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Malice swept across the vizier's face. “Taking your life force, dear streetrat.”
Streaks of green traced through the dark flame—the same color as my eyes. The plumes of green turned black as the evil power consumed my life force. Dark clouds poured into the vizier’s chest. In my mind’s eye, I saw a dark flame burning in the place where his heart should be. I almost shit my pants. He smiled and released a sinister laugh. For a fraction of a second, his skin turned gray, and then it flushed with youth. Myyouth!
My throat seized, and I gasped, unable tobreath.
“With the power of your life force,” bragged the vizier, his eyes turning black from the power radiating within him. “I will be able to live another fifty years withoutaging.”
Fear thrashed in my head. Fifty years? Is that all my life was worth? Thatbastard!
Coldness crawled across my body, as if I were trapped in the snowy mountains of White Peak. It consumed all my warmth, slowing my heartbeat and pulse. All my strength and energy flowed out of me and into the dark flame. The skin on my arms pruned like a date. I felt my cheeks and jaw sag with age. So, this was what death felt like. Panic squeezed my chest. I yanked at my chains, trying toescape.
My feeble actions only made the vizierlaugh.
Repeated attempts to break free tore at my wrinkling skin, bruisingme.
Unable to get loose, I considered again the sinking reality I’d diehere.
Ali.
Karim.
I’d let them bothdown.
An unexpected heat chased away the iciness consuming me. Ruby-red fire swirled around me in a protective blanket, cutting off the dark smoke nipping atme.
My chest heaved, and I gasped. At last, my breath flowed again. Pity the dark magic had drained me. It felt as if I’d had that nasty flu again ten times over, my lungs stinging, breathsraspy.
A ball of ruby fire exploded out of my mouth, flinging the vizier backward. He hit the wall with a loudcrack.
Shock pressed the back of my throat. What had just happened? Some sort of magic had saved me. But how? I didn’t possessany.
A vague recollection swept through my mind. That same color red had glowed on the lamp as Karim had carried it to me. The genie! I glanced up, expecting to see some hairy-chested, fat, old man standing at the door, Karim on his shoulder, both waving at me as the chains on my wrists fell off. No suchluck.
Then how the heck was I going to get out ofhere?
That question didn’t get an answer. The vizier climbed to his feet. How? The impact of that crash should have injured an old fart likehim.
Words tacked to the back of mythroat.
Black smoke trailed behind him as he stalkedforward.
My insides iced overagain.
He grabbed me by the hair and yanked my head back. “You claimed the genie?” A sinister edge clung to hiswords.
“What?” I was so drained of energy I could barely thinkstraight.
“You rubbed thelamp.”
The vizier stamped his long staff, and Iflinched.
“I cannot kill you with magic if you are protected by the genie’s power,” hesaid.
What was this creep on about? I hadn’t rubbed the lamp. I only touched it to jam it into my bag. That hardly counted as rubbing it to release a magical creature frominside.
A menacing gleam captured the vizier’s face. “Your genie will be weak after its release from captivity. Presumably hiding somewhere, regaining its strength. But it will turn upsoon.”
A threatening laugh spilled forth as he rubbed hishands.
“I have the perfect plan to draw it out of hiding,” bragged the vizier. “I shall kill you the old-fashioned way. With my pets. Then I can claim your genie and its power formyself.”
A vice clamped around my lungs. I’d believe in the genie when I saw it. But for now, I wanted to scratch the vizier’s eyes out. That bastard! Wanting to kill me for his own sickpleasure.
