AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The guard is not far behind us,” he puffed, out of breath from theclimb.
My breaths came fast and heavy. Not because of the activity; I was used to sprinting and climbing things. But the adrenaline spiking in my blood was sending my system intooverdrive.
“There’s a plank over there, where we can cross to the next building.” I pointed to the north. “Once we’re over, we’ll take down the board so he’strapped.”
From up there, we could see out across the city. Palm trees along the river swayed in the breeze. Water spurted from the fountain in the city’s heart. Golden domes and tiled mosaics, geometric patterns dotting the landscape. The wild desert beyond gleamed a richorange.
“Spectacular view,” commented Dahvi as he lifted me over a parapet. “Reminds me ofhome.”
“Yes,” I replied, fighting the giddiness from his touch…or was it the pain in my ankle? I wasn’t sure which. “One we don’t have time to enjoy rightnow.”
I heard the grunts of the guard from fifty feet behind us. I assumed he was trying to climb the grille. A fat, old, lazy lump like him might take a while to get to thetop.
Dahvi stormed across another roof, dragging me with him as my limp worsened by the moment. Thank the gods, most of the apartment buildings were joined or very close together, otherwise, there’d be nowhere to run. That said, in about another twenty or so rooftops, we’d have to cross the plank to the next block of apartments. From there, we’d have to return to street level, cross the sultan’s road, then it was a clear path along the river leading toTerra.
By the time we’d reached the eleventh roof, I glanced over myshoulder.
“Gods,” I spat. “The guard’shere.”
Crap. Crap. Crap.He was faster than I had anticipated for an old guy. Fear thumped in my chest so hard I thought my heart might burst through myribcage.
The pain in my ankle scaled up three notches as I pushed into a run. I wanted to stop to rest for a few moments but couldn’t. Tightness settled across my ribcage as I contemplated the agony of climbing down the nextbuilding.
“Master, your ankle,” said Dahvi. “Let me carryyou.”
“No, I’ll be okay.” I waved himaway.
I glanced over my shoulder again, and my breathhiccupped.
The guard was catching up and fast. His eyes blazed with hatred and the promise of death—retribution for all the torture he’d probably received from the vizier as a result of myescape.
Something caught my foot, and I tripped, rolling along the mica, scraping my legs and hands. Pain flared on my grazed knees. A whimper flew out my mouth at the sight of myblood.
“Are you all right?” Dahvi scooped me into his arms as if I weighednothing.
Something about being curled in his grasp felt familiar. Protected. Safe. But how could I enjoy it with the guard gaining onus?
Terror coursed in my veins as he drew his sword. Metal grating against the scabbard turned my blood toice.
“Shish kebab,” I whispered under mybreath.
Dahvi skidded to a halt as he reached the end of the last roof. “The plank’s nothere.”
“What?” My words came out strangled andhoarse.
When he set me back on my feet, I missed his touch at once. I inched closer to the edge, hardly able to bare the weight or the pain in my ankle. One peek over the side revealed what used to be the plank, now nothing but broken shards of wood on the cobbled ground below.Crap.Now we were left with no other option but to climb down the building. Since I could barely stand that was not going to beeasy.
“There’s not enough time for us both to climb down,” said the genie. “You go first. Leave the guard tome.”
My head exploded with dizzying fear. Did a genie even know how to fight? Who would need to know how to defend themselves with brawn when they had magic? Fear scratched along myspine.
“But he’ll kill you,” Iprotested.
“Leave them to me,” Dahvi growled. One snap of his fingers set blue fire crackling on his thumb, but the flame went outquickly.
“No, you can’t use your magic.” Heat coursed through me the second I touched his arm. “You must saveit.”
“Go.” He pushed me away then tried again and again with the sameresults.
