Ius had just finished explaining to her how he followed the echo in the pyramid after leaving her, but he wasn’t able to locate the source.

Poppy gasped. It was a lot to take in, but she needed to know more.

‘’ You said that Mokhtar is a trickster; we shouldn’t be surprised that he is the one who created the echo,” she suggested.

Ius was listening while stroking his chin, “I agree; he must have sensed me and created a diversion.”

“That Mokhtar looked so legit, though. He had the whole outfit and spoke to me in English. He even had a local accent.’’

She quickly reached for the lamp and turned it over. ‘’ Look! There is even a small inscription in Frakalic that I had to read.”

Ius puffed, then burst out laughing again and almost fell to the ground.

“Man! He went all out for you, huh!”; his body was still shaking from laughter, and he was slapping his thighs.

“Poppy, I have never heard of a language called Frakalic; ours is called Jinna! As you have noticed, I speak English with a British accent. Jinns speak each language they use with the accent of the people who invented it. There is no way he would have spoken English to you with an Egyptian accent unless he chose to!”

Poppy’s face became flushed, and she clenched her jaw. “What a nasty piece of work that Mokhtar, I can’t believe that. But it also explains why your Fula accent is much better than mine.”

He nodded, then frowned. “What I don’t understand is how did you see the lamp but not the others?”

“ Maybe he made it visible just for me. “

“ I don’t think so; humans cannot free imprisoned Jinns; only powerful witches or sorceresses could be of use to him.”

“ But I am a witch! My family is a member of the Compass Coven,” blurted out Poppy.

Ius’ eyes widened. “ Wow, the plot thickens! So, is your coven really powerful? What are your powers?” Said Ius with a smirk.

Poppy raised her shoulders. “ Not as much as it used to be. We lost most of the governing body and our leader, my mum; now they have to choose a new leader and new members of the GovB.”

“ The GovB?” he asks, his brows in a V

She nodded. “ That is what we call the governing body”

Ius placed his hand on her shoulder. “ What happened? How did you lose your mum and the GovB?”

Poppy took a big breath, “ every two years, we have a convention; all the members usually attend. The coven uses this occasion to announce new laws that have passed new treaties with other covens or spiritual groups. Anything that has to do with the coven’s affairs and our well-being.’’

She choked back her tears.

‘’ This time they meant for the conference to be in a castle in North Yorkshire, I think. They made a convoy and drove there; it is close to Lancashire. They were in a huge car accident on the motorway, and many died instantly; the others died on their way to the hospital. My parents and my maternal grandparents were among them.”

“ In the creator’s name, that is horrible. Were you hurt in the accident?”

“ No. I was sick that day. I had the flu, so my uncle and my cousin volunteered to stay with me; it saved our lives.”

Ius nodded. “ I am really sorry, Poppy.”

She placed her hand on his. “Thank you. And for my powers, they disappeared right after. It must have been the shock.’’

She looked at her hand with a sad look on her face. ‘’ I really miss my powers.’’

‘’ You’ll get them back’’ said Ius, squeezing her other hand.

‘’ Hey, wait a minute, if the Ifrit lied to me, then maybe he lied about that too.”

Ius pulled his head back. “Lied about what?”

“My parents! He said Jinns couldn’t bring them back to life. But now I know he was lying. You can, can’t you?” She asked with wide eyes.

Ius shook his head. “He wasn’t lying about that part. I am sorry, Poppy, but nobody can bring back the dead, not even a Jinn.”

Poppy gave him a poor smile,“ It’s ok, don’t worry about it; I’ll see them again one day.”

Ius tapped her hand, “Yes, you will. So, what powers do you possess?”

Poppy raised her brows and pouted, “I am a green witch from my father’s side and a white witch from my mum’s side. My mum was the one teaching me. She was a spectacular sorceress. But she died and I have no one to guide me. Now I mostly learn about our family history, no one seems interested in teaching me anything. They are all busy forming a new GovB.”

She paused, and a cheeky smile appeared on her face; she said excitedly, “ Ius, I may not have my active powers right now, but is there a way you can teach me ?”

Ius grimaced. “ I don’t think Jinns share the same powers as witches, but I sure love a challenge!” He said with an upbeat tone.

Poppy clapped joyfully, then opened her mouth to speak when Ius’s eyes glowed in a flash. He said in a panicked tone, “ Oh no! My uncle is coming! He must have sensed me when I used my powers.’’

Poppy turned around and saw a middle-aged man with a frown on his face making his way toward them. He was slim and almost as tall as her uncle.

She immediately recognised him. It was the impeccably dressed gentleman she had seen reading a newspaper the day before in one of the hotel lounges.

Why is he wearing a hat and a suit despite the heat?

Right next to her, Ius whispered to himself, “ I am so dead.”

The closer Altan was getting, the more Ius and Poppy’s were getting anxious. Ius stood up quickly as soon as his uncle reached them.

Altan gave a greeting nod to an awkward Poppy, then turned to Ius and said in an icy tone, “ what did I say about you revealing yourself to anyone?”

Ius looked down, then glanced at Poppy, whose eyes were widening.

Ius bit his lip and turned back to his uncle, “ Sorry, uncle, I can explain. This is…”

“ Poppy!” she quickly let out. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

Altan replied, “ Poppy? That’s an unusual name.”

She blushed and timidly said, “ It is short for Penelope.”

“ Penelope, would you mind giving my nephew and me some private time?”

Poppy nodded and walked to the end of the garden. She was desperate to hear the conversation, but she knew Ius would tell her everything when his uncle was gone.

Ius could see that his uncle was furious. “ I am so sorry, Uncle! Please don’t be angry. I did not out myself just to show off; I did it because Poppy met an Ifrit in Giza and freed him.”

Altan’s eyes widened. “ What?”

Ius nodded. Altan pointed at the bench and said, “ sit down and tell me everything.”

After listening to Ius, he turned toward Poppy, who was still watching from a distance, and beckoned at her.

She slowly advanced and took a seat right next to Ius.

Altan then asked Poppy, ‘’ Penelope, would you be kind enough to show me the lamp?’’

Poppy carefully pulled the lamp out of her bag and handed it to him.

Altan stared at it, turned it around, read the inscription, then burst out laughing. “ Oh Mokhtar! You never fell to impress me.”

‘’ Do you know him, uncle?’’ Asked Ius with both brows raised.

‘’ Are you sure it is the same Mokhtar you know? Is the name Mokhtar rare among the Jinns?’’ added Poppy.

Altan smiled. ‘’ No, it’s not. But I recognise his work, and he is the only one currently at Giza as a guest of the High Council,’’ replied Altan.

Poppy raised a brow and Ius whispered, “he means confinement,” and she giggled.

Altan then turned to Ius, “ why did you ignore the warnings put in place by the High Council?”

Ius raised a brow. “ What warnings?”

“ When a Jinn is imprisoned outside our realm, the high council place warning beacons to warn other Jinns that there is a prisoner in the area and to stop them from inadvertently releasing the prisoner ahead of time. You must have heard them,” said Altan.

“ Ohhhhh, yes, I did, but I didn’t know what they were. All I could hear was echoes all around me. I tried to pinpoint their location, but I couldn’t,” added Ius.

Altan placed his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “ I am sorry. It is my fault; I should have foreseen something like this happening, especially since it was your first time on Terra. It does not matter, what is done is done.”

Poppy still had her brows in a V, “ what will happen now?”

Altan lowered his eyes, “ now we go find your uncle and have dinner.”

They all got up, and Ius asked, “what about Mokhtar?”

Altan smiled. “ We will discuss it later. In the meantime, let me hang on to this,” he added. Then he passed his hand on the lamp, which disappeared immediately.

‘’ So cool!’’ Said Poppy, completely amazed.

‘’ I can do a lot more than that. I’ll show you.’’ Bragged Ius.

‘’ Absolutely not!’’ said firmly Altan before extending his hand toward the path to signal them to move. And they made their way to the hotel lobby.