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Chapter 14
Asudden windpicked up in the tunnel, tossing my hair over my shoulders. Sand swirled on the ground, in small circles at first, then widening and lifting into the air, until it was a miniaturewhirlwind.
My stomach locked tight as things got evencrazier.
The building tornado pounded us with dirt, cobwebs, water droplets, and dust. I lost sight of my genies through the haze tearing around us. Fear clutched at my throat as I groped blindly for them, grazing one of their arms. Wind ripped at my clothes, dragging me away, and my feet scraped along theground.
“Azar,” shoutedZand.
“Where are you?” I yelledback.
Strong hands grabbed my waist, steadyingme.
Zand.
But even his great strength wasn’t enough to keep us rooted. Gale-force winds tossed us aside, and we crashed into a wall, pinned there by the wind’spressure.
At that instant, my life flashed before my eyes. Death snaring my genies and me in the tunnel. Ali and Kaza, perishing at the hands of the vizier or their infections. My heart shrank at thethought.
The debris hitting us eased off, allowing me to glanceup.
A feminine shape made of sand began to form inside the whirlwind—first her legs, then her torso, her arms, her shoulders, and her head. With a loud snap, the dirt transformed into skin and bone. In an instant, the squall died down, but my ears still rang from all thenoise.
A djinn stood before us…more precisely, a Shaitan like Kaza, judging by her golden crop top and rippling, silk pants. Talk about a looker. Perfect golden skin without any blemishes. Hair, whisked up in a tight ponytail and not a single lock out of place. She stood tall, with plenty of cleavage on display, making my small chest feel inadequate by comparison. Large, round eyes, haunted by years of captivity within the city’s wall, watchedus.
Why had my genies chosen me as their mate over someone as goddess-like as her? Or the several thousand other stunners back in djinnland?
Dahvi scraped to his feet from the wall oppositeus.
Something about her cold expression didn’t sit right in my belly. I scrambled over to yank him back down, but he moved out of myreach.
Zand remained by my side like a good guard dog. He grabbed me tight, as if ready to spin me out of harm’s way in a second. Still, his protective presence didn’t settle the uneasy feeling in myguts.
“Sister,” Dahvi cried, rushing to give the djinn ahug.
Dark lightning charged on the onyx wristbands she wore—symbols of her imprisonment to the vizier. She raised a palm covered in henna tattoos stretching all the way up her arm. But that didn't stop the big, cuddly genie. At his embrace, she stiffened, and her expression hardened. Her yellow irises flashed with magic. Another blustery wind whisked Dahvi away, tossing him at the wall, and he thudded onto the ground besideus.
“Dahvi!” Instinctively, I jerked free of Zand to go to my bluegenie.
A force smacked me against the bricks. Pain splinted up my spine and through my skull. For a few moments, I couldn’t see past the black dots blurring my vision. When my eyes refocused, I found the same invisible hand holding Zand,too.
“Sorry, Brothers,” said the djinn, her voice icy and her wristbands spitting dark bolts of magic. “But the vizier gave me a choice. My freedom oryours.”
Shock struck me like lightning. That bitch. She was betraying her kind. The selfish part of me understood the Shaitan’s need for survival. But the compassionate side didnot.
Several balls of lava pelted the Shaitan. She screamed, clutching her arm, and stumbledbackward.
The djinn’s magic hold on mereleased.
Zand’s stance declared war, legs and arms spread wide. He was ready to get the djinn if she made anothermove.
An assault of wind battered us, slamming me to the ground. Being the easy target didn’t sit well with me. I wasn’t going to get ten meters down the hall without being beaten to death by the Shaitan’s airmagic.
The genies held their ground, lifting their arms to shield theireyes.
A tight ball of panic looped in my chest. I had to face facts; we were in deep trouble. My genies still weren’t at full capacity, and they’d be facing off with a more powerful being that could kick their asses. But if they couldn’t get past her, we stood no chance of saving Ali andKaza.
“Brother,” said Zand, handing Dahvi the glass containing the magical sands. “Give this to Kaza. I’ll handlethis.”
