Chapter 3
"My turn!" Birdie ran out of the house and blasted her brother.
Nora flinched as Hayden stumbled back a few feet and groaned. His eyes flashed silver before he shook his head and regained his footing.
Heyder looked at Nora and pointed to his son, "You missed, darling."
"She caught me off guard," Nora rolled up her sleeves. "I'll be more prepared next time."
"The bad guy isn't going to give you a countdown," Heyder chuckled.
"The bad guy also isn't going to be Hayden's sister," Nora pointed out.
"Oh you'd be surprised," the jinn laughed, looking down at the many rings around his fingers. "Sometimes our worst enemies are the ones we grow up with."
"Are we done here?" Hayden asked, looking at his father with irritation. "Look at her hands. She's burning up."
Heyder looked at Nora, "Are you burning up?"
"I feel very hot," Nora aired out the shirt she was wearing.
Her long hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Whatever remained stuck to her next with the sweat. She was in desperate need of a shower.
"I think we've seen enough," Ali said, walking back into the house. "She can even do it at will now."
"Yeah," Heyder sighed. "But why can she do it?"
"That's a question for tomorrow morning," Ali paused at the door. "Now let's go. We have a meeting at court."
"Ali, I told you to not include me in these things," Heyder groaned.
"You're the sultan!" Ali yelled in frustration. "People want to talk to you! Not me!"
"Tell them I'm not available."
"It's about Maaz," Ali's eyes darted to Maya.
"Don't look at her," Heyder warned.
"Heyder," Maya turned to her husband.
"No."
"It's Maaz," Maya said.
"I hate this job," the jinn began to mutter under his breath.
"That's rich coming from you," Ali snorted.
As Heyder began to follow Ali into the house, Hayden made his way over to where Nora stood in the yard. Birdie and Thea goofed around in the background as he came to a stop in front of the tired girl and looked down at her hands.
"Let me see," Hayden took Nora's swollen wrists and held them between his hands. "Does it hurt?"
Nora nodded, "A bit."
"That's normal," as Hayden spoke, he began to carefully push his energy into Nora.
The delicate skin above her bluish veins began to glow softly. Nora's lips parted and she left out a breath that made every part of Hayden's body stir up. He gripped her wrist, feeling her warm skin heat up.
"Hayden..." his name fell out of Nora's mouth like a whisper.
Hayden looked up and their eyes connected. The chilly night hair around her did little to help dry the beads of sweat around her forehead. Her neck glistened under the light in the yard, catching Hayden's eyes with every breath she took.
"What are you doing?" Nora asked, looking down at her wrist.
"Just a little healing," Hayden said.
