Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2)(53)

“Up here!” the Seer instructs. We turn past a sharp corner when I see it—a dead end in an unsuspecting wall.

“Wait!” I double back and put my hands against the metallic stone. I don’t need Dakarai’s magic to remember Lekan standing in this very spot moons ago.

“This is it!” I shout. “The scrolls are behind this wall!”

“We don’t have time—” Zélie reaches for my arm, but I pull away from her touch.

“We’re too close to leave them behind!” I yell.

The soldiers’ shouts near as Kamarū reaches the dead end. He places his shaking hands against the stone, but despite the way his fingers glow, he can’t break through. I don’t know if it’s because he isn’t capable, or if all the magic he’s channeled thus far has taken its toll.

“We need to buy him time!” I whip around as the soldiers close in.

You can do this, I think to myself. You took down Ramaya. They’re just men.

Magic stirs in my chest, buzzing as it extends to my hands. I think of the needle and the hammer, not knowing which I’ll need to unleash.

“Ya èmí, ya ara!” The chant slips from my tongue. But my heart stops when the first soldier rounds the corner.

By the skies …

“Inan?”





CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX


ZéLIE


IT’S LIKE ALL THE AIR leaves the temple at once.

Sound bleeds from my ears.

All that’s left is him.

I fight to feel the rage I summoned in the dreamscape. To call forth the new blades embedded in my staff. But staring at the little prince is like breathing mud.

“Inan?” Amari’s question echoes through the vacuum in my mind. Her call draws her brother’s eyes to her.

Then his gaze falls on me.

Run, my threat echoes through my mind. Pray.

I reach for my staff, but this close to Inan I can almost feel the fluttering sensation of his nails brushing against my bare skin.

We stare at each other as time starts to slip, forcing us back into the present. The shouts of the armies around us bleed in. Soldiers’ swords break free of their hilts.

“Don’t attack!” Inan shouts, but behind him, darkness rises. A general with a white streak down the center of her braid holds back a cloud of majacite gas.

Every soldier stops, but then Nehanda bursts into the hall. She points at all of us as she screams.

“Eliminate the Iyika!” she yells.

“Mother, no!” Inan shouts, but he can’t stop their attack. Their general throws out her hands, creating a wall of dark air. It blows the majacite down the hall like a cannonball, the black cloud racing toward our heads.

“Atégùn òrìsà!” Jahi dives forward, sky-blue light wrapping around both his arms. With a grunt he throws his hands out and a cyclone spins from his palms.

The wind howls as it blows away the gas, making the soldiers fly back. Inan’s feet thrash through the air. He grabs onto the mounted torch for dear life. Even the general slides away, unable to withstand the force of Jahi’s winds.

“Zélie, we need you!” Amari grabs my wrists, her hair whipping in every direction. She places my hands against the wall and the hazy memory of Lekan doing the same sinks back in.

Please. I try to concentrate in the chaos. Lekan, ràn mí lówó. We need to get inside!

The wall starts to vibrate under my fingers, but I can’t get it to do more. There’s still something missing. Something I can’t unlock alone.

“They’re gaining on me!” Jahi shouts from behind, and my hair blows in the shifting wind. More t?táns join their general in the hall, each throwing another gust of air.

As they all attack, Jahi’s cyclone starts to die. My fingers shake when Inan plants a foot back on the ground. Nehanda’s golden t?táns round the corner, and the queen lifts her arms.

Lekan, please! I know you’re still with me. I press my forehead against the hot stone. Mo nílò ìrànlówó r?. Wá bá mi báyìí— A sharp heat erupts along my neck. I gasp as my tattoos begin to glow. The golden light spreads to my fingers, searing into the wall until a seam breaks down the middle.

“Go!” I squeeze Mazeli into the scroll room. The rest of the maji follow as the walls widen. Jahi backs in last when his cyclone dies for good.

“Stop them!” Nehanda shouts. All at once, the soldiers charge. My head spins as I place my palms on the stone. It vibrates as the wall starts to close.

One soldier breaks in front of the pack with his sword outstretched. Amari yanks me back when he lunges forward.

With a crunch, the closing wall cuts through his arm like wood.

We all flinch as the severed limb bounces against the scroll room floor. The hand still clenches the sword’s hilt, drops of blood raining down upon it.

My legs go numb and I fall to my knees. Sweat drips from every pore. We’ve made it in.

But how in Sky Mother’s name are we going to get out?





CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN


INAN


IT’S LIKE MY SPIRIT hangs above my body, suspended in a fragment of space. Seeing Zélie stops time.