Free The Bonehill Curse by Jon Mayhew Page B

as the cool air outside struck her. But everything began to blur and fade into blackness. Azuli’s face swam before her. A flash of flame dazzled her eyes and then she felt weightless and knew nothing more.
     
    Darkness crushed in on Ness. It made no difference whether her eyes were open or closed. She tried to reach out into the black void that surrounded her but her arms were pinned by her sides. It felt like a band of metal constricted her limbs and body. An icy cold seeped into the marrow of her bones.
    ‘Imagine,’ a voice whispered in her ear, ‘being trapped like this for a week.’ It was the djinn’s voice.
    Ness’s heart pounded. She wriggled and twisted but could not move an inch.
    ‘Where are you?’ Ness cried out. ‘Let me see you.’
    ‘Imagine being trapped for a month. A year. A hundred years. A thousand!’ the djinn hissed. ‘Sealed for ever in a cold metal tomb. Why? Because I didn’t bend my knee to the tyrant Sulayman.’
    ‘What’s that got to do with me? Where are my parents? Why are you doing this?’ Ness’s voice screamed into the pitch black.
    ‘They are safe. For now. Do you think your parents love you yet?’ the djinn mocked her.
    ‘I . . . don’t know,’ Ness muttered.
    ‘Do you love them?’ the djinn sneered.
    ‘I’m not sure,’ Ness hissed. ‘Why do you take so much pleasure in tormenting me?’
    ‘Because it’s what I’m used to, Necessity,’ the djinn replied. ‘I think you do love your parents. Why else would you rush all over London looking for them? That’s going to make it so hard. At the end, I mean.’
    ‘I don’t understand,’ Ness wailed.
    ‘Do you really think those Lashkars can help you find them? A bunch of decrepit old men? Beware of them, Necessity,’ the djinn said, ignoring her comment.
    ‘Why don’t you just leave me alone?’ Ness sobbed.
    ‘Now that would have been a half-decent wish,’ the djinn cackled. ‘But you wanted your parents to love you instead. You have, I believe, five days left.’
    The djinn’s laughter rang in Ness’s ears as she tried unsuccessfully to kick out at the darkness that enveloped her. She tossed and turned, her body becoming freer, light seeping into her vision. Gradually the hard metal casing that surrounded her softened and became more yielding until she felt bedclothes wrapping her.
    With a start she sat up. Ness was in Suha’s room.
    Suha sat staring from the side of the bed, her hands holding Ness’s shoulders. ‘It is all right,’ she said. ‘You are safe.’
    Ness fell back on to her pillows and blew out a sigh of relief. ‘I dreamt of the djinn, of being trapped in a bottle. It was so real.’
    Suha smoothed the hair from Ness’s face. ‘It was only a dream. You are safe now,’ she said. ‘You gave Azuli the slip but he knew where you were going. A good thing too, by the sounds of it. Azuli saved you. Another minute and you would have been . . .’ Suha looked away and shook her head.
    ‘Would have been what?’ Ness asked, frowning.
    ‘The djinn’s strength is growing,’ Suha murmured, avoiding Ness’s gaze. ‘It brings a deadly plague.’
    ‘A plague?’ Ness whispered, thinking of the girls at the Academy and the servants at Lumm’s house.
    ‘Death comes quickly but painfully,’ Suha said. ‘But it is more than just a plague. Once the poor souls have perished from the disease, their bodies become the instruments of the djinn. They rise again as his slaves. We Lashkars call them Pestilents.’
    Ness threw her hand to her mouth. ‘Lumm moved from his seat while I was there,’ she gasped. ‘But he was dead. I saw him with my own eyes.’
    ‘He has become a Pestilent then,’ Suha sighed, shaking her head. ‘A living dead thing mindlessly following the djinn’s commands.’
    ‘That’s horrible,’ Ness whispered. ‘This djinn must be truly evil to use people so.’
    ‘Thankfully Azuli got you away in time,’ Suha said, giving a tight smile.
    ‘He won’t let me