Page 31 of Bound by Wishes (Enchanted Deceptions #1)

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 from within.

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, but my 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’t here, 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.

Malik glanced at me, and I shook my head, the motion making the world tilt around me. Malik exhaled before plunging ahead with the explanation that I would have rather kept secret. “Mathew Henderson is one of the biggest benefactors of our museums,” Malik explained without looking at me. Embarrassment burned my checks, or maybe it was the fever. “He attacked Cal one night when she was working late at the museum.”

“Did he violate her?” Ranen asked, his voice a thunderous growl, vibrating with raw, uncontainable rage .

I flinched at his question.

“No,” Malik answered. “But he would have if I hadn’t been there to stop him. He beat her up pretty badly.”

Ranen slowly walked toward me, his eyes softening as he bent down before me. “Can I pick you up?” he asked, his tone still saturated with anger.

I nodded once, and he scooped me up in his arms and placed me back on the bed. His fingers trailed gently down my cheek and across my jaw, his touch like ice against my feverish skin.

"I’m sorry, sayyida," he murmured, his voice so soft that it was barely more than a whisper. The quiet sorrow in his words lingered in the air. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there then to put an end to that man’s worthless life and sorry that I can’t save you from it now.”

“It’s okay,” I promised, though my voice cracked like broken glass. “I refuse to be scared. Not while you’re here.” With shaky determination, I pushed myself into a sitting position, needing to look into his dark, intense eyes. “If it comes to it,” I continued, “I’ll draw my last breath while kissing you.”

Ranen's brow arched, and that irresistible smirk I was becoming fond of tilted his lips. "Kissing me? I thought you told me never to do that again," he teased, a playful glint dancing in his eyes despite the grim situation.

I eased back into the fluffy pillows, the conversation draining the last of my energy. “Might as well go out with a bang,” I whispered, offering him a tired smile.

Ranen watched me for what felt like an eternity, a silent war raging in his eyes. Finally, he broke the drawn-out silence. “I’ll kiss you, ya amar, but not until you’re better,” he said, his voice sharp like a double-edged sword.

His words confused me. He had just told me there was no getting better, not after the Nightshade had sunk her claws into me. But before I could ask for an explanation, he stood, gathered me into his arms, and held me against his chest as if I were his most precious possession. Without another word, he stormed toward the door.

“What are you doing?” Malik called out in a panic from behind us. “Where are you taking her?”

Ranen didn’t respond to Malik’s frantic calls. The world around me spun, and Ranen’s face twisted into Mathew’s. My muscles froze, a tremor running through me as fear gripped my body.

“Close your eyes, ya amar, and listen to the sound of my voice,” Ranen purred. I slammed my eyes closed, trying hard to fight the persuasion of the poison. “I am not him, nor will I ever be. You are safe with me.”

I took a deep breath, and Ranen’s masculine, smoky scent enveloped me. I peeked up at him, relieved to see that the image of Mathew had finally vanished. Ranen’s face was a mask of steely determination, his brow furrowed in a fierce scowl. With a powerful kick, he booted the door to my bedchamber open, the crash reverberating through the room and causing the walls to tremble.

Outside, the two guards sprang into action, drawing their swords. I flinched, bracing for the death blow, but Ranen’s dark magic erupted with unrelenting fury. It crackled in the air, a storm of smoke that surged toward the guards. In an instant, they were consumed by the dark magic, reduced to nothing but heaps of charred black sand that swirled around the doorway and crunched beneath Ranen’s boots as he continued forward.

I clung to him, as though he were my only anchor in a raging storm, while he barreled down the corridor. More guards emerged from around the corner, each contorting to look like Mathew. I whimpered, my hold around Ranen’s neck tightening. One by one they fell, each struck by his magic and reduced to ashy grit that scattered across the white marble.

A deep fear gnawed at my insides. I had never seen Ranen like this. His fury was horrifying, a restless force of destruction that swept everything in his path aside. His eyes, usually so calm and controlled, now simmered with an intensity that made even the air around him seem to quiver.

I cast a worried glance over his shoulder and saw Malik struggling to keep up, his face a mask of horror as he navigated through the carnage. The hallway was a scene of chaos, the once orderly environment now littered with the remains of the guards and the eerie charge of dark magic that hissed through the air.

Fear swallowed me whole and spit me back out as Ranen stormed into the throne room. The guards inside recoiled, too intimidated to approach the relentless force that was Ranen. A fleeting expression of shock mingled with fear crossed Razoul’s face before he quickly composed himself, his expression hardening into a mask of calculated control.

“You are a constant thorn in my side, big brother,” Razoul sneered, sitting up straighter on his throne, his posture brimming with disdain. “I should have known that when she wished you back into that cave, her true intention was to set you free again.” His fingers absently played with the intricate patterns of his tunic as if he were bored. “But honestly,” he continued, his gaze icy, “I didn’t think she was that cunning.”

Ranen’s grip on me tightened painfully, a clear warning of the seething anger barely contained beneath his exterior. His voice was a low, dangerous growl as he demanded, “Where…is…she?” He spat out each word, as though each syllable was a bitter poison on his tongue. Every muscle of his rigid frame tightened with fury.

“Where’s who?” Razoul smirked, a trace of mocking playfulness in his voice that seemed absurdly out of place given the severity of Ranen’s anger.

Tendrils of Ranen’s smoky magic unfurled, brushing against my skin with a chilling, almost sensual touch. I froze, my breath catching as the dark wisps coiled and slithered through the room, filling the air with an eerie tension. “I will not ask you again,” Ranen warned.

Razoul stood, but before he could utter a word, the shadows along the walls converged into a nightmarish silhouette of skin and bones. The Nightshade emerged from the darkened folds, stepping into the light with a chilling grace.

Fear surged through my veins, making me tremble. Ranen tightened his hold, pulling me closer to his chest. “Cure her,” he demanded.

The Nightshade’s gaze swept over me before a menacing smile twisted across her decaying features. Shadows seemed to cling to her as she stepped closer, hinting at the evil that lurked behind her hollow eyes.

“You are lowering yourself before me, asking for the life of this filthy Canaari spawn to be spared?” she asked, her voice grating against my nerves like the rasp of iron on stone.

Ranen’s eyes remained locked on the Nightshade. Razoul shifted uneasily, the earlier smugness fading from his face.

A wave of nausea hit me hard in the gut, and the world felt like it tilted on its axis as their faces started to resemble Mathew’s.

The Nightshade’s lifeless eyes flicked back to me, her smile growing colder. “It was just a nick,” she declared, her voice a chilling echo that seemed to seep into the very walls of the throne room. “It won’t kill her. I need her filthy blood, remember?” Her gaze rose to meet Ranen’s. “But for you, my darling, I might be persuaded to show a little mercy.” The Nightshade’s gaze lingered on Ranen with a twisted satisfaction. “I wonder,” she continued, her voice dripping with dark amusement, “will you beg me to save her?”

Ranen’s muscles quivered. I glanced up at him, his face a mask of simmering rage. His jaw was clenched so tightly that the muscles in his neck stood out. His grip on me tightened, and I felt tension coil within him, like a serpent ready to strike.

"Please," Ranen hissed, his voice strangled with wrath. The word hung in the air, heavy with an emotion I had never heard from him before. "Spare her, Mother."

Mother? Shock flooded through me, sending a fresh wave of chills through my fevered body. My mind reeled, struggling to grasp the word that just escaped Ranen’s lips. The Nightshade—this monstrous, decaying creature—was Ranen’s mother ?

I glanced up at Ranen, and his expression was a storm of conflicting emotions. The pieces started to come together. The mother who had treated him so badly, the kingdom that was rightfully his that she stole. She was the monster, the one whose powers King Thalorian had taken and imprisoned in the tomb.

The Nightshade’s eyes gleamed with malevolent delight, relishing the power she held over Ranen. “Place her at my feet,” she instructed.

I could feel the heavy burden of his anguish pressing down on both of us. This wasn’t just a fight for my survival; it was a war of power. My heart clenched painfully in my chest as the gravity of what he was risking hit me. This was a battle of wills between a son and his monstrous power-hungry mother, one that had been brewing since his birth. And in that moment, I realized how much Ranen was sacrificing, lowering himself to ask her to save me.

Ranen knelt, placing me gently on the ground. The cold marble floor kissed my bare legs, intensifying my trembling. He rose to his full height. The loss of his warmth, the absence of his protective embrace made the cold floor even more unbearable.

His eyes locked onto the Nightshade with a glare so fierce it seemed capable of tearing through stone. Every muscle in his body was taut, his posture stiff. The air around him crackled with anger. His presence was overwhelming, a storm barely held at bay, and it was frightening. He was more dangerous than I had ever imagined, even with his powers diminished by the curse.

The Nightshade took a slow, deliberate step forward, her decayed form looming over me like a shadow of death. She extended her bony hand, and my breath hitched as her deadly nails traced a path along my cheek.

"Such a pretty little thing," she said, her voice a sickening purr as she leaned closer. Her empty gaze held me captive. "It's a pity I have to kill you." Her words were like venom, each syllable seeping into my skin. “No descendant of my worst enemy will be allowed to live.” The bitterness in her tone revealed the twisted depths of her possessiveness.

She raised her hand, ready to strike, as dark shadows clung to her. I froze, my gaze locked on her sharp, decaying nails. The air around her grew denser, thick with the weight of her dark magic, making every breath feel heavy and labored.

Ranen roared, primal and deadly. The entire room was shrouded in darkness like he had stolen the sun from the sky. I could barely make out the silhouette of the Nightshade—the shadows around her seemed to recoil, disturbed by Ranen’s power.

I used the cover of his smoky cloud of power to crawl away, carefully maneuvering through the darkness toward Malik. He stood frozen in the doorway, his eyes wide with shock as he watched everything unfold.

I shook my head hard as the lesions on my arm burned, thick poison sludging through my veins. My crawling stopped when Malik’s face shifted, morphing into Mathew’s. I drew in a deep breath, forcing myself to fight the pull of the poison. There was a war raging around me. I didn’t have time for fears or hallucinations. But the image of Mathew held me frozen in place.

I fought with everything I had, trying to conquer the crippling terror that had kept me prisoner for so long. My chest tightened, as if the fear itself banded around my ribs. My muscles tensed, willing my body to move, to break free of its invisible hold. I forced my gaze forward, blocking out the dread that clawed at my mind. The horrifying image of Mathew’s twisted face faded.

“Cal!” Malik yelled, gathering me into his arms and lifting me to my feet.

I clung to Malik’s shirt as the Nightshade and Razoul attacked Ranen. Shadows and smoke swirled around the room like a living tornado. The room darkened as everything was consumed in a thunderous whirl of dark magic. The air bristled with the acrid bite of smoke and the faint metallic tang of the raw power of their clash.

Fear snaked through me, cold and relentless. Ranen was no match for them, still bound by the genie’s curse that had stripped him of his djinn powers. He was going to get himself killed, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I gasped when the room fell into an eerie silence. The shadows that had overwhelmed the room retreated, and the cloudy haze cleared, revealing the aftermath of the battle.

Bile burned the back of my throat as I saw a large, dark form sprawled across the floor. Blood pooled around it, flowing like a crimson river across the marble tiles.

“Ranen!” I wailed, my voice breaking with desperation as I fought against Malik’s firm hold to get to him.

From the shrinking shadows, Ranen emerged, his expression a cold mask that deepened the chill running through me. My gaze fell back to the body sprawled on the floor. Relief flooded through me, making my knees weak as I realized it was Razoul.

The Nightshade stood unmoving, momentarily losing her composure. She bent over him with a cry so piercing it seemed capable of shattering glass. Her skeletal fingers stroked his hair with a motherly tenderness that seemed so at odds with the evil that surrounded her.

“How dare you?” she growled, rising to her feet with a tremor of fury that seemed to shake her entire body. “He was your brother.” Her voice quivered with rage and sorrow.

Ranen’s expression remained cold and unyielding, though the harsh lines of his face softened slightly as he glanced down at the lifeless form of his brother. “His death is on your hands,” he said, his tone lacking emotion. “You turned my own brother against me, using him to curse me and release you from the prison you should still be rotting in.”

“How?” she spat, taking a menacing step toward him. “You shouldn’t be strong enough to defeat a djinn.”

Ranen’s gaze lingered on me for a heartbeat before turning back to his mother. “You never understood my strength or what I’d do to protect her.”

His words fractured my heart.

Shadows spiraled around Ranen, slamming him against the wall with a force that sent pieces of plaster crumbling to the floor. He struggled against the Nightshade’s dark grasp, his muscles straining as he fought to break free.

With an evil gleam in her eyes, the Nightshade turned toward me. “An eye for an eye.” Her voice dripped with vengeance. “Let’s see what happens to your strength when I take her from you.”

The shadows that had pinned Ranen twisted and surged toward me, writhing like serpents as they slunk across the floor.

A warm light caught my eye, drawing my focus away from the Nightshade. The sword at Malik’s side glowed. Its power pulsed in a silent plea, urging me to pull it from its sheath—so I did.