“I went for a walk to clear my head,” he explained before she asked. He gave me a sidelong glance, then looked away guiltily. “I have a lot on my mind.”

“It helps to get some fresh air.” Miss Lucille smiled sadly as she handed him the grocery bags. “I know living here is a big transition, especially with worrying about your brother.”

Zeran said nothing as he and Miss Lucille headed inside. That was when I noticed the mud and grass caked on his boots. All the grass in Chicago had long since withered and retreated underneath the snow. He’d traveled someplace far, like farther than the Midwest, to have that much grass on his shoes this time of the year.

Eleni let out a deep sigh. “Poor Zeran. I can’t imagine what it was like for him to leave his brother behind.”

The kernel of doubt I had earlier was nagging at me. I had gotten to know Zeran pretty well over the last few months. He wanted nothing more than to save his brother, Billu, from a life with the darkbringer army. He’d even defied his father, Commander Rovey, gotten himself locked up in a cage, and helped us raid the Crystal Palace in hopes of finding his brother.

Zeran wasn’t one to give up. He was more stubborn than me. If he had a way to rescue his brother, he’d take it, even if it meant betraying us. Deep down, I wondered if I would do the same for Mama, Papa, Eleni, or one of my friends, but I already knew the answer.

Seven

DARK SIDE

ONCE WE WERE inside our house, Eleni and I stepped into the hallway and slipped out of our sneakers. I inhaled a shaky breath as I hung my coat on the hook beside the door. The house smelled like vanilla and sugar and Mama’s lilac perfume. It smelled like home. I couldn’t let the Lord of Shadows take this away from me. Papa, Mama, Eleni, and me . . . we had a good life. We had friends and neighbors who we cared about and who cared about us. The human world might’ve had its faults, but it was the only home we knew.

Mama appeared at the edge of the living room wearing green oven mitts and a yellow apron over her scrubs. She had her hair pulled up into a puffy ponytail. “What is that smell?”

“Decomposing trash baked in the sun,” I said innocently.

“The good news is that we delivered my evil auntie to the orisha council for punishment,” Eleni added.

Mama pulled off her mitts and apron with a deep sigh. She shook her head. “I’m going to be gray before my time, raising two godlings.”

“Two guardians in training,” I said proudly.

Mama smiled. “Two brilliant, beautiful girls who will do well on their exams next week because they’ve been making time to study, correct?”