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“You gave one of the immortal artifacts to Ava, and she somehow infused Bella with the artifact’s god-killing power.”

Probably because Bella’s magic was dark. Like Venom, the activating agent.

“And you gave another immortal artifact to Zarion, which he used to curse Stash with the power to kill a demon.” I rubbed my temples.

“Does your head hurt?” Faris asked, and he actually sounded concerned.

“Not really.”

“So our magical connection isn’t too much for you?”

“No.”

“Good.” He nodded. “I do not wish to interrupt this interrogation until we have retrieved everything from her.”

So much for being concerned about me.

“You’re doing it again,” Faris said when I rubbed my head.

“I’m trying to coax the thoughts from my mind.”

He blinked. “Magic doesn’t work like that.”

“It’s not magic,” I said. “It’s just a little movement to free my thoughts. You know, like squeezing an orange for the juice.”

“So your head is the orange,” he said levelly.

Tessa snorted.

“Yeah, I’m the orange,” I told him.

He met my stare, unblinking. Finally, he said, “I created you to be more than fruit.”

This time, both Tessa and Gin snorted.

I wished I had some fruit to toss at my silly sisters.

“I think we need to focus on the interrogation,” I said to Faris.

“Agreed.” He turned to Parisa. “You said when the seal on the vault in the City of Ashes was broken, the immortal artifacts teleported to Regin.”

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“So Regin used them to escape his prison?”

“Yes. And no. Without the demon Ava, the artifacts would have done him little good.”

“Explain.”

“Years ago, Ava sought information on how to make her sister conceive a child with a god.” Parisa wrinkled her nose. “So she visited my father to learn how he’d managed to turn the laws of magic in his favor and sire ten children. In exchange for that information, the demon gave him two doses of Nectar. He drank one immediately. The other he saved for later.”

“Later?” I repeated, chewing on the word. “You mean once the artifacts teleported to him?”

She nodded. “That second dose of Nectar, combined with the power of the artifacts, gave him the power to call out to those loyal few followers who had remained true to him. He told them where the gods’ council had hidden us. And then they came to free us from our prisons.”

Nero and I had broken the seal on the vault five years ago. Regin and his progeny had been free for years.

“When did you know?” I asked Faris. “That Regin escaped?”