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Rainbow-streaked smoke circled around us and then swept us away a split second before a black spear would have harpooned me. Next thing I knew, the colorful fog deposited us in my tinyhovel.
My brother’s eyes rounded like a spooked alley mutt’s. “Azar, where have you been? I’ve been worriedsick.”
Hah! He’d beenworried!
Three strides carried me to his side. Karim leaped out of my arms to give my brother a long hug. He peeped away, as if recounting his horrifying ordeal. Cheeky little devil, getting in before me. Ali laid kisses all over the monkey’s head. Karim settled in to enjoy a nice stroke along hisback.
I threw my arms around them both, determined never to let go. I’d never been so happy to see my brother in my life. Karim gave an indignant squeak as if he didn’t appreciate beingsquished.
“Err, who are they?” My brother interrupted our miraculousreunion.
I turned to the three genies standing behindme.
Even though he clutched his injury, Kaza gave awave.
More questions spilled out of my brother. “How’d you all get in here? I didn’t hear the door. Where’d all that smoke comefrom?”
My gut pinched. Too many questions. Many answers he would not like. Especially the part about getting caught and thevizier.
I couldn’t think past the intoxicating smell filling my nostrils. Smoke clashing with the smell of rain and flowers carried on abreeze.
Zand took sentry position by the window, pulling back the rag I used for a curtain and peering outside. “We mustn’t stay here long, Master,” he said, returning the curtain back to its original position and then twisting a ruby ring on his middle finger. “The dark sorcerer and his soldiers will come looking forus.”
Icy droplets of sweat slithered down my spine. Damn. Guess he had a point. With a sick brother and three magically weak genies I wasn’t exactly packing the punch of anarmy.
“Dark sorcerer?” saidAli.
My brother wasn’t going to stop with the questions until I gave him an answer. But right now I had to clear my head. I’d deal with Ali in amoment.
Ten thousand people lived in the slums. That was a lot of houses to check. It would take weeks for the vizier and his men to search for us. Then again, for the right price, someone might snitch. And I bet the vizier was willing to pay handsomely to find me. Unless he used magical means to trackus.
All those notions sank through me liketar.
I crossed the room to the red genie. His intoxicating scent of burning coals and wood clouded my mind. “Can the vizier find us with some kind of magical locatorspell?”
“No,” he said. “The lamp shields us. The vizier cannot kill us while we are bound to it. But he can hurt us. Right now, we’re practicallymortal.”
Anxiety gnawed away at me. This turned things from bad to worse. Perhaps we should skip town and stay with my friend Scarlet in Terra for a week until the genies revitalized. But would that put her in danger,too?
