Chapter Seventeen

After Hael had left to give her space to think the room had become far too quiet. It was unsettling and made her anxious. In an attempt to channel her nervous energy into something positive Vera had been walking about the room and doing a few exercises.

As of yet no grand plan had presented itself in her mind and she was still unsure about how to best use her wishes to her advantage. It was difficult to focus when all she could think about was her friends and family being killed. But time was running out.

She had already begun to notice the worried looks Hael had been sending her from the balcony, as if to say, 'Hurry. Time is almost up.'

The light from the window had begun to fade as well signifying night was approaching soon. Amias was terrifying enough during the day; she most certainly did not want to face him in the dark. Vera's stomach grumbled from hunger and reminded her of the fact she hadn't eaten in a couple of days. The hunger pains were distracting and that was not something she needed at the moment. Her instincts were telling her to use one of her wishes for food, but she refrained. That would be stupid and wasteful.

"Vera," Hael called to get her attention as she reentered the room, her brows furrowed and hands clasped tightly together. "You have to make a decision soon. We have very little time left. Even now I can feel Amias's presence just outside the range of my wards."

Vera tugged at her hair and shook her head. "But I still don't know what to do! Can't you help me?"

"If you are asking me to help you escape, I will. But do not ask me to plot against my brother. Despite what he has done he is still my family and I will not harm him," Hael replied.

"He's a murderer! He deserves to be punished!" Vera shouted at her.

Hael's frown deepened. "That is true, but it does not change my decision. He is the only family I have left. I will not help you destroy him."

Suddenly the room began to quake and a low rumbling sound echoed around them.

"What is that?" Vera asked as she grabbed onto the bedpost for support.

"You must make a decision now!" Hael shouted as the rumbling became louder. "Amias is breaking through the wards I placed around the room!"

She closed her eyes and thought about the one thing she really wanted. Why she hadn't though of it before was a mystery, but perhaps she just needed the terror to help her figure it out.

"I wish we were some place safe where Amias couldn't get to us while I decide my other two wishes!" she cried, letting out a breath of relief when the rattling and rumbling stopped.

"I'm afraid your wish cannot be granted at this time since Hael is temporarily unavailable," Amias's voice declared from across the room.

Vera's eyes snapped open and she stumbled backward in fear as Amias advanced toward her.

"The game is over now, Vera," he said, pinning her between himself and the wall. "And you lost."

His red eyes bored into hers with such ferocity it made her knees tremble. She had reached the end. Her last chance at escape was now gone and she had lost all hope.

"I'll never marry you, not willingly," she told him, determined to tell him the truth even if he killed her. "And I'll never love you, not after the things you've done."

Tears welled in her eyes as she continued her speech, "If you had been nice to me from the beginning, or just showed some shred of decency I might have cared for you eventually. But after what you've done I will never forgive you.

"You're a monster, Amias," Vera managed to say through pants of breath as her sobs made it harder and harder to breathe. "Not because you're a jinni, but because you're a heartless killer, who manipulates and threatens to get his way! And if you don't let me go I'll find a way to kill myself because I would rather be dead than spend ONE. MORE. SECOND. with YOU!"

Amias stared at her blankly. He hadn't moved since she began her tirade, but she wasn't fooled. Vera knew he was seething behind that mask of indifference.

"Never matter," he eventually replied, swiping a hand through her hair. "We don't have to be married and you certainly don't have to love me."

His hand gripped her hair and pulled hard, angling her head so that she had no other choice but to look at him.

"But what you will do is obey me, Vera," he growled under his breath. "Because if you don't I will torture you in ways that will make you wish that that empty threat you made about killing yourself was a reality."

Vera snarled right back at him, "It wasn't an empty threat. I meant every word."

Moving her face closer to his she looked him straight in the eyes and whispered, "Look at me in the eyes and tell me I don't mean it."

He stared at her for a long time, but she never dropped her gaze. She wanted him to know she was serious. If he thought she was too cowardly to follow through on her promise he was wrong. She couldn't imagine anything worse than spending the rest of her life as his prisoner.

"What makes you think I won't take precautions to prevent something like that from happening?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I'm sure you would try, but how many other plans have you made concerning me that I've managed to stop?"

Amias roared in her face and shoved her hard, causing her head to bounce against the wall with a sickening crack. Black spots formed in her vision, but she refused to show him how much it hurt. Instead Vera chose to retaliate and punched him hard, right in the jaw. Surprisingly enough he didn't hit her back; instead he moved away from her and took several deep breaths.

"I know what you're doing," he told her, glaring in her direction but refusing to meet her eyes. "I'm not going to kill you, so you can stop trying to pick a fight."

Vera snorted and continued to try and shake off the dizziness brought on by the head injury. "The last I checked you were the one who shoved me, so I don't see how I'm the one picking a fight."

She watched as he growled and paced back and forth in front of her. After a while he began murmuring to himself and she imagined he was trying to figure out what to do with her. He had stopped paying the slightest amount of attention to her, so she made her way slowly toward the balcony.

If she was right the room they were in was very high up. If she jumped from high enough the fall would only hurt for a moment before she died. It was worth a shot, as far as she was concerned.

Just as Vera approached the balcony doors, they slammed shut with so much force the glass panes shattered. She knew Amias had caught her, but she didn't stop. After all, just because the doors were shut didn't mean she couldn't go through the holes where the windows used to be. So what if she got a few cuts from the glass?

"Vera!" Amias screamed in her direction. She giggled at how ridiculous his voice sounded, echoing in her head.

She knew something must be wrong with her; her thoughts were jumbled and the dizziness had only gotten worse. She was also growing increasingly tired, her trek to the balcony doors seeming to take a lifetime.

Amias spun her around to face him and the action caused her to vomit all over him. His look of disgust caused her to once again fall into a fit of giggles.

"What is the matter with you?" he snapped, shaking her hard.

"Whatsa matta whif you?' she slurred back at him.

Vera was shocked when he picked her up and set her down on the bed gently. He pushed her hair out of her eyes and examined her head. He touched the spot where her head had cracked against the wall and she cried out in agony. Her fuzzy vision became double vision and an intense headache erupted in her skull.

"I've damaged you," he whispered. "I will have to fetch a healer. I will have to put a spell on you to keep you from moving won't I?"

Vera tried to shrug, but fell over instead. Her headache grew worse by the second and she began to cry.

"I need Haaallllsttteeen," she wailed, whimpering when it only made her feel worse.

She rolled over onto her face and clenched her eyes tightly shut. Amias was muttering something above her, but she ignored him. And after a while his voice and everything else faded away.

....

Hope you guys liked the chapter. Sorry it was late. Should have another one up this weekend though. Vote and comment if you get time. I appreciate it!