Page 55 of Children of Blood and Bone

A warm flush rises to my cheeks as I realize how far from the palace I’ve truly come. Though it’s not illegal for royals and kosidán to consort the way it is for maji and kosidán, Mother would have Tzain jailed for what he’s just done.

I scoot away, eager to put more space between Tzain’s bare skin and my blushing face. But as I move, my fingers knock against something smooth and hollow.

I turn and find myself face-to-face with a cracked skull.

“Skies!” I shout, and crawl backward, hairs rising on the nape of my neck. Zélie jumps to her feet and expands her staff, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

“What is it?” she asks.

I point to the fractured skull, lying on top of a pile of crushed bones. A gaping hole above its eye socket signals its violent death.

“Could it be another climber?” I ask. “Someone who did not make it through?”

“No,” Zélie answers with a strange confidence. “It’s not that.” She tilts her head and bends down for a closer look. A chill passes through the air. Zélie reaches down, stretching her hand out toward the cracked bone. Her fingers barely graze the skull when—

I gasp as the sweltering jungle heat around us snaps to a freezing cold. The chill bites through my skin, cutting straight to the bone. But the icy rush only lasts an instant. As quick as it comes, it vanishes, leaving us bewildered on the mountainside.

“Ugh!” Zélie wheezes like she’s been brought back to life. She grips the bromeliads so tightly the flowers rip straight off their stems.

“What in gods’ names was that?” Tzain asks.

Zélie shakes her head, eyes growing wider and wider by the second. “I felthim. It was his spirit… his life!”

“Magic,” I realize. No matter how many times I see it, the displays never fail to conflict me. Even as Father’s childhood warnings of magic resurface, my heart fills with awe.

“Come on!” Zélie dashes forward, scurrying up the next incline. “That was stronger than anything I’ve ever felt. The temple has to be near!”

I scramble after her, casting aside my fear in my desire to reach the last ledge. When I pull myself up over the final cliff, I can’t believe my eyes. Chândomblé.

It’s actually here.

Moss-covered bricks are piled in mountains of rubble, coating every inch of the plateau. The destruction is all that remains of the temples and shrines that once covered this land. Unlike the jungle and mountains below, no crickets chirp, no birds squawk, no mosquitoes sing. The only signs that life ever existed are the shattered skulls littered around our feet.

Zélie pauses before a skull, brows knitting though nothing happens.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Its spirit…” She bends down. “It’srising.”

“Rising where?” I step back, stumbling over a piece of rubble.Another chill fills me with unspoken dread, but I can’t decipher if it’s real or just in my head.

“I don’t know.” Zélie rubs her neck. “Something about the temple is amplifying my ashê. I can actually feel my magic.”

Before I can ask another question, Zélie bends down and touches another skull.

My hand flies to my chest; this time it’s not an icy cold that flashes around her, but an image, tinted in gold. Magnificent temples and towers rise, stunning structures adorned with elegant waterfalls. Dark men, women, and children in fine suede robes roam, beautiful lines and symbols dotting their skin in elegant swirls of white.

Though the flash lasts only an instant, the image of the lush grounds stains my memory as I look at the broken rubble before me. Chândombléused to be radiant.

Now it’s only air.

“What do you think happened here?” I ask Zélie, though I fear I already know. Father destroyed the beauty of magic in my life. Why wouldn’t he have done the same throughout the world?

I wait for Zélie to answer, but she doesn’t respond. Her face hardens with each passing second—she’s seeing more, something I can’t.

A soft lavender light begins to glow from her fingers, surfacing as she explores her powers for the first time. Watching her, my curiosity builds. What else can she see? Though the thought of magic still makes my pulse race, part of me wishes I could experience its rush just once. The rainbow that burst from Binta’s hand begins to fill my mind until I hear Tzain call.

“Check this out.”

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