamable.
Jastam twirls his hands, and suddenly, I drop to the floor, gasping, my prison gone. Daji rushes to my side and helps me up, holding me tightly in her arms. Her look could birn the djinn to ashes.
"We'll just relax among ourselves," Shodfui coos. "Right, Jastam?"
"I will NOT—"
The other djinn, fed up with his antics, hurl another sphere at him. It entraps him, spinning fast and faster until it's a blur. Then, it vanishes.
"He won't be coming back." Shodfui strides over and clasps my hand in his. The warmth shoots from him to me, and I feel better. Suspiciously, Daji glares at him, but he isn't cowed. "Please accept our apologies. We'll order a round of drinks for everyone and put this unfortunate incident behind us."
"That's not necessary," I mumble. "I do have to get back to work."
They bristle, as if I've offended them all.
Daji pulls me aside and hisses, "I don't like djinns, but don't insult the, by refusing to drink with them. It's just not done. They're trying to save face. For the sake of the inn, can have one drink with them. One drink."
When she puts it that way, I can't refuse.
I use the intercom, one of the only concessions to technology here, and call room service. I order the bottle of expensive Scotch that the djinns want. Macallan.
We all sit down, with Daji keeping a tight grip on me in case anyone think I'm on the market. Shodfui is still eying me with his jewel-like orbs. I think if Daji weren't in the picture, he'd pursue me. I'm strictly into women, but I have the feeling he'd chase me, nonetheless.
The Scotch arrives and Shodfui pours, admiring the classic bottle. "Ah, good old Earth Scotch," he says, turning the bottle this way and that to see how it catches the light. "A superior invention."
"And a rare Macallan 21," I add, noticing the clear glass bottle. "Excellent choice."
Ayai, the one who thinks of humans the way we think of insects or plankton, hands Daji and me the glasses of Scotch. Her smile is apologetic, but in a pitying way. In a "I'm sorry you're an inferior species" kind of way.
I press closer to Daji and toes Shodjui and Umnana, who seem to be the adults in the room. "Cheers," I say. "To our continued friendship."
"Cheers," Shodfui says, taking a sip of Scotch and moaning with pleasure. "Ah, that's good."
The fiery liquid goes down easily, and Daji guzzles hers until it's all gone. I suppose gods have varying tolerance for alcohol, and my Daji seems like someone who can take a lot before she gets tipsy.
My Daji.
Did I really just think of her that way?
"So … how do you find running the inn?" Shodfui asks.
"Full of surprises," I say truthfully. "Not what I expected when I took on this job. I should have known better."
The djinns all chuckle and one of them pats me on the head, like a child or a puppy. "Understandable," he says with a mouth full of gold teeth. Gold teeth! Maybe they just look golden. "How could your mortal mind even come to grips with meeting figures from your stories and myths? Why, you've only ever seen genies in—"
"NO ALADDIN," the other djinn shout.
Ayai muses, "But I liked 'I Dream of Jeannie.'"
Umnana presses her hand to her dusky chest. "How can you say that? Barbara Eden's portrayal was nothing like any female djinn I know. 'Yes, Master.' The skimpy outfit. At least Aladdin's genie talked back to him."
"It was the sixties," I say, shrugging.
"It's your species," she shoots back.
"It's men," I correct. "We're simple creatures."
Daji laughs softly. "Present company excepted."
"But I really want to know what it's like to be a genie," I say, with open curiosity. "Can you tell me more? I mean … you want to make up for what Jastam did, right? Tell me more about the djinn."
Exchanging glances, the djinn all huddle, while Daji looks pleased. I don't know why she seems so happy.
Breaking apart, the djinn all face me.
Shodfui grins. "Why tell you … when we can show you?"
And just like that, the walls of the suite vanish, and I'm in a cloud palace in the sky, gazing down at the Arabian desert. The golden expanse of sand rolls below us, with the stars glowing around us and spangling the sky, casting their light on the sands below.
And Daji is nowhere to be seen. I'm alone with Shodfui and Umnana. First, I get tormented by a djinn, now whisked off halfway around the world. The marble walls look like they inspired the Taj Mahal. The whole palace looks like blend of Indian and Arabian design, with several cupolas, minarets, and towers, looking like mushroom caps growing out of the palace. The white of the marble is speckled with gold, silver, and precious stones.
"Welcome to our djinn palace," Shodfui says, with a huge grin.
A real Arabian Nights experience … but how do I get back to my hotel?