“We’ll take him home,” Miss Lucille said, as she knelt on one side of Papa. Miss Ida sat on the other side. Blue ribbons of light wrapped him in a blanket and lifted him from the ground. I clung to him until Eshu pulled me away.
I swiped angrily at the tears stinging my eyes. I couldn’t stand that Miss Lucille was so calm, like everything would blow over and be okay. Nothing was okay. Papa was in a coma. Eshu hadn’t outright said it, but that was what he meant.
“Why can’t we take him through a gateway?” I asked. “It’ll be fast.”
“Faster, yes,” Eshu said, “but less safe.”
“I can make a safe gateway!” I argued, annoyed that he didn’t trust me to get Papa back.
“It’s not your abilities that are of concern,” Eshu explained. “Your father is very sick right now. We need to be extra careful with him.”
I couldn’t stop crying and shaking. Frankie and Eli stood close to me, looking miserable, too. The Johnston twins floated into the sky with Papa. The light from the setting sun shifted around them until they disappeared.
“Maya,” Eshu said in his tempered voice. “I won’t lie to you. Elegguá is very weak, but he’s still fighting, or else he wouldn’t be able to keep his human form.”
I glared at him, anger burning through my chest. “This wouldn’t have happened if you’d voted for us to go into the Dark. You’re supposed to be his friend.”
Eshu flinched like my words had been a punch to the gut. “I’ve known your father my entire life. We fought wars together, saw the rise and fall of civilizations.” The fire in Eshu’s eyes changed from bright red to a cool blue. “You and your mother are everything to him. You cannot know what it was like when he lost Lutanga and their children. He doesn’t want to lose you, too.”
I turned my back to Eshu before I said something that would get me in trouble. It was easy for the orisha council to make calls on our lives from their celestial thrones. Meanwhile, the whole world was falling apart.
“I agree with the young guardian,” Ogun said.
“As do I,” Shangó added.
Eshu glanced up at the god of war and the god of lightning. “Yet you are bound by the council rules the same as I.”
Ogun and Shangó had a darkbringer chained between the two of them floating in the air. He was short—at least half the celestials’ height—with pale blue skin and white wings that fanned out behind him. His long black hair fell in waves across his shoulders. He wrenched his arms, straining against the glowing celestial chains, but to no avail. I glanced around, confused. I had seen dozens of darkbringers. “Did the others get away?”
“There were never any others,” Ogun said. “This one can create illusions.”
The darkbringer laughed, and it sounded like glass shattering. “Enjoy the little time you have left.”
“We know what happened eons ago,” Eli yelled with his hands cupped around his mouth. “We’re sorry that people died, but that wasn’t our fault. Everything was fine until you started coming to our world looking for a fight.”
“How arrogant of you to think that everything was fine,” the darkbringer spat.
Ogun raised his hand, and a small white blob slapped the darkbringer across his mouth. “You’ll have plenty of time to talk when we interrogate you later.”
Shangó and Ogun hauled off their prisoner, leaving Frankie, Eli, Eshu, and me standing in the middle of the ocean. A flock of seagulls flew overhead, and a whale breached the water. It was almost as if the animals knew the danger had passed for now.
“I thought powerful darkbringers couldn’t get through the veil?” Frankie asked, crossing her arms.
Eshu didn’t answer, which was an answer in itself. I turned my attention to the veil, letting my magic sense it. “He got through the tear because the veil had completely failed here.” I glanced up at the sky. “There was no barrier at all for a little while.”
“So, we’re doomed?” Eli said, rocking on his heels.
“No, not yet.” Eshu cleared his throat. “Our young guardian has strengthened the veil with her magic for now, but it won’t last forever.”
“We’re not giving up,” I said to Eli. “I’ll protect the veil as long as Papa is sick.” I wasn’t completely honest in front of Eshu, but Eli nodded, and I knew he got what I was saying. Operation Go Dark was still a go.
I peeled off the wings, and they changed back into my staff. I lifted my hand to build another gateway, feeling my magic itching to do something. The sparks flickered in the air—this time easier. I didn’t need the staff, although it was comforting to have it. I looked back at Eshu, but he had disappeared.
“I can’t believe the orishas are still willing to sit on their hands with everything that’s happened now,” Eli said.
“Should we go to the Da—” Frankie started to ask.
“I know it’s time to go to school,” I said, making sure to sound extra annoyed. It wasn’t safe to discuss our plans out in the open like this. “We don’t have to talk about that right now, do we?”
Frankie winked at me. “Oh, well, everyone knows how much I love school.”
Eli rolled his eyes. Even I had to admit that she was horrible at pretending. Once we stepped into the bridge of spinning god symbols, I closed the gateway behind us.
“We’ll go during the field trip,” I said now that I was sure no one could overhear our plan.
“I saw the permission slip; we’re going to the Field Museum,” Frankie said. “It’ll be the perfect place to sneak off into the Dark.”
“The cranky twins will be there for sure.” Eli grimaced. “They’re like a bad taste that you can’t get out of your mouth.”
Frankie wrinkled her nose and straightened her glasses. “Well, we’ll just have to create a distraction.”
When I got home, Mama was sitting in a chair beside the bed where Papa lay completely still. “Every time Eddy left to fix the veil, I got this queasy feeling in my stomach,” she said, her voice choked with tears. “I tried not to think about it, but I always worried.” She stared down at Papa. “I never could get over that he was responsible for something as vast as the veil with no one else to help him.”
Papa was still in his human form, but his skin glowed with white light. His frame blurred around the edges like he was slowly fading away. “He has me to help now,” I said, biting my lip.
Mama rubbed her forehead. “Maya.”
Before she could finish, I said, “The veil won’t last much longer. If I had to guess, maybe a week, possibly less.”
“Maya.” She repeated my name, this time anguish in her voice. “I can’t lose you.”
“If I don’t go back, then the veil will fail, and everyone will lose everyone they ever loved,” I reminded her.
“You’re growing up too fast.” Mama let out a frustrated breath. “I knew you wouldn’t have a normal childhood, but I didn’t expect anything like this.”
“I like being a godling,” I said. “I am going to be the guardian of the veil with Papa one day. You have to let me be who I’m meant to be.”
Mama hunched forward, her shoulders trembling. “I’m not happy about it, but I won’t stop you from going back into the Dark. I’ve thought about this long and hard . . . and you’re right. I can’t deny what you are, and I can’t limit your potential.” She swallowed hard. “Our world needs you, Maya, but I don’t have to like it.”
“Thank you, Mama,” I said, giving her a long hug.
Operation Go Dark was back in business.
Mama let me miss a day from school, and the cranky twins “missed” school too. They came over to keep us company. They even brought food—mac and cheese, baked chicken, and potato salad—so Mama wouldn’t have to cook.
The next morning, I met up with Eli and Frankie, and we boarded the buses to take our class to the Field Museum. The Johnston twins, pretending to be seventh graders again, sat right behind us.
“There’s a big chunk of plastic poking me in my back,” Miss Ida complained in a squeaky voice. “Someone ought to do something about these horrible seats.”
“What was that, Miss Johnston?” Principal Ollie said, looking up from their iPad at the front of the bus.
“Nothing but the big pimple growing on the center of her forehead,” Winston said from across the aisle. He, Tay, and Candace snickered.
“The joys of being twelve going on thirteen,” Miss Lucille said, sounding less cranky than usual.
“Wait a minute,” Frankie asked as she turned on her knees to face the twins. “You didn’t only change your appearance on the outside?”
Miss Lucille shrugged. “The orisha council thought it would be more believable if we reversed our true age to twelve.”
“So are you stuck this way forever?” Frankie asked.
Miss Lucille shook her head. “No, it’s just that it’s more than an illusion. We’re actually twelve for now.”
“Who would want to go back to being twelve?” Eli frowned. “No one listens to us.”
“Precisely my point,” added Miss Ida.
When we reached downtown, traffic was backed up bumper to bumper. Several yellow school buses had already parked on the street beside the Field Museum. It looked like Jackson Middle wasn’t the only school on a trip. That was going to work in our favor.
“Stay together,” Principal Ollie said, standing in front of the exit. Kids were anxious to get off and pushing each other to be first in line. “We’re going to have a picnic on the grass for lunch.”
“I’m allergic to boredom,” Tay shouted.
Principal Ollie narrowed their eyes. “I have a list of allergies for our student body. I didn’t see boredom listed by your name, but nice try, Mr. Curtis.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Eli whispered to me.
“I’m going to bring Sue back from the dead,” I said, winking at him.
“Who’s Sue?” Eli cocked his head to the side. “Also, if anyone’s bringing someone back from the dead, it should be me. I have a special connection to the paranormal. Obatala said so.”
“Sue is a dinosaur,” I said, shaking my head.
“You are so weird,” Eli replied.
“Weird, but really clever,” Frankie countered, giving Eli a smug smile. “You just wish you’d thought of it first.”
“Well, if it doesn’t work, you can always Frankiefy people with your general nerdiness,” Eli suggested as we climbed from the bus.
Most of the tour would’ve been exciting if I hadn’t had more important things on my mind. We walked through the exhibits with a guide explaining everything in meticulous detail. We saw fossils, meteorites, gems, and precious stones. Finally, we got to the dinosaurs, and Sue stood like a giant in the middle of it all.
Sweat trickled down my forehead as I glanced around the exhibit. People snapped pictures and crowded around the dinosaur. She was nothing but bones, of course, but that made my plan even better. What I was about to do was risky and likely would get me expelled from school, but I didn’t see any other way.
“And here is our most popular exhibit,” the guide was saying. “Sue is one of the largest tyrannosaurs ever found. She was named after the explorer Sue Hendrickson, who discovered her.”
People clamored to get a good spot to take pictures with the dinosaur. I wasn’t sure that I needed the coin in my pocket to amplify my magic, but I squeezed it anyway. Nothing happened. The coin felt slick against my sweaty palm. This had to work. Papa was running out of time.
After a while, one of Sue’s massive leg bones moved. It was a small tremble at first. Besides Frankie, who gasped, and Eli, who looked stunned, no one else noticed. That was, until more bones rattled like Sue was waking from a deep sleep. The kids closest to the dinosaur stumbled back, pointing and shrieking. People thought they were joking until Sue shook her leg loose from the wire holding her together. Then she opened her mouth and let out a great roar.