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Malakai presses harder against the soil.

The root beneath his skin begins to glow.

“They aren’t growing into us.”

My stomach knots.

“Then what the fuck are they doing?”

His black eyes lift to mine.

“They’re growing from her.”

Silence.

Every face turns toward me.

“No.”

Malakai blinks, and brown slowly bleeds back into his eyes.

“They connect us to you.”

I stare at the three of them.

At the seeds.

At the roots spreading beneath their skin.

“I did not authorize magical gardening inside anyone.”

The earth shudders.

Heat sears around my wrist.

I grab it.

KEEPER.

The word burns beneath my skin.

Beyond the corn, the tall figure still stands exactly where it was.

Watching.

Branches twist from its head like a crown, its body motionless while the entire farm seems to breathe around it.

Waiting.

“For what?” I shout.

It doesn’t move.

“What do you want?”

Nothing.

I step toward it.