Page 145 of Children of Virtue and Vengeance

When Amari nods, Mama Agba kisses her cheek. I try to prepare myself, but I can’t when she turns toward me. A smile ignites her dark skin, bright like the sunset at her back. She walks with an unbreakable purpose, ready though I’ll never be.

“My little warrior.” Her eyes well for the first time. She raises my chin and squares my shoulders. “Not so little anymore.”

“Mama Agba—” I try to speak, but I can’t find the words. No matter how many times I tell myself I can do this, I’m not ready to rip my heart in half.

“Remember what I said.” She wipes my tears and places her hand on my chest. “Every breath. Every chant. You fight with the heart of yourfather. The spirit of your mother. When this is over, you will fight with me as well.”

She kisses my forehead, squeezing my hand tight. I hold her in my arms, doing everything I can to soak in her embrace. I try to memorize every wrinkle in her face. To inhale the scent of shea butter in her coils.

When I can hold her no longer, she bows her head and kneels. My own hand shakes as I grab hers and remove my dagger.

“Go ahead.”

I bring the blade across her palm, creating a thin line of blood. It drips down her hand, glowing white as it falls. She exhales when I draw the sacred mark along her forehead with my thumb. I put her hand on my sternum as I whisper the command.

“? t?nná agbára yin.”

The tattoos on my back start to glow as the blood magic takes hold. Mama Agba gasps when the first drop of her blood falls to the ground. It sinks into the stone, sizzling with smoke.

White light spreads from our center, cracking through the mountaintop like a spiderweb. When it hits the maji around me, ten disparate heartbeats fill my head.

Buh-bump.

Buh-bump.

Each claps like thunder. Their pulses summon the storm. Howling winds swirl around us as white particles of light form in front of each chest, every lifeforce being called forward. They hang like fireflies in the night, glowing brighter with my chant. Tethers form as they blend together, reaching toward my center.

“? t?nná agbára yin.”

My tattoos glow brighter than they ever have as the particles condense. Magic weaves itself together like threads in a tapestry. My body strains as they hit my chest.

The force lifts me into the air and Mama Agba follows, rising above the stone. Her hands fall limp as her chest rises. The wind blows through her silk cloak.

“? t?nná agbára yin!”It hurts to speak the words. Blood magic spreads inside Mama Agba, glowing through every vein. It shines brightest when it reaches her heart. My chest aches as it breaks her apart.

Her complexion darkens, turning deeper than the night. Particles of light shine through her armor and silks, glowing like stars woven into her skin.

With her rise, the spaces between the different hearts draw to a close. Beat by beat, each pulse slows. They fall into sync with the sacred rhythm as the ancient command leaves my mouth.

“? t?nná agbára yin.”

With the final chant, the shine around Mama Agba becomes too bright. She lights up the night like a comet flying through the sky.

I don’t feel the moment my feet touch back to the ground. My chest thunders with the force of a storm. Each pulse is like lightning in my blood.

The power of ten hearts beating as one.

I press my hand to my chest and look up, somehow feeling the pulse of Mama Agba’s love. Though tears fall from my eyes, the sensation makes me smile.

“Títí di òdí kejì,” I whisper the sacrament under my breath. I grab her fallen cane.

I won’t let you down.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE

INAN

ITHOUGHT THATwhen the time came, I would be riddled with doubt. Crippled by the pain in my gut. But as I stare at my reflection in Father’s mirror, it’s like every weight has been lifted off my shoulders. For so long I’ve struggled to do the right thing.

---