“Good.” I gave him my most cutting glare. “And I haven’t forgotten about all the times you bullied me and called me names, or what you said about my family.”

Winston blasted streaks of fire at me one after another. I ducked, but his flames anticipated my move. The first one changed its trajectory and hit me in my chest. The second one slammed into my shoulder. When did he learn that trick? Harmless puffs of smoke drifted up from my shirt.

“Look at the guardian of the veil now—what a joke.” Winston doubled over laughing. “You’d be ashes if Oshun didn’t limit our magic.”

He sent another fireball straight for me, but this time I was ready. I raised my hands, palms facing out. In a split second, sparks of light flashed before my eyes, and a mini-gateway opened in front of me.

The fireball changed path like before, but the gateway moved quickly to intercept. When the two collided, the fireball disappeared. Gritting his teeth, Winston shot more flames from his fingertips. I opened a second and a third gateway. I was drenched in sweat, but I was proud of myself. I was holding my own. And I’d finally learned how to open multiple gateways at once. Maybe it was the threat of being burned to a crisp.

Winston groaned and ran at me. I didn’t have time to think as one of my gateways grew in size. The roaring vortex spun with glowing god symbols around the outer ring, and the middle was darker than the darkest night.

“What the heck?” Winston screamed. He tried to stop, but his momentum carried him forward. As he teetered on the edge of falling in, I felt a strange pull from the gateway, like it was calling to me. I stepped toward it, and I stumbled as I drew closer.

“That’s enough, Maya,” Oshun said, cutting through the fog in my head. Her ribbons yanked Winston back.

I lost my concentration, and the gateway dissipated like a cloud of smoke.

Winston was on the floor, glaring up at me in disgust. He climbed to his feet. “You tried to send me into the Dark, didn’t you? All that talk about being on the same side and you do something so underhanded. I shouldn’t be surprised. Who’s afraid of the Lord of Shadows destroying our world when we have Maya?”

“I—I didn’t,” I stuttered. “That wasn’t the Dark . . . It was . . . it was someplace else.” Someplace worse, said a little voice in the back of my mind.

“Whatever, Maya,” Winston spat. “For all we know, you’re one of the Lord of Shadows’ spies too.”