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“In an enchanted gods-damned grove!” Asha growls back. “I can’t fathom if you’ve lost all common sense, or if you never had any to begin with!” When he stares at her, uncomprehending, she expands: “Don’t eat strange fruit in enchanted groves! That’s what literally every old tale teaches you! If you grow another head or turn into one of those”—she points at the nuk-nuks—“it’ll be your own fault!”
Kweku whirls to me, horrified. “Am I going to turn into a nuk-nuk, Deka? Is there a curse on the fruit?”
“How should I know?” I reply, shrugging. “It’s my first time here too.”
Keita walks to the top of the garden, then stops, turns to the group. “Everyone, take a direction. The kelai could be in the main house, or it could be in one of the adjoining ones. Either way, signal the moment you find anything. I’ll take the main house. Alone.”
He emphasizes this word so harshly, my suspicions rise. There’s something in the house he doesn’t want anyone to see.
His parents.
The understanding shatters through me. This estate is perfectly preserved, everything, presumably, just as Keita left it. And that, perhaps, includes the corpses of his parents.
I run after him. He’s rushing up the stairs leading to the entrance now, his footsteps so swift and sure, I struggle to keep up. “Keita,” I call out, “wait for me!”
When he doesn’t slow down, I turn back to the others. “Start searching—quickly,” I say. “I’ll go with Keita.”
Ixa pads over, attempting to follow me, but I shake my head. I need to be alone with Keita now, I say, thankful when Britta sees my gesture and quickly beckons to him.
“Come on, Ixa.”
Ixa coming, he replies, disgruntled, though Britta can’t hear him. He pads after her.
I give Britta a quick nod of thanks, then I follow after Keita, slowing as he does once we reach the massive doors that are the entrance to the house. They’re still slightly open, even after all these years, and there are claw marks on the sides, as if something forced its way out. Not something—deathshrieks.
Keita turns to me. “You don’t have to come with me, Deka. I remember the way.”
I nod. “That may be, but I still want to come.”
He sighs, his jaw gritting. “I don’t think you understand, Deka. This place, it’s exactly as I left it. Exactly.”
“And that might include your parents.” When he glances at me, startled, I add: “I’ve seen corpses before.”
“These aren’t corpses. These are my family.”
“I’m your family too.”
“For how long?” There’s a note of challenge to these words. Anger as well.
I suck in a breath. “You don’t have to do this, Keita,” I whisper. “You don’t have to be like this.”
“Be like what? Cold? Angry? In pain?” With every word, Keita’s voice breaks more and more.
“Alone,” I say, reaching out my hand. “You don’t have to be alone. You don’t have to push me away. I’m here. For as long I can be, I’m here.”
“But you shouldn’t be. You should be with the others, finding your kelai, preparing for godhood.”
I step closer again. I know what Keita is doing, pushing so hard. He’s trying to make a clean break. That way he gets to wallow in his feelings and I get to, presumably, ascend guilt-free. I shake my head. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be than here. There’s nowhere that’s more important than here.”
“The world is ending, didn’t you hear? It’s what’ll happen if you don’t take back your kelai.”
“Not yet, it isn’t. And while we still have time, I want to be with you.”
“Time….” Keita’s reply is a bitter laugh. “And precisely how much time do we have left, do you think? A minute? An hour? Two at most?” He whirls toward me. “In the next few hours, perhaps even minutes, you’ll be a god. Something else entirely. Something that doesn’t need me.”
And there it is, the words Keita has no doubt been holding on to all this time. The words I’ve been fearing as well. But unlike what I expected, they do not shatter me. I have the love of Britta and Belcalis, the twins and Katya, as my armor. Even our uruni have girded me with the strength of their belief. I will not let Keita sink into his despair, nor will I let him drag me down with him.
“I’ve never needed you, Keita.”
