Page 44 of Releasing the Djinn
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.
"It's Idrak," she said firmly, casting him a piercing stare before purposely moving back to her sister. "I did not think he would be interested in sitting through this, so I told him he could stay home and relax."
"He is family now, why should he not be interested?" the umbrage in her father's tone was plain.
But Nadira ignored him, she could not stop staring at her sister, who quietly picked at her food. She had barely said two words to her when she walked in. Besides the brief flash of surprise at her appearance, Nazma didn't say anything. Thin and a little worn looking, her sister kept her eyes downcast. Something was not right. Her and Nazma had never been close, the opposite in fact, but she still loved her, and Nadira knew when something was wrong.
Nadira shot a silent but questioning glance to her mother. Candrii, who had been staring at her youngest daughter with what might have been concealed worry, looked to Nadira and caught her questioning gaze. With the tiniest shake of her head, her mother commanded her not to say anything about it.
Anger flared through Nadira, and she clenched her napkin before turning back to her father. "Yes, I understand, but I wanted Idrak to relax and have a night to himself."
Kedar made a noise under his breath as he gave her a pitying smile before sharing a knowing masculine look with her father. "It is a husband's duty to guide and support his wife, I would never let you leave by yourself."
Nadira felt her stomach turn as his dark gaze settled over her with a familiarity only Idrak had the right to possess. Not hiding her disgust, Nadira's lip curled.
Fury flashed in the man's eyes and he turned his head away from her and grabbed Nazma's hand in an obvious display of affection. Her sister's full-body tense was the last piece of evidence Nadira could stand.
Pushing her chair back with a screech against the linoleum floor, Nadira stood up and grabbed the teapot, ignoring its weight in her hand and gave her sister an imploring look. "Let me make some more tea. Come with me Nazma, I haven't chatted with you in forever."
Nodding politely, Nazma thankfully stood and followed her to the kitchen. Turning the corner from the gaze of the others, Nadira sat the pot down and whirled on her sister, grabbing the shocked younger woman by the shoulders.
"What is going on? What has he done to you?" she demanded in a low whisper.
Shaking her head, Nazma's pretty gold and turquoise earrings jingled lightly. "Nothing. What are-"
Shaking her shoulders in frustration, Nadira stepped closer until there was only a hand's distance separating their faces. "Do not lie to me. Something is not right, you're not being yourself."
Grabbing her hands from her shoulders, Nazma stepped back and gave her an irritated look. "I am fine, there is nothing to worry about." Glancing away from her for a moment, Nazma looked back at her and offered her a tiny smile. "I meant to tell you earlier, you…you look very pretty."
Oh God, now Nadira knew for a fact something was wrong. Her arrogant little sister never had time to compliment others, not when she could be complimenting herself. Knowing they needed to be getting back, Nadira leveled one last searching look to her sister. "You can tell me anything, you know that right. You have my number if you ever need anything just call me and I will come get you."
Just as her mother walked in, Nadira could see the flash of hope and what felt like desperate need shimmer in her sister's eyes.
"Come on, you two," her mother chided.
Nadira shot her another scorching look, which surprisingly caused a brief expression of guilt to cross Candrii's face. Reaching out to Nazma, Candrii gently brushed back some of her daughter's black hair from her face. "We will talk about this later," she promised in a hushed tone, before following Nazma back into the dining area.
Alone in the kitchen, Nadira grabbed the same pot of tea again and squared her shoulders. Her mind was racing with worry and she had no idea what to do. An image of Idrak's face crossed her mind as she walked out of the kitchen, she wished she would have taken him up on his offer to come along.
