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thought to run through my mind. With no leather band, I’d have more freedom of movement. I realized my mistake the moment I heard Dr. Sanz raucous laughter.
    “How sweet. How positively naïve.”
    Rubbing my wrist, I looked at him. “You can’t put up invisible barriers everywhere,” I chal enged.
    “There’s no need to.”
    I knew he had a card up his sleeve and waited with bated breath. What threat would he come up with now? What punishment would he hold over my head?
    “The Fsed r be leather band was cute and, I admit, watching you run into that invisible barrier was slightly amusing, but…” He nodded and at a guard who stood by the door. “I think this wil keep you in line.”

    The guard entered with Liam.
    I gasped at the sight of him. His hands were bound behind his back and his ankles shackled. He was gagged, leaving only his eyes with the means of expressing his fear and anger.
    His gaze took me in, loving and caring, but fil ed with sadness.
    Tears wel ed in my eyes, tears of frustration, of fatigue, of anger. Watching Jocelyn and Matthew had been difficult and draining. Taking in Melanie’s condition, so weak, so thin, so frail, had been heart wrenching, but this… to see Liam so helpless…
    My lips involuntarily rose to a snarl.
    “Don’t think me so bad, dear Kama,” Dr.
    Sanz said with a hearty laugh.”
    Fearing an invisible barrier, I cautiously edge my way to Liam’s side. Surprise and relieve to succeed, I brushed my hands al over him, looking for traces of torture or painful wounds. He seemed healthy and strong, just as when I’d last seen him.
    Without asking Dr. Sanz, I quickly freed Liam’s mouth and planted a reassuring kiss on his lips.
    “You're okay. I’m so happy to see you're

    “You're okay. I’m so happy to see you're okay. I’d hope you’d gotten away. I’m so sorry to see they’ve brought you back here.”
    “It’s worth it just to be with you.”
    Dr. Sanz let out a soft, almost gentle chuckle.
    “I’m not al that bad, you know. I’l admit I’ve lived too long in the company of humans, and I can’t deny a certain degree of resentment that I have for them.
    It’s grown over the years, festered and rotted.
    Humans have the capacity to be exceedingly cruel.
    They manifest an ingenious way of manipulating one another, taking advantage of each other; even profiting from others; other’s suffering. And I can't even begin to tel you of what humans have shown themselves capable of when it comes to genies…
    the horror stories I could tel you. You think I’m cruel…you should know what Catchers do to genies.”
    He turned to point to Liam. “I’ve known Liam… wel since I can remember… a young boy, smart, curious, engaging and always eager to help.
    Despite the Governor’s Manor and the power of his father, power he could easily have profited from, he remained decent, caring and humble.”

    I was surprised by the praise and prouder of Liam than I’d ever been.
    “I may have an unfavorable view of humans,” Dr. Sanz went on, his eyes almost Ffontow what Casoftening with affection as he gazed at Liam. “I’ve witnessed too much to think otherwise, but I’ve always had a soft spot for you. I’ve always like you, respected you. You treated everyone including djins with respect and decency. That’s why I’ve al owed you two to be together. The Life's Plan… wel , for a while I thought it was a good idea… after al , so much thought and effort went into them, but…”
    “But you just condemned Jocelyn and Matthew because they refused to adhere to their own Life's Plan. Are you now saying they’re a mistake? That al this time you’ve al been wrong?”
    “Not at al . They may not have always been perfect, but they were important. And it was important you young adults fol ow them… to the letter. Rules are rules and your friends chose to ignore those rules. Like I said, we did the best we could. As genies, we have the power to control humans…