Page 66 of Children of Blood and Bone

“To unlock divine power, we must sacrifice that which is most divine to us.”

“You’re using blood magic?” Tzain steps toward me, body stiff with fear.

“Yes,” Lekan says, “but your sister will be safe. I will keep it under control.”

My heartbeat quickens, remembering Mama’s withered body after she used blood magic for the first time. The boundless power ripped her muscles apart. Even with the aid of Healers, it took her a full moon to regain her ability to walk.

It was a risk she took to save Tzain when he nearly drowned as a child, a sacrifice that allowed him to cling to life. But in sacrificing herself, she nearly died.

“You’ll be safe,” Lekan assures me, seeming to read my thoughts. “This isn’t like when maji use blood magic. Sêntaros have the ability to guide it.”

I nod, though a dull spike of fear still pricks at my throat.

“Forgive me,” Lekan says. “This may hurt.”

I inhale a sharp breath as he slashes through the palm of my hand, gritting my teeth against the sting as blood begins to seep out. The pain turns into shock when my blood glows with a white light.

When it drips into the water, I feel something leave me, something deeper than a simple cut. The red droplets turn the clear blue liquid white; it boils even harder as more blood falls.

“Now relax.” Lekan’s booming voice drops to a soft timbre. My eyes flutter closed. “Clear your head, take deep breaths. Release yourself from your worldly tethers.”

I bite back a retort. There are too many tethers to count. The flames of Ilorin lick my mind, the echoes of Bisi’s screams ring in my ears. The prince’s hands wrap around my throat. Squeezing. Tighter.

But as my body soaks in the heated water, the strains start to fade. Baba’s safety… Inan’s fury… One by one each burden sinks. They leave me in waves until even Mama’s death seems to evaporate in the steam.

“Good,” Lekan soothes. “Your spirit is being cleansed. Remember, whatever you feel, I will be here.”

He places one hand on my forehead and another on my sternum before he chants.“?m?Mama, Arábìnrin4yà. Sí1bùn iyebíye r1. Túidán mím3r?síl1.”

A strange power whirls around my skin. The water boils with a new intensity and my breath hitches as its heat takes hold.

“?m?Mama—”

Daughter of Sky Mother, I repeat in my head.

“Arábìnrin4yà—”

Sister of Oya.

“Sí1bùn iyebíye r1—”

Bare your precious gift.

“Túidán mím3r?síl1.”

Release your holy magic.

The air above us tingles with electric energy, stronger than anything I’ve felt before. It surpasses the buzz of Inan’s imprinting, eclipses the surge of touching the parchment for the first time. The tips of my fingers grow warm, igniting with white light. As Lekan chants, the power travels through my veins, making them glow beneath my skin.

“?m?Mama, Arábìnrin4yà—”

The louder his incantation rings, the more my body reacts. The magic overwhelms every cell in my being, pulsing as Lekan submerges my head beneath the water. My skull presses against the floor of the tub, and a new kind of air catches in my throat. I finally understand Mama Agba’s words.

It’s like breathing for the first time.

“?m?Mama—”

Veins bulge against my skin as the magic grows, a swell about to burst. Behind my eyes, sheets of red dance around me, crashing like waves, spinning like hurricanes.

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