“I hope you succeed,” Abdah said. “There is a far more important task ahead. One only you can perform.” He gazed skyward.

“Anything else you want to tell me?” she said.

Abdah said, “I wish it were not too late for you, child.”

“Funny. I’m quite pleased that it’s too late for all of you.”

She raised her arms, and brought the whole fleshy cavern down upon them.

Only the little girl looked surprised.

14.

Things weren’t particularly eventful until Kage shot Eskander.

Nyx wasn’t even sure how it happened. They had stopped both bakkies at the side of the road for mid-afternoon prayer—at Khatijah and Ahmed’s request.

Nyx was squatting just off the road’s right shoulder, taking a piss, when she heard loud voices, a shrill cry, then a shot.

Eskander howled.

Nyx pulled on her trousers and leapt onto the road. Kage was standing over Eskander’s prone body, the magician’s gun in her hand. Kage’s own custom gun was still slung over her back.

There was some babbling among the others, but Nyx didn’t give a shit about that. She reached behind her for her scattergun, ready to put Kage down. When you took on a new team, you did it knowing that not everybody would work out. Oh, sure, you hoped it was all whiskey and fucking, but she had lived too long to expect it.

Eshe grabbed for her arm before the gun was half pulled. She started to swing at him, and he leapt back.

“It was Eskander!” he said. “She shot first.”

“Why the fuck does it matter who shot first?” Nyx rounded on Kage. “Put that the fuck down.”

Kage’s face was smooth and unwavering as a water reservoir, like she was taking a stroll out in some Mushiran field trolling for grasshoppers. She neatly unloaded the magician’s gun and placed it beside Eskander, who was clutching at her gut and shrieking.

“Cat bitch,” Eskander said. She hissed and kicked at the dirt.

“I’ll put a bullet in both of you if you don’t shut the fuck up,” Nyx said.

“They were bickering,” Ahmed said, stepping up from the other side of the bakkie. “Eskander pulled a gun on her.”

“Catshit,” Khatijah said. “That little maggot made a threat. I’d have handled it different, but it’s not a surprise she pulled a gun.”

“First,” Nyx said, “Why the fuck does a magician choose her own gun before calling a swarm? Second, I don’t care who pulled what first. There’s no gun-pulling on teammates. None.” Nyx glanced over at Kage. Even though Eskander was small for a Nasheenian, Kage was shorter by at least a head and weighed a good twenty kilos less. Nyx half thought to gift them both boxing gloves and send them into a ring to sort it out.

“You do it again and we part ways,” Nyx said. “Permanently. Understood?”

Kage nodded.