Chapter 50 Masika
MASIKA
Ashes. That was what was left of her best friend. A pile of ashes.
Masika burrowed her hands deeper, searching…but there was nothing there. Nothing left of Irene. Come back, Masika begged, tears blurring her vision, a half scream, half sob tearing out of her throat.
And then she felt it. Nestled beneath. Like a seedling sprouting from the dirt.
The ring felt cold against her hand. Masika raised it higher, lifting it toward the rays of silver light flickering through the branches. As she placed the ring upon her palm, it hummed, a searing current shooting down her forearm and through her limbs.
Fear struck her first. Had Irene’s sacrifice been in vain? Had the ring not actually been destroyed?
But no…this ring was different.
It wasn’t Mateo’s. And it wasn’t Silas’s.
Engrained upon the silver band was neither of their names.
Masika Sallow.
She stared at the thin grooves, reading out her name. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t possibly…
A gust of wind blew Masika’s curls out of her face. Something surged inside her. It was a million souls reaching for her. Embracing her. Calling out to her. She felt the seams of the afterlife…could practically see them.
How had she not seen them before?
The connecting threads that bound them all together. The beating heart of the afterlife.
Masika let out a shuddering breath and stared up at the arched gates of Blackwood Academy. It was as if the ivy-draped halls of the school were speaking to her. Whispering her name.
The wind picked up speed. The ground beneath her shook.
Understanding washed over Masika as a final crackle of lightning lit up the sky.
It all made sense now. The strange connection she’d been feeling toward Blackwood. The way her touch had appeased the unruly willow when it had tried to consume Olivier. Her inexplainable connection to the fox.
This was her right. Her final act of defiance.
Her calling.
Masika slipped the ring on.
It was time for a new Headmaster.