“I’ve got something for him later. He lives for now,” War responded.
Jinx limped to Blair, one hand pressed to her burned skin, blood dripping from her calf. Blair sobbed, clutching her bleeding shoulder, unable to look away from Crane.
“I can’t believe he’s dead!” Blair wailed into her hands.
“Crane was Hoax’s lieutenant. It was never gonna work out, not with his loyalty to Hoax and ours to Eboenia. Can’t you see that?” Jinx said.
Blair cocked her fist back and slammed it into Jinx’s face, knocking her to the ground. “Fuck you! It’s not always about Eboenia. Some of us had our own ways to cope with that fucked up world,” Blair sobbed.
I hurried to help Jinx up. She held her face, shocked that Blair had hit her. “He was going to kill you, Blair!” I screamed.
“No, he wasn’t. But I know who will—your demonic master! We had good lives before all this bullshit tore us apart! You need to leave, War. I’m not easily influenced like Jinx—she’s a damn follower! I can’t pretend he’s good for you. We had a code, Eboenia,” Blair replied.
“She’s not going anywhere, firefly. Eboenia is my wife,” War said, and everyone gasped.
“Bro, what! I thought this was only temporary to get your rocks off!” Grim exclaimed.
“Typical man. Ruining her life just to fuck her. She has been through enough of that!” Blair argued, tears streaming down her face.
“Nah, I ain’t gotta do that for some pussy. Eboenia is bound to me, and she will remain by my side through hell and back. The only way out is death, Blair, so you have to accept that you’ve lost her. She’s molded for my life now, not the one she once had in Charmden,” War told her.
“You see that? Those are mind games! It’s against her will!” Blair shouted, frustrated.
“Everything we do is a test. Doesn’t matter who you are—you’re tested on loyalty because your ancestors never learned it, so they couldn’t teach you. You failed the test, Blair. Being the oldest doesn’t make you the wisest,” War said.
“I think he just dissed me,” Grim whispered to Crash Out.
“War, maybe we should all calm down and talk about this,” I tried to intervene.
“This isn’t your program, Eboenia. When it comes to my tribe, I don’t discuss shit. She has to go,” War said.
Thin chains sprouted from his hand and struck Blair in the skull. “Noooooo!” Jinx screamed, ready to charge at War, but Grim held her back.
“Trust me. If you come anywhere near us, I’ll kill her,”War’s voice blasted inside my head.
Blair dropped to her knees, her body twitching, eyes rolling back until only the whites showed. The gears on War’s body spun faster, the energy nearly knocking us over and threatening to rip my locs from my scalp. The powerful wind drowned out Jinx’s screams.
Moments later, the chains snapped back into War’s hand, and Blair collapsed onto her side. Her eyes fluttered wildly, like she was still possessed. War’s gears dimmed and ground to a halt—the spell was finished, but I had no idea what he’d just done to her. Jinx rushed over, rolling Blair onto her back.
“What did you do?” I demanded.
“I took Crane out of her memory. She was gonna hate the fuck out of you if I hadn’t,” War replied flatly.
“Thank you,” Jinx breathed, relief and exhaustion in her voice.
War just stalked away, like a grumpy old man. You’d think he hated doing anything good, and maybe he did—if you let him tell it, he never spares anyone.
Thank you, Cashaun,I thought to myself.
I knelt beside Blair as her eyes finally focused. She blinked up at me, dazed, then grinned. “I need to stop partying with you rascals. I’m so drunk,” Blair slurred, and the three of us burst out laughing, the tension breaking for just a moment.
Behind us, Grim and Crash Out were already piling Crane’s remains onto a pyre, flames licking up into the night, sending sparks and smoke swirling into the dark sky.
Wait! Did War just tell us that I’m his wife?
We left the stadium, Blair wobbling, her hand pressed to her head. She leaned into Jinx for support, while Crash Out and Grim fell in behind us.
“She’s gonna have to sleep that off, bruh,” Crash Out said, shaking his head.
