Shattered Read Free Page B

behind the thick pane of glass he’d summoned. The djin fumed and pounded the glass just as his fist turned to smoke, just as the powerful arm withered and left only a stream of red colored fog.
    I watched in amazement. I had never seen a Catcher catch a djin before, just what Torrid told me about Catchers. Most Catchers require a glass lamp-like device, but Liam captured that djin by creating a glass pane. Liam must be truly gifted then.
    I could see the victory in Liam’s eyes as he continued to trap the djin within the glass pane.
    Trying to make my way over to him, I felt the cold hand of Dr. Sanz wrap around my neck. He pul ed me back and shoved me to the wal , his fingers digging deep into my throat. I gripped his fingers, trying to pul them off, trying to get air.
    Dr. Sanz loosened his grip, but kept me pinned to the wal .
    “You're not going to get away with this,” I said. “You’ve sadly underestimated what my father wil do to get me, to save me, and you obviously didn’t know of Liam’s abilities with djins.”
    “If anything, it is you who has underestimated my abilities.”
    “Liam,” I cal ed out softly as fear crept through my veins.
    Stil caught up in maintaining control of the djin, he didn’t hear my feeble plea.
    “He may have a knack for bottling djins, but he can’t hear you right now.”
    Liam was slowly cornering the djin into a smal er and smal er space. The pane of glass he’d erected before the djin became a large transparent vat, then a sizable vase and final y a long, narrow vile. The puff of smoke that had been Liam’s oversized adversary, condensed and thickened, fil ing the vial with opaque r/p>ed fumes until Liam pressed his thumb over the opening to contain him.
    As my heart raced with fear of Dr. Sanz’s next move, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride for Liam. I wanted to feel as victorious as he felt.
    I tried to summon some of the magic I had recently acquired. If I had ever been faced with a time to put al my magic training with Torrid to good use, this was it. However, every attempt, every concentrated effort resulted in absolutely nothing.
    The leather band, I thought. Though I knew it had the capacity to cancel out al my powers, I had to try.
    “How heartbreaking it is to watch you, my dear,” Dr. Sanz said. His smirk deserved nothing less than a firm smack. “Need I remind you of the futility of your attempts? Not only does that handy little leather band keep you under control, but my own powers are quite impressive.” He raised his wrist, showing a leather band. “My powers are greater than that which is in that little band. See, even the great Catcher Pim Seer could not control me with the band.”
    “You don’t say,” I droned, unimpressed.
    “How stoic. You do put on quite a brave face, love, but let’s see how brave you are when I take you far away from Liam. You know, I’ve watched you, kept an eye on you since you were a child. I’ve known al about your mother and her unnatural love for a djin. The djins would never accept such a marriage, which was why she had to keep her marriage to your father a secret. You are a rare djin indeed, a half-breed, and the daughter of the most powerful djin warrior.” He licked his lips. “You’ve grown into a very beautiful young woman, something I wouldn’t have expected, given your half-breed nature. And your magic has just yet been tapped.
    There is no tel ing what General Adar’s daughter is capable of…which is why you must wear that leather band.”
    “What? Afraid a girl like me can possibly have enough magical powers to chal enge you, old Great Magical One?”
    “So young. You know so little, especial y how valuable you are to Catchers and djins alike.” The wal s around us began to back away, The wal s around us began to back away, fading behind a wal of ever thickening fog. At first I didn’t understand what was happening. I looked to Liam and saw him through this cloud that emerged from