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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

“What does that even mean?” I whispered under my breath.

Papa looked to Eleni and me, his face filled with guilt. Eleni let out a small gasp. I should’ve known as soon as Yemoja said that some celestials would stay behind in the neighborhood. I shook my head, refusing to accept it.

Papa couldn’t leave Mama, Eleni, and me. Nor could he expect us to go to Azur without him. If he was staying behind to fight the Lord of Shadows, then so was I. I couldn’t stop being a guardian in training just because things got hard. If anything, now was the time to bring my A game.

Fifteen

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I MEET MY MATCH

WHEN YEMOJA DISMISSED the assembly, most of the godlings filed out of the gym in a somber mood, leaving only the JMS students. The older godlings had volunteered to fight, but Yemoja had said that no one under seventeen would be allowed to join the battle. That was completely unfair.

I stepped off the bleachers, intending to protest. I was a guardian, and if any godling got to stay behind, it should be me. Eleni and I accidentally helped damage the veil, but maybe there was a way to repair it if we worked together. We couldn’t do that if we were hiding on Azur.

“There isn’t much time,” Yemoja was telling the other orishas. They spoke in hushed voices. “We’ll set up three perimeters around the Lord of Shadows with celestials and godlings in each group. Sky Father and I will lead the first line of defense around the library. Nana, your group will secure the school grounds. Finally, Elegguá, you will create a seal around the neighborhood.” Yemoja paused, and for a moment, the sound of crashing waves filled my ears, like a storm on a sea.

Papa’s eyes were red rimmed, and he looked so tired. “The seal won’t hold him long. He’s much stronger than when we faced him in the last war.”

Yemoja clasped his shoulder affectionally. “I don’t see that we have another choice, old friend. Once the seal is intact, it will be our last line of defense. It should be enough to delay the Lord of Shadows while we evacuate this world.”

“Since we cannot defeat him with sheer might, we must outwit him,” Orunmila said, his voice quiet. He was tall with dark skin and a disc of light glowing around his head.

“In case you’ve forgotten, we haven’t been able to outwit him either,” Nana said.

I thought about Shangó’s dark energy equations. At first, I had dismissed them as just another science problem to solve, but maybe he was working on a way to defeat the Lord of Shadows. I turned back to the bleachers, where my friends were having their own conversation.

Eli squinted. “Is it just me, or do the celestials look real nervous over there?”