Fifty-three

"Dani." Maz's voice pierced through the haze, and he gripped my shoulders, shaking me hard. "Dani, we need to get out of here."

Vahid pushed the djinn's body off my sword, and black blood spilled across the dirt. The djinn was lifeless, and whatever form he had taken in this realm was gone.

My necklace fell to the ground, the small blade covered in dark djinn blood. I scooped it up, clutching the pendant tight in my hand.

Vahid's eyes were black and deep, and gone was that spark of fire in them from earlier. Instead, he seemed hollow, empty.

Maz looked up at him and inhaled a sharp breath.

The emperor watched us both. "Go on then, do what you both want to." He held his arms out wide, the flames raging around him. Heat pressed in on us from all sides, the sole path to freedom being steadily eaten by the wild djinn fire.

"I have nothing now. Take your vengeance."

Mazin gripped the hilt on his scimitar so tight his knuckles turned white. My eyes flicked to my bloodied knife on the ground.

The person before us was no more human than the djinn had been. He was a broken creature, knees on the ground, gaunt cheeks, a look that no vengeance of mine could ever replicate.

He was already destroyed.

The djinn power in my veins was gone too. Whether it was from the djinn's death in the human realm or my own actions trying to expel the power out, I didn't know. But I did know that I didn't have the same rage dictating my actions.

"Let's go," I said to Maz, stepping away from the emperor.

"Wait," said Mazin, staring at Vahid.

I glanced at Noor. She had escaped the fire and was shouting at us from the other side of the field. She looked over at Vahid too, her eyes burning as hot as the flames in the field, and I knew what it cost her to turn away from him. We all were pursuing our own vengeance, and it was time to let it go.

"Maz, if we don't leave now, it will be too late."

"Come with us," Mazin said, his eyes still fixed on the emperor.

Mazin held out a hand. I expelled a shocked breath. After everything Vahid had done, I hadn't expected Maz to reach out to him.

The emperor went still, looking as stunned as I felt.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Vahid asked, his lip curling. His body shook, and he resembled a frail bird, barely strong enough to hold his head up. "I said take your revenge! Kill me!"

Mazin shuddered but couldn't seem to tear himself away.

"Maz." I tugged on his arm. The flames were pressing closer now.

He finally looked my way, those dark eyes meeting mine. I knew what it cost him to do this, but I wanted Mazin alive.

We deserved that.

I searched for my words quickly, aware that we had a very narrow space of time left for escape. If I didn't convince him to leave with me now, I'd have to bash him over the head and drag him out of the flame-soaked field.

Which I wasn't opposed to doing.

"You may not want revenge anymore, but don't give him any more of yourself. If he wants death, let him have it. Don't let his actions…" I cleared my throat, saying these words to myself as well as Maz, thinking of how I felt about my grandmother, and the lives she had ruined. "Don't let his actions destroy your life. You may have given him forgiveness, but that doesn't mean you owe him kindness."

Mazin's shoulders sagged as if I'd given him permission to let go. Then he took my hand, walked through the flames and into the clear path beyond.

Noor stood and watched the fire reduce the rest of the fields to ash.

She had been like this since I told her Vahid had stayed and that Mazin and I had left him behind.

"What are you looking for?" I asked, stepping close to her.

"Proof that he's dead." She didn't take her eyes off the blackened fields.

"I don't think you'll find it." I shook my head. "Not with that blaze."

"No. But at least I would see Souma's life's work destroyed. Zoraat is what killed him, just like Vahid. Both of them enslaved to someone else's power."

Her gaze stayed trained on the smoldering crops, and I'd never seen her so broken and alone. I licked my cracked lips, hoping I hadn't lost her after all this. "Did you get what you came for?"

Noor finally pulled her gaze away from the scorched earth. "Did you?"

A wry smile crossed my lips. "I asked you first."

"I came for revenge, but I'm leaving with something much more worthwhile. Friendship." She huffed out a laugh and gave me a tentative smile. "How do you feel?"

I knew what she meant. I flexed my hands, the black stains on my skin gone. I reached for the dark power that once filled my veins and to my relief nothing answered me. The only voice answering was my own.

"I feel… normal. As if I had never consumed zoraat. I can still lift a sword, which is all that matters to me."

"And here?" Noor pressed her palm flat against her chest. "How do you feel here?"

I chewed on my bottom lip, lifting my eyes to Mazin who stood a little distance away. He was staring at the fields too, but at my glance he looked in my direction.

"I feel raw, hurt, but still alive. And that's got to count for something."

"Yes," Noor said, following my gaze to Mazin. "It does. You don't have to live the narrative your grandmother did."

"I can choose," I said, for the first time believing it was true. Believing that I had my own power, my own freedom, the ability to make my own destiny, and not be held back by the past.

"And what do you choose?"

I looked at Maz again, and he met my eyes, a smile touching his lips that was more than a little quizzical.

I clutched the pendant in my hand, the blade that represented who I was. And I looked at Mazin, the person I could make a future with, despite all the loss and pain and heartbreak.

"I choose him," I said to Noor. "And I choose myself."