Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2)(94)

BOOM!

BOOM!

It’s like a line of dominoes falling at once.

The first fuse is only the trigger.

Dozens of bombs go off.

The gods pull the ground from our feet as the cave collapses in every direction. My body throbs with a vengeance as I tumble through the water and darkness.

“Ro?n!” I try to shout, but water swallows my screams. My ears ring from the string of explosions. I can’t see anything.

Falling rocks slice through my skin. The madness only stops when my back slams against the hard ground. The collision knocks precious seconds of air from my lungs. I grab my neck as water fills my throat.

Help!

My throat burns as I choke. Before I can figure out which way is up, large boulders hurtle toward me from the cave ceiling.

I grit my teeth as one lands on my leg. The stone digs into my flesh, cutting through muscle as I pull. I open my eyes to darkness as the truth sets in.

No one’s coming to save me.

This is it.

The realization makes my chest tight. I kick and I scratch and I claw, but my fingers only hit gravel.

I always thought my life would end in a flash. Now I feel each second that ticks toward my end. I press my free leg against the boulder for leverage, but the jagged stone cuts like a knife. My shin sears as the rock scratches against bone.

Let go …

The whisper rises from deep inside. Tears well in my eyes as my body sinks onto the cold floor.

There’s no war after this. No more scars that’ll never heal. I know the peace of death’s embrace.

I’ve already tasted the freedom that lies beyond the pain.

Let go, I mouth the words, holding on to them as my lungs scream for air. I can almost hear Sky Mother’s song when Mama’s silhouette shines through the darkness.

It shimmers with white light, growing brighter when Baba’s silhouette appears by her side. I lift my head from the floor.

Then I hear Mazeli’s voice.

“Jagunjagun!”

I almost laugh at the third silhouette that shimmers to life. He stands by Baba’s side, ears still too large for his head.

I reach out my hand toward Mazeli’s glow, everything in me wanting to grab on. I can’t bear the pain anymore.

There’s nothing more I can give this world.

His light reaches out toward me, a hand pulling me into the beyond. But when it hits, my Second doesn’t grant me aid and pull me to the other side.

He grants me a vision.

Time stills as the moments before the explosion push through the fog in my mind. I see the flash of red. I smell the scent of gas that burned my nostrils.

The ring of bombs go off behind Ro?n’s head, exploding the tunnel walls and sending us into this abyss. I couldn’t make sense of it at the time, but there were so many explosions. Enough to wipe out an army. Enough to wipe out our army.

No …

My head spins as the realization takes hold. We didn’t just trigger an attack.

We walked right into a trap.

The truth is like another boulder falling onto my chest. We thought we held the advantage, but somehow the monarchy knew we were coming. They knew we would take this path.

If they set this trap below, what other dangers lie above? What traps have they set for our people marching past Lagos? The maji and diviners are nearly defenseless.

All of our elders are here!

“Nana—”

My body goes numb with dread as Sky Mother’s song vibrates through my skin. Though Mazeli’s silhouette draws back, the warm embrace of death reaches for me as my lungs collapse. Fire burns as water rushes down my throat, suffocating me from within. It stings more than any pain I’ve ever known. More than my body can hold.

Everything inside me screams to give in. To fall into the blackness. To end the suffering.

But beyond the pain, I see the gap between Mári’s two front teeth. The patch of discoloration around Bimpe’s brown lips.

I see the faces of every Reaper I’ve yet to meet. I see my brother’s laugh. I see Amari and the other elders.

The monarchy we must find a way to beat.

The pain is too much to take, yet the same agony spurs me on. The pain I’ve been so afraid to feel is how I know I’m still alive.

It’s how I know there’s still something inside me that can fight.

? t?nná agbára yin.

The tattoos on my skin ignite with golden light as I invoke the command in my head. As they heat me in the ice of the water, I allow them to amplify the little lifeforce I have left.

A silent scream escapes in bubbles as I roar. Though I have nothing left to give, I push with all that I am.

My leg sears as stone cuts to the bone, scraping the flesh from my shin. With a gasp, my leg breaks free. My arms start to move.

Water fights me as I kick off the lake floor, following that one command. Tzain. Amari. Ro?n.

If I die now, they don’t stand a chance.

Live.

Every muscle in my body falls limp, depleted of all oxygen. But I lift a shaking hand, picturing every one of my Reapers.

A purple glow cuts through the darkness, rumbling as shadows twist from my fingers. They latch onto something above, pulling me up through the water.

As I rise, it all falls away. Every ounce of pain. Mazeli’s final words. Baba’s smile. The chain they wrapped around Mama’s neck.