Chapter Sixteen

Vera was certain she was dreaming. How else would it make sense for her to be back in her bed at home, with Amias nowhere to be seen? Raising her head from the pillow, she searched the room to make sure everything was as it should be. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but she wasn't taking any chances.

As silently as possible she crept toward the door and looked out into the hallway. The house was silent, giving her no indication that anyone else was around. She debated with herself about whether or not she should stay in her room. If it was a dream it wouldn't matter if she left, but if it was real it could be an illusion made by Amias to try and trick her.

Eventually Vera decided the only way she could determine if she was, in fact, dreaming was to venture out. Upon making it to the bottom of the stairs Vera heard a noise in the sitting room and froze in panic. She tiptoed as lightly as possible to the doorframe and peeked around. A huge sigh of relief left her lungs when she saw Halsten and her father fast asleep in front of the fire.

Vera smiled at them; happy to see they were all right, if only in her dreams. The front door opened and closed and Vera made her way out into the foyer to see who had arrived. She tensed when she saw Kareem come around the corner, but scolded herself for it. It wasn't his fault he had been possessed and he certainly wasn't to blame for any of the bad things that had happened to her.

He smiled widely and greeted her. "You're back! We were afraid the jinni would never let you go!"

Unsure how to reply since it was only a dream, she merely shrugged.

"How is everyone?" she asked instead.

"Good, good," he replied. "We got away safely, although many others were not so lucky."

Vera nodded, expecting that answer. "So what do we do now?"

Kareem held out his hand, showing her the iron ring on his finger. "We've taken to wearing iron bands to keep the jinni from being able to possess us. There is an incantation that goes along with it. One of the locals told us it is a ward against him. So far it's worked. We have one for you too. You can wear it now that you've returned."

"I have Halsten's knife and it's made of metal, so I should be safe," she argued.

He shook his head. "You tried that before though, and he was still able to find you. This way we know you'll be protected."

"Are you sure that it really works?" she asked, eyeing the simple band speculatively. It certainly didn't look like much.

He frowned and looked at the ring. "It's the best defense we have as of right now. As soon as your father and Halsten wake up we can go to Oman and seek out more answers."

Vera figured it certainly couldn't hurt. It made her feel better to try and thwart Amias's plans even if she was dreaming. And it was good to get to see them all again, considering she might not be able to in real life if Amias got his way.

"So this incantation, what is it? How does it keep him away?" she asked, following Kareem into the room where they were keeping the rings.

He turned to look at her and held out the band. "Well, it's in Arabic so you won't understand it. But it is basically a protection spell."

"How will I be able to use it? I can't speak Arabic," she told him, puzzled.

He shook his head and smiled. "I will tell you the words and you only have to repeat them."

"Right. How silly of me. I think I've been hit in the head too many times." She laughed and placed the band on her finger.

Something changed in the way he was looking at her, but Vera couldn't place the emotion behind his eyes. She wrote it off as her mind playing tricks on her and took a deep breath to recite the incantation.

She stumbled over some of the words, her accent being a bit of a hindrance. A banging sound interrupted their progress and Vera paled when Kareem looked troubled.

"It's the jinni!" he shouted over the noise. "We must hurry and finish the incantation so you'll be protected!"

Vera's heart began to race. Suddenly everything felt less like a dream and she worried for her family in the sitting room. In his haste Kareem began repeating the words too quickly for her to follow and before they could finish the door burst open. Vera found herself blinking repeatedly to try and make sense of what she was seeing.

"Hael?"

She looked furious and scared. "I told you not to leave the room!"

Vera shook her head. "But...I didn't," she replied, confused.

Kareem growled low in his throat and Vera gasped as she watched him transform into Amias. As he changed, the room also began to morph into someplace completely unrecognizable.

She had never been in her house and it was never Kareem she had been talking to. The ramifications of what she had been about to do hit her all at once and she immediately jerked the ring off her finger. As it tumbled through the air, Vera saw it wasn't iron at all, but glass. It shattered as it hit the ground and Amias roared in fury.

He lunged, but before he could get his hands on her Hael had wrapped a hand around her upper arm and had transported them back to her room.

"We will be safe here for now," the djinni told her. "I've placed a ward around this room that should keep him out temporarily."

Vera was shaking from fear and shock. "It doesn't matter," she whispered. "You saw what just happened! There's no escaping him!"

Hael frowned and said, "Why did you leave the room at all! I told you that you would be safe here!"

She threw her hands into the air. "I didn't know I had! I thought I was dreaming!"

"Amias was always good at creating illusions." Hael sighed and sunk down onto the bed.

"He was performing the marriage ceremony, wasn't he?" Vera asked, already knowing the answer.

Hael nodded. "Yes. I am just glad I got back in time to stop it."

Vera sat down next to her and placed her head in her hands. "So you believe me now? Did you see what he had done?"

"Unfortunately, yes. You were right," she replied. "My brother is not the jinni he once was. Something has gone wrong with him."

"So you'll give me my wishes, right?" Vera sat up, looking at her hopefully.

"Yes, but you have to be very careful how you word them. We don't want him to be able to hurt or trick you again."

Vera nodded and considered the best thing to wish for.

After thinking about it for several minutes she asked, "Before I wish for something, could you tell me whom Amias hurt or killed? Is my family all right? What about Kareem and Dr. Peters?"

Hael frowned and refused to look Vera in the eyes. "They're all gone, Vera," she whispered. "I am so very sorry, but he killed them all."

The breath she had been about to take got stuck in her throat and tears began to stream from her eyes. She had suspected that he had killed them, but she had tried to hope for the best.

"How long do we have for me to think about this wish?" she choked out through her sobs.

"Not very long, I'm afraid. A few hours at the most. Amias has gotten more powerful than I realized."

Vera nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Okay, then. Can you give me some space, so I can think?"

Hael nodded and patted her knee gently. "I'll be out on the balcony if you need me for anything. Remember, you only get three wishes, so make the best of them."

She knew the best thing to do would be to wish for her safety and escape, but part of her wanted to make wishes that would harm Amias or make him suffer. She only had a few hours to decide whether the wishes would be for revenge or freedom. Vera took a deep breath and tried to force down her sorrow and anger long enough to come up with a plan.

...

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. After this story I'm going to start one called Bedlam Nightmares, which is going to be about the mythical creatures called nightmares. It's going to be Paranormal/Historical fiction like this one and will be set in Bethlem Hospital during the 1600s! There is a summary up on my profile page!