Jaya slowly closed her eyes. She knew what Akaros was doing—his subtle provocations to reveal information. Samson had fallen into it so easily, so quickly, she had the urge to rescue him from his own demise, but she had already erred herself. So she stayed quiet. Forced herself to listen. She thought of home. Of Div.
“—that I would toss her over?!” Samson gripped the edge of the panel, blue sparks snapping precariously. “She was of Agni.She was my rani.I would never betray her.”
Akaros laughed, cold and slow. “Did you siphon her Agni?”
“She gave it to me,” Samson said, and Jaya snapped up.
“I’m sorry. Shegave it to you?”
“So her Agni is yours, then?” Akaros said.
“No, no,” Samson said, dropping his head into his hands. He tugged on his locks. “I—I took too much—at first, I couldn’t help it—but then I tried to stop. I withdrew so she could have control, but then the ship pitched and she—she…”
“But you connected.” Jaya tried to hold back the eagerness in her voice, but something, hope perhaps, delirium even, rustled in her chest. Maybe shecouldget a reading. Maybe she could save Div after all. “What was it like? For how long? Did you feel the third, out there somewhere? Did you overpower her, or did she—”
“Jaya.” Akaros’s voice was edged with warning.
But Samson had stilled. Somethingshifted. It was as if every part of him had sharpened, and the desperation in his eyes, the sorrow heavy on hisshoulders, had ground into a weapon. Even his band of fire had silvered, and Jaya tasted the slight metallic charge of electricity in the air.
“What do you mean about the third?”
Ice pricked her ribs as she realized her mistake. Jaya took a step back.
Daz entered then and stopped short when he saw Samson with fire on his wrists. “Prophet—”
“What about the third Agni?” Samson repeated, his eyes on hers.
“You said it yourself, Sam. There is no third,” Akaros chimed in.
“I never told you that,” he snapped.
Daz looked at her. “There’s a third Agni?”
“It’s nothing,” she said quickly, but Samson slammed his hand against the table, and she jumped.
“What. Third.”
He rounded the table toward her, but Daz blocked his way. “Samson, enough,” he said. “We need to find the killdoms—”
“Elena is gone,” Samson snarled, but his voice broke under the weight of her name, under the unsaid. He pushed Daz away and stood before Jaya. His flaming hand a fingerbreadth from her own on the panel. “How do you know about the third?”
Her pulse hitched. She looked to Daz for help, but the Yumi watched her with a keen vigilance, as if prepared for her to bolt. She thought quickly—perhaps a white lie? Subterfuge? A gentle touch, like arranging the pillars in the field just so, so that the players were forced to close upon each other—but all strategies fled her mind as she watched Samson’s flame lengthen, barely kissing her knuckles. Jaya trembled but stayed her hand. She could not show weakness to the players, or else they would turn against her.
She forced herself to look Samson in the eye. “There is a third Agni. And we think it’s here. In our world, hidden somewhere. And I—I thought that, if only, well, if you and Elena…” She trailed off, blood pounding in her ears.Thought what?She could not give him the truth, the whole truth. It would ruin all that they had built, all thatshehad built. It would end Div.
Suddenly, the flame launched forward and bit her flesh. Jaya yelped, yanking back her hand. Ash ringed her skin, and a welt was already rising. But Samson had not moved. Had not even blinked. He stood still andalert, and there was something uncanny about his stillness, in the way his eyes tracked her. Like a butcher, studying a cornered animal.
“Lie to me again, and it’ll be your whole arm,” he said.
Daz fidgeted but said nothing.
For the first time, Jaya felt dread, cold and thick, wrap around her spine. She cradled her hand to her chest and thought,This is why the gods took away Agni.
“You and Elena can awaken it. If your Agnis are strong enough, melded enough, it’ll call to the third.”
Samson’s hand trembled. “Who is the third?”
“I—I don’t know.”
