“They will adjust,” Yemoja said as the gods’ realm began to change from a starry night to a bright, sunny day. The fireflies disappeared, replaced by rays of buttery yellow sunlight. Water and seafoam as fluffy as marshmallows began to whoosh around our ankles, warm and inviting.

The council members—Nana, Shangó, Ogun, Eshu, and Oshun—reluctantly stood up from their thrones. I thought they would’ve put up a fight, but they just stepped down from the raised platform in resignation.

“Papa, why are they listening to her?” I whispered. “She doesn’t even know what’s going on.”

“Yemoja is one of the founding members of the original council,” Papa explained, his voice low, though we both knew that everyone could hear us. “Her decision supersedes that of individual council members who are responsible for their neighborhood.”

Yemoja snapped her fingers. “Enough small talk.”

The five orisha thrones melted together and transformed into a throne made of seashells. Golden fish splashed around it, and a fan of water arched across the back more beautiful than Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. “Once my counterparts arrive, we will do what we should have done before: we must rid ourselves of the entire Dark world.”

I blinked, not quite registering what she was saying. She wanted to destroy all of the Dark. That would mean everyone: Zeran’s little brother, the people who disagreed with the Lord of Shadows, and the ones who he’d brainwashed into following him.

“We must be swift,” Ogun said. “Strike while we still have the chance.”

“I fear it’s our only course of action,” Eshu said reluctantly.

“For once, we’re in agreement,” Oshun added.

Nana shook her head. “I’m not so sure.”

“Nor am I.” Shangó frowned. “There still might be a way to stop the Lord of Shadows.”

“You can’t be serious!” I blurted out. My voice was a sharp note, and everyone stared at me. I swallowed hard and tried to explain. “You can’t destroy an entire world—all those people. How would we be any better than the Lord of Shadows?”

Yemoja leaned forward on her throne. The fish stopped splashing in the water around her feet. “How peculiar—you are a guardian in training, yet you are a champion of the Dark? Things really have changed since I have been gone.”

“We went to the Dark twice,” I said. “Not everyone wants a war with our world. We can’t just ignore that. We even have a friend from the Dark who helped us escape the Lord of Shadows.”

“Interesting.” Yemoja ran her hand across a waterspout like it was a pet viper. “Elegguá, return the children to the human world. I will speak with Nana Buruku and the others in private. It seems that I have a lot to catch up on since my absence.”