Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2)(101)

“It’s alright, Inan.” She strokes my sweat-soaked hair. “You can rest. We did it.”

Her words carve a hollow pit in the little that’s left of my heart. “We captured the Iyika?”

“Your plan worked.” She nods. “The maggots who marched past Lagos put up a fight, but without their leaders they weren’t a match for my t?táns. We’ve captured every single one.”

I try to feel the victory, the warmth spreading through my body. It’s over. Done.

The war is won.

But tears rise to my eyes as I squeeze my gut. Ojore …

Skies, he was my oldest friend.

“Do not grieve him.” Mother squeezes my hand. “Do not let that traitor twist your mind! After everything we did for that boy, you’d think he could show a modicum of restraint—”

“Restraint?” I yank my hands back, shooting up from the bed despite the agony it sends through my chest. “You killed his family. You killed him!”

Mother narrows her eyes, coldness sharpening her features. “He attacked the king. That foolish boy killed himself.”

It’s the last sword in my gut. I’m surprised when I don’t feel blood. Ojore saved me more times than I could count. He needed me today.

But instead of backing him, I let him down.

I let Mother sacrifice him for the throne.

“He was right,” I whisper. “We’re poison.”

“We are rulers, Inan. We are victors!” She speaks with such conviction. I hate how much I want to believe her words. To purge myself of this guilt. Remove this hollow pit in my chest.

“You did what was required of you. You stayed strong until the end. You won this war, and now you can rule your kingdom with grace. You can spread the peace you desire!”

She smiles at me, and in her expression, I finally see my truth.

I wanted to be the king my father couldn’t be.

All I did was finish his work.





CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE


AMARI


DENIAL IS ALL THAT I HAVE.

All that I am.

It carries me from blackened corpse to blackened corpse, to the message written on the mountain.

It doesn’t take long to find the place Inan and Mother planned their attack. The tunnel she dug beneath the ahéré that they used to escape the village. While they drew our strongest warriors here, those we most needed to protect were left defenseless.

Behind me, maji crowd around Dakarai, watching the blurry frame that spreads between his hands. Almost a hundred of our maji and div?ners sit in chains, bound inside a cell in the palace cellars.

Strike, Amari.

Father’s words taunt me as I stare at the bodies on the ground. Their lives were meant to be a sacrifice for Or?sha. Instead their senseless deaths don’t amount to anything.

Whether or not we concede, Inan has our army. We’re done.

Because of me, we’ve lost this war.

“Zél?”

I look up as Tzain enters the village center, covered in dirt from his fall. He sprints toward her, the only motion in the square filled with dozens of bodies. His relief rips through my heart. If it hadn’t been for Zélie’s bravery, I would’ve killed more people.

I would’ve killed her.

“I thought I lost you.” They’re the only words Tzain can muster before he sweeps her into his arms. He shakes as he cries into her shoulder, squeezing her so hard it has to hurt her. Zélie closes her eyes and holds him tight. But when her eyes open, they lock onto mine.

My heart stops as Zélie pushes Tzain back. My fingers go cold when she limps in my direction.

“I thought you died.” I take a step back. “When Nao came back alone, I was sure you were both gone—”

She opens her hands and dark shadows of death shoot forth. Pain rips through me as they wrap around my body and my throat.

The moment I hit the ground, Zélie starts to charge. But before she can attack, her eyes roll back. Her shadows dissipate as she collapses in the dirt.

“Zélie!” Tzain runs forward.

Her body twitches with violent convulsions. Her lids flutter as the tattoos flicker on her skin.

“Get her to the ahéré!” A village t?tán steps forward. I back away as Kamarū lifts her seizing body and carries her to a pyramid hut.

“Lock her up!” Na’imah shouts as they run.

Tzain slows at the Tamer’s order. His eyes meet mine when Kenyon drags me to my feet. Instinct makes me want to cry out for help as the Burner binds my arms with a metal restraint, but I know I have lost the right.

Tzain’s gaze moves from me to his village. To the bodies dropped by my command.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, but he flinches at my words. In him, I see what I’ve lost. The warmth I shall never feel again.

Watching him walk away is the final knife in my heart.





CHAPTER EIGHTY


ZéLIE


“I DON’T UNDERSTAND—”

“She’s overexerted—”

“We need more blood—”

Every voice sounds like it’s spoken underwater as the world moves in fragments. One moment I’m on the ground. The next the wind grazes my back.