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My jaw fellopen.
Karim! How the heck did he get here?It would have taken him hours for someone as tiny as him to navigate back from the cave. Oh, I didn’t care. My heart was elevated just to see himagain.
Gods.
The little squeaker was carrying the genie lamp in his hands. How had he found it? Something inside told me the genie had returned Karim to me, had somehow placed him there with me in the pit. I didn’t know how. I blamed it on my strange, magical connection to the lamp—the same one that had saved me from the vizier’smagic.
Karim tossed the treasure into the middle of the pit, and it landed next to one of thetigers.
“The lamp!” shrieked the vizier. “Guards, get the girl! Leave the lamp tome.”
The door rolled upagain.
Well, if the vizier wanted the treasure, then so did I. Hope exploded in my chest. Maybe if I got to it first, I could use it as a bargaining chip. My life in exchange for his precious lamp. If only I could get my hands on it before the tiger shredded me topieces.
One step forward earned me a savage growl. The cat scratched at the ground, warning me to steer clear of itsprize.
“No,” Isaid.
This only angered the tiger further. It snaked forward and batted away thelamp.
Crap.
To add to my worries, a smoky black hand extended into the ring, circling thelamp.
Double crap.The vizier was using his darkmagic.
The instant his freaky magic touched the lamp it flared ruby red. An explosion of magic expelled his dark power out of the pit, and the vizier roared withfrustration.
I grabbed the sides of my head, trying to still the confusion ricocheting inside my skull. What was that red glow? From where had it come? That same magic had repelled the vizier’s attack on my lifeforce.
A fire of determination coiled around my spine. My brother’s life rested in my hands, and I couldn’t give upnow.
Two of the tigers sniffed the lamp. The last trotted closer to the guard, who was enticing it with a piece of meat on a long pole. Face taut with concentration and fear, the guard tossed another juicy treat into a cell, and the tiger followed after it. Once the beast was fully inside the enclosure, the guard slammed the doorshut.
One down. Two to go. I prayed to the gods, asking them to bless me. I needed the other two tigers to turn their attention toward the guard with the meat, which would leave me with the lamp and a clear escaperoute.
In the meantime, something told me to try a different approach with the beasts. In the animal kingdom, a creature had to command power to dominate others. So I lifted my fisted hands above my head and waved like the angry stall owners did when they chased me after I stole theirmerchandise.
The tigers growled and backed away, obviouslyconfused.
“Kill her, you fools!” The vizier’s tone promised death if the catsfailed.
One tiger bounded forward, claws raking the air so close to me Iscreamed.
My stomach plummeted. “Damn it.” A rush of pain seized me as I swept my foot, spraying the nearest cat withsand.
The feline rumbled and shook itshead.
“Here, kitty, kitty,” said a guard, tossing a lump of meat into thesand.
This captured both cats’interest.
Good. The distraction allowed me to swipe the lamp. Despite my doubts regarding the existence of genies, I rubbed the damn brass with the fury of a soon-to-be-dead woman. Red smoke hissed as it poured from the spout and pooled on the ground and swirledupward.
Apparently, all this action spooked the tigers, and they mewed like giant kittens, warily stalking around the smoky haze. For a few moments, I had completely forgot aboutthem.
A human shape formed in thevapor.
