“Nanu.Youkilled Baba.” I rolled the words on my tongue like poison, my mouth numb. I still didn’t want to believe it. “You had me arrested. I was beaten, tortured. Imprisoned for ayear.”
“But you survived.” Nanu clasped her hands together, her eyes taking on a bolder gleam. She approached me steadily and I wondered if she had consumed the zoraat.
“I thought you would be executed. I counted on it. Then I would have fulfilled my bargain—I needed to give something up. You, for the warlord. You, for your father. But you lived.” She watched me with a terrifying intensity.
“Because you arestrong,” she continued. “You are like me and your mother. You were forged in the fires of hatred too, made new by your revenge. I watched you when you came back, you were someone who could light this world on fire, who could make it yours. I was going tokill you then, but in the end, I couldn’t. Not when you reminded me so much of her. You could destroy Vahid, crush anyone who stood in your way. You had vengeance filling your soul,just like me.”
She reached a weathered hand out to me, as if I were going to take it and clasp it to my breast, as if I didn’t want to swing my knife and chop off every one of her fingers for killing my father, for wishing me dead, for giving up on us all when my mother was killed.
“I knew then that you were worthy of her. A daughter that could burn the earth to the ground with the power of the djinn.”
She reached for me again, and something in me snapped. “You killed Baba. You condemned me to death. You destroyed your family for a daughter who would have hated your actions. MamalovedBaba. And she loved me. And you destroyed the things she loved in her memory.”
I exhaled, the back of my eyes burning. I lowered my sword. “I amnotlike you. I will not throw my entire life away anymore on a path that leads to nothing but death and ash. That is not what Amma would have wanted for either of us.”
My grandmother dropped her hands, and her face took on a grim cast. “Then it appears I will get a chance to fulfill my bargain after all.”
The door behind me moved, the glint of a scimitar flashing through it.
“Dani.” Mazin’s eyes flicked between my grandmother and me. “I found Noor. She’s okay. She was immobilized and tied up, but I couldn’t free her. I think it was djinn magic.”
I whirled my eyes back to my grandmother. “So, you did consume the seeds.”
She scoffed. “You think I would waste that power? You had it all at your fingertips. I thought you were smarter than this.” She looked at Mazin. “But you chose someone weak to be beside you as well.”
“He’s not weak,” I uttered, my voice low. “Weakness is destroying your only family for vengeance, killing those who love you for your own gain.” I lowered my sword and took a step forward. “But youdon’t have to do this, Nanu. You can still come with us.” I slid the sword into its sheath. “We’ll destroy the seeds, make it so no one can ever use them again.” I swallowed a lump in my throat, thinking of everything she had done to my father, me, Maz. So many lives destroyed for revenge.
But the cycle ended here.
“I forgive you, Nanu. I forgive what you’ve done.”
My grandmother watched me for a long moment, her eyes bright. “Forgive me? There is nothing to forgive. I gave you the chance to be strong, to forge your own destiny, and now you’ve thrown it away.” She reached into the pocket of her dark shalwar, pulling out a handful of seeds. “But I won’t throw it away. I am going to steal it for myself.”
She stuffed a palmful in her mouth, the dark seeds glistening like tiny bugs, blackening her gums, her mouth, her tongue.
I lunged forward, grabbing at her wrist. “Nanu, stop! You have no idea what this amount will do to you.”
I had seen Noor be so careful, grinding up the seeds quietly, measuring out each portion diligently. I’d seen Thohfsa collapse and die from eating too much.
When the djinn magic was in your blood, you felt invincible.
I felt the pull of it now with the power in my veins, and I fought to control it. I tried to still her limbs but I was too late. She’d eaten them, and her eyes were alight with zoraat. She roared in pain, clutching at her throat, her eyes bulging. Then she turned her wild, feral gaze on Mazin and me.
I looked at Maz, our eyes meeting, everything I wanted to say to him contained in that one glance. Fear. Longing.
Love.
And then I opened my mouth and uttered one final word to him. “Run.”
Forty-nine
Maz didn’t question me or hesitate. He took off through the door and shouted for Noor.
“Nanu, you don’t want to do this.”
“You don’t leave me with any choice. Don’t stand in my way.”
“I’m not going to hurt you.” I felt the djinn power running through my veins prick at my senses. A hot flame of magic was ready to burst out of me, to consume everything, the house, my grandmother, myself.
