Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi Page 0,61

breakneck speed, dodging vines and massive trees. Peering through the underbrush, I spot the bridge in the distance, but a menacing roar reminds me that Inan is right on our tail. I sneak a glance behind me. Thick branches snap against his snow leopanaire’s massive frame as she rips through the underbrush. She bares her ghastly teeth as she nears, hungry like her master.

“Amari!” Inan yells.

Amari tenses and squeezes me tight. “Go faster!”

Nailah already sprints faster than I’ve ever seen her go, but somehow she finds the strength to push. Her bounds lengthen our life, creating needed distance between us and our pursuers.

We break through the underbrush and skid to a halt before the rickety bridge. Withered vines string together the rotted wood; with a gust of wind the entire structure quakes.

“One by one,” Lekan orders. “It will not hold us all. Tzain, guide Zélie—”

“No.” I slide to the ground, almost collapsing when I hit the dirt. My legs feel like water, but I compel myself to be strong. “Nailah first—she’ll take the longest.”

“Zél—”

“Go!” I scream. “We’re running out of time!”

Tzain grits his teeth and grabs Nailah by the reins. He guides her across the creaking bridge, cringing as the wood moans with every step. The second they make it across, I push Amari forward, but she doesn’t let go of my arm.

“You are weak,” she chokes out. “You will not make it alone.”

She pulls me onto the bridge, and my stomach flips when I make the mistake of looking down. Beneath the panels of decaying wood, sharp rocks shoot toward the sky, threatening to impale anyone unlucky enough to fall.

I shut my eyes and grip the jungle vines. They’re already splintered and frayed. Terror grips my chest so tightly I can’t even breathe.

“Look at me!” Amari commands, forcing my eyes open. Though her own body quakes, fierce determination flares in her amber gaze. My vision blacks out and she grabs my hand, forcing me forward plank by moaning plank. We’re halfway across when Inan bursts through the thick underbrush, the admiral following moments later.

It’s too late. We won’t make it—

“Àgbájọ ọw3 àwọn òrìsà!” Lekan slams his staff into the ground. “Yá mi ní agbára à rẹ!”

His body explodes with a powerful white glow that surrounds the ryders’ bodies. He drops his staff and raises his arms. With them, the beasts rise into the sky.

Inan and his admiral cry out as they slide off the backs of their leopanaires, their eyes wide with horror. Lekan throws back his arms, sending each ryder flying off the cliff.

Oh my gods …

Their massive bodies writhe and twist. They claw at the sky. But their roars meet a sharp end as they’re pierced by rocks.

A terrified rage takes hold of the admiral. With a guttural scream, she jumps to her feet and races toward Lekan with her sword.

“You maggot—”

She lunges forward only to be trapped in place by Lekan’s magic. Inan rushes to her aid, but he too is caught in the white light—another fly in Lekan’s web.

“Run!” Lekan shouts, veins bulging against his skin. Amari pulls me forward as fast as she can, though the bridge weakens with our every step.

“Go,” I order her. “It can’t hold us both!”

“You cannot—”

“I’ll make it.” I force my eyes open. “Just run. If you don’t, we’ll both fall!”

Amari’s eyes glisten, but there’s not a moment to waste. She bounds across the bridge and leaps onto the ledge, crashing onto the other side.

Though my legs shake, I push forward, dragging myself along the vine. Come on. Lekan’s life is on the line.

A terrifying creak escapes the bridge, but I keep moving. I’m almost to the other side. I’m going to make it—

The vines snap.

My stomach flies into my throat as the bridge collapses under my feet. My arms flail, desperate to grab on to anything. I latch onto a plank as the bridge smacks against the stone cliff.

“Zélie!”

Tzain’s voice is hoarse as he peeks over the ledge. My body quivers as I cling to the stone panel. Even now I hear it splintering. I know it won’t hold.

“Climb!”

Through my blackening, tear-filled vision, I see how the broken bridge has formed a ladder. Three planks are all I need to reach Tzain’s outstretched hands.

Three planks between life and death.

Climb! I order myself, but my body doesn’t move. Climb! I scream again. Move! Go now!

With a trembling hand, I grip the plank above and pull myself up.

One.

I grab the next plank and pull again, heart in my throat when