I seized it, along with my letters from Baba and my sketchbook. I didn’t know where I would go, but I didn’t have much time.
The only pause I allowed myself was to drink a cup of water to soothe my parched throat. A sudden coldness gripped my heart when the candles on my table flickered, most of them snuffed by an eerie wind.
But what wind? All my windows were shuttered.
Then I saw the wolf lurking at my door. His name boiled out of my throat:
“Bandur.”
The demon entered and leaned against my wall, paws scraping the floor. “The power is irresistible, isn’t it?”
My hand slid behind my back for my dagger, gripped the hilt. “Get out of here.”
“You feel it leaving you now. It’s becoming hard to breathe, little by little it suffocates you; you feel the fire within you dying.” His voice was matter-of-fact. “Stoke the flames, Maia. Let it burn.”
I threw my bundle over my shoulder and headed for the door.
Bandur leapt to block me. “Now that you have tasted it, it will consume you faster than before. You don’t have long, Maia Tamarin. The Forgotten Isles call for you.” His paw curled over my wrist, claws sinking into my flesh. “Surely, you’ve heard the voices.”
I had.
Sentur’na,they begged me.Sentur’na, come back to us. We need you.
His claws sank deeper into my wrist. Trying not to wince from the pain, I wrenched my arm away and pulled out my dagger.
“Jinn!” I cried.
The blade shot out of its sheath, its meteorite surface glittering. Holding it high, I whirled for Bandur and stabbed at his heart—
But he dissipated into smoke, and my dagger met only air.
His laugh resonated across the walls of my chamber. “So much fight. You’ll make a fine guardian.”
“Show yourself,” I demanded. My voice shook, the dagger in my hand trembling.
Bandur reappeared in the mirror. “Hurry, Maia. Any longer, and I will send my ghosts to destroy all that you love.” He mused, “I will start with this palace.”
“Go ahead,” I snapped. “I care nothing for the emperor.”
“But what about your friends here? All these innocent lives. You already have blood on your hands, dear Maia, especially after tonight.”
I glanced down at the wound on my arm. A plume of smoke curled out from Bandur’s reflection, brushing my skin. To my horror, its touch had healed me.
“What is the shansen?” I whispered.
“He struck a deal with Gyiu’rak,” Bandur replied, “the demon of the northern forests.”
“Gyiu’rak,”I repeated. So that was the name of the shansen’s demon.
“Her power lives in him now until the bargain is complete.”
“To conquer A’landi.” I sucked in my breath. “What then?”
“Then she will claim her reward. Her blood price.”
I shuddered. “What is that?”
“Why should it matter to you?” Bandur asked, stroking my hair now. I jerked away, and he laughed. “Soon you will be bound to the Isles of Lapzur, and I will finally be free.”
