Claimed by the Desert

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Vera was certain she was dreaming. How else would it make sense for her to be back in her bed at home, with Amias nowhere to be seen?  Raising her head from the pillow, she searched the room to make sure everything was as it should be. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but she wasn't taking any chances.

As silently as possible she crept toward the door and looked out into the hallway. The house was silent, giving her no indication that anyone else was around. She debated with herself about whether or not she should stay in her room. If it was a dream it wouldn't matter if she left, but if it was real it could be an illusion made by Amias to try and trick her.

Eventually Vera decided the only way she could determine if she was, in fact, dreaming was to venture out. Upon making it to the bottom of the stairs Vera heard a noise in the sitting room and froze in panic. She tiptoed as lightly as possible to the doorframe and peeked around. A huge sigh of relief left her lungs when she saw Halsten and her father fast asleep in front of the fire.

Vera smiled at them; happy to see they were all right, if only in her dreams. The front door opened and closed and Vera made her way out into the foyer to see who had arrived. She tensed when she saw Kareem come around the corner, but scolded herself for it. It wasn't his fault he had been possessed and he certainly wasn't to blame for any of the bad things that had happened to her.

He smiled widely and greeted her. "You're back! We were afraid the jinni would never let you go!"

Unsure how to reply since it was only a dream, she merely shrugged.

"How is everyone?" she asked instead.

"Good, good," he replied. "We got away safely, although many others were not so lucky."

Vera nodded, expecting that answer. "So what do we do now?"

Kareem held out his hand, showing her the iron ring on his finger. "We've taken to wearing iron bands to keep the jinni from being able to possess us. There is an incantation that goes along with it. One of the locals told us it is a ward against him. So far it's worked. We have one for you too. You can wear it now that you've returned."

"I have Halsten's knife and it's made of metal, so I should be safe," she argued.

He shook his head. "You tried that before though, and he was still able to find you. This way we know you'll be protected."

"Are you sure that it really works?" she asked, eyeing the simple band speculatively. It certainly didn't look like much.

He frowned and looked at the ring. "It's the best defense we have as of right now. As soon as your father and Halsten wake up we can go to Oman and seek out more answers."

Vera figured it certainly couldn't hurt. It made her feel better to try and thwart Amias's plans even if she was dreaming. And it was good to get to see them all again, considering she might not be able to in real life if Amias got his way.

"So this incantation, what is it? How does it keep him away?" she asked, following Kareem into the room where they were keeping the rings.

He turned to look at her and held out the band. "Well, it's in Arabic so you won't understand it. But it is basically a protection spell."

"How will I be able to use it? I can't speak Arabic," she told him, puzzled.

He shook his head and smiled. "I will tell you the words and you only have to repeat them."

"Right. How silly of me. I think I've been hit in the head too many times." She laughed and placed the band on her finger.

Something changed in the way he was looking at her, but Vera couldn't place the emotion behind his eyes. She wrote it off as her mind playing tricks on her and took a deep breath to recite the incantation.