THE CRY OF A WOMAN

broken only by Kemi's whimpers and the skittering of insects in the dark. Malik led the way, his stolen

seemingly solid stone wall. With a grinding click,

rotting flesh, and something sweetly cloying. Incense, s

le was worse t

Some had been blinded, their eyelids stitched shut with coarse thread. Others bore th

amber, shackled to the alta

Her hair had been shorn, her back a lattice of whip scars. Where

word tore from

evealing the hollow where her tongue had been. But

ootsteps echoed above. "The high priest makes

slick with stolen oil. Kemi crouched beside her mothe

ik, her dagger at hi

ned. "Not this

ot of pain, but of rage. A w

mple doors

ir head stood a warrior woman Adanna recognized-Nneka, the heale

l. She tossed Adanna a sword. "The city's in ch

ry still. "Wh

wine casks with madness herbs. By now, the

d, her stump of a wrist gesturing wi

He's here. Tonight is th

vibrated in Adanna's bones. The king would be p

d at Kemi

her's miss

s full of b

a sacrifice he won't