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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ZéLIE

A NEW STORM IS UNLEASHED the moment Yéva collapses. An uproar spreads through the crowd like smoke. All at once villagers rise, pushing to break into the town circle.

“ Keep them back! ” Koa orders.

Vineweavers descend from the stands by the dozens, long green stems whirring around them like the tentacles of an octopus. Scores of vines crawl above, creating a dome over the town circle that keeps the villagers sectioned off.

A thick black blade cuts through the new net of vines, creating a hole big enough for someone to pass through. A villager starts to descend, but the vineweavers react in an instant. Long vines wrap the villager up like a fly caught in a spiderweb.

Beneath the chaos, girls in matching silk kaftans run across the stone floor. Their petite frames move in perfect unison. Each sports a long dark braid wrapped tight atop her head like a rose. Like Yéva, golden pigment coats their throats and their jawlines.

Two of the girls reach Yéva first. They lift her body into a woven stretcher. Another pair help me out of the crystal bath. They take my hands with a delicate touch, wrapping my shaking body in soft robes.

More villagers attempt to cut through the new dome of vines. A group of warriors flanks me on both sides. The girls lead me through the opening Yéva appeared in as the town circle devolves.

This can’t be happening.

I stare at my trembling hands. They still spark with remnants of the golden lightning. When the brilliant bolts pulsed through the skies, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My entire body shook with the force that broke free.

A grief I wasn’t prepared to face hits me like one of the Skull’s bombs. Deep down, I prayed my magic would return. If not like the other maji, then at least when I returned to Or?sha.

But with the golden lightning’s presence, I feel the truth. The magic of life and death, my connection to Mama and the other Reapers—this means it’s really gone.

King Baldyr’s stolen it with his medallion.

The skies will open once more , Yéva’s prophecy echoes through my ears. And a new god will be born.

I stare at the glowing metal. It’s already transformed from before. New veins spread out around the rim, digging into my skin.

With Yéva’s words, I finally understand what Baldyr’s after.

I know where the last two medallions must go.

If he catches Mae’e, he’ll plunge it through her chest. Whatever magic she wields naturally will mutate, twisting to King Baldyr’s will.

He’ll harvest both our powers, using the last medallion to transform himself.

But if he does that…

I think of the Skulls’ own magic—the superior strength granted by the bloodmetal they all wield. It’s hard enough to stop Baldyr now. With our combined powers, he’d be impossible to kill.

Baldyr’s plans hang over my head as we exit the passageway and find ourselves on a stone dock.

Glowing waters stretch before us, branching out in a dozen different directions.

Giant lily pads float down an underground canal, riding the steady current.

At the edge of the docks, Tzain stands with Amari. I gasp at the sight.

“Tzain!” I break free of the girls in silk, running straight into my brother’s arms. I pull back to examine the bruises from where the warrior struck him before. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He pushes my hands away. “What’s going on? What did that woman say?”

I do my best to recall all the words of Yéva’s prophecy. I show them the growing medallion. I explain what it’s done to me.

“He’s after power,” I say. “The might that would rival a god. The medallion’s preparing me for his harvest. If he gets Mae’e, too…”

My voice trails off as Yéva passes by the three of us on a woven stretcher.

Her russet skin has lost all its color. Her breaths escape in haggard spurts.

A wave of guilt hits as the girls in silk set her down on a lily pad.

Though the mystic stood tall before, calling forth the prophecy has ravaged her form.

Mae’e emerges from the tunnels. She moves to Yéva’s side, kneeling by the water.

“ Nafre .” Mae’e whispers the blessing. She kisses Yéva’s hands. The girls in silk depart, leading Yéva down one of the canals.

The moment Yéva leaves, Koa enters the underground tunnels. The emperor follows behind him, surrounded by warriors and a legion of vineweavers. Their presence adds a charge in the air. I tense as they near.

“ Bind her hands. ” Koa points to me. “ Immediately. ”

As the vineweavers move, Mae’e rises to her feet. She steps in front of me.

“ Mae’e —” the emperor starts.

“ You will do no such thing! ” Mae’e replies.

“ You heard what Yéva said ,” Koa pushes. “ The danger we risk by letting outsiders in— ”

“ This girl is not our enemy! ” Mae’e turns to me, and I’m hypnotized by her diamond gaze. A flattened vine wraps tight around her hand, covering the gash from the blade she grabbed to keep me alive.

“ They are our allies. ” Mae’e extends her injured hand to me, and I take it. “ Allies in great pain. They must be taken to my temples. Please, Emperor Jorah, allow me to restore them. ”

I dare to glance at Emperor Jorah. He twists the thick gold ring on his pointer finger. It’s hard to read the lines in his face. The glowing rivers lap in his silence as he decides our fate.

“ The girls can go ,” he declares. Mae’e’s shoulders slump in relief. She motions to the lily pads, preparing to leave.

“ What about my brother? ” I ask. “ Where will he be? ”

The emperor looks at Tzain, considering his place. He nods to his warriors.

“He will reside with Koa and the Laminas.”