Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi Page 0,127

will happen if I bring magic back and the wrong maji tries to take control?”

The fear is so familiar, it feels like my own. Yet somehow it’s not nearly as strong as before. Even when I think back to Kwame in flames, the first image that comes to my mind is how they sputtered out when Zulaikha instructed him to stop.

Zélie opens her mouth to continue, but no words come out. I gaze at the fullness of her lips. I stare a bit too long when she bites them.

“It’s so unfair,” she sighs.

I look down at her. It’s hard to believe we’re both awake. How many times have I wanted to hold her like this? To have her hold me back?

“You just get to dance around in my mind while I have no idea what’s going on in yours.”

“You really want to know?”

“Of course I want to know! Do you realize how embarrassing it is to have no con—”

I push her against the bark of the tree. My mouth presses against her neck. She gasps as I run my hands up her back. A small moan escapes her lips.

“This,” I whisper. My mouth brushes her skin with each word. “This is what I’m thinking. This is what’s going through my head.”

“Inan,” she breathes, voice ragged. Her fingers dig into my back, pulling me closer. Everything in me wants her. Wants this. All the time.

With that desire, everything becomes clear. It all begins to make sense.

We don’t need to fear magic.

We only need each other.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

ZÉLIE

YOU CAN’T.

You can’t.

You can’t.

No matter how many times I repeat these words, my desire rages like a ryder out of control.

Tzain will kill us if he finds out. But even as this thought runs through my head, my nails dig into Inan’s back. I pull him into me, pressing until I can feel the hard lines of his body. I want to feel more. I want to feel him.

“Come back to Lagos with me.”

I force my eyes open, unsure whether I’ve heard him correctly. “What?”

“If freedom is what you want, come back to Lagos with me.”

It’s like diving into the cold lakes of Ibadan; a visceral shock that pulls me from our fantasy. A world where Inan is just a boy in a handsome kaftan; a maji, not a prince.

“You promised you wouldn’t get in my way—”

“I shall keep my word,” Inan cuts me off. “But Zélie, that’s not what this is.”

Walls start to form around my heart, walls I know he can feel. He pulls away, sliding his hands from my back to the sides of my face.

“When you bring magic back, the nobility will fight tooth and nail to stop you. The Raid will happen again and again. The war won’t end until an entire generation of Orïshans is dead.”

I look away, but deep down I know he’s right. It’s the reason the fear won’t go away, the reason I can’t allow myself to truly celebrate. Zu’s built a paradise, but when magic returns, the dream will end. Magic doesn’t give us peace.

It only gives us a fighting chance.

“How will me coming back to Lagos solve any of that?” I ask. “As we speak, your father calls for my head!”

“My father’s scared.” Inan shakes his head. “He’s misguided, but his fear is justified. All the monarchy’s ever seen is the destruction maji can bring. They’ve never experienced anything like this.” He gestures to the camp, face alight with so much hope his smile practically glows in the darkness. “Zulaikha created this in one moon, and there are already more divîners in Lagos than anywhere else in Orïsha. Just imagine what we could accomplish with the resources of the monarchy behind us.”

“Inan…” I start to resist, but he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear and trails his thumb down my neck.

“If my father could see this … see you…”

With one touch, everything inside me shivers, pushing against my doubt. I lean into him, hungry for more.

“He’ll see what you’ve shown me.” Inan holds me close. “The maji of today are not the maji he fought. If we build a colony like this in Lagos, he’ll understand he has nothing to fear.”

“This settlement only survives because no one knows where we are. Your father would never allow maji to congregate anywhere besides chained in the stocks.”

“He won’t have a choice.” Inan’s grip tightens, a spark of defiance flaring for the first time. “When magic is back, he won’t have the power to take