Page 23 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

If the others have found a way to fight, this could be it. We could take over the ship. End the Skulls’ torture once and for all. We could finally escape.

Escape.

I close my eyes. In the past moon, the hope is all I’ve had. It’s satiated my hollow stomach and dried every tear. The thought of escape has mended every wound I’ve sustained since being locked up in here.

To go home, back to Orïsha, no matter the price. To be buried in my own land.

Not to die at the hands of these beastly men.

“Prepare yourself!” Nâo instructs the others as voices build outside our door. “Go for their weapons!” She rattles the bars of her cage. “Claw out their throats! Tear out their eyes!”

Nâo rallies a strength I try to summon deep inside. Still the elder of the Tiders, her voice causes the maji to rise. My heart thunders in my chest as I reach for a broken shard of wood in the walls. I raise the shard with shaking hands as the door to our hold shudders open.

A tangle of bodies flies down the wooden steps. Through the darkness, I make out a group of maji fighting against three Skulls. With a lurch, the boat makes a violent turn, and the mess of bodies slides down the hall. I stick out the wooden shard, flinching as it catches a Skull in the throat.

“Help me!” Nâo shouts. The heaviest of the three Skulls falls in front of her cell. One girl digs her thumbs into the Skull’s eyes, and blood oozes from behind his mask. Another girl catches the Skull by the ear. He screams as she tears.

I brace myself as the maji rip the Skull apart. They claw at his face. His hair. His skin. The Skull flails against the cage, and his mask falls off. I’m paralyzed by the sight of his crazed beard and braided hair.

“Deyið!” the Skull shouts. He reaches for the animal-skin pouch tiedto his belt. The smell of tar hits me like a cannon. In an instant, I realize his plans.

“Get back!” I pull the maji I’m chained to into the farthest corner of our cage, shielding their bodies with my own. Behind me, the Skull frees the bomb from his belt. He pulls the rope that ignites its flame—

All of a sudden, brown hands grab the Skull’s face.

With a sharp snap, the Skull’s neck breaks.

What in the skies?

The bomb rolls across the floor. Its flame goes out in a puddle of stormwater. For a moment, my body relaxes. I turn to find our savior.

“Kenyon?” Nâo breathes.

Blood and grime cover every centimeter of the Burner’s skin. A barbaric rage contorts his face, but at the sight of his fellow elder, all Kenyon’s rage seems to wash away.

“O seun, Sàngó.” Kenyon’s voice cracks. He holds on to the iron of the cage.

Nâo reaches through the bars and grabs the sides of her friend’s face. Tears swell in her deep brown eyes.

“Tell me this is the end,” she whispers.

“It’s over.” Kenyon nods. “We’re taking the ship. Tzain’s leading the charge.”

Tzain’s alive?My heart skips a beat. The last time I saw Tzain, he couldn’t bear the sight of me.But if he’s alive…

I’m surprised at the part of me that dares to dream.

If Tzain’s alive, then there’s a chance.

One day he could forgive me.

Kenyon calls to a group of maji down the hall. They throw him a ring of keys. The Burner breaks open Nâo’s cell, and she practically leaps into his arms. I’m struck by the way Kenyon kisses her forehead, holding his friend as she trembles.

“You’re safe,” Kenyon whispers. The words send a shiver through my skin. After all we’ve endured, it’s too good to be true. Half the maji in this hall are still chained to the dead.

Kenyon sets Nâo down and unlocks her shackles. Nâo passes the ring of keys down the line. I watch as Nâo cracks her neck. The fighter I know reemerges, gathering herself.

“Where are we needed?” she asks.

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