Page 137 of Children of Virtue and Vengeance

“What’s going on?” Khani’s gaze flicks between us when Tzain puts his hand over my own.

“She needs to connect another heart,” Tzain says. “It’s the only way to save them both.”

“No!” Khani shouts. “That strain could kill all three of you!”

“Then use me, too.” Kâmaruextends his palm. “The four of us can handle it.”

“Torí if? Babalúayé.” Khani grabs her temples, cursing under her breath. She extends her palm. “Gods, just do it!”

They gather around me, all placing their hands over mine. Their heartbeats start to bleed into my ears as their lifeforces appear before my eyes. I see the emerald glow of Kâmaru’s ashê. The tangerine light of Khani’s magic. Even Tzain’s lifeforce surges through his blood, powerful in its white glow.

“? t?nná agbára yin.”I wheeze the sacred command and my tattoos ignite with purple light. All around me, Tzain’s, Kâmaru’s, and Khani’s pulses thunder between my ears. It’s like five drums beating at once, searching for the same rhythm.

Tzain grunts as his chest arcs toward the ceiling. His feet lift off the ground. Kâmarufollows next. Khani rises between both of them, screaming as she floats in the air. The three of them hover as the particles of lightmaterialize before their hearts, the very grains of their lifeforce. They stretch forward like ribbons, weaving themselves together as they twist toward my heart.

“? t?nná agbára yin!”I fight through the strain, chanting though I can no longer breathe. Tzain wheezes as he grabs at his throat. Khani’s eyes roll as her body shakes. Our connection is killing us all.

Oya, please.I close my eyes, pushing as the tether of life breaks through my chest. The ribbon of lights digs into my heart. My body burns as if my insides have been set on fire.

Tzain clenches his teeth. Veins bulge against Kâmaru’s dark skin. I worry I can’t sustain it all without a sacrifice—

The force that erupts knocks everyone back.

Tzain grunts as he flies into the far wall. Kâmarutrips over the stone tables and chairs in his path. Khani falls to the floor.

The world spins around me as I lift myself from the table. A foreign force pulses through my chest. Instead of two hearts, five beat as one.

“Did it work?” I exhale as Khani rises to her knees and crawls to me. Her hands still shake, but she lays her trembling palms on top of me.

“Heal.”

She doesn’t even summon an incantation. With one word, her magic spreads through me like a spiderweb, deep orange light healing me from within. The muscles and tendons crackle as skin regenerates around my injured shin. The heat of her magic erases all of my pain.

“It’s working.” Khani releases a breathless laugh. She looks at her hands before running over to Roën. With one touch of her hand, his breathing stabilizes.

“For the love ofÒgún…” Kâmaru’s eyes widen as he lifts all the metal tables in the room with a single point of his finger. I haven’t seen him work with metal once, but now he crushes his fist and the iron breaks apart, disintegrating into a cloud of dust that condenses in the air before him.

Kâmarulooks at his own iron leg before laying both his hands on Roën’s bandaged shoulder. He sculpts the metal as if it were clay. Khani moves to join him.

My mouth falls open as their magic weaves together, working in perfect tandem. Metal tendons connect to Roën’s raw shoulder as Kâmarufashions an iron arm with shifting plates. Though Roën stays unconscious, his metal fingers twitch. I can’t believe my eyes.

I’ve never seen magic like that.

I lay my fingers across his temples, fighting the knife in my throat.This was it…

Oya’s vision.

It all started with him.

“Let’s go!” Khani grabs my hand, leading me outside the hut. She stops before a corpse: the father whose red cap fell in the dirt. Her intent dawns as she kneels by his side, laying her hands over his heart. As she chants, I join her, weaving our magic together.

“Ara m’ókun, emí mí—”

The corpse glows as we summon the magic of healing and the magic of life. The man’s wrinkled skin smooths itself again. His rigid limbs soften.

Clouds of orange expel from his mouth and blackened skin, floating into the air. His very body seems to vibrate under our touch, glowing with golden light—

“Ugh!”The man shoots forward, wheezing as he grabs his chest.

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