I move closer but its toxicity is magnetic. I give it wider berth, clinging to the warmth that hums inside me. This might just work. I turn over the cart of lead and spread them out, lining them up in neat rows. My arms are heavy and ache from the weight. I try not to touch them too much, fighting off the chill as I spread them out with my fingers. When they’re all laid out, I retreat until they’re very small in the distance.

“Iwee yakaz,” I say, pointing at the first row of chunks of lead, waving my hand in one smooth motion over it. The lead stretches to a plate and I move on to the next. It takes a while, but by the time sweat crawls down my neck, I hold my arm up blocking the sun and it’s done.

I slip back underground, and the corridor is lined with bodies slipping on armor. The Macazi don’t have any traditional armor, but they wear chunks of lead around their necks, dangling from their wrists, as wide circles in their ears. I keep a distance and steady my steps, feeling my magic hesitate the longer I’m near them.

“Joshi,” I say as turquoise sprigs of hair appear on my peripheral. “Go on up and grab those sheets of lead I made. Take a few people with you. They’re heavy. Line them up down here against the walls. Start at the entrance and focus on the common areas.”

“Got it,” Joshi says, snapping a strap across his chest that holds an assortment of knives, which I’d guess are made of lead. “You going to be down here while we do it?”

“Yeah, I’ll have to be.” I shift on my feet. The idea of being down here while the ability to use my magic slips from my fingers frankly scares the shit out of me, but I see no way around it. “Have you seen Taavi?”

“I haven’t. Not since she returned with the lead.”

“Find her. Tell her I need to see her. I want to talk to her before nightfall.”

Joshi nods and is off.

I round a few corners between armored bodies looking for some glimpse or whisper of Taavi. I duck my head into a large room where meetings were held. Ghizoni and Macazi work in pairs to clear piles of debris stacked against the walls, making space for the lead plates. I give them a thumbs-up and keep on down the hall. Maybe she’s in here? I peep into a small bedroom. Nope. Nothing. No one. Where is she?

I turn and bump into Julius, his expression strained. “Hey,” I say.

“Ole girl and all her people are gone.”

“You mean Kai?”

He nods.

“What do you mean, ‘gone’?”