" I'm sorry, my mind's made up." I sat down across from Lova, who seemed more than pleased to sit near me. For a while I meditated, letting my mind settle. Then, when I was ready, I started my wish.

"Trakur a.n.a.lova La," I said firmly. "It is the wish of your master, Sara, that you fix Amesh's right hand in exchange for the Carpet of Ka. You are to use all the powers you possess to make his right hand whole, free of pain, strong, like it was before it was severed from his body. In exchange, trakur a.n.a.lova La, I'll turn over the Carpet of Ka to you. This is my second wish with you, trakur a.n.a.lova La, and it is binding in so far as all wishes between a human and a djinn are binding-as specified in the ancient laws governing such contracts." I opened my eyes.

"Agreed?"

Lova hesitated. "You put extra conditions on this wish."

"Only the conditions that have existed since humans and djinn began to exchange ser vices. You know the laws as well as I do." I paused. "Do you agree to fulfill my second wish?"

"Yes. Give me the carpet."

"Fulfill my wish and I'll give you the carpet," I said.

Lova did not argue. Standing, she walked toward Amesh, but he picked up the sword and stepped back. Naturally, he couldn't see her. I wasn't sure what his problem was. Then I realized that Darbar was doing every thing he could to interfere.

"relax, Amesh, listen to me," I said. "Stand still, let her heal you."

Amesh seemed to hear me. He relaxed somewhat.

Lova was near Amesh when she suddenly raised her hand and struck out to the right. I saw blue sparks and smoke in the air. "Darbar is trying to hinder me," she said calmly.

"Can he stop you?" I asked.

"He lacks the power. And he is spread thin." I could only a.s.sume her last remark related to Darbar's control over the others inside the cave. Lova acted unconcerned about the interference. She raised a hand and shot out more sparks. I heard a faint telepathic message pa.s.s between the two djinn.

"This is the Carpet of Ka. We must obtain it at all costs." it was Lova lecturing Darbar. He heard her and backed off. The message was chilling. The djinn must want it a great deal.

Was my father right? Was I making a mistake? I glanced over at my father and he was focused on Amesh. I could see that Lova had lifted his transplanted hand into her hands. Now she was gently stroking it, all the while humming a hypnotic melody, a song that needed no words. Even though Amesh could not consciously hear it, I suspected that and her touch were having a profound effect upon him.

Lova signaled for me to approach. I stood and walked over. "What do you want?" I asked.

"Sara?" Amesh whispered, confused, his eyes closed.

"Shh, relax, every thing's okay. I'm talking to the djinn," I said.

"Your hand," Lova said.

"My hand?" I asked.

"Your touch transmits your energy, and Kalas are powerful. It will help with the healing."

Lova was flattering me. It made me wary.

"You're changing the deal," I said. "You're supposed to heal him on your own."

"It requires tremendous energy to offset the wish of another djinn."

At least she wasn't asking for blood. I offered my hand, and Lova gripped it tightly. I immediately felt slightly dizzy. I spoke to Amesh. "You didn't hear what was said, but I'm giving my djinn some energy to help fix your hand."

"The pain's going away," Amesh whispered, his eyes shut. I stroked his hair with my other hand.

"That's good, that's all that matters," I said.

"Sara," he gasped.

"Shh. Don't say anything. Let the healing continue."

"I'm so grateful."

"You never deserved this pain in the first place," I said.

the healing took another ten minutes, with me giving energy the whole time and Lova sucking it up. My dizziness increased, and I staggered. My father stood silent and did not interfere.

Lova suddenly stopped humming and I opened my eyes, which I did not recall closing. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Amesh's right hand had lost its sickly yellow color. Indeed, it was impossible to tell his right hand from his left.

Amesh flexed his fingers. My heart shook every time he pumped his hand; it felt linked to my heart. Joy filled his face and he leaned over and kissed me on the lips. Yes, right on the lips, and if that kiss was not worth one magic carpet, then it was pretty close. It was the greatest kiss of my life. It didn't matter that it was my first.

"It's perfect," he kept saying. "Just perfect. No pain." He hugged me; he was able to hug me hard. And I hugged him back.

"I cannot believe you did this for me."

"I only wish I could do more," I said, feeling weak.

Our eyes met, he nodded. Because he knew what I meant.

We were not out of the woods yet.

Lova had her hands out. "the carpet," she said. I reached for it in my pack. "You have promised never to use it to hurt mankind."

"So I have," Lova said, taking the carpet and tucking it under her arm. To the others it appeared to float in midair with out support. Lova turned to her invisible partner, then spoke to me. "Darbar says he has business to complete inside."

"My father's no longer a part of this business," I said, then to Amesh, "tell Darbar to release him."

Amesh turned and tried to do as I said but met with re sistance. Once again, I couldn't hear every thing Darbar said but it sounded like he was trying to imply that my father was the ultimate authority when it came to the attack.

"How does he know that?" I demanded.

Amesh relayed the question. Darbar replied that if my father was not killed, then the third wish would be left unfulfilled.

Amesh took a step back at that suggestion.

"Then we'll leave it unfulfilled," he said.

Darbar screamed at him. I did not hear words-i heard a screech in the ether. Darbar was not going to let Amesh get away on a technicality. Shaken, Amesh looked to me for help. The pain had left his eyes but his fear had not. He put his head near mine.

"Do you have a plan?" he whispered.

"Sort of."

Darbar ordered Amesh to pick up the sword and the shiny black djinn lamp, which I had not seen since the island. With the Darbar leading the way, keeping a firm hold on my father, and Lova bringing up the rear, we entered the cave. I whispered to Amesh. "Where did you get that sword?"

"In the shar temple." He paused. "But that's not what you really want to know."

He was right, of course. The next question had haunted me awhile.

"When you made the second wish on the island," I said.

"And Darbar gave you your hand. What did he ask for in return?"

Amesh looked miserable. "Your full name."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

Chapter Twenty-Two.

We WALKeD DOWnHiLL at a steep angle for fifteen minutes before we reached the cavern that housed the shar temple. It was different from the ones we'd seen on the island. It had marble columns supporting a pretty golden roof.

And it was much larger and not enclosed. The size of the cavern that sheltered the temple was stunning. Modern lights had been brought down to provide a steady source of illumination but even a dozen high-powered searchlights were not enough to brighten the chamber. I was looking at an excavation job-if Becktar had in fact done the work- that had taken years to accomplish.

inside the temple I saw a large pool of water that circled an altar. The rear of the pool appeared separate from the rest and it was not a mere hot spring-that sucker was boiling, pouring off layers of steam. The cavern was choked with redcolored steam.

Yet there was an even more intriguing sight.

Along the edge of the cavern were other structures that looked like vaults of some kind. They appeared to be made of a mixture of metal and plastic. It was hard to be sure in the weird light. They were dark blue and had doors that riffled open and shut like those on an elevator. A few of the doors were open and led to dark hallways. I did not see any lit b.u.t.tons or control panels per se.

However, there were cl.u.s.ters of crystals near the doors. I suspected these were the controls. Frankly, the vaults and the temple looked as if they had been built by two different races. The exterior of the temple was ringed with torture holes, from which I could hear unceasing growning sounds. I turned to Amesh. He was still carrying the lamp, but had put down the sword. "tell Darbar to stop torturing those guys," I said. "And to lay off my dad. He's not going anywhere." showing shame, Amesh turned to his invisible djinn and ordered it to remove the captors from the holes. He a.s.sured Darbar he had control of the situation. It was nice to see the dramatic change in Amesh. Now that he was pain free, he was almost normal again.

Yet I was getting my hopes up too soon. He was desperate, having made his three wishes, and desperate people did desperate things.

"Darbar says they're to suffer as I have suffered," Amesh told me after conferring with his djinn. I chose not to argue, but turned to Lova instead. I wanted to see how she stacked up against Darbar.

"Lova, release all the prisoners from those holes," I said.

"Is that your third wish?"

"No."

"That's asking too much without making a wish."

"Lova, if you don't do what I say right now, we'll part company and you'll never see me again."

Lova was not ready to let me go. I had only one more wish to make and she had me. In minutes, she managed to lift the four boys-as well as mr. Toval and mrs. Steward-out of their pits. My dad went over to help his partners to their feet, while the guys collapsed on the floor. They had been in the longest and their legs were shot. Yet the good thing about this kind of torture-good in a relative sense-was that their relief was immediate. A minute after they laid down, their cramps began to ease up.

As they squirmed on the ground, I recognized two from that afternoon, from the photos Lova had taken. I could not help myself; I strode over and stared at them.

"i warned you jerks not to mess with me," I said in a cold voice. The younger guy cried. "Please don't put us back in there."

"Behave yourself, and I'll think about it." I did not approve of torture but two of these guys had really hurt me. Spielo was wandering around, dazed. But he did summon the courage to approach me. "Are you Sara?" he asked timidly.

"Yeah. I'm the evil American chick."

"Amesh didn't mean-"

"I know, I know," I interrupted. "Are you scared?"

"Yeah. Are we going to get out of here alive?"

"I honestly don't know."

"If we do, can you take me for a ride on your magic carpet?" I had to smile. "Sure. We'll fly down to the beach."

We were in the middle of a crisis, yet my father was not with me. He continued to stay near his bosses, exchanging whispers with mr. Toval and mrs. Steward. Surprisingly, none of them looked scared. But I a.s.sumed Darbar still had a hold on all of them. Something was going on that I was missing. I spoke to Amesh. "I need to talk to you alone."

He pointed to a spot near the weird vaults. "Over there."

"Wait. Tell your djinn to leave us alone so we can talk in private."

Amesh tried to tell Darbar this. But every time he spoke, it sounded like he was groveling. As a result, Darbar treated him as if he were already a thrall.

"He says no secret conferences are allowed," Amesh said, his voice tense. "It's time to complete the third wish. Those who attacked me are all here. The same with those who were behind the attack. I'm sorry; we've run out of time."

"We?" I asked.

"Your father and i."

"My father just wanted this place guarded!"

"Darbar doesn't see it that way," Amesh said.

Out the corner of my eye, I saw my father shoved to the ground.

"Sara!" he called out in fear. I began to panic and turned on Amesh. "Order Darbar to stop hurting my father!"

Amesh tried but got nowhere. "He says that for my wish to be fulfilled, your father must die."

"What kind of wish did you make, exactly?"

Amesh sighed. "I wished for all my enemies to be destroyed." mrs. Steward and mr. Toval backed away from my father.