71. Blue Fingers

{Naya}

Instead of a searing pain, there was only a dull ache in my chest. My head was clear.

Naya, come here.

Uri's voice. It came from the past. I followed the echoes.

I need you to promise me something.

No, not this. Why this memory? This would only prove that . . .

If anything happens to me out here, go with Ritsu and listen to whatever he tells you to do . . . It's already decided. Ritsu and I talked it over with Zayn before we left for Oman.

I opened my eyes. Uri never told me the whole story, but those words were consistent with those of the masked djinni.

Speaking of which.

This was the second time I was waking up near the masked djinni. This time, he wasn't merely near me. He was touching me.

I rolled away from him. "If you spoon me again without my consent, you'll regret it."

The djinni shifted onto his elbows. "It was the only way to cool you off."

I was tired of this. "Thank you for saving me from the ghouls. Ritsu, is that really you?"

He sat all the way up and pressed his hands to his chest. "This is my true form. When Uriel stepped into that transmutation circle, it triggered the pentagram on the back of his neck, unlocking my shinigami essence. It wasn't supposed to happen that way. The spell should have only been set off by Uriel losing control. Perhaps that's what the collector wanted when he designed the alchemy."

I cradled my forehead with my palm. "What in the hell is a shinigami?"

Ritsu chuckled. Even though his voice was ten times deeper and I couldn't see his face, I knew for sure that it was him.

He sat up. "A lord of death."

"Fancy," I snorted.

Ritsu shook his head. "Quite the opposite. The grandeur doesn't extend beyond the title. Everything has a spirit. Even the dead. I thrive off of them."

After someone tells you they eat the spirits of dead things, you would expect the reaction to be one of caution. Rather, I positioned myself upright, crossed my legs under me, and proceeded with my questions.

"So, do you ever, you know, nudge people towards death?"

Ritsu shrugged. "It's possible, but rarely. There would have to be a good reason. It's hard to tamper with one's free will. We don't really get involved like that."

That made sense. I asked, "I'm guessing that even though I can see you, humans can't."

Ritsu sighed. "Correct. Most djinn won't be able to see me either. It's strange. I suspect only the ones connected to you or Uriel might. That or they will see a shadow of me."

I looked over the tattoos etched flawlessly into his porcelain skin. "For something that's not really a threat, you sure do look it."

Ritsu laughed again. "Well, I suppose that helps, but you're a lot stronger than me. I'm very limited in the ways that I can protect you."

His words reminded me of how I needed protection from my own fire, Aqua. I reached up and touched the area above my abdomen, right over my core where she lived.

"You have the power to cool off my fire. If you hadn't stepped in, I don't know what kind of state I'd be in right now." I looked up. "How did you do it?"

Ritsu shrugged. "Your core is hot. Mine is very cold. I just did what made sense."

I crawled closer to him and tentatively reached out for his shoulder. That unchanging mask watching my every move made me nervous. I carefully slid one finger down his tricep. Nothing but refreshingly cool muscle, like a knot of wet rubber.

"It's incredible that you can maintain this temperature in the desert."

The fox face held its dark slits level with my gaze. "Just let me know when your fire is causing you pain."

I swallowed. "It's hurting right now actually. So, um . . . how does this work?"

I learned pretty quickly that in order to calm Aqua down, Ritsu had to be touching me. I'm not going to lie, being wrapped up in his arms felt pretty soothing.

Ritsu later explained that what he was doing was literally freezing the air around Aqua. The drop in temperature slowed down her particles, making it difficult for her to create heat. Whenever he let go of me, she went back to trying to burn through my core. I had a few hours before Ritsu would have to hold me again.

As we resumed our journey, it became clear that Ritsu was just about as lost as I was. Still, it was ten times better traveling with a friend than by myself. We fell into an easy rhythm of survival and encouragement. Our goal was to make it to one of the inland seas with a resort nearby. Then we could locate a phone and call Zayn for help.

Ritsu would hold my hand whenever we walked so that it took longer for Aqua to heat up. He would encourage me to keep moving forward and talk to me every chance he could get. I knew he was trying to help me keep my mind off of Uri. I was grateful for that. If I wasn't careful, I could work myself into an ugly mood just from worrying.

During those long days, I would occupy myself by observing Ritsu's tattoos. I used the images to tell myself a new story each time. I never asked Ritsu what they meant or where they came from. I liked inventing the details on my own. The only areas where he didn't have ink were his hands and his neck. In those places, his skin was so pale that it gave off a faint blue hue. The color darkened to a shade of navy around his fingernails where it was supposed to be pink.

And then, of course, there was his mask.

"Is it possible for you to take that off?" I asked one day.

Ritsu reached his blue-tinted fingers to his face as if noticing the mask for the first time. "I'm not sure. All lords of death have one. I never tried to –"

Ritsu fell silent when I rested my fingers on the chin of the mask. Like his skin, it was as cold as marble and smooth to the touch. There was a veil of impenetrable darkness between the mask and where his face should have been. There was just enough space under the mask for me to slip my fingers through.

Ritsu gasped, "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry. I'm not taking it off. I just wanted to see if you have a face under there."

My fingers found a chin and then a mouth. Ritsu's lips parted against my fingers, his icy breath sending a slight shiver down to my wrist.

I peeled my hand away and took a step back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be so intrusive."

Ritsu was silent at first while he adjusted his mask. I began to shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other until he said, "It's fine. We'll call it payback for all the times I made unwanted advances onto you."

I groaned. "How could I forget. You were such a perv."

"That's what happens when all of your emotions and hormones are forced to reside in a miniature mammalian vessel." He held out his hand. "Come on. We need to keep moving."

Though I couldn't see the expression on his face, the change in his voice made me realize that I just sounded like a complete asshole. We had been in the desert all this time and not once had Ritsu tried to come onto me. He has done nothing but have my back, especially during the times when I needed it the most. He helped me look after Uri before and after we found Cyndr's caravan.

"Ritsu," I sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I'm an idiot."

Ritsu took my hand. "Mistress, it's fine. I know I haven't always been the model of chivalry."

I chuckled. "True, but you could say the same for Uri."

Something familiar and achy fluttered inside me.

{Where is he?}

Big mistake.

I clutched my chest and dropped to my knees. An explosion of madness and confusion went off between my ears. It was impossible for me to talk sense into Aqua or even tell the difference between her turmoil and mine. I tried to call out for help, but all that came out were waves of black smoke. I could barely breathe.

Through the nearly impenetrable barrier of Aqua's tempest, I could feel Ritsu wrapping his arms around me. His cool presence was there, but it wasn't doing anything. I put every ounce of energy I had into tilting my chin up and mouthing the words, Not working.

I did this over and over while trying to choke back the smoke. Then I simply prayed that he got the message and could find a way to make all of this stop.

+++

{Ritsu}

Naya's lips were chapped and her breath was smokey and dry. Her hair, which she had quit using magic to fix, was peppered with sand and clearly thirsted for moisture.

Still, she was beautiful.

"So hot," Naya whimpered. She had her arms wrapped around her abdomen as if trying to contain a volcano. "She's burning me. She won't listen. I can't –"

Tears of pain and frustration leaked from her reddened eyes. Whether Naya was aware of it or not, she leaned into Ritsu's arms.

"That's it," Ritsu whispered, "I'm tired of feeling helpless."

He knew what he had to do, and he knew Naya wouldn't like it. But her damn fire was burning her up from the inside. The death lord took her face in his hands, tilted her head up. Bundles of black smoke poured over her tongue. She wheezed an apology.

"Mistress, don't hate me for this."

He released her jaw with one hand and tipped back his mask, just so the lower half of his face was exposed. Naya gasped gently at the sight. He had no idea what she was seeing. He only focused on leaning forward, finding her mouth with his, and grazing her bottom lip with the edge of his tongue.

Oh . . . that Uriel is one lucky bastard, was all Ritsu could think as he eased her fire.

+++

{Naya}

I shouldn't have been surprised by the sight of Ritsu's blue lips and his shockingly white, elongated canines. Or the fact that he thought that kissing me could somehow melt this torrential fire eating me up.

Or that his kiss did exactly that.

The cooling effect was similar to when he held me, only more immediate and more intense. And no matter how long we were touching, his lips remained cool, his tongue like a soft popsicle. With it he probed and doused my fire. I could feel Aqua choking on the drop in temperature, but it gave me room to finally breathe.

Ritsu must have sensed my relief because he backed off and adjusted his mask.

He said, "Before you scream at me, know that I was not trying to overstep my boundaries. Because of the bond you share with Uriel, the sudden severance is causing your fire to grow delirious. The only way to keep it from harming you is by freezing it. Please understand –"

"Thank you, Ritsu," I said. For the first time in days, it didn't hurt to speak. My suit of fire was completely dormant – nothing but a heap of icy embers resting in the pit of my gut. For now.