Page 68 of Children of Virtue and Vengeance

“Run!” I yell. I dash the other way, and the maji follow my path.

“Where are we going?” Zélie shouts.

“I don’t know! Away from them!”

My heart pounds as I break into the lead. The soldier’s horn echoes down the stone hall. It’s not long before more piercing tones bounce against the curved walls.

Every step we take brings us further away from those scrolls. If Mother and Inan knew we were coming, they might know what we’re here for, too. Our failure could lead them to the library’s very door—

Focus, Amari.

We descend another stairwell as the clanking footsteps behind us grow. I race forward when we turn the corner, but skid to a stop when a troop charges toward us.

A few of the soldiers wear golden tîtán armor and I see a flash of dark blue ashê. My skin tingles as the realization hits. The soldiers are Connector tîtáns like me.

“Get back!” I command theIyika, and the maji clear the way as the blue light radiates from my hand. I only try to summon one strike, but a powerful wave washes over the hall.

My skin sizzles as the soldiers cry out, grabbing their heads whenpain brings them to their knees. My magic seems stronger in the other tîtáns’ presence, but I can hardly grasp what’s going on as we run away.

We race up another stairwell, sprinting, though I don’t know where we’ll land. Dakarai leads us up another flight of stairs, his broad chest heaving when we enter a particularly long hall.

“Up here!” the Seer instructs. We turn past a sharp corner when I see it—a dead end in an unsuspecting wall.

“Wait!” I double back and put my hands against the metallic stone. I don’t need Dakarai’s magic to remember Lekan standing in this very spot moons ago.

“This is it!” I shout. “The scrolls are behind this wall!”

“We don’t have time—” Zélie reaches for my arm, but I pull away from her touch.

“We’re too close to leave them behind!” I yell.

The soldiers’ shouts near as Kâmarureaches the dead end. He places his shaking hands against the stone, but despite the way his fingers glow, he can’t break through. I don’t know if it’s because he isn’t capable, or if all the magic he’s channeled thus far has taken its toll.

“We need to buy him time!” I whip around as the soldiers close in.

You can do this,I think to myself.You took down Ramaya. They’re just men.

Magic stirs in my chest, buzzing as it extends to my hands. I think of the needle and the hammer, not knowing which I’ll need to unleash.

“Ya èmí, ya ara!”The chant slips from my tongue. But my heart stops when the first soldier rounds the corner.

By the skies…

“Inan?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

ZÉLIE

IT’S LIKE ALL THE AIRleaves the temple at once.

Sound bleeds from my ears.

All that’s left is him.

I fight to feel the rage I summoned in the dreamscape. To call forth the new blades embedded in my staff. But staring at the little prince is like breathing mud.

“Inan?” Amari’s question echoes through the vacuum in my mind. Her call draws her brother’s eyes to her.

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