“Guards!” shouted the vizier.

In seconds, two more of the sultan’s soldiers entered the cell.

“Take her to the pit,” growled the vizier.

My stomach locked tight. “No.”

Panic kicked in as they removed my shackles.

The slums were wild with stories about the sultan’s pit, which consisted of towering walls with a sandy surface in the middle. Gladiators fought to the death there. Rich, fat cats crowded the stands overlooking the pit, betting money on the winners.

Hands as strong as steel clamped down on my arms, cutting off the circulation.

The chasm in my stomach deepened.

“No,” I shouted, as I was dragged out of the cell. The vizier’s dark flame had drained me of energy, leaving me as limp as a week-old sprig of parsley. I couldn’t fight if I wanted to.

Pain flared in my ankle as my feet bumped in grooves in the stone. The guards carried me out of the dungeons, down darkened corridors, and out along columned walkways. Up ahead, a massive, circular structure, like an amphitheater, rose up.

The pit.

Terror slashed at my insides as they tossed me in, and I landed on my hands and knees. I flinched as the doors slammed closed behind me.

The walls were made of some sort of slippery cladding with no indents for grip. Pretty much impossible for me to climb out of there.

The vizier sat up in the stands overlooking the put. No fat cats surrounded him. Guess my death was a private affair, designed for the vizier’s eyes only.

Something crashed against the steel roller door to my right. Growls sounded from behind the barrier.

An icy fear clamped around my guts.

Chains rattled to my right as someone opened the roller door.

Adrenaline pumped power back into my body. Muscles taut, I backed away, preparing for the worst.

“To a long and painful death, street rat,” said the vizier, menace ripe in his tone.

My heart felt as if it stopped for a moment, as three tigers trotted into the ring.

Shish kebab.

Somehow, I had to survive before my heart exploded from terror.

Two of the felines crept toward me, shoulders and head hunched. Claws slashed the air, and I leaped backward. I landed badly on my twisted ankle, and I winced.

The vizier clapped and laughed.

I would have made a run for the door, but the guards slammed it closed, and I jolted. My head spun with terror. I was dead for sure. Unlike the evil vizier, I wasn’t convinced the genie was coming to my rescue, which meant I had to find a weakness in the pit’s walls and fast. As a thief, I was the queen of exploiting these kinds of situations. But these walls looked well engineered, smooth and solid and without a single flaw I might take advantage of. Bottom line, no one was getting out of there. To even try such a feat with three tigers stalking me would lead to certain death.

When one cat swiped at me again, I kicked the air, eliciting a snarl from the beast that curdled my blood. The move cost me dearly, pain wise, and my ankle almost gave out. I cried out in pain and terror.

All this entertained the vizier greatly, and he hooted. “There’s no escape, little street rat,” he shouted.

If I ever got out of there alive, I’d kill that sick creep.

A squeaking sound from the opposite side of the pit caught my attention.

My jaw fell open.

Karim! How the heck did he get here? It would have taken him hours for someone as tiny as him to navigate back from the cave. Oh, I didn’t care. My heart was elevated just to see him again.

Gods.

The little squeaker was carrying the genie lamp in his hands. How had he found it? Something inside told me the genie had returned Karim to me, had somehow placed him there with me in the pit. I didn’t know how. I blamed it on my strange, magical connection to the lamp—the same one that had saved me from the vizier’s magic.

Karim tossed the treasure into the middle of the pit, and it landed next to one of the tigers.

“The lamp!” shrieked the vizier. “Guards, get the girl! Leave the lamp to me.”

The door rolled up again.

Well, if the vizier wanted the treasure, then so did I. Hope exploded in my chest. Maybe if I got to it first, I could use it as a bargaining chip. My life in exchange for his precious lamp. If only I could get my hands on it before the tiger shredded me to pieces.

One step forward earned me a savage growl. The cat scratched at the ground, warning me to steer clear of its prize.

“No,” I said.

This only angered the tiger further. It snaked forward and batted away the lamp.

Crap.

To add to my worries, a smoky black hand extended into the ring, circling the lamp.

Double crap. The vizier was using his dark magic.

The instant his freaky magic touched the lamp it flared ruby red. An explosion of magic expelled his dark power out of the pit, and the vizier roared with frustration.

I grabbed the sides of my head, trying to still the confusion ricocheting inside my skull. What was that red glow? From where had it come? That same magic had repelled the vizier’s attack on my life force.

A fire of determination coiled around my spine. My brother’s life rested in my hands, and I couldn’t give up now.

Two of the tigers sniffed the lamp. The last trotted closer to the guard, who was enticing it with a piece of meat on a long pole. Face taut with concentration and fear, the guard tossed another juicy treat into a cell, and the tiger followed after it. Once the beast was fully inside the enclosure, the guard slammed the door shut.

One down. Two to go. I prayed to the gods, asking them to bless me. I needed the other two tigers to turn their attention toward the guard with the meat, which would leave me with the lamp and a clear escape route.

In the meantime, something told me to try a different approach with the beasts. In the animal kingdom, a creature had to command power to dominate others. So I lifted my fisted hands above my head and waved like the angry stall owners did when they chased me after I stole their merchandise.

The tigers growled and backed away, obviously confused.

“Kill her, you fools!” The vizier’s tone promised death if the cats failed.

One tiger bounded forward, claws raking the air so close to me I screamed.

My stomach plummeted. “Damn it.” A rush of pain seized me as I swept my foot, spraying the nearest cat with sand.

The feline rumbled and shook its head.

“Here, kitty, kitty,” said a guard, tossing a lump of meat into the sand.

This captured both cats’ interest.

Good. The distraction allowed me to swipe the lamp. Despite my doubts regarding the existence of genies, I rubbed the damn brass with the fury of a soon-to-be-dead woman. Red smoke hissed as it poured from the spout and pooled on the ground and swirled upward.

Apparently, all this action spooked the tigers, and they mewed like giant kittens, warily stalking around the smoky haze. For a few moments, I had completely forgot about them.

A human shape formed in the vapor.

Maybe the vizier wasn’t so crazy after all. Had I really just summoned a genie? Gods, I hoped so. I could do with a wish right now. Top of my list—get me the hell out of there. Second and just as important—save my brother.

The smoke molded into strong, muscled legs covered by billowy pants that started at the knees. Well-built arms sprang from a vest barely covering a hard chest. Chiseled jaw, smooth, tanned skin, and brown eyes, like cinnamon with a fiery-red ring around the outside. Hair as dark as the night sky, shaved above his ear, the length pinned back in a long ponytail. A little beard plaited and bound together draped from his chin.

Gods. I shuffled backward, taken aback by his beauty. I felt a tug at my heart.

The genie touched his chest, as if he felt the same thing too. He got down on one knee. “Your wish is my command, Master.”

Sunlight reflected off the gold wristbands he wore.

Crap. Right when I needed to utter a few simple words, like, “take me home,” my mouth opened and closed, unable to make a peep.

“At last,” cried the vizier, clasping his hands. “Ultimate power at my command.”

Damn. All the fear, shock, and confusion had made my brain seize; I’d forgotten the evil vizier wanted the genie for himself. The dark flame spasmed in his palm, as if the prospect of more magic excited it. Smog fanned off the vizier and twisted through the air over the pit.

Crap. That can’t be good.

But before I could even warn the genie, yellow and blue smoke began piping out of the lamp, too, curling into two more genies, bringing my total to three. Both men were just as handsome as the first, each in different ways. One a brunette and the other with a gorgeous, golden mane. There went my heart again, twanging like a sitar for all three.

Excitement skated up my spine. I was at a loss for words—something that never happened. I couldn’t believe my luck. One genie granted three wishes. Did that mean by unleashing three, I earned nine of them?

The yellow-vested genie, the smallest of the three, gave me a wink and flashed a cheeky smile. “At last, a pretty master.” The gold ring in his blue eyes—the same color as his clothes—shimmered.

My gorgeous daydream was suddenly brought to a halt by the vizier’s grating laugh and clapping.

“Three! Three!” he cheered.

Above us, lines of dark magic crisscrossed over each other, in what looked like the top of a birdcage.

“A trap,” said the red-clothed genie.

My pulse cranked up a notch.

To my left, one a guard looped a noose on a long pole around one of the tiger’s necks. It roared, thrashed and scratched at the rope, and the guard lost his hold and fell to the ground. The tiger scrambled away, dragging the pole across the pit.

The other stupid guard tossed in more snacks for the cats. But thanks to the arrival of the genies, the poor animals were too on edge to be enticed.

A blast of black magic sliced the edge of the blue genie’s arm, and he jumped back.

Crap. Stupid brain. Too many things to focus on at once. Genies. Tigers. Guards. Evil vizier.

I scurried forward to help the injured genie, but the red one yanked me back, pressing me tightly to his body, as if protecting me.

Gods. He smelled like smoke, coals, and burning wood.

More dark projections flew at us. Black goo stained the sand where I’d previously stood. It burned the soil, and a hole opened in the ground.

I shook my head. My fingers found my temples. This had to be a dream. Magic, genies, and evil sorcerers—none of these things were real. Not in my experience anyway. But when an icy dart struck me, and decay crawled along my arm, I knew this was no dream. My chest thumped from my wildly beating heart. We had to get out of there. But my tongue felt like concrete, and I couldn’t speak a single coherent word.

Skin along my wrist erupted in a pale blaze of magical fire that melted the darkness on my flesh.

“Protect the master from the dark magic.” The red genie’s gruff voice, the sheer hulking size of him, and the way the other two followed his order told me he was the leader of the group.

A pale fire sparked to life on the blue genie’s fingers. As quickly as it appeared, it snuffed out. He tried again. Nothing. The red genie got off a few fireballs, but they petered out before they hit the vizier. Beside me, the one in yellow seemed more concerned with winking at me, despite the danger surrounding us. How could he remain so carefree and flirt with me at a time like this?

“Brother,” barked the one in red. “Focus.”

They were brothers? Didn’t look like it. Maybe they had different fathers or something.

The one in yellow seemed to regain his senses. A small whirlwind bounced on his forefinger. He winked again, this time as if showing off, and released his magic at the vizier. His shot jerked around like a drunken tornado. Flushing red, he scratched his head and kicked the sand. But his efforts weren’t totally wasted. He’d managed to redirect one of the vizier’s blows, and it struck one of the guards dead.

Now it was my turn to laugh and clap. Brilliant. Another round like that and there’d be no one to stop us getting out of there.

I glanced up at the vizier. He raised his hands to the sky, his fingers circling as if evoking something. Ominous, dark clouds brewed overhead. Black bolts of lightning flashed between them. Any moment, the heavens were probably going to unleash acidic rain down upon us.

My pulse banged in my head. We had to get out of there.

“Zand,” the one in blue said to the red genie. “Our magic is weak from our captivity.”

The vizier had mentioned something about this back in the cell.

“We need to sit with the sacred fire, Dahvi,” agreed Zand.

What the hell was sacred fire? Where were we going to get such a thing in the sand pit? Damn it. The gods must have really hated me if they gifted me three weak and pretty useless genies.

Just because I needed more camel dung to deal with, all the commotion of the exploding magic, genie smoke, and the dead guard had startled the tigers. One stalked behind the yellow-vested genie.

“Watch out,” I cried. But my warning wasn’t fast enough.

The cat slashed the yellow genie’s leg. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. Blood stained the sand. His face twisted in pain as he clutched his wound.

Gods. Genies were magical beings. They weren’t susceptible to wounds. How many more blows did the gods want to deal me?

I clutched my throat. The sight of blood made me lightheaded and dizzy. Memories flooded back of having to stich up Ali’s hand after a bully pushed him into a wire fence. Thankfully, that had only happened once.

“Brother,” said Dahvi the blue genie, rushing to his downed comrade’s side. Dahvi kneeled beside his brother and held him upright. He tore silk from the bottom of his pants and tied it around the wound to stop the bleeding. Not once did he seem bothered by his own wound from the vizier’s dart.

Zand the red genie snuck past one of the cats, claimed the guard’s sword, and swirled it around, warning the tiger to back off. Both of the large animals snarled.

Thunder sounded from the clouds overhead. A quake rocked the ground, and I stumbled over. The tigers scampered into the cell area, as if seeking shelter from the impending storm.

Some relief washed over me. One less thing to worry about. But for now, we had to get out of there, stop the genie’s wound from bleeding, and save my brother.

The red genie lifted me to my feet, and I leaned on him to steady myself.

“Get us out of here.” My voice soared into panic territory.

His heavy brows pinched in confusion. “Where? We have little magic.”

Not even the pain of his wound dulled the cheeky grin of the one in yellow. “To her bedroom.” His gaze dipped to my chest.

My cheeks burned. Brazen. I’d love to take him to my bedroom. But not right now. I had to really stamp down that idea in order to focus.

“Can’t you pool your magic together or something?” I asked Zand. “Otherwise, we have to get past the tigers.”

“I’ve never tried,” he replied. “Kaza, are you strong enough?”

“For her,” said Kaza a.k.a. Mr. Yellow. “Anything.”

All three genies stood together. Red, blue, and yellow bolts of magical fire sparked across them. A multicolored, magical flame sparked on Zand.

Black bolts hit the ground, leaving long, dripping spears.

Shish kebab.

“Karim!” I screamed, racing over to the edge of the wall. “Come.”

He leaped into my outstretched arms. Clutching him tight, I spun around. Another black spear landed in front of me, so close I felt the darkness calling to my life force again. Legs shaking, I dashed back into the circle of genies.

Rainbow-streaked smoke circled around us and then swept us away a split second before a black spear would have harpooned me. Next thing I knew, the colorful fog deposited us in my tiny hovel.

My brother’s eyes rounded like a spooked alley mutt’s. “Azar, where have you been? I’ve been worried sick.”

Hah! He’d been worried!

Three strides carried me to his side. Karim leaped out of my arms to give my brother a long hug. He peeped away, as if recounting his horrifying ordeal. Cheeky little devil, getting in before me. Ali laid kisses all over the monkey’s head. Karim settled in to enjoy a nice stroke along his back.

I threw my arms around them both, determined never to let go. I’d never been so happy to see my brother in my life. Karim gave an indignant squeak as if he didn’t appreciate being squished.

“Err, who are they?” My brother interrupted our miraculous reunion.

I turned to the three genies standing behind me.

Even though he clutched his injury, Kaza gave a wave.

More questions spilled out of my brother. “How’d you all get in here? I didn’t hear the door. Where’d all that smoke come from?”

My gut pinched. Too many questions. Many answers he would not like. Especially the part about getting caught and the vizier.

I couldn’t think past the intoxicating smell filling my nostrils. Smoke clashing with the smell of rain and flowers carried on a breeze.

Zand took sentry position by the window, pulling back the rag I used for a curtain and peering outside. “We mustn’t stay here long, Master,” he said, returning the curtain back to its original position and then twisting a ruby ring on his middle finger. “The dark sorcerer and his soldiers will come looking for us.”

Icy droplets of sweat slithered down my spine. Damn. Guess he had a point. With a sick brother and three magically weak genies I wasn’t exactly packing the punch of an army.

“Dark sorcerer?” said Ali.

My brother wasn’t going to stop with the questions until I gave him an answer. But right now I had to clear my head. I’d deal with Ali in a moment.

Ten thousand people lived in the slums. That was a lot of houses to check. It would take weeks for the vizier and his men to search for us. Then again, for the right price, someone might snitch. And I bet the vizier was willing to pay handsomely to find me. Unless he used magical means to track us.

All those notions sank through me like tar.

I crossed the room to the red genie. His intoxicating scent of burning coals and wood clouded my mind. “Can the vizier find us with some kind of magical locator spell?”

“No,” he said. “The lamp shields us. The vizier cannot kill us while we are bound to it. But he can hurt us. Right now, we’re practically mortal.”

Anxiety gnawed away at me. This turned things from bad to worse. Perhaps we should skip town and stay with my friend Scarlet in Terra for a week until the genies revitalized. But would that put her in danger, too?