Chapter Fourteen

It was a long time before anything made sense again. Inside her dark void, it was impossible to tell what was up from down or right from left. After a while even the sounds of fighting drifted off and were replaced by an unnatural silence.

Vera had run out of ideas. She didn't want to just give up, but she knew that Amias wasn't going to let her go anytime soon, regardless of his promise.

Gradually her surroundings began to brighten to the point she could make out walls: stone walls. Amias had his back to her, the air around him dotted with glowing specks of magic. He had discarded his vessel and was once again in his natural form. Recognizing herself to be inside his cave, Vera began to inch quietly toward the exit.

"Don't move," he ordered, not bothering to look and see whether or not she had obeyed.

Unable to control her emotions any longer, Vera began to cry. "Let me go! You swore you wouldn't hurt anyone and you broke your word!"

"And how do you know that I broke my word?" he asked, abandoning his task and turning toward her. His red eyes were unnerving, and she had to look away.

"I heard you!" she shouted. "I heard the gunshots and the cries. I know you killed them!"

His eyes narrowed. "Do you? Did you see me kill them? Or do you just think that I did?"

Vera stood up straight and squared her shoulders. "Then let me see them. Show me they are still alive."

Amias laughed. "What and let you plan another escape? Do you think I'm stupid?"

Vera's chin wobbled in an attempt to stop crying. He rolled his eyes at her and returned to what he had been doing before.

Her curiosity eventually won out and she asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you home," he replied, distracted and only half-listening to her.

Vera's breath caught in her throat. Perhaps he had come to his senses after all!

"You mean it? I can really go home?"

He looked up, confused, his brows furrowed as he sighed and said, "Not your home, foolish girl. My home."

Her heart felt like it had taken a swan dive into her stomach. The room was spinning and she sat down heavily on the ground. He was taking her somewhere she would be unable to escape.

"But I'm not like you," she began, her brain trying to catch up to the situation. "I'm not djinn. How can I go there?"

Amias shrugged. "The same way I can be here - magic. Now be quiet. I'm trying to concentrate."

The only thing Vera could think was 'run, run, run.' So she did – or tried to. She managed to get halfway through the exit before Amias dragged her back into the cave by her hair.

She fought and clawed, but he was extraordinarily strong and fast. She managed to land an uppercut against his chin and in retaliation he threw her against the opposite wall. Vera felt several ribs break as she landed and the breath left her lungs in one big whoosh. She had had broken bones before, so she knew she could power through the pain. Refusing to give up, Vera began to crawl and scoot her way back toward Amias and the exit.

He stared at her like he had so many times before when he was puzzled by something she had said or done.

"You really aren't going to give up are you?" he asked, his eyes wide and appraising.

Despite being out of breath from the pain and exertion she slurred, "Never. You'll have to kill me to get me to stop fighting."

"Kill you? I don't want to kill you," he replied. "You fascinate me, Vera. Even when you're fighting me like this – especially when you're fighting."

She managed to drag herself to her feet and mutter, "You'll enjoy this then," before landing a punch square between his eyes.

Amias didn't even blink to show he had felt anything from the hit. He just wrapped his arms underneath her legs and lifted her up as she began to collapse to the floor.

"You should rest," he said, his face and voice giving no indication he was angry with her. In fact, he sounded concerned. "The magic it will take to get you through the portal will drain your energy, so you should sleep as much as you can now."

Vera said nothing, choosing to use silence as a method of rebellion since she didn't have the energy for anything else. He sat her down on the ground next to his feet, conjuring a pillow and blankets for her out of thin air.

She didn't even have the energy enough to be surprised by their sudden appearance or to protest when he wrapped her up in them. Her eyes were growing heavier every second, but she refused to close them. She would wait it out, and then when he least suspected it she would find a way to escape. She watched the magic swirl around him again and he began to mutter under his breath.

Every time her eyes began to droop Vera would press her hand against one of her broken ribs using the pain to keep herself alert. It could have been a few minutes, or it could have been a few hours, but eventually the cave began to waver before her eyes. Shapes and shadows began to form in front of her eyes and she blinked repeatedly in an attempt to make sense of the blurred images.

The cave became a room – a glorious, lavish room that she would have never expected Amias to live in. She heard him sigh and whisper, "Home sweet, home."

He turned to her and frowned when he saw she was still awake.

"I told you to sleep, Vera," he commanded, and passed a hand over her eyes.

Just as she was about to press against her ribs again, her eyes fell shut and sleep claimed her.

Something wet slid across the side of her face and Vera struggled to open her swollen and tired eyes.

What was that?

Her eyes burned as they tried to adjust to the glaring brightness of the room.She had slept for a long time. She could tell by the way her arm was numb and her stomach gurgled loudly from hunger. As she struggled to get up a hand forced her back down.

A woman's voice whispered, "Shhh. Stay still. You need to get clean or your wounds will get infected."

When it became obvious she didn't have the energy to fight the woman off, Vera plopped back down against the bed with a huff. The woman, who was strange looking to say the least, picked up a bowl filled with water from the table. Her hand waved over the surface of the water and it followed her movements exactly.

Completely entranced, Vera watched as the water rose from the bowl and moved in her direction at the woman's bidding. She jerked back as the water touched her skin, but eventually relaxed when she realized it was just washing off the dried blood and sand from her skin.

As she calmed down from the shock of witnessing the water magic her memories of her fight with Amias came rushing back. Before she realized it, Vera began to feel hot tears roll down her face and turned her head away. She felt so weak and pathetic.

And, oh, how she hated Amias. Turning her head back toward the woman, she decided to try her luck at begging.

"Please," she whispered brokenly. "Help me. Please."

The woman nodded her head, never pausing as she continued to wash Vera's arms. "I am helping you, or I am trying to," she replied.

"You don't understand," Vera said, shaking her head. "Help me escape. Help me get out of here! Please!"

She expected the woman to yell at her or hit her, so Vera was incredibly surprised when she released her arm and looked confused.

"I don't understand," the woman responded. "I was told you and my brother had an agreement."

Vera's heart began to pound and she shook her head violently. "No! We made a deal, but he went back on his word. Now he's refusing to let me go!"

"Excuse me," the woman said, sitting the bowl of water aside and standing to leave.

"No, wait!" Vera said, reaching out to grab the woman's wrist. Although the woman looked outraged by her touch Vera refused to let go. "You can't leave! You have to help me!"

The woman pried Vera's fingers off her wrist and said patiently, "As I said earlier, I am trying to. Allow me to speak with my brother about this. I am certain this is only a misunderstanding."

She walked away despite Vera's protests. Soon she was alone in an unfamiliar place feeling panicked and hurting. Her ribs ached horribly and her head was pounding.

Vera assumed the brightness of the room was the cause of her headache. It was entirely white, made from some kind of stone. There was no metal anywhere in the room and all of the furniture was made from fabric and wood. There was a door at the far end of the room that obviously led outside from the amount of sunlight pouring in from it.

If she had had more energy she might have gotten up to investigate, but Amias hadn't been lying when he said coming to his world would drain her. She felt as if she hadn't slept in weeks even though she had just woken up.

An argument in the hall outside drew her attention and as she looked in that direction Amias walked through the door with his sister in tow. They were speaking in a language she didn't recognize, but Amias's eyes held a look of hostility.

When he spoke, she could tell he was trying very hard to keep his anger in check.

"I thought we had an agreement, Vera," he threatened. "I think Halsten would be disappointed to find out that you broke your word."

The warning was obvious in his tone. Vera swallowed with difficulty. She was quite sure Halsten was dead, but if he wasn't she didn't want to be the cause of his death. Vera let out a sob when she realized the rest of her life would be nothing but this. As long as she was uncertain as to the fate of her loved ones Amias would be able to use the threat of their deaths to his advantage.

Vera looked to the woman who had been in the room when she awoke, who was also apparently Amias's sister. She was frowning at her brother, giving him a very calculating look.

He said something to her in their strange language and she nodded, if a bit reluctantly. Amias reached down and ran a hand through Vera's hair, but she recoiled from him in disgust. He growled and stormed from the room, once again leaving her with his sister.

Vera turned to her hopefully. "So you'll help me, right? You know I don't want to be here!"

The woman hesitated and then shook her head. "My brother has instructed me of your deal. You should not have given your word if you did not intend for it to be taken so literally. I have been told to prepare you for your wedding."

"Wedding?!" Vera shouted. "Have you gone completely mad? I'm not getting married!"

"My brother has told me you agreed to do whatever he asked of you," the woman replied. "Was this a lie?"

Vera hesitated. "Not exactly, but I only agreed to do what he asked if he kept his word, but he didn't! He broke his promise so I should get to go free!"

The woman shook her head. "He says he has broken no promises to you."

She looked a bit guilty, but forced a smile and said, "Now, let's get you cleaned up and ready."

Vera could only sit frozen in shock staring at the woman like she was crazy. Certainly she had expected Amias to be cruel to her. Beat her or humiliate her. But she had not expected this, at least not yet. Yes, she knew he had some sort of deranged infatuation with her, but she had never expected him to act on it. Suddenly she found she now had renewed determination to get out of there as quickly as humanly possible.

...

Hope you like this one! I wrote parts of it a while back, so if anything is confusing or doesn't make sense just let me know. Please comment or vote if you get time! I appreciate it!