Page 57 of Storm of Ink and Blood

“No! But what else was I supposed to do? I needed to try on someone!”

“Come in,” Ajay said, giving his sister a look. “We should speak with her, Rania.”

“I have nothing to say to her!”

“Really? Because you’ve said quite a lot already,” Ajay said, a tense edge to his tone.

Rania’s nostrils flared. “You’re taking her side?”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side, but it was obvious what happened with Farida was an accident, and Zarya is sorry. Yelling at her every time she opens her mouth isn’t helping anything. Did you hear her? She just told us that she found a way to free the vanshaj, and all you can do is think about yourself!”

Ajay’s voice rose with each sentence, and it was apparent these were words he’d been holding in for a while.

Rania stepped back, her mouth opening and her hand pressing against her chest. She was clearly as surprised by his outburst as the rest of them.

“Ajay,” she said, her voice small.

He sighed and rubbed his face. “I’m worried about Farida, too, but this is getting us nowhere. She would not want us fighting like this.”

At that, the wind dipped out of Rania’s sails, and her body caved inward as her shoulders hunched. Zarya wasn’t sure what to make of any of this, but she was grateful that Ajay had stood up for her. She understood why Rania was so angry, but he was also right. This wasn’t getting them anywhere.

“Zarya,” Ajay said, turning back to her and Yasen. “Please come in and tell us what happened.”

Rania’s eyes flashed, but she said nothing as Zarya entered and followed Ajay into the living room.

She spent a few minutes explaining what she had done with Vikas and the others, describing the process, knowing that as Aazheri, the Chandras would have some understanding of what she meant, even without a sixth anchor.

“One of them had no magic,” she said, “and two of them had some.”

“And the last?” Ajay asked.

“He… is like me,” Zarya said.

Vikas confirmed all her suspicions that someone had been trying to contain the darkness. It had never really been banished. It had always been there, accessible to at least a few.

“The vanshaj have the sixth anchor,” Ajay said, shaking his head, his face turning pale.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it,” Zarya said, and Ajay rubbed his chin before he paced away, muttering something to himself.

“It does,” he said, turning to face her. “It actually all makes complete sense and clarifies so many things.”

“I think I can teach Vikas to break the collars as well,” Zarya said. “I think if we can find more vanshaj with the sixth anchor, then we could start freeing them all.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Ajay said.

“It might be,” she agreed, “but isn’t this what we’ve been working for? And I can’t do it all alone. The process takes time. It took me days to free all four, and it’s draining my magic. We need help.”

Ajay shook his head as his eyes turned glassy with the threat of tears.

“I’ve always…” He stopped and inhaled a deep breath, gathering himself. “I was raised to fear this power. To shun and vilify it, and it’s been under our noses all this time. We all pretend we’re so noble and pure. I was told to reject it, but now I feel like…” He stopped again. “I feel like a failure that I can’t help, too.”

Zarya walked over and laid a hand on his arm.

“You’ve done so much for this cause. You both have,” Zarya said, including Rania, feeling generous now that she wasn’t yelling at her. “You have no control over the magic you possess. There are still so many other ways to help. Freeing the vanshaj from their collars is only one step in a much larger plan.”

Ajay nodded, though she could tell she hadn’t convinced him yet.

“What we do need is someone to work on creating fake collars while we figure out our next steps,” she said. “It was very obvious after we removed their markings, and someone is bound to notice. They’ll wear scarves or clothing to cover their necks, but that will only conceal them for so long.”