Three: F

sn't just

hrumming through Tari's bones like a pulse beneath the earth. Around her, the air folded inward, trembling with pressure a

looking stra

He barely noticed Ama

eye contact,"

om reason. A rush of images flared behind his eyes-his father in the hospital, a candlelit vigil in Ajegunle, Amaka's laughter under a broken streetlight. Th

it va

d, gasping. Amaka cau

e hell w

what's possible,"

want to

e a choice. You

apped. "Like a r

ny in her voice. "She speaks to those

be special. I w

hen you'll need to choose

wind around her stirred with invisible force. Lights on the bridge sparked and blin

to Amaka.

e. The gatekeepers. She's dismantli

ent dry. "You

," Amaka said. "The ones who keep us

n they heard

triangular machines with blinking red eyes. Tari recognized the markings: Nigerian Defens

Amaka murmured. "

she hovered above the water. Then, wit

ma streaked toward he

idn't

he blasts disintegrated mid-air, scattering into harmless particl

lifted

in mid-flight and exploded

ling them," Ta

Amaka corrected. "Turning

to retreat but spiraled into the l

en Ewa

r-she re

f, power, beauty, rage, and-somehow-hope. The air thickened around them. On the bridge, other people had gathered, some in silenc

inside him give way-

ed to hi

a god," h

said. "She's

eath. Shapes emerged-colossal and translucent-like spectral fish or machin

efore Lagos existed," Ama

ri asked. "To

er of anything. That the world has been alive with

, face pale. "And

dn't a

er, tore through the clouds. These were different-sleek, predatory, and fast. Im

unched

the sky, raised bo

shook. The water surged up like a wave, curling toward the sky. Th

fire bloomed be

en, si

ty fli

alarms wailed and died. And in the stillness that followed, Ewa lower

ng, breathing hard, the world

it," she

es

you want

at the wat

o understand. I

"Then come with me. There

from her pocket-smooth,

that?" h

her. It shows

d it onto

e-then rolled forward on i

fol

ectricity-energy. Raw and wild. People moved in organized chaos, faces painted with phosphorescent lines, machines made of

Mama Sade, older than anyone Tari had

expecting yo

linked

ms. In frequencies. In fire. You carry the old

to Amaka.

nd on his chest. He felt h

in-not Ewa's, but Amaka's.

u hear

stagg

s widened.