ni, U

jumped out, into a wide clearing at the centre of a la

where sunlight touched the ground. Her truck was parked beside a

nd was twice the size it had been before she travelled to Izecha. It was deeper and the c

jacket in there. Imatong was hot, this time of the year a

e driver as the man nodded and

. She placed her hand over her eyes and kept going, allo

oon as Osa walked into a large, round

g from the ceiling, along with wires. There were three chairs scattered around the room. Two had cloth

dant, her mana. The woman was freckled with age and a pair of glasses balanced

presence of the woman as she ro

,” I missed y

er fingers through Osa’s unruly h

eping in a cave. You c

s it?” M

the creation of the keys, every generation of the Oseki had borne theirs with a certain amount of reluctance that Osa had somehow inh

ies, spells and Jiki artifacts. She’d been the missing link to their clan’s uneasiness. She’d studied the key embedded in their uncle’s

s success, was all down to

ton. She would have been an exact replica of Osa, if it weren’t for her broader shoulders

claimed, running to hug he

a loud, exaggerated kiss on

e sky

her mother’s hand as she nodded at it. “Nearly lost y

long. I literally

eir celibacy,” Mana said, examining th

u get yours

type,” Ifiso replied

laug

my g

hire s

sa said, already cringing, already kn

for a

ow what? Beside you, everything

y like Osa. But, just like their mother, Toso’s hair was lowcut. It had short, black curls

ay between them in another big hug as

was

about it,” Toso said, her u

table with using their bodies in that way. Especially someone like Toso was sentimental about

oling three innocent men into falling for their traps and giving up their celibacy so that Osa and her sisters could stea

lt the same way, she wasn’t letting on. Ifiso had always had the thickest skin of all of them, so it made sense th

ds of things for the country and for their famili

g about it,

o asked back, hitti

ked her right back. Immediately, To

Mana hissed.

r, Ifiso stuck her

eys and went to the wooden do

less their spirits.” She put in the second key. “After so many years... so many generations of

erving as a remembrance of Jiki tradition. She held a connection to Jiki soil that no other person in Jiki history could trace. It w

e finally doing it. It was here. They were

better look as Mana placed

e closer, girls.

he door clicked and then burst open by an inch as a gust of wind gushed out of the

on top of Mana. When the door opened, it revealed a tiny, wooden cubicle with effigies drawn on the wall. On the flo

frow

na, is that he

d to be like th

ed but Osa held her sisters back as they watched their mother’s body be

to shreds and her flesh began to arrange itself, meldin

ood before them, her body was covered in dust and specks o

tchy voice. I recognise your blood. “Oseki

a’s job to keep them safe. Out of every possible outcome, Osa hadn’t seen this coming. All the other families betrayed the wit

ering her sisters from the

is our mother? Ifiso picked up

. She approached Ifiso with vengeance, Osa blocked her path. With one

aid in English and the woman sto

so opened the can and poured the kerosene. Toso lit a stick and

room, spreading the fire to Mana’s books

ed an arm of Osa as they ca

at the back of Ifiso’s truck as Ifiso got into t

er. Osa checked her back pocket for her phone but the screen was cracke

, looking back at them

ld find him if som

, still crying. “She killed Mana. After everything we w

set to her sister’s eyes. The frustration and the struggle not to break down and cry like Toso was