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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

AMARI

I USED TO DREAM OF MONSTERS .

Long before the Raid.

The years when I looked up at Father and still saw a radiant king.

The man who would chase every monster away.

One night, I dreamed I was walking through a forest. I had finally made it beyond Lagos’s walls. Rich green trees danced around me. Blue-whisked bee-eaters flew by my cheek. I lay in soft moss and stared up at the open sky. The clearing filled with brilliant butterflies.

But then the skies turned black. The towering trees twisted into harsh shadows. A pack of wild hyenaires slithered out of the ground. With sharp yelps, they hunted me down.

I shouted for help as I ran through the dark forest. The hyenaires seemed to cackle at my fear. The beasts cornered me into a den and pounced at once. Their fangs ripped through my flesh, drowning out my cries.

When I awoke, I was covered with sweat. My cheeks were damp from the tears I had shed. My legs shook as I crawled out of my sheets.

It was as if I’d died right there on that bed.

I went to Inan’s quarters, but he was nowhere to be found. I tried to crawl onto Mother’s mattress, but she insisted I return to my own. I found Father alone in the throne room. He opened his arms, and I nuzzled into his robes.

“ There are walls for a reason, Amari. ” He was gentle, running his hand over my hair as I shook. “ You would do well to stay inside them, even in your dreams. They were built to keep every monster out. ”

“ Even the hyenaires? ” I asked.

“ Especially the hyenaires. ” He almost smiled, but something weighed him down. “ And those who wish us harm. ”

I always thought Father spoke of scheming nobles. Of the maji he seemed to hate so much. But in all my time locked on this ship, I’ve wondered what he knew of the monsters beyond Or?sha’s borders.

I wonder what he knew of the Skulls.

It was my sword that sent Father to his death. It was my vow to protect the people of Or?sha and defeat Mother that led to chaos and bloodshed. I fought for the maji elders to accept me and betrayed their trust. I sacrificed an entire village and still failed to win our war.

When Mama Agba gave up her life to help us overthrow the monarchy, she told me I was more than that moment. That I was more than all my mistakes. If I’d survived, it had to be for a reason.

With the threat of the Skulls, that reason is clear.

A new monster is here.

“Something’s happening,” I call, pointing to the floorboards above. A clamor builds over our heads. The frenzy grows like the ocean storm beating against the ship’s hull.

My chest tightens as I draw closer to the iron bars. Shouts mix with the groans of breaking metal.

It has to be Zélie , I think to myself. She must have found a way to fight.

I yearn to peek through the floorboards. To see where Zélie is now. In spite of our turbulent past, she told me to hold on.

What if she has a plan to get us out?

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 Or?sha, no matter the price. To be buried in my own land.

Not to die at the hands of these beastly men.

“Prepare yourself!” Nao 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!”

Nao 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!” Nao 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.

“ Deyie! ” the Skull shouts. He reaches for the animal-skin pouch tied to 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?” Nao 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.

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

“Where are we needed?” she asks.

“The deck. The boys are fighting there.”

With a nod, Nao takes off. The maji in her cell follow her up the stairs.

When Kenyon turns to my cell, I freeze. The last time we were face-to-face, I was his enemy. If it weren’t for Mama Agba, he and the other elders would’ve killed me.

Kenyon stares and something flashes across his face. I prepare myself for how he’ll retaliate. He frees the rest of the maji in my cell, leaving the two of us alone.

“Do it.” I lower my head.

Kenyon grabs my shackles and I ready myself for his strike. I don’t know what to think when the shackles drop to my sides.

“Really?” I look up at him, rubbing my bruised wrists.

“You’re not the enemy.” Kenyon steps away. “Not right now.”

His words wash over me like a wave. I feel the chance to atone for my mistakes.

“I won’t let you down.” I move for the deck, but Kenyon grabs my arm, stopping me before I can travel up the stairs.

“Your brother attacked a Skull tonight. They locked him on the lower deck.”

I think of the struggling boy the Skulls carried past us before. The canvas bag tied over his head.

“That was Inan?” My eyes go wide as Kenyon places the ring of keys in my hand.

“Go after him.” He nudges me forward. “Before it’s too late.”

I take off, bracing myself against the sliding walls of the ship. I picture my brother locked below, isolated in the Skulls’ hold.

“Wait!” I turn back to Kenyon as I reach the next stairwell. I hold the Burner’s gaze. “Thank you.”

Kenyon almost smiles.

“Kill every Skull in your way.”