EW has an exclusive sneak peek at Ayana Gray’s highly-anticipated new book.
This week, the hunt begins and a new fantasy trilogy launches.
It didn’t last long; memories of the previous night found her soon enough.
‘Beasts of Prey’.
Then she remembered theeyes.
They were a fathomless black, fixed firmly in her mind.
When she’d risen, she’d come face-to-face with a monsterand not justanymonster.
She’d known what it was instantly.
Growing up, she’d heard tales of it, but nothing that had prepared her for the truth.
She’d been sure it would kill her, and then
“Go.”
The word had left her lips in a whisper.
She wasn’t sure why she’d repeated the command; it had just come to her.
And then, against all reason .
She imagined its retreating figure as it disappeared into the night, and tried to recall other details.
Now she sat there with her knees pulled up to her chin.
Shewouldn’tcry, she determined, not here.
Her stomach twisted as she stemmed two different kinds of pain, refusing to let either consume her.
After a moment, the first subsided, but the second kind remained.
The revelation didn’t come the way she’d expected it tototal and devastating.
She and Mama had come close,soclose, to a different life entirely.
In the end, that dream hadn’t even made it over the Night Zoo’s walls.
Koffi winced at the sight of them.
Those two tattered rags were literal pieces of her mother, the only things she had left now.
New truths took shape the longer she stared at them.
That sacrifice had ultimately made all the difference, but it hadn’t been the only one.
That was all Mama had ever done, put others before herself.
She’d never seen any of that goodwill returned; she never would now.
And it’s all your fault.
Koffi flinched away from the accusation in her head, from the vitriol in it.
The sense of emptiness was one thing, but the blame and guilt cut through her like a knife.
None of last night would have happened if she’d remembered to check Diko’s harness.
The exploding candle, the fire, the aftermath, it all led back to one care- less mistake.
If Baaz realizes what you really did and what you really are, youwill never leave this place.
Koffi focused on those words now, letting them echo in her head.
Mama had known something about her, butwhat?
A new stab of pain struck as she realized that it didn’t matter.
That strange feeling, whatever it had been and whatever had caused it, was gone now.
That truth had likely died with Mama.
She couldn’t stay in this alley.
Sitting here waiting for something or someone to happen upon her wasn’t an option.
Koffi found it all strange to see firsthand.
It was a peculiar thing, to know a place was home without knowing it at all.
She idled through the roads quietly, trying to lay out a map in her mind.
Each part of Lkossa, it seemed, had its own style and character.
With each discovery of something new or unexpected, she watched the city come to life.
She was still tired, still on edge, but something about the city calmed her.
Thatnewsound, the marching, was distinct from the rest of the city’s morning din.
She searched the road, tensing, until she found where it was coming from.
They wore telltale blue kaftans and gold belts, and each had a hanjari dagger looped on his belt.
From her spot, Koffi stiffened.
They looked smug,superior, like the kind of men who were used to holding power.
Two warriors had come after her and Mama, chased them down like animals.
The sight of them had prompted an unpleasant reminder.
She was a runaway.
Instinctively she looked over her shoulder, and a fresh stab of sadness nearly winded her.
Mama wasn’t here.
From here on, she’d have to figure things out on her own.
Koffi tried to pull the words from memory.
Sometimes, though, it’s possible for you to’t lead with your heart.
You have to think with yourhead.
Koffi resolved then that that was what she would do.
Shewouldthink with her head, and she’d come up with a plan.
She and Mama had once dreamed of leaving Lkossa, so that was what she’d do.
She was going to find a way out of here.
She was still wringing out her clothes when she reached the end of one street and stopped.
It was like nothing she’d ever seen before.
She inhaled, and her lungs filled with a thousand scents all at once.
She smelled egusi soup brewingthick with onions, tomatoes, and fresh peppersalongside jollof rice and banku.
The sight of it managed to be both overwhelming and magnificent all at once.
Koffi was so taken by it that she didn’t notice anything near her until she tripped.
“Oh, excuse me, I”
She started.
She hadn’t seen the person sitting on a blanket near her feet.
It was an old woman, sitting before an assortment of small glittering trinkets.
“Quite all right, little one.”
The woman offered a small smile.
A tarnished amulet hung around her neck.
“I’m easy to miss.”
She followed Koffi’s gaze and nodded to the figurines.
“You are faithful?”
“I am.”
Koffi swallowed a hard lump in her throat.
That memory now felt like part of a different life.
“They’re lovely,” she whispered.
“Thank you, dear.”
This woman was Gede, like her.
Out of respect, she bowed her head.
“Good morning, Auntie,” she said, deferring to the respectful greeting for an elder.
“The old woman’s dark eyes danced.
“And a good morning to you, little bird.
The gods are kind today to bring us together.”
She studied Koffi more closely.
“You’re skinny.”
It wasn’t a question, but it wasn’t an accusation either.
“Are you hungry?”
The smell alone made Koffi’s mouth water.
“I’ve got more than enough here, if you’d like to share?”
She was still feeling cautious, and more than a little wary of strangers, but .
Mama had taught her the rule of kin.
You never refused a meal offered by another Gede.
Besides that, she was starving.
As though she’d read her mind, the old woman split her bread in half without another word.
Koffi took a seat beside her on the blanket as they ate.
She barely resisted a moan.
Food had never made her cry before, but this bread was so delicious that she almost wanted to.
Every morsel seemed to give something small back to her, revitalizing her.
When she looked up, she found the old woman was watching her.
“You seem a bit young to come to the market on your own,” she noted.
Koffi sat up straighter.
“I’m eighteen,” she lied.
“Perfectly capable.”
One of the old woman’s white brows rose.
I’d have guessedsixteen, actually.”
Koffi was grateful the darker hue of her skin couldn’t betray her embarrassment.
She pointed to the trinkets on the blanket, eager to change the subject.
“So, how much do these usually go for?”
The old woman brushed crumbs from her lap and leaned against the building directly behind them.
“I suppose it depends on the buyer.
I accept payments in coin, of course, but sometimes I get offers for a barter.”
Koffi repeated the word.
It sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t remember another time she’d heard it.
“It means a trade,” the old woman explained.
“One thing given in exchange for another thing of equal value.”
“you’re able to do that here, trade one thing for another without paying money?”
The old woman smiled.
“Of course you’re able to.
Anything can be bartered for,ifyou know its true value.”
Koffi sat back for a moment, considering.
All her life, currency had worked one way.
The idea of paying for things in other ways, throughtrade, felt entirely foreign to her.
It reminded her of an opal, but brighter, impossibly prettier.
At once, she felt distinctly drawn to it.
For a second time, the old woman followed her gaze.
“Ah yes, the duniastone,” she said knowingly.
“It’s a modest thing, but it does catch the eye.
I’ve had several offers for it in the last week, though none that were worthy.”
“Did you say .
“I did.”
There was a glint in the woman’s eyes now.
“You’ve heard of them?”
“Sure, in stories.”
Koffi thought about what her mother had told her about duniastones when she was a little girl.
It was said they came from the very heart of the earth itself and could only be found in .
“You’ve been to the Kusonga Plains,” she said aloud.
The old woman nodded.
“I have.”
Now it was Koffi who sat back against the wall.
She was fairly sure even Baaz had never been so far west.
She stared at the old woman, distinctly impressed.
“What’s it like there?”
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” said the old woman.
“There are fields of lemongrass that stretch for miles, food that tastes like paradise.”
She closed her eyes, wistful.
It’s truly a place of wonder.”
She cracked an eye open to look at Koffi.
“Anda place of magic.”
Koffi scoffed before she could stop herself, then tried to disguise it as a cough.
The old woman’s other eye opened, and she pursed her lips.
“You don’t believe in magic?”
no," said Koffi.
“Magic isn’t real.
It’s just something from stories.”
Now the old woman looked offended.
“And who told youthatnonsense?”
“My mother.”
The old woman crossed her arms and sniffed.
“Well, your mother isquiteincorrect.”
Koffi’s gaze dropped to her hands.
When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper.
“My mother is dead.”
Koffi looked up and found the old woman’s expression had changed.
Her face was drawn, and her eyes were full of sadness.
For a moment, she seemed at a loss for words.
very sorry to hear that, little one," she murmured.
“I know what it means to lose a loved one.”
“It’s” Koffi stopped herself.
Things weren’t all right;shewasn’t all right.
She wasn’t sure she ever would be.
Another beat passed before the old woman spoke again.
“But you should know that magic has not always been confined to the pages of stories.
In another time, it was here, as real as the air we’re breathing.”
“It was?”
The old woman nodded.
“In cities like Lkossa, it was once a part of everyday life.
They were called darajas.”
Mama had certainly never told her any of this.
Had magic sparkled, she wondered, or had it been invisible?
Dangerous, or utterly ordinary?
It was hard to even contemplate.
“What hap- pened to it?”
The old woman looked up and into the bustling market, as though she was seeing past it.
“The Rupture?”
“What’s an earthquake got to do with magic?”
The old woman gave her a shrewd look.
“No doubt you’ve heard the stories,” she said.
“Tales of tears in the earth and sky, waves of heat scorching bodies whole.
“To this day, no one truly knows what caused the Rupture,” the old woman continued.
“But afterward, things changed in Lkossa.
People stopped looking at darajas as resources and instead saw them as threats.
Over the years, they became ostracized, hunted down like”
“Like animals,” Koffi finished.
“So that’s how magic was lost.”
“Not lost.”
The old woman’s eyes twinkled.
The old woman started rocking side to side.
Koffi didn’t answer.
She thought of what had happened in the Hema, the way it’d made her feel.
She remembered the sense of release as the candle burst, the clamminess, Mama’s words.
If Baaz realizes what you really did and what you really are .
The idea that she could be one of those people felt impossible, but .
She didn’t have another explanation for what she’d done.
How much had she known?
She stared at her hands.
“Are you feeling well, dear?”
The old woman was watching her much more intently now.
It almost made Koffi uncomfortable.
Slowly, she got to her feet and brushed off.
“Thank you so much for the bread,” she said.
“It was really kind of you.”
The old woman cocked her head.
“Have I upset you, child?”
Koffi heard herself answer too quickly, but she didn’t take
it back.
In truth, she barely knew what she felt.
She was tired, confused, even angry.
Why hadn’t Mama told her the truth?
Why had she left her own daughter in the dark all this time?
She cleared her throat when she realized the old woman was still staring at her.
“It’s just .
I’m sure I’ve taken up enough of your time.”
The woman waved a dismissive hand.
“I’ve quite enjoyed your company, andactually.
She gestured toward the trinkets.
“I could use a young person like you as an assistant, if you were interested?”
Koffi paused, caught off guard.
The offer was generous, and incredibly tempting, but .
something still stopped her.
“Thank you.”
She bowed her head.
I should get going.”
“Very well, little one.”
The old woman nodded, and there was a touch of renewed sadness in her voice.
Koffi looked over her shoulder a final time before heading down the market’s winding roads.
She thought back to the old woman sitting quietly with her blanket of trinkets, almost wistful.
Their encounter felt increasingly dreamlike, though Koffi knew absolutely that it had happened.
She focused on the woman’s words, on her job offer, and felt the bite of regret.
That opportunity had been generous, but she’d said no without real consideration.
Once again, she’d reacted instead of thinking things through.
She had a plan, a way forward,hope.
She turned on her heels to head back the way she’d come.
And then a hand clapped over her mouth.
“Hello, Koffi,” said Baaz Mtombe.
