Page 201 of Children of Blood and Bone

It’s him.

The ultimate sacrifice.

The greatest blood magic I could wield.

“Kill her!”

The first two guards charge at me, swords pointed and raised. They run with a vengeance.

The last mistake they will ever make.

As they near, Baba’s spirit tears from my body as two sharp, twisting shadows. The darkness wields the power of death, commands the powerof blood. They pierce through the soldiers’ breastplates, skewering them like meat. Blood splatters into the air as dark matter spills from the holes in their chests.

The men choke on their last breaths, eyes bulging in defeat. They wheeze as their bodies crumble into ash.

More.

More death. More blood.

The blackest part of my rage finally has the power it’s always craved, the chance to avenge Mama. Now Baba. I’ll take these shadows of death and end them.

Each and every one.

No.Baba’s voice rings in my head, steady and strong.Revenge is meaningless. There’s still time to make this right.

“How?”

I peer through the frenzy as Roën’s crew and Kenyon’s team lunge into battle.Revenge is meaningless, I repeat to myself.Revenge is meaningless.…

As the words settle, I see it, the one person running away from the fight. Inan scrambles for the rolling sunstone through the madness, dodging the blades of Roën’s men.

As long as we don’t have magic, they will never treat us with respect, Baba’s spirit booms.They need to know we can hit them back. If they burn our homes—

I burn theirs, too.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

INAN

THE GIRLIHELDin my sleep is nowhere to be seen.

In her place a monster rages.

It bares fangs of death.

Two black shadows shoot from Zélie’s hands and hurtle forward like venomous snakes, hungry for blood. Vengeance. They pierce through the first two guards. Then something in Zélie’s silver eyes clicks.

Her gaze homes in on me. The sunstone glows in my hand. I barely have time to draw my sword before the first shadow attacks.

Pointed like a saber, it clashes against my sword, recoiling through the air. The next attack comes in fast. Too fast for me to block—

“Prince Inan!”

A guard lunges forward. He trades his life for mine. The shadow pierces through his body—he wheezes before turning to ash.

Skies!

I retreat into the insanity. Her shadows rear back for another attack. As I run, she chases after me. Her sea-salt soul rages like an ocean storm.

---