Page 71 of The Crownless King
‘How did the meeting go?’She changed the subject.
He kissed her forehead and tightened his arms around her.‘You worry too much, beloved. Everything is fine.’
She nodded and stepped back, taking her place at the table with Raven again. Instead of joining them, Levi stepped to the glass and peered down at the sacred garden. According toBronx, he spent the majority of his time in this space watching Amaya do her work. Levi was blown away by the sacred garden. It was nearly dark, lit only by the stones themselves. They emitted a dim blue glow that disappeared into the dark sand around them.
He understood now that Amaya had set the shielding over his stone in the same pattern. He was astonished by how powerful his baby was.
Turning back to the group, his gaze went straight to Raven. “What did you find, firefly?”
Raven looked at her boss, before spreading his ancestor’s journal on the table in front of them. She was wearing gloves.
“I’ve been going over this, but some of the language is old and not the Yoruba I’ve been taught.”
He nodded in understanding. There were many tribes that came over and not all of them spoke the same language.
“I brought it to Sophia, she—Her magic can decipher any language.” She continued shooting him an unsure look.
‘It’s fine, firefly.’He reassured her through their bond that he wasn’t upset.
She visibly relaxed. “So, what we’ve found is actually…” Raven paused. “I don’t even know how to say what we’ve found. It’s the reason we’re meeting here and not in Sophia’s office. Eavesdropping here is impossible.”
He frowned and stepped closer to the table. “What is it?”
Sophia spoke up. “It involves the Collective.”
Levi forced himself not to look at his second-in-command. But Bas was present in his head, already knowing what he was thinking.
‘What are the odds?’Bas asked him telepathically.
‘Indeed.’Aloud he said, “Continue.”
Raven nodded. “The Collective told the chaos Chawis that they would be cursed if they mated with the Bayi. We’ve found information to say the opposite.”
This time he couldn’t help his reaction. His growl rattled around the room. “Explain.”
“I have to go back to the beginning to explain,” she told them, her eyes lighting with excitement. “This journal…Bria Cauly met with the Celestials. There is firsthand accounting of that. My hands are shaking even reading her words.”
“Red,” Bas prodded his mate.
“Right. So, ummm, where was I? Oh yeah. We’ve all heard the tales about the Bayi vampire that tried to take over the world?”
Everyone nodded.
“Well, it was Bria’s father, and he wasn’t just Bayi. He was a true hybrid, born from a Chawi and a Bayi. He held the power of both, which was why he was so hard to stop. According to Bria, she went to the Celestials for help. Which they did. But it cost her. Hell…it cost everyone.”
Levi frowned. “In what way?”
“Bria’s grandmother was a part of what she calls an Obayifo. It’s a mating between a chaos Chawi and a Bayi vampire. The Celestials took out Bria’s father, but becausehis power was the result of the Obayifo, they stripped the supernaturals of it. I’m not explaining that right.” Raven looked at Sophia in frustration.
The director took over the story. “The Obayifo is not just a mating. It binds chaos magic with the power of the Bayi, creating a power that raises the magic of the supernatural collectively.”
Levi’s mind was racing as he tried to process what Raven was telling them. “So, when my grandmother gave up the Obayifo, it weakened all of the supernaturals?”
Raven nodded solemnly. “Which helped the Buru overrun the South.”
“The fuck,” Sebastian said, stepping closer to the table to see.
Raven took a shaky breath and looked at Amaya. “This is why I wanted you in here as well. According to these journals, the chaos Chawi are supposed to mate with the Bayi. Something about their powers balancing the chaos magic within you. The mating kept the witches from going mad. But in mating, you’ve created the first Obayifo that we’ve had in centuries.”
