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The vizier’s glare cut into me. He aimed a fingerme.
But with each step, my energyreturned.
I ducked as another of the vizier’s detonations exploded above me. I’d always been fast—other than the one time the vizier’s guard had gotten me. I did have an injured foot. Today, history was not going to repeat. I dived another discharge and rolled along thefloor.
More bombs went off. For a dark sorcerer, the vizier was a pretty awful shot. But I didn’t begrudge him that because it kept me alivelonger.
Just a few moreyards.
Up on my feet, I grabbed anything small. Candleholders sailed through the air. One smashed behind the vizier, and he jumped. Another crashed at his feet. The last one hit him in thechest.
Hah!
He roared withrage.
I keptgoing.
So did he. Tearing everything to shreds with his magic. Pillows exploded, pumping stuffing everywhere. Chairs exploded into thousands of pieces. Glass from the lamps rained down over me. The acrid smell of burned fabric drowned mynostrils.
For a few blows, I hid behind his sofa until he turned it intosawdust.
Dark magic sliced through my arm, and I screamed. Instead of blood gushing out, the wound festered with bubbling blackgoo.
Clutching my arm, I scrambled to myfeet.
Dead ahead, the column called for me. It was now or never. I made a run forit.
The vizier aimed all his hatred at me. Buzzing black projections sailed past me. One gazed my leg, and I yelped. Not even my limp stopped me. My legs pumped hard, pushing me the last bit of distance. Just as Zand had calculated, the vizier’s final blow cut the pillar right through themiddle.
A laugh rumbled in my chest that he’d been stupid enough to fall for ourplan.
The column groaned as it teetered. Down it crashed, sending vibrations rattling through my bones. The roof creaked and sagged as it lost one of itssupports.
The vizier’s piercing shriek sounded as if it belonged to a thousand deadsouls.
Tremors rocked the palace. Cracks traveled along the marble floors and walls. The whole place groaned as if about to collapse. A split several meters deep opened up in the ground. The stand storing the dark flame toppled and smashed. It burned into the floor like acid. How it had not done the same to the stand, I did notknow.
The magical barriers holding the genies went out with a crackle andsnap.
Horror claimed the vizier’s face. “I’ll kill you for that, you insolent street rat,” hescreamed.
Hope thawed the iciness insideme.
Flames zipped across Zand and Dahvi until the fire covered every inch of their skin. Vengeance didn’t begin to describe the gleam in their eyes. They were going to kill the vizier before he hurtme.
Zand limped forward, spinning a fiery lasso. Dahvi shot out watery darts that hit the vizier. His body sizzled, and he screamed. A lasso whooshed through the air, hooking the vizier. Zand gave a yank, and the vizier crashed to his knees. The vizier roared, and black balls ejected from him. Both genies blocked them with fiery shields. But each strike ate away at their magic. Zand didn’t have much left and teetered on the edge ofmortality.
I ran to Ali’s side out on the balcony and shielded him. Blood trickled down his forehead. Each time my gaze darted to one of his bruises, a tornado whisked through myblood.
“Azar,” he said, lifting a weak finger behindme.
Something exploded behind us. Chunks of the wall smashed on the floor some feet away from us. I crushed my brother’s head to me. Those blocks scraped across the ground, coming right forus.
Fear shackled me to the floor as marble trappedus.
“Zand, Dahvi,” Iscreamed.
The vizier stomped toward me. Clasped in his hands was a long black sword, dripping with black goo. Made from dark flame. Designed to kill me and probably destroy my soul at the sametime.
