Page 26 of Bound By Wishes

Screams shattered the evil whispers that plagued my mind.Caleena.I erupted from the lamp like shadows overtaking the dawn, ready to end whatever or whoever threatened my sayyida. My angry gaze scoured the room, searching for the source of the threat, but found nothing.

Caleena writhed on the bed, beads of sweat glistening on her brow, moonlit tears streaming down her face. Thesheets were a jumbled-up mess, wrapping around her and holding her captive.

I knelt beside her, my fingers lightly brushing across her damp brow. “Caleena?” I whispered, my voice soft but filled with concern as I gazed down at her.

She wailed again, flinching away from me. The sight was soul-crushing as her body trembled all over. I gripped her shoulders and lightly shook her until her eyes flew open. Horror etched itself across her face as she looked around the room before sitting up and crushing her knees to her chest.

“What plagues your mind, little sayyida?” I asked, striving to sound calm and soothing despite the undercurrent of anger that seeped through me. “Whatever it is, be it real or imaginary, I will slay it.”

Caleena angrily swiped at the tears streaking down her pale cheeks. “It’s nothing,” she insisted.

“I know all too well about the evils that can plague a mind,” I said, rising from the floor. I dared to sit on the edge of the bed, shocked when she allowed me to do so without shrinking away. “If you will allow me, I will sit with you until you fall back asleep.”

She opened her mouth, and I knew a refusal was on the tip of her tongue.

“I promise not to move from this spot,” I assured her, my gaze boring into hers. “I just don’t want you to be alone. You don’t have to talk about it. Just let me be here with you.”

Tears continued to slip down her cheeks as she struggled to hide her fear and stay brave. I felt a powerful urge to wipe them away, but I had just sworn to her that I wouldn’t move. So, I stayed still, my hands clenched at my sides to keep from touching her.

Without a word, she nodded and settled back down. She watched me for a long time, her eyes reflecting a lingering distrust that kept her awake. Finally, her eyes fluttered closed, her dark lashes resting gently against her pale skin as she drifted back to sleep.

Something warm and rigid pressed against my back, coaxing me from my sleep. I blinked a few times as my vision came into focus. It was still dark out, and streams of moonlight flooded into the room, casting a muted glow.

“Ranen,” I warned, my voice groggy with sleep. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I would stab you. Get out of my bed.” My hand ventured up the mattress and under my pillow until I felt the cold steel of the blade against my skin.

Why in the world I had fallen asleep with a sexy genie sitting on the edge of my bed was beyond me. I didn’t trust him…or did I? I think I was starting to. Which was a frightening thought, but now he had gone too far. Fear mingled with another sensation I wouldn’t name thinking of his body pressed against mine.

A gentle, rhythmic vibration seeped into my skin, and my heart skipped a beat. That wasn't Ranen. Whatever wasbehind me, it was purring, very loudly. I shifted ever so slightly in the bed, turning my head toward the creature lying beside me. My heart slid to the pit of my stomach when I saw two golden glowing eyes staring at me. The faint gleam of the moonlight revealed glimpses of stripes, orange and black, blending into the shadows of the night. I could feel the weight and power of its muscular form against my backside, and the low, rumbling purr vibrating the bed.

There was a tiger in bed with me!

“Ranen,” I squeaked like a little mouse, my voice strangled by fear.

Nothing.

I watched the beast out of the corner of my eye. It didn’t seem like it was going to eat me, and I assumed purring was a good thing, but one could never be certain. I was too afraid to move. I shouldn’t make any sudden movements around a wild animal, right?

“Ranen?” My tone dripped with desperation. I held my breath when black smoke poured from the spout of the lamp. The tiger growled. Bounding from the bed before it tore the flesh from my bones seemed like a good idea, but I was frozen by the icy grip of fear.

Ranen appeared before me, his dark brows knitted together in confusion and his face pinched with anger, which seemed to be a common expression for him. “Namir?” he said.

The mattress shifted under the cat’s massive weight as it lunged for Ranen. I screamed, expecting the beast to rip him limb from limb. The tiger turned just before reaching Ranen, rubbing its side against Ranen’s thighs. The room wasfilled with the near-deafening purr again as Ranen reached down and ran his hand across the beautiful stripes.

I slowly rose from the bed, using it as somewhat of a barricade between the tiger and me. “Namir? You know this tiger?”

“He was just a cub the last time I saw him,” Ranen stated, moving his hand slowly over the beast’s fur. “But there’s no mistaking those stripes. The pattern’s grown darker, but it’s definitely him.”

I pressed my fingertips to my temples, trying to ward off the confusion clouding my mind. “Wait. I thought you said you had been trapped in the lamp for five hundred years?” I leaned closer, searching his eyes for answers. “How is this the same tiger?”

Impatience simmered in Ranen’s eyes. “I told you time is different here. In this place, I’ve only been gone for a few years.”

My scientist brain was still having a hard time grasping the possibility of that much of a time difference or the possibility that any of this was real. I stole another glance at the purring cat that was apparently five hundred years old yet still looked healthy and vivacious. The sight was both bewildering and surreal, leaving me questioning everything I thought I knew about time, reality, and the very nature of existence.

The rapid beat of my heart began to slow. Apparently, this five-hundred-year-old tiger was a pet of Ranen's. Perhaps it had grown accustomed to human company, or maybe extreme old age had mellowed its once-fierce spirit. Suddenly, the door to my room slammed open with a thunderous bang, and Ranen vanished so quickly my mind couldscarcely keep track of him. Seconds later, I felt the familiar weight of him on my shoulder. Namir crouched low beside me, muscles rippling under his sleek fur. His roar erupted with such force that it nearly shattered my eardrums. Maybe he didn’t like humans as much as I thought, and his ferocious spirit was certainly not mellow.

The guards yelled and drew their swords. “Namir has escaped and is attacking the princess!”

I glanced down at the tiger, who most certainly was not attacking me. As a matter of fact, it looked like he was protecting me.

---