Page 71 of Bound By Wishes

I lifted my head, meeting his gaze. “The Nightshade,” I said breathlessly. “She was there.” I took a step back and held out the book to him. “It’s a ledger that belongs to the Canaari Medjai.She let me take it. She said they didn’t need it anymore.” His eyes fixed on the slashes on my arm, ignoring the book. A concerned expression shadowed his handsome face.

Anger swirled in his eyes as he gripped my arm, pulling it closer to examine the wounds. “She did this?” he demanded, his voice laced with horror. The intensity of his reaction made me dizzy with fear.

I pulled my arm from his grasp, cradling it protectively against my side. “Yes, but it’s just a scratch,” I reassured him, trying to keep my voice steady. “You can heal it in no time.” I forced a smile, though the sting of the cuts pulsed with pain and the worry tugging on his face made it hard for me to remain calm.

"I can’t fix this, ya amar," he growled, his voice tightening with fury. "Her touch is deadly." He gently cupped my cheek as he continued. "Her nails breaking the skin means her poison is now seeping into your veins."

I’d been seasick throughout the entire boat ride to Jalam. The relentless waves tossed the ship around like a toy, leaving me dizzy and queasy. My head throbbed as if someone were splitting it open with an axe, but that was nothing compared to what I was going through now.

Ranen had whisked me away in his strong arms and placed me gently in my bed. Then he rushed off to find Malik at my request, leaving me alone to wallow in my agony.

An icy pain spread through my arm, the wound throbbing with an intensity that made me feel like I was going to vomit. The skin around the scratch turned an unnatural, sickly hue that radiated a feverish heat. A profound weakness settled in my muscles, making something as simple as lifting my head difficult. My breathing was shallow and erratic, as if the poison was drowning me fromwithin.

My vision blurred with spots of darkness, but I forced myself to comb through every inch of the book that I had condemned myself to death to retrieve. I pored over the pages, desperately searching for any clues on how to heal myself and defeat the Nightshade with the staff but found nothing. My eyes crossed with fatigue, and I closed them as I waited for a wave of dizziness to pass.

The book turned out to be more of a diary, chronicling the Medjai’s history and their services to King Thalorian and his predecessors over the centuries. I came across a few enchantments, including the one that had transformed Ranen into a genie, but little else of use. By the time I reached the final page, despair settled in. I had given up all hope of stopping the Nightshade—or surviving the night.

On trembling legs, I staggered over to Namir’s oasis, slipping the book under his bed for safekeeping. It was the one place no one would dare search. I broke out in a cold sweat, my legs threatening to give way beneath me. Fortunately, Namir was close by, and I leaned heavily on him, using him as a crutch to make my way back to the bed. I sprawled across the mattress, the room spinning like I was trapped in a whirlwind.

I heard voices that were muffled through my haze. Slowly, I pushed myself up onto my elbows, and the sight before me sent my heart plummeting into the pit of my stomach. Mathew peeked around the curtains that lined the balcony, that same evil smirk on his face that he wore that night.

“What are you doing here?” I screeched.

He emerged from the shadows, smooth like a predator, as he made his way toward me. I tried to get off the bed, butmy weak muscles wouldn’t cooperate. He clamped his hands onto my shoulders, shaking me, and a scream tore from my throat.

“Cal!” Malik yelled. The image of Mathew shattered. I blinked, trying to understand what just happened.

A tremble worked its way down my spine. “Mathew was here,” I gasped.

“When?” Malik asked, confusion wrinkling his brow. “Where?” He glanced around the room.

“He was right here. Right where you’re sitting.” My voice was strangled with unshed tears.

Ranen stepped closer to the bed, drawing my attention. "It's the djinn poison," he said, his voice taut with anger. "It forces you to hallucinate your worst fears…until it kills you."

"So, Mathew was never here?" I whispered, my voice barely a squeak.

“No,” he answered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

My head throbbed, each pulse bringing a flash of blinding light. Ranen's broad form wavered, morphing into Mathew. A cruel sneer twisted his face as he crawled toward me on his hands and knees.

“No!” I wailed, somehow finding the strength to throw myself from the bed to the floor.

Mathew was on top of me in seconds, pinning me down. Tears streamed down my face as I kicked and clawed at his eyes.

"What are we going to do?" Malik’s voice sliced through my terror, and I realized he was the one on top of me, dodging the frantic blows I was aiming at his face.

Malik sat me up as I went deathly still. Mathew wasn’there, I tried to reassure myself, but it felt so real, every detail sharp and vivid like the day it all happened.

Ranen’s harsh gaze met mine with a grim expression. “There’s nothing we can do. I can’t override a djinn’s poison with this genie curse binding my powers,” he said, his tone flat. “The only way to escape a djinn’s poison is to let go of that fear.”

“She can’t do that,” Malik argued. “She’s been trying to escape that night for years.” His tone shifted from anger to desperation in a heartbeat as he looked up at Ranen.

I trembled in Malik’s arms, more from fear than from the fever that was scorching me from the inside. He was right. I hadn’t been able to escape that horrible night for years. Every time I closed my eyes, I was dragged back into it. And now, with the djinn’s poison making everything more vivid than my worst night terrors, there was no escaping it.

I glanced up at Ranen. He clenched his jaw so tightly I could hear his teeth grinding, and his sharp eyes blazed with fury.

“Who is this Mathew, and what did he do to her?” he growled.

---