Master of None Read Free Page B

so good. All she got was a lousy coach and breakable shoes. Maybe my luck actually was starting to turn. What could be luckier than having a digie . . . a genie . . . an Ian on my side? Or at least saving my ass from Trevor’s thugs and giving me sweet wheels. “So, Ian,” I said, without taking my attention from the car in case it disappeared. “Why do you need me?”
    Ian didn’t answer.
    I turned. The self-professed djinn’s fierce glare had become almost feral. I had to admit, I was impressed with Ian’s restraint. Not even Trevor hated me this much. “If you’re not going to answer me, I’ll just leave. And you can find somebody else to get whatever it is you want.”
    “I cannot do that. It must be you.”
    “Why?” I leaned back and propped my elbows on the car’s low roof. Still there. Hot damn. “What’s so special about me?”
    “You—” Ian snapped his mouth closed. The intensity of the hatred in his eyes flared to inferno proportions for an instant. Atlast, he said through gritted teeth, “You are my master, Gavyn Donatti. And I must serve you until your life’s purpose has been realized. But—and heed me well, thief—I will not enjoy it in the least. And if you attempt to humiliate me, or do anything stupid while I am around, you will regret that I ever found you. I despise you, and I am not your friend. Understand?”
    I managed a small nod. Maybe having a djinn wasn’t so lucky, after all.
    I F I THOUGHT TOO HARD ABOUT THIS, I WAS PRETTY sure I’d lose my mind. I couldn’t dismiss the fact that the man—the
creature
next to me—was real. Not when I was driving the evidence.
    At least I’d found the bug stuck to the frame under the passenger side, so I wouldn’t have to worry about Trevor’s thugs for a while. If they were even still trying to find me after Ian’s little Superman act back there. Which I doubted. The look on Skids’s face had said Trevor wasn’t paying him enough for this shit.
    I pulled onto something resembling a main road and headed south. No idea where I’d end up, but the farther from Trevor, the better. Ian sat silently fuming in the passenger seat. When I couldn’t stand the quiet anymore, I said, “We’d better talk.”
    “I would rather not.”
    “Tough. There’s a few things we have to sort out if we’re going to be stuck together.”
    Ian sank further into the seat. “Must you remind me of that?”
    “First, you’ve got to stop calling me by my full name.” I ignored the sulking and concentrated on bland details that wouldn’t strain my brain. “It sounds weird, and people will get curious.”
    Ian’s lip curled. “What would you have me call you, then . . .
master
?”
    “Not that.” I shuddered. If words could kill, I’d be laid out right now. “Just Gavyn, or Donatti. Take your pick.”
    “Fine. Anything else?”
    “Yes. Wear a shirt. And how long are you going to bleed? You can’t go around all bloody and exposed. People wear shirts under vests, you know.”
    “I am djinn, not
people
. And I hate shirts.”
    “Christ, you’re a surly bastard.” My jaw clenched hard enough to sink my teeth into my gums. I stared through the windshield and entertained the notion of ramming his side of the car into a tree. “Is there anything you don’t hate?”
    “Not at the moment.”
    “Well, you’re going to have to dress like a person. Sorry.” A sign ahead proclaimed GENOA—25 MILES. FOOD—LODGING—BEER . That sounded good. Especially the beer part. “Maybe we should head there. Listen, do you need a doctor or something?”
    “Gods, no. Your doctors would panic if they examined me.”
    “You’re still bleeding.”
    Ian glanced down at his chest. “Yes.”
    “Okay, then.” I concentrated on the road. “Look, I’m going to pull off in this Genoa place. We can grab a room for the night, and in the morning—what exactly are we doing, again?”
    “Must we stop? I want to be rid of you.”
    “That makes two of