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Back Maya and the Lord of Shadows Save as PDF
Chapters (34)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Acknowledgments
  33. About the Author
  34. About the Publisher

I was slack-jawed, realizing that Eleni could open two gateways at the same time. I had to learn that trick and pronto.

Papa stepped out of one gateway, and the sky god, Obatala, stepped out of the other. Light pulsed around both celestials, and wind blew Papa’s long locs across his face. “You should’ve stayed in the Dark world,” he said, his voice a great echo. I could feel his power rolling off him in waves. Nulan grimaced, her skin still smoking from where the god symbols had burned into her.

“And you should’ve died there,” she spat.

“Enough of this treachery,” Obatala snapped. Sky Father appeared as a small man with ice-white eyes and white hair set against brown skin. “Let’s see how the Lord of Shadows fares without you sowing despair in the human world.” God symbols formed chains around Nulan’s wrists and ankles. She pushed against them, but it was no use. At that, Obatala vanished with Nulan back into the gateway. I assumed that he was taking her to Azur, the city in the clouds.

With Nulan gone, Papa turned to Eleni and me. He had looked brave only a moment ago, but his face creased into worry lines now. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Did she hurt you?”

Eli brushed at his jacket like the shadow had left dirt behind. “She caught me off guard, but I’m okay.” Frankie rolled her eyes at him.

“Great heavens,” Nana said as she and the other celestials began to stir again on their thrones. “Ogun, you were right. We should have disposed of her.”

Eleni walked over to Papa, and he pulled her into a hug. I knew this was harder for her. Nulan was her auntie and had betrayed their whole family. I joined them on Papa’s opposite side, and Eleni reached for my hand. Both Papa and I held her as she began to weep.

I didn’t think for one minute that stopping Nulan would put an end to the Lord of Shadows’ plans. If he could share his powers with her, we could expect more unpleasant surprises.

Five

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LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN . . . THE FIRST CELESTIAL

AS SILVER FAIRY dust floated around Eleni, a wave of sadness settled over me. My whole body ached. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders, but there was also this new hopelessness that I had never experienced before and a grave sense of loss.

How could we ever defeat the Lord of Shadows? He was too strong—too clever. I bit my lip, trying desperately to shake off my negative thoughts. We could beat him if we worked together and Papa, Eleni, and I figured out how to permanently repair the veil. I noticed Eli sniffling and Frankie reaching under her glasses to wipe her eyes, and I frowned. Why were we all suddenly so sad?