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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

We were halfway to the library when I got a prickly sensation down my back. Some of the godlings stopped in our path and pointed at the sky. The Azurians clutched their young children and hurried away. Eleni gasped next to me at the same time I saw it. A dark cloud rolled in like a silent storm. Lightning struck, followed by thunder that shook the ground.

Zeran flexed his fingers. “I don’t think that’s normal.”

That was definitely not normal. The weather was always perfect here.

The Azurian directing people shouted, “Stay calm and proceed to your arch immediately. Hurry!”

An alarm blasted over a loudspeaker as the dark cloud completely blocked the sun.

“It’s the prisoners!” someone screamed. “They’ve escaped from Alsar.”

Twenty-Three

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AMBUSH

THE SIREN BLASTED again and echoed in the market. The cloud was spreading as lightning cut across the sky. The Azurians quickly fled, some taking flight, some disappearing into thin air, some barricading themselves inside sweetshops. The last of the godlings and their families ran for the arches. “Wasn’t Alsar where Sky Father took Captain Nulan?” I asked as the streets emptied.

“Yes,” Eleni said, her voice small. “It houses the most dangerous magical criminals in the entirety of the universe.”

“Just what we need, the most dangerous criminals in the universe free,” Eli said.

I frowned, thinking back to when we captured Nulan. “She tricked us,” I said, putting it together. “Captain Nulan wanted to go to Alsar. What better place to recruit than a prison full of people who hate the celestials’ rules?”

Zeran stared up at the cloud getting closer. “She’s not one of the Lord of Shadows’ favorite cronies for nothing.”

An Azurian in a white uniform stepped in our path. Her skin was gray and smooth in a way that blended in with the background behind her. She didn’t have hair or eyebrows—or eyelids, for that matter. Zigzag lines, almost like tattoos, covered her bald head. I blinked once, twice, then a third time. I was having a hard time focusing on her face. “Didn’t you hear the sirens?” she asked. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

I swallowed my nerves. “Is Tyana Nulan free? Did she release the other prisoners?”

“Come with me,” the woman insisted, gesturing for us to follow her. She must have seen our hesitation. Hello, hadn’t she heard of stranger danger? You don’t just leave with some random person. That could lead to nothing but trouble. “I am a peacekeeper, and we’re getting everyone to safety until the criminals can be apprehended.”

More peacekeepers flooded the streets. They helped the Azurians and godlings who were clamoring to get to the arches. “We have to go to the library to get our friend first,” I said, rushing my words.

“I will accompany you,” the peacekeeper said sharply, then she turned without another word.