Chapter 33

While the preparations were being made for our attack on the Guardians' Sanctuary, I spent the time with Nero and Angel in our room. My cat was indulging in a very long nap, obviously resting up in anticipation of channeling that much magic. She was a smart little kitty. Actually, she was a smart big kitty. My lion-sized feline companion was no house cat. She took up a whole bed all by herself.

"I need your help with something," I said to Nero.

"Anything," he replied immediately.

"The octuplets are hiding something from us, something out of the past. I intend to find out what it is. And I need you to be my tether, just like you did before, so I don't get lost in the memory stream. Time is so open, so endless."

"You're planning on using your magic to look into the past?"

"My magic." I stroked my very round belly. "And hers. She's stronger now. Her powers have grown a lot. If the three of us combine magic, together we can figure this out."

Nero set both his hands on my belly, over our daughter. "She really is that powerful," he said in awe.

I smiled. "Yes, she is. And with her help, with her magic, we'll be able to see directly into the past. We don't need to view the past through the Vault, which the octuplets have stuffed full with preselected memories. We will control what we see or don't see, not the octuplets."

"Then let's get started. We don't have much time left before the battle."

His hands were still on my belly. I set my hands over his, then I reached out with my mind, connecting to both my husband and to our daughter.

* * *

I was in a jungle.I didn't see Nero beside me, but I could feel that he was with me, just as I could feel our child.

I looked down, but I didn't have a baby bump anymore. In fact, I wasn't even inside my own body anymore. Whoever's body I was in was very small. I extended my hands in front of me. They were a child's hands.

I took a few steps toward a nearby stream. A young girl of nine or ten with pale blonde pigtails and big, inquiring eyes stared back at me. She looked like a younger version of me—no, a younger version of my mother. I had my father's eyes.

So I was in Grace's body, back when she'd been a child.

She tucked a few loose wisps of hair behind her ears, then walked away from the stream. She followed the trail deeper into the jungle. I wasn't in control of her body. I was only a passenger, a witness to some past event that would shed some light on my existence.

At least that's what I hoped. I didn't really know what I was doing. I'd never before gone fishing for gold nuggets of information in the memory stream.

I saw a faint flicker of movement. A few steps off the trail, a man stepped through a tree, then disappeared. Of course he'd never really been there. His body had been too translucent. He looked like a memory fragment, like a scene out of the distant past.

It was Grace who'd come to that conclusion. It seemed I was tuned in to her thoughts.

Her powerful telepathic abilities allowed her to see that hidden magic mirror where others would just pass it by, unaware that there's a passage to another world nearby,Nero said in my mind.

Grace stepped up to the magic mirror. It truly was hidden, even when seeing it through Grace's eyes. She'd only found it because she'd caught the memory fragment of someone who'd once taken it.

She took the plunge. As she passed between worlds, a cool feeling washed over me, like I'd walked through a waterfall.

Grace looked around at the new world she'd discovered.

This isn't a demon world,she thought. Or any world I know about.

From her hiding spot in the snowy woods, she watched a boy teleport between rings that had been set up around a sports field.

A djinn,commented Nero.

Also on the field, two teenage girls stood facing each other. One fired a gun at the other. The girl who'd been shot in the head fell dead to the ground. No one rushed over to her. No one expressed any shock whatsoever at this very public murder.

A few moments passed, then the dead girl rose from the ground, alive once more.

A phoenix,said Nero.

The girl with the gun threw it down. Then she touched her hand to the phoenix girl's chest—and transformed into her.

A changeling,Nero said.

The real phoenix picked up the gun and shot the girl who'd stolen her face. The changeling must have succeeded in mimicking her powers because after a few moments of being dead, she too rose from the ground.

There were others training on that sports field: mermaids and genies, phantoms and unicorns. On the sidelines, a few elves were crafting magical artifacts.

Grace watched them all for a few minutes, then she turned and went back through the invisible magic mirror.

Back on her own world, she ran out of the jungle. She rushed into a palatial house with white walls that sparkled like diamonds and tall towers that looked like they'd come out of a fairytale. The young demon's castle even had a moat, where tamed miniature sea dragons splashed in crystal waters.

Grace didn't stop running until she found her sisters in a grand ballroom with marble floors and high walls accented with real gold. Her identical twin Ava was dismembering animated suits of armor, while a teenage Sonja battled a giant she must have assembled from numerous large statues. Its horselike head nearly scraped the domed ceiling.

"Ava, Sonja," Grace said breathlessly. "I have discovered something incredible."

Then she told them all about it.

"An unexplored world, you say? And new kinds of magic?" Sonja hacked off the statue giant's legs, and it fell motionless to the floor. "We must check it out. I need a new challenge."

And so Grace led her sisters back to the jungle, through the invisible magic mirror, and onward to the undiscovered world.

"This is strange magic indeed," Sonja declared, looking down upon the training field. "And very rare magic where we come from. The Immortals had all of these powers."

The three demon sisters watched the passive magic students train their magic until Sonja, obviously bored of only watching, got up and marched out of the snowy woods.

"Sonja, where are you going?" Ava asked her.

"To find my next challenge," Sonja said. "I'm going to challenge one of these peculiar…beings to battle."

Twenty bucks says the passive magic kids totally kick Sonja's ass,I said to Nero.

But the three demon sisters never made it to the training arena. Between one step and the next, they were whisked away to…well, I wasn't exactly sure what it was. The sisters appeared to be inside a small log cabin, but all the windows showed in any direction was sky. Lots and lots of open sky. Grace went over to one of the windows to take a peek, and that's when I saw that they were way up in the clouds. The ground wasn't even visible from here.

Two youthful women sat on rocking chairs. Their eyes were wise, their hair wild. And their clothes, made from various animal skins, were hand-stitched.

"Where are we?" Grace asked them.

The woman with the crystals growing in her hair said, "This world is called the Sphere, young demon. How did you find your way here?"

"I followed the memories through the magic mirror," Grace told her.

"Her telepathic powers are strong for a demon," said the other woman, the one with the silver bracelets.

Crystal looked Grace over. "Yes. They are."

"You know what we are, but what are you?" Ava asked them. "You aren't demons or gods."

"No, we're not," Silver chuckled. "We are another kind of deity."

"There is no other kind of deity. Unless…" Sonja looked them over closely, but she didn't seem impressed by what she saw in them or their shabby cabin. She shook her head. "No, you're not them."

"Who?" Ava asked.

Sonja opened her mouth, but Grace answered first. "Immortals. Sonja doesn't believe they are Immortals."

"I've told you to stop digging around in my head," Sonja growled at Grace.

Grace planted her hands on her hips and shot back, "And I've told you that it's hard to ignore your thoughts when you leave them all hanging out there like that."

I liked this version of Grace. She was cool.

Sonja gave her little sister the evil eye, then she returned her attention to the two mystery women. "In any case, they are not Immortals. The Immortals were far more…" She puffed out her chest. "…commanding. And regal."

"You didn't know the Immortals, young one," Crystal said gently. "There aren't many gods or demons left who did. Your thirst for battle, your immortal war, has made sure of that."

"But you did know the Immortals?" Ava asked them.

Crystal nodded. "We did. They were powerful and wise. Though their obsessive study of magic was eventually their undoing."

"The Guardians," Grace said, her voice hardly above a whisper.

Crystal nodded again.

"I am one of the eidolons," Silver said.

"And I am of the spirits," Crystal declared.

"Like demons and gods, eidolons and spirits are the Immortals' creations," Silver explained. "Eidolon magic is passive dark magic."

"And spirit magic is passive light magic," Crystal added.

"So you rule over all those with passive magic?" Sonja asked them.

"We do not rule over anyone," Silver said serenely.

"We don't even show ourselves to them," said Crystal. "We merely exist. And watch."

"Without interfering in others' affairs," Silver added harshly.

"So you don't have worshippers?" Sonja frowned like she found the idea ridiculous.

"Certainly not," Crystal replied. "Most passive magic users don't even know that we exist—or that we protect their worlds."

There was a hint of warning in her tone, as though to warn the demons not to get any ideas of conquering the worlds they protected.

"Most people still worship the Immortals, and we are content to let it remain so," Silver said.

"Why?" Sonja's nostrils flared. No, she definitely didn't like the way the spirits and eidolons worked.

"Because we desire neither power nor glory," Crystal said. "And we don't need people to worship us in order to feel a sense of self-worth."

"And you spirits and eidolons get along?" Sonja's eyes narrowed. "You never fight?"

"Well, there are occasional differences of opinion, but those can be worked out through calm, rational, open discussion. There's certainly no need for violence." Silver's eyes dipped to the dagger at Sonja belt.

"You are very strange," Grace told them with wide eyes.

She didn't mean it as an insult. She was simply perplexed by the beings before her, by notions she found as strange as their magic. And she'd expressed that with a childlike innocence that I hadn't expected from her.

Crystal laughed. "Yes, I can see how you'd think so. We must seem very strange to three demon girls who have grown up believing in their own divinity and in their right to be worshipped."

Crystal didn't seem offended. She must have realized Grace wasn't being critical; she was just perplexed.

"We can show you another way," Silver offered. "Peace and harmony are possible. We too are of light and dark magic, but we have learned to coexist without conflict—by giving up vanity and the thirst for power. Demons and gods can learn to get along too."

"Why would we ever want to get along with the gods? Their magic is vile," Sonja said stiffly. "Why would I give up my divine right to rule just to make friends with them?"

"Why would you do that?" Crystal shook her head sadly. "We once lost people who thought as you did, who allowed their pursuit of power to consume them, and in so doing, they destroyed the Immortals."

"The Guardians," Ava guessed.

"Yes," Crystal confirmed. "Remember the sins of the Guardians. Because of their vanity—because of their thirst for power—the great Immortals are forever gone."

"But the Guardians' tragic tale didn't end there," Silver said. "Because they didn't stop with the Immortals. The Guardians' bitterness lived on. Not even that terrible act of revenge could put out the flame of their anger. Even now, they are searching for a way to destroy the gods and demons, you favored children of the Immortals. Children who were given much better magic—or so the Guardians believe."

Grace looked at Ava. "The Guardians are coming for us."

"Their magic might just be the most powerful of all, a magic to end all magic." Ava's voice shook. "They have the power to render magic useless—whether spell, potion, or artifact."

Sonja's laughter sliced through their distress. "Oh, please," she said, derisive. "I know a ghost story when I hear one. They are trying to scare you. And like naive little girls, you've let them." Sonja pointed her flaming sword at Crystal and Silver. "But I will not let them do the same to me. I will take their power, and with it, I will defeat the Guardians."

"Oh, dear," Crystal said sadly. She waved her hand, and the flames went out on Sonja's sword.

"Violence isn't welcome here." Silver clapped her hands once, and Sonja vanished.

"What have you done with our sister?" Ava demanded.

"I sent her back home," replied Silver.

"She was acting very rude." Crystal shook her head in quiet disapproval. "Galactic domination is simply not welcome here."

"Was she right?" Grace asked them. "Are the Guardians just a ghost story you told to scare us? Or are they truly coming for us?"

"The Guardians' hearts are full of envy, hatred, and vengeance," Silver said. "They might not act today or even this century, but eventually they will strike out against the demons and the gods."

"Can't you help us stop them?" Grace asked.

Crystal blinked. "Why?"

"Because the Guardians have your kind of magic. Passive magic. They are the responsibility of the spirits and eidolons. Your responsibility," Grace told them.

"We don't operate under the same magical hierarchy as you do," Silver said.

"And we don't take sides," Crystal added.

"But you have to," Grace told them. "You just have to."

Ava set her hand on her sister's shoulder. "Forget it, Grace. They're pacifists."

But Grace wasn't giving up so easily. "Can you at least tell us where to find the Guardians?" she asked the two passive magic deities.

"Why? So you can launch a preemptive strike?" Silver replied. "No, we can't tell you how to find them. That would be interfering. In fact, we've told you too much already."

"We should warn them about the savior," Crystal said to her.

"No." Silver's voice was sharp.

"Who is this savior?" Ava asked sweetly.

Crystal smiled. "She is the one who will—"

"Enough," Silver cut her off.

Crystal shook her head. "Sorry. I don't know what got into me. The words just flowed off my tongue."

"She got into you." Silver's eyes locked on to Ava. "Siren magic."

Crystal rose from her seat. "We don't take kindly to being manipulated, little demons."

She clapped her hands. The cabin, the spirit, and the eidolon blurred out like paint dissolving into water. Then Grace and Ava were back home, inside their castle.

Ava looked at Grace. "To me, their non-interference line just sounds like an excuse to hide away and take no responsibility for anything."

"Yeah," Grace agreed. "But the threat of the Guardians is no line."

"No, it isn't. It's true. I could feel it," Ava said. "Well, if they won't help us, we must come up with a plan to defeat the Guardians ourselves."

"All right, but just the two of us, Ava. We can't involve Sonja. Too often, she only does what's best for her and for her alone."

* * *

I saw a conference table.On one side of the table sat Faris and Zarion. I sat on the other side, right beside Grace. I knew it was Grace, not Ava, but I couldn't say how I knew. Grace appeared to be fully-grown now, so this memory must have occurred many years after the last one.

Zarion folded his hands together on the table, his many garish rings clinking together. "Ava, I do hope you're not just wasting our time."

Ava. So I must have been inside Ava's body this time.

I wonder if the body you're in is determined by the person who most drove the memory, who had the most influence on the situation,Nero commented.

That made sense.

"Not at all, Zarion," Ava replied to the god. "But perhaps we should take a short recess from these negotiations, just to give your mind a chance to catch up with everything we've discussed."

Fury flashed in Zarion's eyes. He rose quickly from his chair, but Faris caught his arm.

"Sit down," Faris said coldly. His gaze shifted to the demon sisters. "We shall take a one-hour recess."

"Agreed." Grace looked at Zarion. "And when we return, we expect more civilized conversation."

Ava and Grace rose fluidly from their seats and exited the room. They said nothing until they'd reached what looked like a very opulent hotel suite. A gentle sea shone bright and blue beyond the numerous windows, each one framed by a set of red velvet curtains. The walls were gold and the floors marble. The ceiling was painted with cloudy blue skies and lots of angels.

Now alone, Ava turned to Grace. "He has a thing for you."

"Zarion?" Grace's face crinkled up in disgust. "He's so…godly." She said the word like it was the worst thing imaginable.

"Not Zarion. Faris," Ava told her. "Didn't you see the way he was looking at you? He's enticed by you. It must have something to do with your magic. I'm clearly the pretty one."

Grace snorted. "You think we can use this to our advantage."

"I do."

"How?" Grace asked her.

"That spirit and that eidolon warned us about the Guardians' plans. Centuries later, the Guardians have finally made their first move. Nearly as soon as our war with the gods reached Earth, they arrived there too. We hadn't seen or heard from the Guardians in ages, and then they were suddenly there. They made themselves a hiding place on Earth, out of our reach in their so-called Sanctuary."

"The Sanctuary is slightly offset from our realm," Grace said. "It occupies the same space as the plains of monsters."

Ava frowned. "What I want to know is how the plains of monsters came to be."

"They were born from the clash of our dark magic with the gods' light magic," Grace said.

"Grace, demons and gods have fought many times on many worlds, and this has never happened before. Only on Earth have we lost control over our beasts. Only on Earth has the magic gone so wild that these so-called plains of monsters formed."

"There's something special about Earth," Grace suggested. "It's a place of change. Of opportunity. All kinds of magic are all mixed up there. The Immortals did something to the place."

"But what?"

"I started researching that after the plains of monsters formed on Earth," Grace said. "I found some tales in our older books. These tales describe the world where the Immortals conducted their first experiments on magic, on splitting magic into separate types in order to understand how the different parts work. I believe this world was Earth. Do you know what this means, Ava? It means Earth is far more precious than we'd thought. It's one of a kind, a place where magic—and the people who wield it—can be anything. A place where any magic or combination of magic can exist. Magic can be chaos and order, light and dark, active and passive. All depending on how it's shaped."

"You're right, Grace. This conference is an opportunity. Being here is an opportunity. An opportunity to destroy the Guardians. And the gods too."

"The council sent us here to negotiate with the gods," Grace reminded her sister. "They're concerned about what happened on Earth. They fear other worlds could suffer the same fate—and broken worlds don't make for very nice places to rule."

"But you just said this can't happen to any other world. Because the Earth is special," Ava pointed out.

"I didn't actually say this couldn't happen to any other world. I just explained why I believe it happened on Earth. I doubt plains of monsters will spontaneously pop up on other worlds. But I can't prove it yet. And that doesn't negate the council's wishes for us to negotiate with the gods."

"Multitasking, my dear sister," Ava said with a sly smile. "We can do both. Besides, both we and the gods know exactly how these negotiations will end. They'll end the same way they have every other time we've tried to negotiate with the gods. No agreement will be reached, and we'll just continue fighting."

"That does seem likely," Grace agreed.

"But just because the demons and gods as a whole can't come to an agreement," Ava said. "That doesn't mean a demon and a god can't come to a private agreement. That's where Faris comes in."

"Faris won't betray the other gods for us," Grace told her.

"No, he won't. Faris will always act in a way that furthers his own interests. Actually, that's what I'm counting on for my plan to work."

"And what exactly is your plan?" Grace asked.

"For you to create a weapon powerful enough to defeat the Guardians and turn the tide of this immortal war. And Faris is going to help you do it."

"Because he has a thing for me," Grace said drily.

"No, because he's a power-hungry lunatic who won't be able to resist the ultimate weapon. The fact that he finds you enticing can only serve to advance our plan."

"Our plan? This sounds an awful lot like it's your plan, sister."

"Remember all those years ago when we pledged to find a way to destroy the Guardians?" Ava reminded her. "That was our plan. And now we finally have a way to do it."

"So what makes this weapon so powerful? And why do we need Faris's help?"

"The weapon will be powerful because it will use the full spectrum of magic," Ava said. "And we need Faris for his light magic. You see, Grace, you and Faris are going to have a child. That child will have all the powers of the demons and the gods. The ultimate weapon."

Grace folded her arms across her chest. "Even if Faris agrees to work with me, he will try to take this child—this weapon—for himself."

Ava winked at her. "Well, then it's a good thing we're smarter than Faris is."

* * *

Ava's plan was good,but she didn't take it far enough. Grace had had a few hundred years to think it over and had improved upon her sister's plan. Because this wasn't just about the child of a demon and a god. It was about the child of that child. Grace would make a child with the power of gods and demons, but she wouldn't stop there. If she played her cards right, that child's child could have all the powers of the Immortals. And that child would truly be the ultimate weapon.

So Grace and Ava, in their move to fight the Guardians, came up with the same plan as the Guardians,I commented to Nero.

The Guardians wanted us to come together because of a Prophecy,he replied.

A Prophecy with several different outcomes.

Exactly, Leda. The Guardians acted to bring us together because they'd heard that you would be something special—and that our child would be just the weapon they needed.

"I'm offering you a chance to finally play the smart game," Grace told Faris when she visited him on one of his worlds.

"Go on." Faris looked annoyed, but also intrigued.

"You've been concentrating entirely on collecting the individual members of your Orchestra," she said. "But if you want to win this game, you need to get one powerful conductor. One powerful weapon. Someone with all the magic of the gods and the demons."

"The Immortals are long gone," replied Faris. "There is no such person anymore."

"No, there isn't," she agreed. "Which is why we can't find this conductor. We have to make it."

Thatgot his attention.

"How?" he asked her.

Grace put her hands on her hips. "You're pretty dense, aren't you? If you want to make someone with the powers of a god and a demon, you need to make someone with the powers of a god and a demon."

Faris blinked. "You wish to have sex with me."

"No, I don't. Not really. But, unfortunately for both of us, that's how babies are made, Faris."

Grace didn't tell Faris that she had other plans for this child, that she planned for the child to grow up to bear another child, an Immortal child with the power to defeat the Guardians.

And Grace already had her future daughter's mate picked out. She would pair the child that she and Faris created with the angel Nero Windstriker, the offspring of two angels with Immortal blood. That combination should do the trick. Light and dark, passive and active, order and chaos—all bound together by love.

That meant her child and Nero Windstriker would need to fall in love, but that was manageable. And Grace needed the Immortal child to be made on Earth, the world of infinite potential. That was the perfect formula, the perfect recipe for the ultimate weapon.

* * *

"My Queen,do you require anything else?" Colonel Soulslayer asked.

Sonja looked up from the Legion soldier chained to her table. The man was so close to death's door that there wasn't much point in continuing. She needed a fresh subject.

"Take this one away and kill him," Sonja told the dark angel. "Then bring me something else, someone with a little less light magic. The Venom killed this one too fast."

Colonel Soulslayer bowed. "It will be done." He lifted the soldier from the table, balanced him over his shoulder, then left the room.

Sonja took the time to jot down a few notes. She'd been at these experiments for centuries, but she didn't feel any closer to creating a subject with the right magic to destroy the Guardians. She must have been missing something, some vital piece of the equation.

* * *

Ava knewthe odds were stacked against them when it came to Grace and Faris conceiving the child who would be their weapon, but she also knew of one deity who had cheated those odds. He was a god named Regin, and he'd managed to cheat the odds not once or twice or even three times. He'd cheated those odds ten times, and he had ten children because of it.

Regin was the brother of Faris and Zarion, but that hadn't saved him when the gods decided he was dabbling in magic too odious to be tolerated. They'd exiled him and his ten offspring to eleven distant, desolate moons, cut off from one another and from the rest of civilization.

Ava decided to pay the disgraced god a visit. The place was completely off the grid. No magic mirrors could bring her there. So she had to use a djinn to teleport her.

Regin lived in a broken-down old wooden house that looked like it had been built by a blind man. None of the walls were straight, and there were cracks between the wooden planks wide enough for Ava to stick her hand through.

The house was situated on a cliff above the ocean, but the water was very cold and very salty. Ava could taste it on her tongue. As far as she could see, the land in every direction was rocky and barren. There weren't any plants or animals anywhere.

"Wait here," Ava told the djinn who had brought her to this forsaken place.

Then she opened the door and walked inside the house. Regin sat on a misshapen chair by the fireplace. Deities were ageless, but you never would have known it from the god's appearance. His wrinkled face was framed by a long, white beard that would have touched the floor if not for all the knots in it. The hair on his head was just as long, white, and knotted. He wore a tattered, blood-stained robe and no shoes at all.

"Regin," Ava said, standing in the doorway.

The god squinted at her, blinded by the light she'd let in. He must have not left the house in a very long time.

"Shut the door!"

His voice was scratchy. Ava wondered how long it had been since he'd used it.

She shut the door. She glided over to the defeated god hunched over the tiny fire. "You are the god called Regin."

"And you're a dirty demon."

"Be careful who you call ‘dirty'," she replied in a biting tone. "I have questions for you. If you answer them, I'll give you something."

He blinked, trying to get a better look at her. "You're Ava, the Demon of Hell's Army."

"I am."

"How'd you get here?"

"A djinn brought me."

His chuckle was as rough as a machine that hadn't been oiled in years. "You want to know how I had so many children."

"How did you know?" Ava asked in surprise.

"Why else go through all the trouble to come all the way out here? I've been here for a very long time, so I don't know anything about the gods' war plan, and they'd rather see me die than pay a ransom to get me back. But I am the only deity who has ever had ten children. That's valuable information."

So his mind was in much better shape than his body. And his house.

"Tell you what, I'll explain to you exactly how I did it." He smacked his lips. "If you get me off this cursed moon and back to civilization."

"I have another offer." Ava pulled a slender vial out of her jacket. A bright liquid sparkled and swirled inside it, moving almost like it was alive.

He gaped at it. "Nectar."

"How long as it been since you've had some?"

Regin watched the Nectar move in the vial, transfixed. "No." He shook himself. "I want my freedom. That is my offer."

"How disappointing." Ava moved to tuck the vial away again.

He caught her hand. "Wait."

"There's enough magic in this Nectar to return you to your former glory." She used her other hand to retrieve a second vial of Nectar from her jacket. "And I'm offering two doses."

"I want the first one before I tell you anything."

"Very well. But be warned. If you cross me, I am more than powerful enough to deal with the likes of you."

Ava set the first vial of Nectar into his hand. With eager, shaky fingers, Regin popped the vial's top and poured the entire contents into his mouth.

The effects were immediate. An ethereal glow washed across his skin, smoothing the wrinkles. The glow spread across his hair, turning it from white to black. His clothes not only mended; they completely transformed into a glorious gold-and-purple robe befitting a king. His eyes grew sharper, and it wasn't only thanks to the dramatic dash of dark eyeshadow on his lids. His lips became fuller and smoother; they were no longer broken by dry cracks.

Ava smiled. "Now, that's better. You actually look alive. And you don't smell like garbage anymore."

Regin leaned back in his chair and braided his fingers together in a thoughtful pose. "Yes."

"Now it's your turn."

"Very well." Like his face, his voice wasn't rough anymore either. It was as smooth as rose petals. "You wish to know how I beat the odds? It's quite simple. I changed the rules of the game."

"How?"

"By changing the flow of magic in my favor. You see, the universe has a kind of balance sheet. In order to have life, you need death. It's the so-called balance of the universe. But you can cheat that balance. To create a powerful life, you merely need to compensate with powerful death. The more death, the better. That puts the balance sheet in your favor."

Ava leaned forward. She was very, very intrigued. "There are often battles that result in a lot of death. That doesn't mean more people are born."

"No," he said. "You need to channel that death. You need to transform it into life. After all, we're cheating our way out of our own infertility by paying for it with death. It's not an easy procedure. Nor is it appreciated by certain closed-minded individuals who claim to speak for all the gods."

"The gods' council exiled you because you did this," Ava realized. "Ten times."

"They exiled me because of the massacres I created in order to achieve the necessary balance to make my children. They labeled me ‘mad' and sent me into exile here. And they dropped off my children on ten nearby moons. We're all orbiting the same world, all so close, and yet so far away. It wasn't enough to exile me. They had to torture me too."

"The other gods cut you off from your private little army," Ava said. "Would you have used that army against them?"

"Of course not. Ten soldiers isn't enough of an army to do anything. I'd need at least a few hundred. Unfortunately, I never got that far."

"You didn't need a few hundred soldiers," Ava said to herself under her breath. "You only needed one. The right one."

"What's that?"

"Never mind," Ava said hurriedly. "How did you redirect all those deaths into the life that created your children?"

"By employing the services of a very powerful phoenix."

"A phoenix…"

"A very powerful phoenix," he said with emphasis. "Only the strongest phoenixes can perform this kind of magic. In fact, there's only one phoenix I know of who's skilled enough to do it."

"Who?"

Regin smiled at her.

Ava tossed him the second vial of Nectar.

He popped the lid and inhaled deeply. A dreamy look washed over his face, but he didn't drink the Nectar just yet. Instead, he closed the vial again.

"Indira," he told Ava. "Her name is Indira."

* * *

"This isn'twhat we agreed to." Ava shot the phoenix Indira an aggravated look.

"You hired me to channel the death you orchestrated into life," Indira replied. "That's what made your sister's pregnancy possible."

"I hired you to channel that death into life in my sister," Ava said with unfiltered venom. "I did not pay you to also create life in all of those angels and wives of angels."

Indira looked unbothered by the demon's bad mood. "The universe has to achieve a balance somehow. You made a lot of death. A lot. You were more discreet than Regin, true, but it was still a lot of death."

"I had to make sure it was enough to make Grace's baby."

"It was," said Indira. "And there was leftover magical energy that had to go somewhere. Just be happy there weren't a dozen gods conceived because that would have made your war against the gods harder."

"You knew this would happen." Ava's eyes narrowed to slits. "You did this just to annoy me."

"I'm a professional," Indira said stiffly. "I don't make a habit of annoying my clients."

"I'm considering killing you for your impudence."

"I'm a phoenix," Indira reminded her.

"There are ways to kill a phoenix."

"You don't want to kill her, Ava," Grace declared as she entered the room.

"Actually, I really do," Ava told her sister.

"It's really hard to kill a phoenix."

Ava yawned.

"Besides, we will need Indira again for the next step, for Leda to have a child of her own."

Ava sighed. "You're right." She looked at Indira and gave her wrist a dismissive flick. "You may go. We'll be in need of your services again in the near future."

* * *

Soon after Gracefound out that she was pregnant, she traveled to the far edge of the demons' territory. But Ava found her.

"You've been avoiding me, Grace," Ava said. "Why? The LEDA project is going entirely to plan."

"I've changed the plan," replied Grace. "The gods have control over Earth. We can't send the child there. Faris will surely find her."

"The child must grow up on Earth," Ava told her. "Because of that world's magical potential. It's just the environment the child requires to become what we need her to be."

Grace shook her head. "She won't be what we need her to be if Faris controls her. I will train her myself, and I'll do it somewhere that Faris can't find her."

"For our plan to work at all, the child must grow up on the world of magical potential," Ava pointed out. "You knew this from the beginning, Grace."

Grace looked away from her meditation candles—and into her sister's eyes. "It's too dangerous. If we release the child from our care, how do we keep her away from Faris? Or away from Sonja, for that matter? You know of the experiments our sister has been running these many years."

"I do," Ava replied. "And I know Sonja isn't even close. She's taken her experiments in entirely the wrong direction. She hasn't even considered the possibility of doing what we've done."

Grace held up a warning finger. "Yet."

"True, not yet. If we keep to the plan, it will work. Remember why we're doing this. There is no room in our plan to hesitate, Grace. The Guardians are growing bolder by the day. They're putting their pieces into play."

"I'm not hesitating. I'm being smart."

"And this?" Ava indicated the meditation candles.

"These rituals will ensure the child gains powerful telepathic powers," said Grace. "She will need to have a lot of all the powers to pass them on to her child."

"With those telepathic powers, the child will also be able to receive the visions we send her to guide her path, even from Earth," Ava countered.

"I've made up my mind, Ava. The child stays with me. It is the only way to ensure she becomes what we made her to be."

"Trust me, sister." Ava extended her hand to her.

Grace took it. "I trust you will find a way to help me keep the child safe. Here. With me. It's too risky to release her out there."

* * *

Ava stoodin a room with black walls and purple fire.

"Grace has given birth to the child, but that child has become more than a child to her," she said.

Sonja stood opposite her. "She's grown attached to it."

"Yes."

"You were right to come to me," Sonja told her.

"I had little choice," Ava grumbled. "You found out what we were doing."

Sonja's smile could have melted metal. "Yes, I did. Let that be a lesson to you, dear sister. I always find out. Where is Grace keeping the child?"

"On Avalon."

Sonja nodded, her smile growing wider, then she left the room.

Ava watched her leave. When Sonja was gone, Ava muttered, "Yes, my devious sister, you did find me out this time. That will not happen again. You will steal the child from Grace, but your victory shall be short-lived. The child will slip through your fingers. She will not be your weapon."

* * *

"I have a job for you, Inali."

Ava was speaking to one of the octuplets. The changeling Inali was the one who'd taken the form of Gaius Knight, the man who'd led Calli to her children. That must have been what I was witnessing now, the day Inali had set off down that path. So Ava had been behind that. That was the ‘job' she was referring to.

Ava handed Inali a photograph. "That is the man I want you to impersonate. He has contacts that will prove useful to you."

Inali glanced down at the picture. "I take it this man is still alive?"

"He is," Ava confirmed. "But that shouldn't be a problem. You and your sisters have no qualms about getting your hands dirty."

Inali glared at her. "It's not like you've given us a choice."

Ava took one of the charms on her bracelet between her fingers. She smiled. "His name is Gaius Knight. Kill him and take his place." She handed Inali a second photograph. "This is Callista Pierce. You—or should I say Gaius—will make friends with her."

Inali's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why?"

"Because I need to put some pieces into place."

The third photograph Ava handed her was of Aradia Redwood, the woman who'd kidnapped me. And then raised me.

"You'll start with her," Ava told the changeling.

* * *

"They took her. They took Leda."Grace's voice trembled. She looked decidedly rattled.

"You're emotional," Ava commented with disapproval.

"Of course I'm emotional. Years of planning—centuries of planning—all down the drain! I'm not sad. Oh, no. I'm furious."

Ava watched her closely. "You've grown attached to the child."

"No. I've grown attached to my plan. And now it's ruined."

"Do you know who took the child?" Ava asked her.

Of course she herself knew, but she had to see if Grace suspected.

"I thought it was Sonja, but my soldiers searched her estates and found nothing," Grace replied. "It must have been Faris."

"Then we shall search his worlds as well," Ava told her sister, happy to mislead her. "We shall leave no stone unturned."

"I already did that. And I found nothing." A sound of pent-up frustration broke her lips. "Still, I'm sure it was Faris. He threatened to take the child for himself. He has her locked away somewhere, out of my reach, grooming her for the day he will use her as a weapon to serve his own purposes."

Ava set her hand on Grace's arm. "We will find the child. There is no hiding her magic. Eventually, we will find her."

Ava didn't tell Grace that, even now, the child was on Earth, under Aradia's care. And Ava didn't tell her sister that she'd already made plans to safeguard her investment. The child would one day give birth to the ultimate weapon. Ava would see to it.

She'd already figured it all out. The child would need other protectors. Ava would use one from each of the four magical quadrants. The symmetry of the idea appealed to her. Four protectors, joined by bonds of family—that was the way to go. Leda needed protectors who would do anything for her, anything to keep her and her child safe.

But the four protectors were not enough. They needed a mother, someone who would create an environment in which the siblings could grow very close. Ava had already selected the perfect candidate: Callista Pierce. The bounty hunter had thwarted Ava's efforts to gain a foothold on Earth. In doing so, she'd demonstrated her inconvenient morality, yes, but also her ability to unite people. And that ability was just what Ava needed.

Besides, wouldn't it be poetic justice indeed for Callista Pierce to unknowingly help Ava, the demon she'd thwarted, to gain a foothold on Earth, in this grandest of schemes?

* * *

Through her gazing ball,Ava watched the injured telepath run down the street. He was the most powerful telepath in all of the known realms, and that's why Faris's soldiers had hunted him across all of the known realms. Faris wanted to make him part of his ‘Orchestra' of powerful supernaturals.

Even now, a team of gods from Heaven's Army was closing in on the telepath's position. His mind tricks would only keep them at bay for so long. They would capture him.

Of course Ava couldn't possibly allow that. She had far more important plans for the telepath, plans that superseded those from the God of Heaven's Army.

A powerful spell repelled all demons from Earth, keeping them out. Ava could not go there, nor could her demonic soldiers in Hell's Army. But she had other means to make her will be done.

Faris's soldiers were almost upon the telepath.

Then they just stopped. The soldiers were frozen, their eyes locked on to the dozen bewitching men and women who'd just slunk out of the shadows and planted themselves in front of them. Ava's dark sirens.

Faris's soldiers didn't move. They didn't even lift a hand to defend themselves as the dark sirens killed them with their own swords.

Further down the street, just the person Ava knew would be here was kneeling down beside the injured telepath, who'd collapsed against a building.

"You're injured," the woman said. Her name was Cora.

The telepath could barely keep his eyes open.

"I'm going to heal you now. Just hold on." She opened up a kit of premixed potions.

Cora was a good friend of Callista Pierce. And the telepath, well, he was the one Ava had chosen to father one of Leda's protectors.

Faris would eventually find the telepath, but it was of no consequence. Ava would have already gotten what she needed from him. She just had to make sure that when Faris's soldiers did come again, that they didn't take the telepath alive. She was not about to allow Faris to add the most powerful telepath in the known universe to his Orchestra. She would, however, soon be adding the telepath's child to her own collection.

Ava could already see her dark sirens closing in on the two unsuspecting lovers. They had no idea that magic would make them fall in love—or at least think they were in love long enough for them to conceive a child. One day, the child's mother, pursued by relentless enemies, would have no choice but to leave him with her friend Callista Pierce.

Ava waved her hand over her gazing ball to turn it off. "Yes." She fingered the tiny magical charms attached to her bracelet. "This will all work out perfectly."

* * *

"I've done as you asked,"Inali said to Ava. "Callista Pierce has found the five children."

Ava nodded. "Indeed. Your work, like your sisters', is stellar."

Inali reached toward her. "Now let us go."

The demon sidestepped her. "No."

"We know what you've done." Anger took root in Inali's voice. "You took samples from Indira and Rosette. You combined those samples with other samples taken from two human males in your custody. And with those, you made two babies: a phoenix and a djinn."

"Of course I used human males as fathers," Ava said. "I didn't want another kind of magic to get in the way of the girls expressing their mother's powerful magic."

"In each case, you managed to isolate and magnify phoenix or djinn magic, so it was as though both parents had either phoenix or djinn magic." Magic rippled across Inali's body, like a flag caught in the wind; she was very angry, and she was doing a very terrible job of hiding it. "The fathers were used merely for physical traits, not magic."

"One of my more brilliant ideas, I must say," Ava said smugly. She stopped short of literally patting herself on the back—but only barely. "The girls would be of no use to me with diluted magic. I don't need a weak phoenix and a weak djinn. I need a phoenix and a djinn as powerful as their mothers."

"You put the babies in a surrogate mother," Inali hissed. "Twins growing in her womb."

"You're making this all sound much easier than it was," Ava said flippantly. "It was no simple task. It was a triumph of magic, the culmination of centuries of planning."

A vicious smile twisted Inali's lips. "You like to make people believe you are infallible, and yet the surrogate mother was kidnapped by human warlords. They killed her shortly after the babies were born."

"Inconsequential." Ava gave her hand a dismissive wave. "The surrogate had already served her purpose. And as for the babies, I sent some dark sirens to sabotage the warlords' base so that the girls could escape. And then you made sure Callista Pierce found them. So it all worked out in the end."

"Why do you refuse to admit that you aren't in perfect control?" Inali demanded. "Why can't you admit that your plans only worked because you got lucky?"

Ava's eyes hardened. "Careful."

"You can't hold us forever," Inali said defiantly.

"Of course I can." Smiling, Ava caressed her bracelet with the eight charms, like she was petting a cat.

* * *

The final memory faded out,leaving Nero and me back in our room on board the airship.

"The eight charms Ava wears on her bracelet are immortal artifacts," Nero said.

I'd noticed that too. "They're the ones linked to the octuplets. Like Bella is linked to the wand."

"Ava is using those artifacts to control the eight sisters," said Nero. "That's why they're doing whatever she wants."

"And that's why River kept answering my questions with ‘I can't say'," I realized. "Ava won't let them tell me anything she doesn't want me to know. These memories we're seeing now didn't come out of the Vault; the sisters didn't send them to me. These are memories Ava doesn't want me to see."

Nero looked like he did whenever he was trying to come up with a strategic solution to a seemingly impossible problem.

"What are you thinking?" I asked him.

"The eight sisters are very powerful," he said slowly. "And Ava controls them. It's clear Ava also wants to steal our daughter."

"Even if she has to betray her own sister Grace."

"As long as Ava controls the eight sisters, she is too powerful." Nero shook his head. "We might not be able to keep our daughter from her."

"But if we freed the eight sisters, Ava would lose her greatest weapon," I said.

"Not only that. The eight sisters can't be very happy with Ava—and with what the demon has forced them to do," Nero replied. "Once freed, they would likely turn against her. If she's too busy fighting them, she can't make a move to capture our daughter."

"And then we'd only have to worry about Faris, Grace, the Guardians, and whoever else has an interest in her." I expelled a sigh of frustration.

"It's a start, Leda. Soon, we will have the Guardians on the run."

I liked his confidence that our mission would succeed.

He pounded his fist into his open palm. "And then we'll deal with Faris and Grace as well."

I only hoped he was right.