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Dahvi accepted the cure with anod.
“What?” I backed away, unable to handle the heat Zand gave off. “No!”
Deep in my soul, I knew I couldn’t stop him. He’d die fighting to save me. Each of his steps forward told me that was hisplan.
“We have no quarrel with you, Sister,” warned Zand. “Join us, and we will help you getfree.”
“You can’t defeat the vizier,” snarled the Shaitan, black streaks of magic circling her. “He keeps me trapped here with his darkmagic.”
Suddenly our odds of success felt incredibly small. Having to fight a djinn then thevizier.
Dahvi flung me behindhim.
A vortex spun around the Shaitan as she beat at Zand with all her might. He struggled against the bluster, inching forward slowly. Several fireballs exploded off him and pounded her. The force field of wind swirling around her deflected the attack, tossing them onto the bricks, which melted beneath the fieryassault.
I peeked around Dahvi, digging my nails into his arms. Watching the two fight, I felt utterly powerless. With every fiber of my being, I longed to tear that bitch's head off for siding with the vizier. For daring to threaten my genies and me. But that was never going to happen in a millionyears.
Zand jabbed a glowing arm through the Shaitan’s winds, grabbing her by the neck and choking her. She kicked at him, punching him with one hand as she waved the other, as if she was calling to someone or something. Black tendrils reached out and struck the wall. Blocks grazed across each other as they shifted. Two flung through theair.
Dahvi pushed me to the ground. The bricks smashed on the wall above us and thumped onto the ground next tous.
“Very well.” Zand crushed the Shaitan against the wall. “You made your choice,Sister.”
She scratched at his arm, assaulting him with magic, dulling and shrinking his red flames. Using what little magic he had recuperated weakened his inner flame. How much longer could he hold off theShaitan?
Dahvi scooped me into his arms. “Come. Let us get ourbrothers.”
“We can’t leavehim—”
Dahvi silenced my protests by tossing out a blast of magic, and it trailed along the walls. The tree roots responded, growing in size and crawling along the stone. They seized the Shaitan, tying her to thewall.
Dahvi carried me into the stairwell. “Zand has faced worse. She’s a Shaitan. They’re not as powerful asIfrit.”
“Yes, but he’s a genie and not at full power,” Icontended.
“Neither is she,” replied Dahvi, carrying us down a long hall. “Dark magic binds her power to the city. She cannot utilize it all until she’sreleased.”
This news comforted me somewhat. At least the Shaitan and Zand were on somewhat of an even playingfield.
Within a few moments, we’d reached the vizier’s tower, where Dahvi paused at the bottom of the staircase. For a moment, we stared deep into each other’s eyes. Waves of Marid magic floated around his pupils. Love for me radiated deep within his soul. It flowed from me, too. We hugged for a long moment before he pulledaway.
“Ready?” he asked, lowering me to the marblestaircase.
“Ready,” I said with a forceful nod, even though my gut told meotherwise.
What we encountered in the vizier’s tower at the top was not what I had expected. I imagined shadow central, red eyes in the darkness, putrid, rotting garbage, and the smell of decay. To my surprise, tall arches and columns allowed plenty of light to filter through. Colored silks puffed from the breezes straying in from the balcony. Incense sticks burned, spreading the scent of frankincense through the tower. Candles flickered in the stained-glass lamps dangling from the ceiling. Geometric-patterned tiles decorated the floors and walls. Gold inlaid practically every item of furniture, showing no expense had beenspared.
Hated to say it, but I had to admit the vizier’s taste in furnishings were pretty classy…unlike the manhimself.
We continued into the next room, where Dahvi stoppeddead.
Chains bound Kaza to the floor. Golden streams of magic teamed off him and into the dark flame flickering on a marble stand. Bits of his gray, cracked skin flaked off. His torso sagged over his bentlegs.
My pulse streamed. Where was Ali? Did the vizier have him chained somewhere else? Was he already dead? The last thought ground my insides topieces.
Dahvi and I were at Kaza’s side in aflash.
“Brother!” Dahvi clutched Kaza’s face and lifted it. Dahvi’s skin darkened from the effect of the darkflame.
