BENIN CITY — ARIK AIR AIRPORT, AIRPORT ROAD — EARLY MORNING
The sun hadn't fully risen, but the airport was already alive—taxis honking, porters shouting, the smell of fried plantains drifting from a nearby kiosk. Joy stood by the arrival gate, scanning the stream of passengers filtering out of the terminal.
She spotted him first.
Eloghosa walked through the glass doors, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, his pink doves nowhere to be seen. Beside him, a younger man—same height, same build, same sharp features. But with long blonde conrow braids. Younger. And wearing a Vanguard uniform with red accents.
"Joy," Eloghosa said, pulling her into a brief hug. "Heyya."
"Your madness don start again abi,glad to have you back sha."
"Aww you too."
The younger man stood back, hands in his pockets, not meeting her eyes.
"This is Osagie," Eloghosa said. "Osagie this is Joy."
"You're shorter than I imagined," Osagie said.
Joy stared at him.
"That's how you greet someone who drove an hour to pick you up?"
Osagie shrugged. "I'm just saying."
Eloghosa sighed.
They walked to the SUV.
---
PORT HARCOURT — COVENANT BASE — EARLY MORNING
The bone field returned.
Rachel stood in the valley of skulls, her bare feet sinking into the soft ground. The air was thick and wet, heavy with iron. The other Rachel sat on a heap of femurs, legs crossed, white robe pristine, red eyes glowing.
She was smiling.
"You're almost there," the doppelganger said.
"Where?"
"Home."
Rachel woke up.
---
David sat in a chair by the window, his bandaged hands resting on his knees. The ice pack had melted hours ago. His bruises had bloomed purple and yellow.
Rachel blinked.
"Hey," David said. "How are you feeling?"
She looked around. The room was dim. The window showed darkness, still.
"What time is it?"
"Early morning. Still dark."
She sat up. "Where's my mom? Everyone?"
"Your mom went to cook. Ezra and Marcel are in the other room, preparing the seal for the final stages."
"Were you here all night?"
"I'm here to guard you. Me and Miss Ivie. We've been taking turns. She even taught me some battle techniques. Expanded to four pages per day in my Gift."
Rachel stared at him. "Ok….What about sleep?"
"Yeah, I'll sleep later. Ivie went to get coffee."
Rachel was quiet for a moment.
"You seem used to this. How do you even cope in school?"
David's face went flat.
"That's the neat part. I don't."
Rachel didn't laugh. She just looked at him.
"Is that why Jane left?"
David was quiet.
"Yeah," he said. "I deserved it. By the way."
Rachel nodded slowly.
"Jane and I met online on reddit," she said. "Discussing a poem. 'We Are Africa.'"
David's face softened. "She does like poems. Annotating them too."
"She's so good. I'm shocked she's going for pharmacy."
"Yeah, she's really smart. Or intelligent. Both. I mean—"
Rachel almost smiled. "I've never met her, actually. But she's like my best friend."
David looked at the window. The darkness hadn't lifted.
"That's nice to hear. She's the best kind of friend to have around."
Rachel pulled her knees to her chest.
"Before I slept, I was thinking... if my mom forgets, she won't be tracked. We can go back to our normal life."
"It's one or the other," David said. "I had the idea of living with the truth. If it hurts, I'd persuade my mom too. But honestly? It's your choice."
A knock on the door.
David stood. "I'll get it."
Ivie appeared in front of him.
Not walked. Appeared. She was holding a cup of coffee, steam rising from the lid. She hadn't been there a moment ago.
"You're fast," David said.
"You'll get used to it."
"You always say that miss ivie."
She handed him the coffee.
Then she turned and opened the door.
A white and black light shuned from the door.
The door disintegrated. The wall behind it disintegrated. David flew backward, coffee forgotten, his body crashing through drywall and timber. Ivie landed beside him, already rolling, already standing.
Rachel was gone.
Ezra had her. He was moving her toward Marcel, his massive frame blocking her from the debris.
"Drive," he said. "Get her out of here. Complete the seal somewhere else."
Marcel didn't argue. He grabbed Rachel's arm and ran.
Ade stood in the hole where the door used to be, the massive iron lantern humming in his hands. The shutter was open. Black flame licked the edges.
"You really don't have a Gift," he said to Ivie. "I heard—"
He was on the ground.
In a different compound. Concrete beneath him. The sky above him. His lantern beside him, cracked, smoking.
He didn't know how he got there. He didn't see her move. He didn't feel the impact until after he landed.
"How did I—"
Ivie walked toward him, rolling her shoulder. The Monarch's Gauntlet glowed on her right arm, pale blue veins pulsing.
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
---
BACK AT THE BUILDING
Destiny walked through the broken wall, his red glasses catching the faint light. Chi Chi floated beside him, an inch above the debris, her arms crossed, her expression bored.
"Ezra Uyiosa," Destiny said. "The Executioner. I look forward to our matchup."
David moved.
Page 307.
Stride — green ink boots manifesting over his sneakers — he shot toward Destiny, fist raised.
Destiny stepped aside. Not fast. Just before. Before David threw the punch, Destiny was already not there.
David felt his feet leave the ground.
Not jumping. Floating. The ceiling was rushing toward him, the floor dropping away. Chi Chi had pointed at him.
"Gravity," she said. "You lost it."
Ezra's flail shot out — black chain, spiked head — wrapping around David's ankle and yanking. David crashed back into the building. The walls were unraveling, debris floating upward, furniture drifting past him like clouds.
"Go," Ezra said. "Find Marcel. You're a liability here."
"I can't even control myself—"
Ezra grabbed him by the collar and threw.
David flew through the broken wall, through the air, over the city — twenty buildings, maybe more.
He used a clone to break his fall, green ink splattering across the rooftop of a moving SUV.
Marcel was driving. Rachel was in the back seat.
And on the car behind them, standing on the roof, Desire spun Goliath.