“Other than it being colder than winter and occasionally feeling like I may fall out of the sky as we fly toward a murderer holding my sister hostage, I’m feeling wonderful. Now all we need is an actual strategy for when we get there. So far, all I have is: get the lamp, wish for Rahil to die, and save Nadia. Then you can have all your wishes that you wanted after all.”
“I don’t think it’ll be quite that simple.”
I groaned, holding my stomach. “No, but I also think that any scheme we come up with will go wrong, no matter how carefully we plan. We have no idea how cooperative the genie will be. I considered offering to free it if it kills Rahil for us.”
“A genie has to be bound to a master in order to continue living,” Zafir reminded me. “If it’s freed, it would still need to be bound to another human in close proximity in order to live. We’d have to work it out with the genie.”
“Let’s find Nadia and deal with Rahil first. Then we can figure out the genie afterward. It must’ve been trapped andserving Rahil’s family for a long time. I actually feel bad for it.”
“I don’t. Who knows what it’s done in the past? Remember—the genie will likely twist your words and wishes. I’ll never trust one, no matter what it tells me.”
“It still saved me from Rahil. It gave me exactly what I wanted right away, and I don’t want anyone to be a prisoner.” I shot a smile at Zafir. “Though it seems that you love having prisoners. Maybe you can be the genie’s next master, then you can decide whatever you want.” I closed my eyes. “I’m so done with genies.”
CHAPTER 30
“That’s it,” I told Zafir, nerves jangling. We were at the very edge of the forest, still hidden among the trees as I pointed to the enormous manor house.
“Impressive,” Zafir said, peering out. “You weren’t joking when you said he was wealthy.”
“Having unlimited wishes would bring that about,” I told him. “Just think, you can have one just like that if you want. All we have to do is sneak in and grab the lamp.”
“How do we know if Rahil and Nadia are in there?”
“I have no idea, but I assume they are. Other than marrying me and going to get Nadia, I don’t remember him ever leaving the house. He must be terrified of someone stealing the lamp.”
“Recite the wish to me again,” Zafir told me. “It has to be word perfect.”
“I wish that my sister, Nadia of Brisden, from this moment until her natural death, cannot be physically harmed, coerced, threatened, compelled, or forced into marriage by Rahil nor by any agent acting on his behalf,knowingly or unknowingly and that any attempt to approach, claim, or physically harm her in such ways will fail without injury to her body or mind.” The wish left me breathless by the end.
“Good,” Zafir said with a nod. “That’ll protect her against a forced marriage or any harm. Can you think of any other loopholes that could exist in that?”
We’d been over possible scenarios during the flight to Brisden, but each time I felt like I closed one loophole, I worried another opened in its stead. No wonder Zafir had spent years perfecting the wording of his wishes. I’d proposed to simply wish that Rahil was dead, but Zafir had stomped on that idea, telling me that there were far too many ways the genie could exploit that wish. Protecting Nadia came first. Revenge would have to come later.
“Could the genie force me back into marriage with Rahil instead of Nadia as a sort of trade?”
“I have your annulment paperwork if it tries,” Zafir said, patting his jacket pocket. “Repeat the wish several more times, just in case. It needs to be automatic when you say it.”
I continued to do so, whispering the words to myself repeatedly as we crept closer, hiding behind the trees and shrubs to camouflage our approach.
“I can’t believe he doesn’t have guards or servants. Was it really just you and him in there?”
“I never saw anyone else.”
“Couldn’t you run away?”
“Maybe, but I worried that if I left, he would leave Nadia in prison forever. You have your potions?”
Zafir nodded. The only thing he’d kept were a few choice vials for if we ran into Rahil before finding the lamp. I could only hope it was enough.
“It won’t be long before—” I broke off. From inside the manor, there was a high, shrill scream.
Nadia.
She appeared in one of the windows, trying to leap from the sill, but Rahil appeared behind her, pulling her back and away from the window. The screams continued, growing fainter with each passing second.
Immediately forgetting our plan to be stealthy and sneaky, I broke into a dead sprint, running for the house. All I could think about was that my sister was in danger.
“Alia!” Zafir tore after me. “Alia, wait!”
