The Fire Wish (31 page)

I reached behind my neck for the clasp, but my hands were shaking and I couldn’t find it. “I can’t get it undone,” I said.

“Here.” He reached up and wrapped his arms around my neck, then took the clasp from my fingers. His face was so close I could smell the soap he had washed with. “I don’t want it to hurt you.”

Then he looked at me, just inches away. I couldn’t breathe, and it was like the moment we had shared the night before, beneath the stars. “It doesn’t hurt,” I whispered. “As long as I don’t hold it for too long.”

His fingers fell to the back of my neck, and my skin erupted in goose bumps. “In that case,” he said, “keep it.”

“But I’m—”

“I know. But you’re still the same person I spoke with in the garden, aren’t you? You didn’t switch places with her this morning.”

My heart beat a little faster. “It’s still me,” I said.

He smiled. It was like the sun rising after an endless night. “Then it doesn’t matter what you are.” He pulled me closer, and I was melting in his eyes. They were like jasper, green and brown, and they drew me in. He closed them, then placed his lips on mine. He was warm and tasted like cinnamon.

His kiss was like transporting to another world, and it
was just as frightening and exciting as my first trip to the palace had been. My entire body flushed, knowing that he didn’t care I was a jinni. I didn’t have to pretend I was a human, or a princess, anymore. He pulled away and a lopsided smile spread across his face.

“I forgot what you said your name is.”

“Najwa,” I breathed.

“Najwa,” he said, then chuckled. “I never thought I’d learn the name of a woman
after
I kissed her.”

“Since you have your hands on her,” Hashim said behind him, “you should make a wish.” We jumped to our feet, and Kamal whipped around. He held his arm out in front of me, pushing me behind him.

“Hashim! What is going on?”

Hashim frowned. “You should tell me, Prince Kamal. You know this woman is not human, and yet you’re—”

“This isn’t about her. What have you been planning, Hashim?”

“You mean, what have
we
been planning? You’re as much a part of this as I am.” Hashim’s grin was oily. “If you wait a moment, you’ll hear what we’ve been working on come to fruition.”

“What did you
do
?” I shrieked, pushing my way past Kamal’s arm.

“It’s what you did, Zayele. You have been running around the palace, wreaking havoc. In a second or two—”

Boom!

The walls shook as an explosion rocked the palace. Plaster rained down in the room behind Hashim, where it hit a vase,
which crashed to the floor amidst chunks of broken ceiling and glass.

“You’ve just blown apart the barracks.”

“What?”
Kamal ran at Hashim, but Hashim stopped him with a blow to his face.

“Your weapon works, Kamal,” Hashim said. “You should be proud. You’ve done more damage in one blow than your brother ever dreamed of. Unfortunately, it was to your own people, but no one has to know it was your weapon.”

“Let me go past!” Kamal yelled. He pushed at Hashim, who stood as still as a stone pillar.

“I cannot. I apologize, I have to keep you here for the moment. At least until my men—the men her ‘father,’ Sergewaz, gave me—have replaced the caliph’s guards.”

“She’s not Zayele,” Kamal said, gritting his teeth. “And you
will
let us pass.”

“On the contrary,” Hashim said, and with a flick of his wrist, he pulled a dagger from his robes and pressed it against Kamal’s neck. “You’re coming with me.”

RAHELA TOOK US down the corridor, holding my hand tight. After pausing behind a screen, we dashed across an empty courtyard, went through a rose garden, and stopped behind a closed door. We had run the entire way and were catching our breath when we saw Faisal and Shirin. Both had lost their
shahtabi
, and Shirin kept glancing over her shoulder.

“Who’s this?” Faisal asked, eyeing Rahela.

“She’s my cousin,” I answered.

Faisal nodded and snapped a rosebud off the nearest bush. “This is where Najwa got her rose,” he said to Shirin. He pointed at an archway cut into the palace’s wall. “The laboratory must be in there.”

Rahela looked surprised. “How did you know?”

“Najwa came here the first time she transported, and brought me back one of these blossoms.”

“All right,” I said, putting my hand on the door. I didn’t have time for talk about flowers. “Let’s go in.”

I pressed on the raised designs that covered the door,
and it swung open. A jar of powder lay on its side by my feet. My eyes swept across the room and landed on three people. I froze, stricken. On the other side of a long wooden table were Hashim, Najwa, and a young man. Hashim stood behind the man, pressing a knife into his throat, while Najwa, tears dripping down her cheeks, was holding a spoonful of gray powder above a white sphere.

She held the spoon in the air, then dropped it, scattering powder all over the table. The man behind Najwa gasped, but Hashim pressed the knife harder against his neck.

“
Both
of you!” Hashim said incredulously. “Never in all my planning did I account for this. This is a boon.” He gestured for me to come closer, using his free hand.

I didn’t move.

“Come closer, or I kill the prince,” Hashim said. “Which one are you, then? Zayele or the other mutt?”

I lifted my chin. “I’m not coming any closer until you release him,” I said.

The others pressed me into the room. Hashim took one look at Faisal and nearly let go of the prince. His cheeks flushed above his beard, but his eyes darkened and narrowed. “You’ve returned. But it’s too late. Just like it was for Mariam. Just like it was for your dear brother. It’s always been too late.”

Najwa wiped her face, staring openmouthed at Faisal. “How did you—”

“Yes, how did you get into the palace?” Hashim asked. “The girls I can understand, since they’re only half-breeds, but
you.
You’re a full jinni.”

Faisal walked toward them, not stopping until the prince
winced in pain. “Zayele took down the wards. The Shaitan have come with us, Hashim. Let the boy go.”

“Let him go like I let Mariam’s father go? And receive nothing in return but death and loss?” Hashim spat out the words. “Over my dead body. The weapon this girl is filling—don’t stop, dear—will end all of it. Yes, fill it to the brim. I don’t care that your army is here. My army is more than strong enough. Thanks to this young prince here, we’ve found a way to protect ourselves. We now have the upper hand. And on top of all that, I’ve got a jinni of my very own,” he said, pointing at Najwa’s back. “And it looks like I might get her sister too.”

Najwa almost dropped the spoon again, and looked at me with wonder. Clearly, she was putting the pieces of our puzzle together.

“Don’t do it, Najwa,” Kamal croaked. “I couldn’t live with myself.”

Najwa sniffed, but shook her head. “Faisal, help me” was all she said. Hashim sneered at her, taking his eyes off Faisal for the first time since he’d entered the laboratory.

Faisal leaped over the table and landed on top of Hashim. Kamal rolled out from between them, jumping up just in time before Hashim shoved Faisal to the side. Both of the older men jumped to their feet and faced off, dagger to dagger.

“You can’t fight me fairly, Hashim.” Faisal’s dagger glowed red-hot.

“You’re right, I can’t,” Hashim said, and he pulled another dagger from his belt and launched it at Najwa. Faisal turned and, in a split second, shouted out a wish. A wave of energy shook across the space in front of Najwa and Kamal, stopping
the dagger in midair. It stayed there, stuck in a wavering, translucent wall that stretched the width of the laboratory, leaving Faisal and Hashim on the opposite side.

“Faisal!” Najwa screamed, pounding at the wall. But Faisal didn’t have time to respond. Hashim had pounced on him, and he lurched backward, holding Hashim’s dagger back with his own.

“Gah!” Faisal growled, pushing Hashim back. Hashim stumbled, then caught his footing. They danced, circling each other, while their blades flashed.

“I think my dagger is sharper,” Hashim said. “It’s funny. I was thinking about Mariam this morning.” He twisted the blade till it reflected the sunlight into Faisal’s eyes. Then he slashed, narrowly missing Faisal.

Faisal growled again, slicing at the air, but Hashim dipped down and moved to the side like a spider. Then Faisal plunged and cut into Hashim’s robes. Hashim twisted and landed safely beside Faisal, his indigo robes spinning behind him.

“That’s Mariam’s blade,” Faisal said. He sent a ball of fire straight at Hashim. It glanced off his shoulder and sent him careening into the shelves of jars. They exploded, raining white powder down over Hashim, who picked up one of the cracked jars and threw it at Faisal.

“No!” Najwa screamed. The jar flew through the air, trailing a cloud of white behind it, and hit Faisal squarely in the chest. The rest of the jar cracked apart and dropped to the floor. Faisal looked down at the bits of glass embedded in his chest. He stood frozen like a moonbeam, then fell onto his
hands and knees, heaving and coughing. His hands slipped out from beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Everything was still and silent. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t breathe. Quickly, Hashim leaped over Faisal’s body, broke through the energy wall, and grabbed Najwa. His grimace was wild, and he snarled at Kamal, who had been too slow to move. “One less magus,” he said. He pinched Najwa’s chin between his fingers and turned on Kamal. “If you follow us, I will kill her.” He reached out with an opened hand. “The sphere, please, dear prince.” Kamal hesitated, and handed the white sphere to Hashim. Then Hashim dragged Najwa toward the front door. She struggled, tears pouring down her face, and when he pulled her over Faisal’s body, she shuddered, whispering something to Hashim that I couldn’t hear.

Hashim paused at the door, with Najwa in one arm and the sphere in the other hand. “Kamal, explain to the others what will happen if any of you follow me.” Then, with a kick, the door slammed shut.

Shirin ran to Faisal, but it was too late. “No, sir!” she sobbed. “You can’t go. You can’t.”

I COULDN’T BREATHE without hiccupping, but it didn’t matter. Faisal was gone, and the emptiness he left was greater than my entire soul. He had been my only father, my only teacher. He was the only person I had ever wanted to make proud. And Hashim had killed him.

I struggled, but Hashim’s grip was too tight. “You can’t get away, jinni.” I was half dragged, half carried down the corridor, and I screamed the entire way, letting loose all the fear, all the pain, all the longing I’d been harboring since I’d come to Baghdad. The people we passed backed away, bowing at Hashim. Finally, he thrust me forward, into stone.

“At last something goes better than I’d planned. They’ve already relit the flame,” he said. We were standing in front of the stone plinth that held up the Lamp. But unlike before, it was bursting with a long golden flame. Faisal must have lit it, and again, I choked on a sob.

There was a clashing of swords down one of the halls, and I looked up, hoping someone was fighting their way
to me. But Hashim jerked my arm, knocking me into the plinth.

“I need you to send the sphere to the Cavern.”

He was going to destroy the entire Cavern—the waterfall, the Lake of Fire, the houses of sparkling colors, and all the people. I thought of the children running along the wall, flying streamers in the air. I thought of my mother, at her loom. I thought of Faisal, and I pressed my lips together and shook my head in defiance.

“You will do this, because I will wish it. You cannot resist a human’s wish.”

That might have been true before, but I would
not
send the sphere down into the Cavern and cover everyone in exploding moonstone powder.

“I have been planning this moment for years,” he went on. “Don’t look so surprised. I knew your mother. I was there when she died, and your human father too.”

I looked him in the eye then, not quite believing what I’d just heard. “My father was a jinni,” I said.