Peace …
It’s been so long since I’ve known that word. The peace I only get in the dreamscape. The comfort of being wrapped in Inan’s arms.
For a moment, I let myself imagine an end to the maji’s strife. Not with swords and revolution, but with peace.
With Inan.
“You’re serious?”
“I’m more than serious. Zél, I need this. I want to keep every promise I made to you, but I can’t do it alone. You can’t do it with just magic. But together…” A delicious smile spreads across his lips, drawing me in. “We’d be unstoppable. A team Or?sha has never seen.”
I look past him to the dancing div?ners, catching sight of the young boy I danced with in the crowd. Salim spins himself in so many circles he tumbles into the grass.
Inan drops his hand from my cheek and interlaces his fingers with mine; his warmth spreads over me like a soft blanket as he pulls me into his arms. “I know we’re meant to work together.” He lowers his voice to a whisper. “I think … we’re meant to be together.”
His words make my head spin. His words or the alcohol. But through the haze I know he’s right. This is the one thing that can keep everyone safe. The one decision that can end this endless fight.
“Okay.”
Inan searches me with his eyes. Hope hums around him like the faint drumbeats in the air.
“Really?”
I nod. “We’ll have to convince Tzain and Amari, but if you’re serious—”
“Zél, I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
“My family will have to come to Lagos, too.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“And you still have to rebuild Ilorin—”
“It’ll be the first thing the Grounders and Tiders do!”
Before I can make another objection, Inan wraps his arms around me and spins. His smile stretches so wide it’s impossible for me not to smile back. I laugh as he sets me down, though it takes a moment for the world to stop turning.
“We probably shouldn’t decide the fate of Or?sha while spinning around in some forest.”
He mumbles in agreement, slowly sliding his hands up my sides and back up to my face. “We probably shouldn’t do this, either.”
“Inan—”
Before I can explain that we can’t, that Tzain’s ax is freshly sharpened and only a few tents away, Inan presses his lips to mine and everything fades. His kiss is tender yet forceful, gently pushing into me. And his lips … soft.
Softer than I knew lips could be.
They light every cell in my body, sending a warmth down my back. When he finally pulls away, my heart is beating so fast it feels like I’ve just finished a fight. Inan’s slow to open his eyes as a delicious smile spreads across his face.
“Sorry…” He runs his thumb over my bottom lip. “Do you want to go back in?”
Yes.
I know what I should do. What I probably need to do. But now that I’ve had a taste, every restraint in me breaks.
Inan’s eyes widen as I grab his head and force his lips back onto mine.
Restraint can wait for tomorrow.
Tonight I want him.
CHAPTER SIXTY
AMARI
I GIGGLE LIKE I haven’t in years as Tzain spins me round and round. He bends to lift me again but stops, leaving me on the ground. The smile that stretched from ear to ear drops alongside his sweat. I follow his line of sight just in time to see Inan grab Zélie’s face, embracing her with a kiss.
Skies!
A gasp slips from my lips. I sensed that something kindled between them; I just didn’t know it would ignite so soon. But observing the way Inan kisses Zélie now, more questions brew. The tender way he holds her, the way his hands roam, pulling her into him—
My cheeks flush and I turn away; an embrace like this is far too intimate to watch. But Tzain does not share my discomfort. If anything, he stares more. Every muscle in his body tenses; his eyes grow hard, all joy banished.
“Tzain…”
He brushes past me, steeled to attack with a fury I’ve yet to witness.
“Tzain!”
He moves like he cannot see me, like he will not stop until his hands wrap around my brother’s throat.
Then Zélie grabs Inan and pulls his lips to hers.
The sight halts Tzain midstep. He stumbles back, as if physically struck. Then all of a sudden he snaps, breaking in half like a twig between clenched fists.
He stalks past me into the div?ner crowd, pushing through the festival into the campgrounds. I struggle to keep pace with his sprint as he rushes into his tent. He bypasses Nailah and Zélie’s pack to grip the handle of his ax—
“Tzain, no!”
My screams fall on deaf ears as he shoves the ax into his pack. Along with his cloak, his food … the rest of his belongings?
“What are you doing?”
Tzain ignores me, forcing his cloak down as if it too kissed his sister. I reach out to touch him, but he rips his shoulder away. “Tzain—”
“What?” he yells, and I flinch. He pauses, releasing a deep sigh. “Sorry, I just—I can’t do this. I’m done.”
“What do you mean ‘done’?”
Tzain wraps the leather straps around his back and pulls them tight. “I’m leaving. You can come with me if you want.”
“Wait, what?”
Tzain doesn’t pause to give me an answer. Before I can say anything else, he blows through the tent flaps, abandoning me for the brisk night.
“Tzain!”
I scramble after him, but he makes no attempt to wait. He storms past the campgrounds, leaving all traces of the festival in his wake. I can hear the faint roar of the Gombe River as he flies through the wild grass. He gets all the way to the next valley before I finally catch up.
“Tzain, please!”
He pauses, but his legs tense like he could take off at any moment.
“Can you just slow down?” I plead. “Just—just breathe! I know you hate Inan, but—”
“I don’t give a damn about Inan. Everyone can do whatever the hell they want, just leave me out of it.”
My chest freezes at the cruelty of his words, shattering all the warmth he put there before. Though my legs shake, I force them forward. “You’re upset. I understand, but—”
“Upset?” Tzain narrows his eyes. “Amari, I’m tired of fighting for my life, I’m tired of paying for everyone’s mistakes. I’m sick of doing everything I can to keep her safe when all she does is throw it away!” He lowers his head, shoulders slumping. For the first time since I’ve met him he appears small; it’s disconcerting to see him this way. “I keep expecting her to grow up, but why would she when I’m always here? Why change when I stand by just waiting to clean up her mess?”
I step closer and grab his hands, lacing my fingers between his coarse ones. “I know their relationship is confusing … but I promise you, deep down my brother’s intentions are pure. Zélie hated Inan more than anyone. If she feels this way about him now, it has to mean something.”