Lagos broke Nwoke Ugwu three times. Two contracts. One betrayal. Then three years hiding in Enugu, watching his dream rot on a dead laptop. Now his best friend is gone---and he left Nwoke two things: an unfinished song, and a promise no sane man would keep. So Nwoke goes back. Back to the city that ate him alive. No money. No name. One rule: this time, he doesn't run. Then a girl laughs at him from the back seat of an Uber in traffic. Then her family hands him everything he ever wanted. Then he meets the one person he was never supposed to want---at the worst possible dinner table in Lagos. They say third time's the charm. Charm is how he lost everything. This is not a love story. This is a confession.

I was four years old the first time I touched a dying man and he got up again. My mother made me promise never to let anyone see. She was right about that. She was right about most things, and then she died, and the last thing she ever told me was a name I'd never heard. There's a fire in me. It's been there since before I was born, and it isn't mine, and it's killing me---three hundred years late and nineteen days fast. Only the Barons can teach me to control it. Fallen gods. The kind that eat girls like me to make the hunger stop. So I walked into Hell's Gate on my own feet and offered them a trade. The cold one claimed me. Called me 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥. Never my name. The beautiful one wept gold and begged me not to let them love me. The silent one asked me what I wanted, and I didn't have an answer. And one of them was kind to me. Only one. From the first night. That's the one I should have been afraid of.

She married a ten-year-old king to save a kingdom that was already dying. No one told her why the kings of Eridug-Ki never live to grow old. No one told her what sleeps beneath the ziggurat, or what the god was promised, or why every crown is really a debt. She came south with a mission and a secret carved into her own skin, and she was the only one in the palace not lying about something. Then she fell in love with the one man she was never supposed to touch. And the marriage oath that binds her soul began, very quietly, to crack. A boy-king who hears the dead whisper through clay. A bastard who has spent ten years pretending to be no one. A sister doing terrible arithmetic with a city's worth of lives. A god that does not bless, 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴. Four people. One throne. Forty days until the night it all comes apart. They think they're saving the world. One of them is right. That's the problem. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘴 --- 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘖𝘯𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘦. 𝘗𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩-𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵.

I was three days old the first time I saw Father Polycarp Okeke's hands shake. He was pouring holy water over my head. A drop fell into my eyes before the prayer began. I remember the cold. I remember his eyes refusing to meet mine. I remember my mother laughing in the front pew and a nun weeping at the back. I did not understand, at three days old, why a priest trembles over a baby. I understand now. I am eighteen years old. I have died three times. And tonight, I am walking up the hill to St. Anthony's Mission to ask Father Polycarp Okeke a question he has been waiting eighteen years for me to ask. But memory is a door that swings both ways. The letter waiting on my pillow when I came home this morning was written in my own handwriting, in handwriting that has been dead since 1962, and it says four words I cannot stop reading: 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨.

𝗛𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀❟ 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲. Every child of the five Lands bonds a beast. Agan didn't. Three years Nameless, heir to a throne he was never meant to inherit, he's sent to the First Gate with one order from his father: come back worthy, or don't come back at all. The camp wants him dead. His rival wants him broken. And the girl who sees straight through him, who is also marked, untouchable, and promised to someone else, wants nothing to do with the boy whose family grew rich on the bones of her people. But something is buried under the salt. Something old. Something that knows Agan's name even though no beast ever spoke it. The enemy they were all sent here to fight isn't a monster. It's a debt. And it's coming to collect. 𝘌𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴-𝘵𝘰-𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘈 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘩.

𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲. 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸. Every season, the river takes a bride. Every season, a girl walks into the black water and never returns. The covenant is ancient. The god is hungry. This season, Ama is chosen. But Ama doesn't drown. A stranger who is scarred, silent, and speaking a language she has never heard pulls her from the water. He will not explain why he saved her. He will not tell her what he's running from. And she cannot ask, because the river took her voice as payment for the life it was denied. Now she is cursed. Voiceless. Hunted by something older than the dust they run on. And the only person standing between her and the water's teeth is a man whose hands know how to save... and how to destroy. ♦ 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗼-𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲❟ 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰❟ 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁 ♦ 𝗗𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗢𝗩 - 𝗮 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 ♦ 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗲❟ 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝗵❟ 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘜𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 · 𝘛𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 · 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 ⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: violence, sexual content, grief, spiritual horror, themes of sacrifice. 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 (𝟭𝟳+) - 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱

Adunni is 19, deaf since birth, and the most dangerous person living beneath Oshodi bridge, because she can feel things no one else can. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀｡ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀｡ 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗺｡ When her brother sells her to armed men, and she takes a bullet escaping, she collapses at the feet of a beautiful Hausa market seller who hides her, heals her, and looks at her like she's worth seeing. Ladi is gentle. Ladi is kind. Ladi makes Adunni want to trust again for the first time since her little sister died in her arms. Ladi is also an undercover government agent hunting a terrorist cell that's moving bomb-grade explosives through the colonial-era tunnels beneath the train tracks. And Adunni, the girl who reads vibrations, is the most valuable intelligence asset in Lagos. By the time Adunni discovers the truth, she's already in love. By the time Ladi can tell it, the train is already moving. And there's a bomb inside it. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨. 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙤. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨... 𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮❟ 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮❟ 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮... 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣.

A curse is merging their bodies cell by cell, and the only thing more terrifying than becoming one person is how badly they're starting to want it.