Page 35 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

I’d feel the power of its red glow—

“Tzain!” The sound of Amari’s voice snaps me out of my haze. Water splashes at my back as she makes her way through the tides. I rush to move the branches and cover the axe’s hiding place.

“It’s Kenyon!” she speaks through her pants. “He’s gathering the others.…” Amari’s voice trails off, and I follow her gaze. Despite the branches, the sun reflects off the axe’s crimson blade. Her brown cheeks flush, reminding me why I hid the axe so far from camp. The way the others look at me with it, I might as well be wearing one of the Skull’s horrid masks.

Amari eyes me for a moment before reaching out and touching the hilt. A sharp hiss sounds and she draws her hand back. She gazes at my palms.

“Doesn’t it burn when you touch it?” she asks.

I think back to the Skull I killed. To the sharp heat that prickled through my skin. It was like the axe called out to me in its former owner’s death. Is that why I’m able to wield his weapon when the others can’t?

“I couldn’t leave it behind.” I fill the silence. “If something happens—”

“You don’t have to explain.” Amari speaks too quickly to mean what she says. But in her voice, I feel something gentle. A part of her that wants to understand.

I almost want to tell her what the axe does to me. The strange words I hear in my head. Being this close to her now, I remember the warmth of her embrace. The way she used to fit inside my arms. I think of the Tzain I was when all I wanted was for us to be together.

That Tzain thought our love would last forever.

But in her attempt to defeat her mother, Amari almost killed Zélie and an entire village. Even with the threat of the Skulls, I don’t know how I can forgive her for everything she’s done.

What future can we have when she was willing to destroy everything I loved?

“I didn’t know where to go.” Amari crosses her arms over her chest. She stares out at the endless sea. “Kenyon’s gathering the others. They’re preparing the boats for the journey home.”

“Back to Orïsha?” My brows arch. We haven’t even been on the island for two days. I hadn’t dared to think that far.

“There are maji at the camp,” Amari explains. “Sailors who know how to chart the stars. By the time night falls, they’ll be able to point us back home.”

I look out over the horizon. Again, my hands itch for the glinting axe. More Skulls could appear any second. If another ship landed on our shores, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

“When does he want to leave?” I ask.

“Dawn.” Amari closes her eyes, and her shoulders slump. “Talk to him. Please. We have to make them wait.”

“We can’t.”

“We don’t have a choice!” Amari’s voice turns shrill. “Inan and Zélie haven’t returned!”

“We can’t hold the rest of the maji hostage waiting for ghosts.”

Amari’s lips part. She looks at me like I’ve struck her with the axe. “You don’t mean that.”

I turn away. I don’t know what she wants me to say. I think of Khani back at the camp, caring for the others despite everything she’s lost. Zélie wouldn’t want me to wait.

She’d want to make sure the rest of the maji were safe.

“The others had boats,” I say. “They got off the ship. They had a real chance to get away.”

“So did we.” Amari doesn’t allow my words to shake her faith. “They’re alive, Tzain. I know it. Ifeelit in my gut. If you won’t help me stop the others, I’ll do it by myself.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

ZÉLIE

CRASHING SURF ROLLS THROUGH MY EARS.The soft chirps of birds follows next. Sensation crawls up my skin in waves. It feels like I’ve been knocked out for days.

I blink my eyes open to blinding rays of sun. It beats down on me from above. It’s been so long since I’ve seen blue skies.

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