Folake called Zara into the garden before sunrise.
The city was still dark.
Smoke hung above the trees.
Zara found her grandmother standing beside the old garden wall.
Amouage Guidance surrounded her.
It was stronger than Zara had ever smelled it.
Pear, vanilla, incense and sandalwood.
Fifty years of the same fragrance.
Fifty years of waiting.
Portrait of a Lady remained quiet on Zara’s skin.
Adisa stood near the house, while Amara and Dr. Obi waited inside.
“The final seal is inside me,” Folake said.
Zara understood at once.
“No.”
“I have carried it since Accra.”
Guidance deepened around her.
Zara shook her head.
“We will find another way.”
“There is no time.”
“You cannot ask me to accept this.”
“I am not asking you to accept it. I am asking you to understand.”
Zara tried to use her power.
Nothing answered.
Her grandmother held her face.
Guidance settled around them both.
“You think I wore this fragrance because it reminded me of Accra?”
Zara looked at her.
Folake smiled sadly.
“The woman placed the seal inside the scent. Guidance did not only protect me. It carried the Gate’s final lock.”
Zara closed her eyes.
Every morning.
Every ceremony.
Every moment of danger.
Her grandmother had carried the seal on her skin.
“You think I waited fifty years because I feared this moment?” Folake asked.
Zara could not speak.
“I waited because I knew you would be ready.”
Adisa stepped into the garden.
Gris Charnel moved gently beneath the Guidance.
“Folake, there may still be another path.”
She looked at him kindly.
“The one who holds the world in place cannot hold every person in it.”
Zara shook her head.
“I will not let you go.”
“You do not have to let me,” Folake said. “You only have to understand why I must.”
They went beneath the Covenant hall.
Taiwo had opened the Gate almost fully.
A great hand pressed against the other side.
Dr. Obi, Amara and Adisa remained behind Zara and Folake.
Kofi stood near the entrance, powerless but armed.
Folake stepped before the Gate.
Amouage Guidance filled the chamber.
The spirits stopped.
They recognised the keeper.
Babycat softened around Amara.
Gris Charnel went still.
Portrait of a Lady rose faintly on Zara’s skin for the first time since the world between worlds.
Folake spoke words older than the Covenant.
The Gate began to close.
The Guidance around her poured into the names carved into the stone.
The Hollow One reached through.
It took her.
“Grandmother!” Zara screamed.
She caught Folake’s hand.
Adisa grabbed Zara around the waist to stop the Gate from pulling her in too.
Guidance rushed past Zara.
Pear.
Incense.
Vanilla.
Safety.
Home.
For one terrible moment, they held on.
Folake smiled.
“You were never empty.”
The Gate closed between them.
Her hand slipped from Zara’s.
Amouage Guidance disappeared.
Folake was gone.
Zara screamed!
Portrait of a Lady returned with her grief.
The sound shook the chamber.
Adisa held her as she fought against him.
Gris Charnel pressed close around them.
Above the chamber, every light in Lagos came back on.
People cheered in the streets.
They did not know what had been lost to bring the light back.
Amara covered her face.
Babycat trembled around her.
Dr. Obi lowered her head.
The Gate had been delayed.
Not destroyed.
And for the first time in Zara’s life, the world no longer smelled of Guidance.