“Did you see Winston when they pulled him out of the library? He was toast.”

“How can we hope to stand against an entire army of darkbringers?”

Eleni leaned against my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her. Frankie was on my opposite side, and Eli and Zeran sat on the row above us. After everyone had settled on the bleachers, Yemoja and the other celestials glided to the middle of the basketball court. Her sea-green dress moved like calming ocean waves. It was hypnotizing. Papa, Nana, Eshu, and three celestials I hadn’t met before stood behind her.

“The really tall one is Orunmila, one of the universe’s first children,” I heard someone whisper. “He is the orisha of wisdom, knowledge, and divination . . .”

Yemoja cleared her throat, and everyone fell silent as if in a trance. “By now, you know that Principal Ollie and my children, Ogun and Shangó, have given themselves over to stop the Lord of Shadows from entering our world.” Her voice was a song on the wind that washed over the gym—calm and soothing, even though inside I felt raging fire. “It will not be enough, but for now, it has trapped the essence of him in one place. He will not be able to break through the veil elsewhere.”

She looked over the crowd, blinking back tears. “As we speak, I am arranging for your human neighbors to be relocated. The neighborhood will be completely isolated and shielded in our final attempt to contain the Lord of Shadows.”

Frankie nervously bounced her foot. She was shaking. We all were. I thought of the dream I had at the beginning of the summer. The Lord of Shadows had stood at the end of my block. His hundreds of purple and black ribbons lashed out around him, writhing and leeching the color from everything. The trees had turned gray, along with the cars, the stop sign, the grass, the houses. He had relished draining the life out of our neighborhood.

Mama always said that some people couldn’t be reasoned with—that no matter how sound the argument, how clear the facts, some people were so consumed with their own hatred that they would never find a middle ground or do what was best for everyone. I did not doubt that the Lord of Shadows was one of those people, but some part of me wanted to try just once to reason with him. No one else had to die because of past mistakes.

“We are much weakened after our last battle against the Lord of Shadows,” Yemoja continued, studying the faces in the crowd. “We can’t defend this world alone. We need your help, but I will not lie to you. Some of you will not survive.”

“How did the Lord of Shadows break through at the school?” someone asked.

“Maybe he had help from the darkbringer,” said another.