Page 174 of Children of Blood and Bone

There’s no ocean, no spirit. No scent of the sea. I can’t see beyond the anguish. She lives in the prison of her pain.

“Don’t do this.” Her nails claw into my shoulder as we ascend an empty stairwell. “I’m already bleeding out. Just leave me.”

The heat of her blood leaks through my fingers. I press harder against her back.

“We’ll find a Healer.”

Guards’ boots clank around the corner. I duck into an empty room as I wait for them to pass by. She cringes and fights back a scream. I press her even tighter to my chest.

When the corridor clears, I ascend another set of stairs. My heart pounds with every step.

“They’ll kill you,” she whispers as I run. “He’ll kill you.”

I steel myself against her words.

I can’t think about that now. All that matters is this. I need to get Zélie ou—

The shouts ring first.

The heat comes next.

We crash to the ground as a blast from above shatters through the fortress wall.

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

AMARI

THE FORTRESS TOWERSover Gombe’s horizon like an iron palace, casting its shadow through the night. Troops man every corner, leaving no meter unprotected for more than a few moments. My heart beats in my throat as we wait for the guards patrolling the southern wall to pass. Thirty seconds is all we shall have. I pray to the gods above that thirty seconds is all we need.

“Can you do this?” I whisper to Femi, stepping away from the overgrown kenkiliba bushes granting us cover. Since touching the sunstone, his hands do not remain still, running over his fingers, his beard, his crooked nose.

“I’m ready.” He nods. “It’s hard to explain, but I can feel it.”

“Alright.” I turn my attention back to the patrol. “Next time they pass, we go.”

The instant the guards round the corner, Femi and I dash across the manicured wild grass. Tzain, Kenyon, and Imani follow fast behind, sticking to the shadows to avoid being spotted by those above. Though many divîners from the tóju agreed to help, only Kenyon and his team were willing to touch the scroll and awaken their magic. I hoped they would be enough to take the fortress down, but not even all five of them could fight.

Khani turned out to be a Healer, and Ife awakened his powers as a Tamer. Without magic that could strike quickly, it wasn’t safe for them to enter. Thankfully, Kenyon turned out to be a Burner, Femi a Welder, Imani a Cancer. Not the maji army I had hoped for, but with the sunstone’s surge, they could be the only soldiers we need.

“Fifteen seconds,” I hiss, panting as we reach the southern wall. Femi places his hands against the cold iron, moving over the grooves and plates with the grace of an enlightened Welder. He feels around for something I can’t see, painfully slow as our time aches by.

“Ten seconds.”

Femi closes his eyes and presses harder into the metal wall. My chest clenches as time ticks away.

“Five seconds!”

Suddenly, the air tightens. A green light glows in Femi’s hand. The metal wall ripples open like water.

We all rush through the emerging tear, sneaking into the fortress as quietly as we can. Hard footsteps pound outside just as Femi slips in. He manages to close up the wall moments before the next patrol marches past.

Thank the skies.

I let out a long, slow breath, savoring the small victory before the next battle commences. We’re in.

But now the hard part begins.

Polished swords adorn the walls around us, reflecting our anxious faces.This must be the armory.…If this fortress’s structure mirrors the one in Lagos, we must be near the commander quarters on the upper level. That means the prison cells have to be below—

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