Forty-two

I watched Thohfsa from behind the closed bazaar stall, the moonlight outlining her form like a glowing beacon in the night.

She came alone, with no sign of Noor at all. If she had at least brought Noor, I could have fought her with my sword. But I couldn't take the chance Noor was out there waiting to be killed if Thohfsa didn't come back for her.

"Where is she?" I let my voice slice through the night, as my sword would have. "Where is Noor?"

Thohfsa's head jerked up, her mouth twisting into that familiar sneer. "She's safe for now." Her gaze swept over my face, void of the magic that had disguised me previously. "I'd forgotten how ugly you were."

I rolled my eyes. "I want to know Noor's still alive."

Thohfsa chuckled. "The little worm is still alive, she's of no value to me dead." Then she raised her lit torch in the air and whistled low.

A light went on in a building at the edge of the bazaar. Noor was illuminated in the window, a knife pressed to her throat and a look of misery painted on her face.

Relief flooded through me that she was alive and here.

I could work with that.

"Let her go," I growled, advancing on Thohfsa.

Thohfsa held up a hand. "If you harm me in any way, her throat will be slit. You won't have time to save her, not with all the djinn magic in the world."

You don't know how much I have .

I nodded tightly and opened the satchel at my side, unfolding the bag of zoraat and glancing down at the seeds one last time. This was what had given me the power to exact vengeance on Darbaran, Casildo, Vahid, and Mazin.

But I didn't need it anymore.

I glanced up at Noor in the window, the one friend I had left. If I couldn't save her, all of this would have been for nothing. I picked up the bag, ignoring Noor's cry of protest, and chucked it at Thohfsa's feet.

"There."

She bent down, picking it up with a greedy smile. "Is that all of it?"

"Every last seed."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

I gestured to my naked face. "Would I walk around like this if I were lying?"

Thohfsa nodded, then gave a low whistle again. This time the methodical, insistent sound of boots marching on cobblestones filled the courtyard.

Hundreds of them.

I watched Thohfsa, utterly still, memorizing her smug expression.

"Did you really think I wouldn't give you up?" She tucked the zoraat in her pack. "Did you really think I would let you go free?"

Noor cried out in the window and I jerked my gaze to her. They hadn't killed her, not yet.

Soldiers surrounded me, but I barely spared them a glance, not even when they drew their swords.

"Thohfsa, did you really think I would ever trust you?"

She narrowed her eyes, but before she could make a move, I reached for the power simmering beneath my veins.

The power I'd given my life for, just to have access to.

There was a slight tugging, then a snap as it flooded through me, a thousand burning needles stabbing my skin and filling me with djinn fire.

Then, every soldier surrounding me turned their blades the other way. Toward Thohfsa.

I could feel their lives. Their blood.

Tricks, the djinn had called it, but it was as if I were moving clay models of the soldiers and forcing them to do my bidding. Their faces were placid masks, their bodies mine to command.

"What…?" Thohfsa fumbled with the bag at her hip, scrambling for the zoraat, as if it would help her now. But Thohfsa never really knew what to do with power when she had it.

"You traded Noor for djinn magic, which was a poor exchange for you."

I waved a hand and the soldiers advanced on her. She pulled out a handful of seeds, stuffing them into her mouth.

The soldiers kept advancing.

"The thing about having zoraat is you need to know how to use it."

In a few moments, Thohfsa began to gag, and her legs buckled from underneath her. She clawed at her throat, her eyes bulging, sweat pouring from her face.

A line of guards parted as I walked through them. I crouched down to Thohfsa. "This time, you will die."

"Dania."

Noor stood at the edge of the square, her dark eyes wide at the crowd of soldiers surrounding me. I stood, facing her.

"What have you done?"