Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi Page 0,78
keep Orïsha safe.”
Kaea studies me, keeping the slightest guard up. “Where is the maggot now?”
“Ibeji,” I rush out. “I’m sure of it.”
“Very well.” Kaea straightens up and sheathes her sword. “I came because the bridge is finished. If they’re in Ibeji, I’ll take a team and leave tonight.”
“You’ll take a team?”
“You must return to the palace at once,” Kaea says. “When the king finds out about this—”
I can’t wait, the girl’s voice returns. I can’t wait till he finds out what you are. Let’s see how bold you feel when your father turns on his own son.
“No!” I say. “You need me. You can’t track them without my abilities.”
“Your abilities? You’re a liability, Inan. At any moment you could turn against us or endanger yourself. And what if someone finds out? Think of how it will look for the king!”
“You can’t.” I reach for her. “He won’t understand!”
Kaea eyes the hallway, face ashen. She starts to back away.
“Inan, my duty—”
“Your duty is to me. I command you to stop!”
Kaea takes off in a sprint, tearing through the dimly lit halls. I race after her and lunge forward, tackling her to the floor.
“Kaea, please, just—ugh!”
She drives her elbow into my sternum. Air catches in my throat. She breaks free of my hold, scrambling to her feet to scale the stairs.
“Help!” Her screams are frantic now, echoing through the temple halls.
“Kaea, stop!” No one can know about this. No one can know what I am.
“He’s one of them!” she shrieks. “He has been all along—”
“Kaea!”
“Stop him! Inan is a maj—”
Kaea freezes as if she’s run into an invisible wall.
Her voice shrinks into silence. Her every muscle shakes.
Turquoise energy swirls from my palm to Kaea’s skull, paralyzing her just like Lekan’s magic did. Kaea’s mind struggles to break free of my mental hold, fighting against a force I didn’t even know I could control.
No …
I stare at my quaking hands. I can’t tell whose fear surges through my veins.
I’m really one of them.
I’m the very monster I hunt.
Kaea’s breath turns ragged as she writhes. My magic continues to swell out of control. A strangled scream escapes Kaea’s mouth.
“Let go!”
“I don’t know how!” I shout back, fear wrapping around my throat. The temple amplifies my abilities. The more I try to push my magic down, the harder it fights to get out.
Kaea’s cries of agony grow. Her eyes turn red. Blood trickles from her ears, trailing down her neck.
My thoughts run a million meters a second. All the pawns in my mind crumble to dust. There’s no way to fix this.
If she feared me before, she abhors me now.
“Please!” I beg. I have to keep her contained. She has to listen to me. I am her future king—
“Ugh!”
A shuddered gasp escapes Kaea’s lips. Her eyes roll back.
The turquoise light binding her evaporates into nothingness.
Her body hits the ground.
“Kaea!” I run to her side and press my hand to her neck, but her pulse beats weakly under my fingers. After a moment, it’s nearly gone.
“No!” I shout, as if my cries could bind her to life. Blood leaks from her eyes, down her nose. It trails from her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” I choke through my tears. I try to wipe the blood from her face, but I only smear it over her skin. My own chest tightens, filling with the echo of her blood.
“I’m sorry.” My vision blurs. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Maggot,” Kaea exhales.
Then there’s nothing. Her body stiffens.
The light fades from her hazel eyes.
I don’t know how long I sit holding Kaea’s corpse. Blood drips onto the turquoise crystals lining her black hair. A mark of my curse. As they glint, the smell of iron and wine fills my nose. Fragments of Kaea’s consciousness take hold.
I see the first day she met Father, the way she held him when the maji murdered his family. A kiss they shared in the secrecy of the throne room while Ebele bled out at their feet.
The man who kisses Kaea is a stranger. A king I’ve never met. For him, Kaea is more than his sun. She’s all that’s left of his heart.
And I took her away.
With a start, I drop Kaea’s body, backing away from the bloodied mess. I push my magic so far down the ache in my chest is debilitating, sharp like the sword I might as well have put in Kaea’s back.
Father can never know.
This monstrosity never occurred.
Maybe Father could’ve overlooked me being a maji, but he will never forgive this.