Out of Sight (17 page)

Then, just as the guards reached them, Sophie raised her head, causing the carpet to go shooting up toward the ceiling. Without even waiting for it to come to a halt, she blinked her eyes. The next thing she knew they were back in the bedroom of her house.

Sophie half expected to look up and discover that the guards had followed her, but instead, she saw only the familiar Neanderthal Joe posters and her incomplete Spanish homework.

“Dad. Dad. Are you okay?” Sophie immediately leaned over the prostrate figure, panic lacing her words. She turned to Malik in alarm. “He's not moving. What's wrong with him?”

“Probably the shock of that terrible landing,” Malik retorted as he folded his arms and shot her a stern glare. “I would like to think that I taught you better than that.”

“Um, hello. Did you not see the three big hairy guards who were chasing us?” she protested, and then caught sight of her father's sunken cheeks and deathly pallor. “B-but what are you saying? Are we too late?”

However, Malik didn't answer. Instead, he nudged her out of the way and started once again to talk in the weird language. For a moment there was nothing, but eventually the low guttural sounds finally seemed to have an effect as her dad managed to open his deep navy eyes and glance around. He groggily edged himself into a sitting position, still looking disoriented.

Sophie let out a little gasp of joy as Malik suddenly faded back into the corner of the room. Then her dad turned to her and blinked as his gaze zoomed in on her face. She took in the familiar wild blond hair, the navy eyes that were the mirror of Meg's, and the three-day growth of beard that covered his chin.

“Sophie? Is that really you?” His voice was laden with confusion until he reached up and pulled her to him, enveloping her in a massive hug. Sophie let out a pent-up sob and crumpled into his chest as the last four years of worry came pouring out of her. The feel of his arms around hers, his familiar dad smell—it was all still the same. Exactly how she remembered.

She wasn't sure how long she was there before she finally pulled away and grinned.

“You're okay. You're really okay,” she said, her voice still thick with tears.

“I-I think so,” he said, his eyes never leaving hers. “Though I have no idea what just happened. I was bound to Sheterum, I know that much. But nothing else makes sense. How did you find me, how did you get in to rescue me, and why do you look so much older than the last time I saw you?”

“It's kind of a long story,” Sophie gulped. She suddenly appreciated why Malik had disappeared into the shadows. Then she took a deep breath and started to fill her dad in on what had happened during the last four years, her hand never leaving his.

Half an hour later her dad was still looking as if he had just stepped out of a wrecked car. “I've been gone for four years?”

“I'm afraid so,” Sophie said. Malik had explained to her that time moved differently when you were bound, but she hadn't really understood what he'd meant until now. The drained expression on her dad's face really said it all.

“And while I was gone you managed to get turned into a djinn by someone called Malktrek,” her dad continued, his grim face growing grimmer by the minute.

“His name is Malik. And I told you it was an accident. Plus,” she added in a rush, “he's been a really big help since it happened, and there's no way I would've been able to rescue you without him.”

“Hmmm, well, I think I'm going to need to meet this Malik,” her dad said in a menacing voice, and Sophie turned to where Malik was still lurking and nodded for him to come out.

“Er, Tariq. Hi,” Malik said in a cautious voice as he floated into the light, a contrite expression on his normally jovial face. “About the whole ‘tricking Sophie into taking my djinn ring' thing. I mean, obviously, I never would've done it if I'd had any idea she was your daughter. Not to mention—”

“Malik, enough.” Her dad held up his hand. “I'm not going to pretend I'm happy about what's happened—”

“Dad,” Sophie cut him off, “don't you dare get mad at him.”

“Actually, Sophie, your father has every right to get mad at me.” Malik shot her a gentle smile. “Especially since, if your father had wanted you to be a djinn, he would've registered you with the council when you were first born. But don't worry, Tariq, I promise that I'll leave immediately, and you have my word that I won't come back again.”

“No.” Sophie shook her head. “He can't go. It wasn't his fault, and besides, he's been a really amazing djinn guide. Not only did he help me with transcendental conjuring, but he was the best flying-carpet teacher that a girl could have.”

“Did he tell you to say all of that?” her dad asked, his jaw still clenched.

“No, of course not—well, perhaps he made some suggestions for when I fill in his djinn guide evaluation—but you were the person who taught me to speak up for myself. So please, you can't get mad at him. I won't allow it.”

“Sophie,” Malik said in a soft voice, “it's okay, and I promise that I will come to visit you sometimes. Well, if that's okay by Tariq.”

“Ah, now I remember you. A terrible poker player and quick to run out on a bad hand,” her dad said as he folded his arms.

“Excuse me?” Malik looked surprised.

“You heard me. You're obviously the same in death as you were in immortal life. After all, what kind of djinn guide leaves his student after just eight weeks?”

Malik rubbed the bridge of his nose in confusion, but Sophie widened her eyes as she turned to her dad.

“Are you saying he can stay?” she gasped.

“Seriously?” Malik clapped his hands together but remembered that cool djinn guides didn't clap their hands, so he folded his arms instead.

Her dad let out a long sigh. “I'm pretty sure that I will probably regret it. A lot. But I also remember what a disaster it was when I tried to teach Sophie how to ride a bike when she was six.”

“I crashed into the hedge and got a massive cut on my arm. Mom was mad at for you ages,” Sophie recalled with delight, and her dad ruefully nodded his head.

“Pretty much. Besides, I'm going to need all the allies I can get if I'm going to come out of this in one piece.”

“Out of what?” Sophie asked in alarm as she immediately glanced around her bedroom. “What's going on? Are you still in trouble? Will Sheterum come after you? Malik didn't tell me that.”

“No, don't worry, Sheterum won't come after me again, and if he does, he won't find it quite so easy the next time around. No, I'm talking about something else, and I'm afraid it's going to be a lot tougher than anything else you've been through so far.”

“W-what is it?” Sophie gasped as her dad got to his feet and held out a hand to help her up.

“We need to go and explain this whole mess to your mom.”

G
ROUNDED?” KARA GASPED ON SUNDAY MORNING
as they sat on the yellow-and-white comforter on Sophie's bed. “You saved your dad from a lifetime of being stuck in a painting and being at the beck and call of an evil sahir, and now you're grounded? That is
totally
unbelievable.”

“I know, right?” Sophie waved her arms in outrage. “We had a family meeting that went on
all
day, and that's when Mom and Dad explained exactly why they were doing it. Apparently, it's because not only did I hide the whole djinn thing from my mom, but because I snuck out of the house.
To rescue my dad.
” Then she let out a sigh as she got to her feet and twirled around in the turquoise silk dress, admiring the way it made her short legs look super-long—well long for her. “Thankfully, they said it could start on Monday so that I could go to the Taits' anniversary party today.”

“Speaking of which, are you sure that you don't mind if I come along?” Kara got to her feet and smoothed down the cute floral skirt that Sophie had originally planned to wear, and that, like everything Kara put on, looked amazing on her. “I got the shock of my life when Melissa called me up yesterday and invited me. She thought I might want to see her mom's David Hockney collection. I mean, hello, is she kidding me? Who wouldn't want to see it?”

“I told you she wasn't that bad.” Sophie grinned as she clutched at the Eddie Henry guitar pick, which was hanging around her neck. “And she's even invited Harvey, too.”

“Well, in between her snide comments, I guess she's okay,” Kara reluctantly conceded just as Sophie's mom called for them to come downstairs if they wanted a lift to the party. The two girls grinned at each other as they hurried down to where everyone was waiting.

“I want to go, too,” Meg said in a sulky voice. “It's not fair. First Sophie gets to be a djinn, and now she gets to go to the party?”

“Meg,” their mom began in a sharp voice. But before she could say anything else, Malik appeared in a bright green Hawaiian shirt and some skinny jeans, an extra-large bag of Cheetos in his hand.

“And what about me? Why can't I go? I bet they're going to have some really great food there. Melissa Tait's very fierce and has a nice eye for detail. I was really looking forward to checking it all out,” Malik said, earning him a sharp look from Mr. Jaws, whose opinion of Malik hadn't improved now that he could properly see him. And the cat wasn't the only one who could see Malik. It had been decided at yesterday's meeting that, if Malik was going to be around all the time, it was only fair if everyone could see him.

“Well tough luck, because neither of you is going,” Sophie's dad said in a firm voice. “Malik, we've been through this. From now on if you want to live in this house, then you live by our rules, and that means no more Cheetos. They are not a food group. And Meg, I wouldn't be getting too jealous of your sister. As she's about to find out, being a djinn isn't all fun and games.”

“What?” Kara widened her eyes and stared at Sophie. “What does that mean?”

“It means no more unauthorized magic,” Sophie sighed, since that was the other major outcome of the family meeting that they'd had yesterday. And from now on she could do magic only in her lessons with Malik or if she had approval from her parents. Apparently, that even included tweaking her hair to give it more bounce, which, if you asked her, was more than a little unreasonable. Then there was the rest. Somehow she had forgotten that her dad was a planner, but as he ran down a twenty-five-point list, it all came flooding back.

“Sophie can't do any more magic?” Meg looked marginally happier.

“That's right,” their dad said as he scooped Meg up into a gigantic bear hug that soon had her giggling like a baby. “Anyway,” he added, “after we drop Sophie and Kara at the party, your mom and I are going to take you to the aquarium to see the sharks.”

“Really?” Meg squealed, the party instantly forgotten.

“Really, so you'd better go and get ready,” her dad said with a grin. “And Malik, there's an apple pie in the kitchen. It's not quite as orange as Cheetos, but I think you might like it.”

“And who exactly made this pie?” Malik asked in a cautious voice while inadvertently looking directly at Sophie's mom.

“Don't worry, it definitely wasn't me.” Her mom didn't look remotely offended as she wrapped her arms around Sophie's dad, looking happier than she had looked in a long time.

“Well, in that case I'm in. No offense, of course,” Malik hastily added.

“None taken, Malik. Or should I say MG?” Sophie's mom said as her lips twitched. Not only had she finally been able to see Malik for the first time yesterday, she had discovered that he was actually her Facebook friend MG, which, ironically enough, made her feel a lot more comfortable around him. Then she narrowed her eyes. “But Terry wasn't joking about living by our family rules. If you want to be part of this house, then I expect you to wash up your own dishes. Okay?”

“Dishes? Apple pie?” Malik said as he used his arms like scales before finally shrugging. “Eh, I've heard of worse deals.” Then he floated off to the kitchen, closely followed by an annoyed-looking Mr. Jaws. At the same time, Meg reappeared wearing her favorite shark-shaped sunglasses.

“Let's go already,” Sophie's little sister commanded as they headed out the door and piled into the car that had miraculously turned from a ten-year-old Toyota into a brand-new Prius (thanks to her dad giving Rufus a call about distributing Solomon's Elixir for him). Personally, Sophie couldn't understand why her dad didn't just conjure up a new car, but he had explained that rule number one of being a djinn was that one didn't use one's powers for personal gain. At that point Malik had slunk off, pretending to answer a cell phone call.

The trip to Jonathan's house was mostly taken up with Meg bargaining for how long they could stay at the aquarium, but Sophie hardly heard. She was too busy enjoying the fact that she once again had a perfect family. Her mom, her dad, her sister. Even Malik and the petulant cat. Not to mention her friends, because she had quickly learned that life wasn't nearly as good when you didn't have your friends with you.

Finally, the car pulled to a halt and Kara got out, but before Sophie could, her mom twisted around from the front seat and handed her a large silver bag with mounds of tissue paper frothing over the top.

“What's this?” Sophie said in surprise as she took it.

“It's a gift for you to take to the party. Monica was admiring it the other day when she came to look at some stock, so I thought it would make a nice present for her anniversary,” her mom said.

“Thanks, Mom!” Sophie said in delight; with everything that had been going on, she'd completely forgotten about a present. She carefully lifted out some of the tissue paper and gasped. It was one of her mom's pottery vases. This one was shaped like a twisted tree trunk and was glazed with a silvery paint that seemed to dribble down the sides. It looked almost haunted and ghostly, and Sophie was pretty sure that even Melissa Tait would approve. She looked at her mom and gave her a grateful smile. “Really, thanks, Mom. For everything.”

“You're welcome, honey.” Her mom gave her a watery smile and squeezed her hand. “You're still grounded, of course, but for today I want you to have a lovely time. Plus, you will need to take some notes. Your father and I have a wedding anniversary coming up next month, and let's just say that I intend on making up for the last four that we missed.”

“A party?” Meg immediately clapped her hands. “Can we have a shark cake?”

“We'll see,” her mom said, giving them a smile that Sophie hadn't seen in a long, long time. She let out a happy sigh and was just about to scramble out of the car when her dad stopped her.

“Actually, Soph, there's something I wanted to talk to you about, too,” he said, pausing and shutting his eyes. Then he opened them again, and Sophie realized that Meg wasn't moving. Instead, she was sitting with her mouth open, like she was just about to speak. Sophie widened her eyes and peered into the front seat, only to discover that her mom was also sitting perfectly still, like a statue.

“Um, Dad.” She scratched her chin as she gave him a surprised glance. “Did you just freeze Mom and Meg?”

“Well, yeah,” he reluctantly said before narrowing his eyes. “But this is one of the situations that falls under the ‘Do as I say, not as I do' rule. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed. “And if this is about the rules, then you don't have to worry. I promise that I won't forget any of them. No conjuring. No being invisible. No unauthorized carpet flying or listening to any rules that Malik tells me. I will be the model djinn.”

“Actually”—her dad shook his head and gave her a goofy smile—“I think your mom and I have been so busy talking about your new djinn life that I forgot to talk about all the other things you've been doing.”

Sophie looked at him in alarm. “Is this about the time I dropped chocolate ice cream on the carpet and pretended that Mr. Jaws did it, because I'm—”

“Honey, no,” he quickly assured her and let out a groan. “I'm really bad at this parenting stuff. I think I'm going to need to do a catch-up course. Anyway, your mom told me what a positive thinker you are and how you always believed that I would come home, even when no one else did.”

“Oh, well, that wasn't very hard,” Sophie assured him in surprise. “Since I always just knew you would. It wasn't really difficult. Now, learning to fly the carpet. That was difficult.”

“That's debatable. I know a lot of djinns who can fly, but not many who can remain so unfaltering in their beliefs. What I'm trying to say is, I'm grateful that your inner magic is just as strong as your outer magic,” he said. “Anyway, we can keep talking about it later, but I just wanted you to know how proud I am of you and how happy I am to be home.”

“I'm happy as well.” Sophie shyly reached out and touched his shoulder, just to make sure he really was real. His hand reached up and squeezed hers, and for a moment they just sat there in silence.

“Okay, and now I will just turn into a boring dad if I don't let you get out of the car and go to your party. But, Soph, one more thing,” he added before he closed his eyes. A moment later Sophie felt her hair begin to tingle, and she widened her eyes in surprise as she tentatively reached up and patted it. It was definitely more bouncy, just the way she liked it. Then her dad winked at her and her mom and Meg suddenly came back to life, just like nothing had happened. For a moment Sophie was silent, and she returned his grin. And then she hopped out of the car and hurried over to where Kara, Harvey, Jonathan, and Melissa were all waiting for her. The crazy thing was that all this time she had wanted her dad to come home so that their lives could go back to normal, but now she realized that there was no way that could happen.

From now on their life was going to be amazing.